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Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom

Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a devolved legislative matter, different parts of the United Kingdom legalised at different times; it has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020. Civil partnerships, which offer most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage, have been recognised since 2005. The United Kingdom was the 27th country in the world and the sixteenth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. Polling suggests that a majority of British people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.[1][2][3][4]

Same-sex marriage is legal in eight of the fourteen British Overseas Territories. It has been recognised in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands since 2014, Akrotiri and Dhekelia and the British Indian Ocean Territory (for UK military personnel only) since 3 June 2014, the Pitcairn Islands since 14 May 2015, the British Antarctic Territory since 13 October 2016, Gibraltar since 15 December 2016, the Falkland Islands since 29 April 2017, and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha since 20 December 2017.[a] Same-sex marriage was formerly legal in Bermuda from 2017 to 2022, where domestic partnerships have been available to same-sex couples since 1 June 2018. Civil partnerships were legalised in the Cayman Islands on 4 September 2020.


Same-sex marriage is legal in the Crown Dependencies. It has been recognised and performed in the Isle of Man since 22 July 2016, in Jersey since 1 July 2018, and in the Bailiwick of Guernsey at different times: in Guernsey since 2 May 2017, in Alderney since 14 June 2018, and in Sark since 23 April 2020.

to enable same-sex couples to have a i.e., only civil ceremonies in a register office or approved premises (like a hotel);

civil marriage

to make no changes to religious marriages. This would continue only to be legally possible between a man and a woman;

to retain civil partnerships for same-sex couples and allow couples already in a civil partnership to convert this into a marriage;

to continue to permit civil partnership registrations on religious premises as is possible, i.e., on a voluntary basis for faith groups and with no religious content; and

to allow individuals to be able legally to change their gender without having to end their marriage.

Consular marriage[edit]

Following the Consular Marriage and Marriages under Foreign Law Order 2014, "a consular marriage may take place in those countries or territories outside the United Kingdom which have notified the Secretary of State in writing that there is no objection to such marriages taking place in that country or territory and which have not subsequently revoked that notice".[219] Same-sex consular marriages are possible in 26 countries: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, China (including Hong Kong),[220] Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, the Seychelles and Vietnam.[221][222]


240 consular same-sex marriages were performed between June 2014 and the end of December 2015. An additional 140 couples converted their civil partnerships into marriages.[223] Consular marriages for same-sex couples were particularly popular in Australia prior to the country's legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2017. 445 couples had married in British consulates across Australia by October 2017.[224]

– Legislation allowing the performance and recognition of same-sex marriage was approved by the House of Keys on 8 March 2016, and by the Legislative Council on 26 April 2016.[225][226] The legislation was granted royal assent and went into effect on 22 July 2016.[227]

Isle of Man

Guernsey

[228]

– A motion to introduce legislation regarding same-sex marriage was approved by the States Assembly in September 2015.[237] A same-sex marriage bill was eventually debated by the States on 1 February 2018, where it passed by a vote of 42–1.[238] The law received royal assent on 23 May 2018 and went into effect on 1 July 2018.[239]

Jersey

LGBT rights in the United Kingdom

Same-sex marriage in Scotland

Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland

Same-sex marriage in Guernsey

Same-sex marriage in the Isle of Man

Same-sex marriage in Jersey

Recognition of same-sex unions in the British Overseas Territories

Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe

He never married

Smart, Carol; Heaphy, Brian; Einarsdottir, Anna (2013). Same sex marriages: new generations, new relationships. Genders and sexualities in the social sciences. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.  9780230300231.

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