Salt Lake City Attorney Ed Rutan is exploring whether such a registry is legal. Registries typically are used as a way for committed partners to document and celebrate their relationships but lacking any rights.

But a conservative state lawmaker already has an answer.

Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, said Friday that state law forbids the mayor from creating a "synonym or substitute for marriage," though supporters of registries insist they aren't the same as marriages or civil unions.

"His attempt to circumvent existing law is tantamount to the San Francisco mayor standing on the steps [of City Hall] and performing [gay] marriages," Christensen said.

The GOP legislator maintains state law also would prevent Salt Lake City from extending health benefits to partners of gay employees, which the city is also exploring.

If the law isn't clear, Christensen said, he is willing to sponsor a bill to stop the city from proceeding.

Anderson declined to comment Friday, but told The Salt Lake Tribune for a story last week he was interested in the registry "for people to signify . . . they are partners, that they formed a domestic partnership."

Rutan is analyzing state law - including Amendment 3, the constitutional provision Utah voters adopted last year that says "no other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect."

Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, who is openly gay and tried to defeat Amendment 3, said that measure shouldn't prevent the city from creating the registry or extending benefits.

A registry "doesn't do anything close to a marriage or a civil union," he said. "They [opponents] use Amendment 3 as if it were a referendum on anything gay. That's a misuse and misinterpretation of Amendment 3. Amendment 3 supposedly was just about marriage and civil unions."

The gay community sees the registry as an important move even if it lacks legal clout.

"The registry's a wonderful tool that can be used by a municipality or a city or state to allow nontraditional partners to validate their relationships," said Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Utah. "Any step toward recognizing nontraditional families and partnerships is a step in the right direction."

But some City Council members see it as a misstep.

Councilman Dave Buhler said Friday he doesn't consider the issue a city matter. And Councilman Carlton Christensen said he wouldn't support it either, though it isn't clear if the mayor could create the registry on his own or if he would need council approval.

A vote by the council on the registry could affect this November's municipal election. Four of the seven council seats are up for grabs and three incumbents - Christensen, Jill Remington Love and Eric Jergensen - are seeking re-election.

Gay matters can mobilize voters, as the issue of gay marriage did in the 2004 national election.

Anderson, who has called for a more diverse council, often is at odds with council members. He has targeted Jergensen in particular as someone he wants ousted.

Jergensen represents the Avenues and Capitol Hill - arguably two of the most liberal neighborhoods in the city where gay issues might resonate. Those neighborhoods voted against Amendment 3, as did most of the city.

Jergensen wants to see what the mayor proposes before saying how he might vote on the registry.

"I hope this isn't being raised to force an election issue," he said.

hmay@sltrib.com

The situation elsewhere

Domestic partner registries vary across the nation.

* In Kansas City, Mo., the registry simply documents the relationship, according to the city's Web site. Domestic partners are defined as two adults who live together and are "jointly responsible for the basic necessities of life" - such as the cost of food, shelter and other expenses.

* Tucson, Ariz., allows people living inside and outside the city to register as domestic partners. The registry there grants participants the right to visit the partner in a health-care facility and treats the couple as if they were married when it comes to using city facilities, according to the city's Web site.

It's unclear if a Salt Lake City registry would - or could - confer legal rights.