Just over 1,400 gay couples tied the knot in the three
months after same-sex marriage was allowed in England and Wales, figures out
Thursday showed.
The Office for National Statistics said 1,409 marriages took
place between March 29 and June 30.
Of those, 56 percent were between female couples, and 44
percent between male couples, the ONS said.
The first weddings took place just after midnight on March
29, and the numbers have steadily increased since then.
“The novelty and significance of marriage becoming available
led to an initial rush among same-sex couples wanting to be among the very
first to assume the same rights and protection afforded to heterosexual
couples,” said James Brown, a partner at law firm JMW Solicitors.
“In the three months since, there has been a much more
gradual increase and I would expect that pattern to continue.”
The figures will likely surge from December once civil
partnerships can be converted into marriages.
Introduced in 2005, civil partnerships allowed gay couples
essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil unions, but were not
termed “marriages”.
Within the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland
have their own legal systems.
Scotland’s first same-sex marriages are expected later this
year, while there are no plans to introduce gay marriage in Northern Ireland.
Bbc.
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