Is gay marriage still legal
Same-sex marriage now legal as first couples wed
Several couples were ready to tie the knot the moment the law changed.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell acted as chief witness at a packed ceremony at Islington Town Hall in London just after midnight as Peter McGraith and David Cabreza were wed after 17 years together.
Mr Tatchell said the couple and all the others getting married had "made history" and "made Britain a more tolerant, equal place".
With a crowd of photographers, journalists and well-wishers waiting, the couple took the opportunity to highlight the international struggle for gay rights.
Mr McGraith said: "Very few countries afford their gay and queer woman citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this alter in law will bring trust and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalised for their sexual orientation."
Mr Cabreza added: "From a global and political perspective it's great too, but for us it's also about us and o
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Criminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Imposes the death penalty
Maximum punishment:
Death penalty
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
Maximum punishment:
Life imprisonment
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual action between males
- Criminalises sexual action between females
- Criminalises the gender expression of trans people
- Imposes the death penalty
Maximum punishment:
Death by stoning
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises LGBT people
- Criminalises sexual activity between males
- Criminalises sexual activity between females
- Criminalises the gender statement of trans people
- Maintains discriminatory age of consent
Maximum punishment:
Eight years imprisonment and lashes
More infoCriminalisation:
- Criminalises
Same-sex marriage legislation shows that policy can lead widespread opinion
Queer marriage legislation, passed 10 years ago today, was a masterclass in building consensus for a contentious policy.
On 17 July , the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act gained royal assent, granting gay couples in England and Wales the right to unite. It was a landmark moment for LGBT+ rights.
The journey to passing legislation on homosexual marriage was distant and at times contentious. Labour had made important strides in the premature s – revoking Section 28 that had prohibited local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” and introducing civil partnerships that gave same-sex couples comparable legal rights to married couples – but Gordon Brown as prime minister opposed homosexual marriage on the grounds that marriage was “intimately bound up with questions of religious freedom”.14
But even once Brown left office in new legislation looked far from inevitable. None of the main parties’ election manifestos that year had committed to introducing same-sex marriage. Despite LGBT+ rights g
The tin anniversary &#x; a review of the status of same-sex relationships around the world
Posted: 28/03/
On 29 March , it will be the year anniversary of the first gay marriage ceremony in England. It is sometimes plain to forget that up until homosexuality was illegal in this country. Interestingly, it was never illegal to be lesbian, perhaps one of the rare ways women were historically overlooked by law makers which had an inadvertently positive effect!
It may approach as a shock to some same-sex couples who move abroad that their relationship might not be recognised, or they may even be treated differently than a heterosexual couple in their new house country if their affair or marriage ends.
In England, there are a myriad of financial claims arising from the breakdown of a marriage or civil partnership, and these rights could be lost if you move abroad.
In contrast, cohabiting couples in England still face limited financial protection on separation despite calls for reform. Our International Family Law Report: The Cohabitation Conundrum summarises the legal reme