SEDONA, Ariz. — Sedona has become the fourth Arizona city to recognize same-sex civil unions.

The Sedona City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to allow civil unions regardless of gender in the red-rock country community in north-central Arizona.

Sedona’s city attorney says the ordinance borrows from local civil union laws already approved by Tucson, Bisbee and Jerome.

Provisions include a registration process and a city-maintained list of agreements that couples wish to register.

Phoenix TV station KPHO says civil unions also allow same-sex couples to list themselves as next of kin and visit each other in hospitals.

Sedona Mayor Rob Adams says approval of the civil union ordinance sends a message that love is love, “regardless if its two people of the same sex or not.”

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