UK: First gay "weddings" take place in Northern Ireland as hundreds of British couples prepare for their big day on Wednesday

Grainne Close and her American partner Shannon Sickels negotiated noisy crowds of protesters and supporters on Monday (December 19) to become the first women in the United Kingdom to tie the knot under a new law for same-sex couples. Arriving for the ceremony at Belfast's domed City Hall in an old black London taxi decked with yellow ribbon, the women told reporters they felt privileged to be among the first to exercise their new civil rights. "This is a very privileged position we are in this morning," said Close. The new civil partnership law gives gay couples the same property and inheritance rights as married heterosexuals and entitles them to the same pension, immigration and tax benefits. Unlike in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Canada it is not a marriage, however. But that was not enough to appease religious groups in divided Belfast, who gathered outside the ceremonies holding a large sign reading "Homosexuality is sin" Northern Ireland was the last place in Britain to decriminalise homosexuality in 1982. But today it's the first to usher in a new era of sexual empowerment, "Now we find ourselves in the even more tragic position of being the first part of the United Kingdom to stage a sodomite wedding," said Revered David McLaughlin from the Free Presbyterian Church. Scotland will hold it's first ceremonies on Tuesday (December 20) and England and Wales on Wednesday (December 21). Almost 700 civil partnerships, as they are legally known, will take place in England and Wales on Wednesday on what will be a historic week for gay rights. Among the hundreds of couples will be 64-year old Keith Willmott-Goodall and his partner of 14 years, 57-year old Roger Lewis. They will officially sign the civil partnership and hold a "wedding" ceremony at Brighton's Register office. Growing up in a time where homosexuality was illegal, Lewis never thought he'd see the day when he could walk down the aisle with his partner. "We both thought, as probably most couples thought, that we would never see it, you know, it might happen in twenty, thirty years as it gets more and more liberal, but to come through so quickly, we are really pleased, well I am really, really pleased," he said. Brighton registrar, Debra Reynolds, who will marry Willmott-Goodall and Lewis says the partnerships are not officially regarded as gay marriages, but give couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. The deluge of applications for civil partnerships at register offices across the country has sent the already booming wedding industry into full-swing. Maker of flamboyant cakes, the store ChoccyWoccyDooDah, has come up with a special gay cake, which features Rodin's kiss with two men on top made of solid Belgian chocolate. Predicting the Civil Partnership Act would pass through parliament quickly, Richard Jones set up his company "Modern Commitments" 18-months ago, to cater especially to gay couples wanting to get married. Jones is the point man for gays and lesbians wanting their perfect wedding and for companies wishing to cash in on the traditional spending power of gay couples, or the so-called "pink pound." Jones predicts the already multi-billion pound industry is set to grow by anything up to 20 per cent, "If you talk about the whole of the wedding industry now it is worth billions of pounds," says Jones, adding, "If you look at holidays and the expense that people go to on all aspects of putting a wedding together, and you know when you introduce a whole other sort of twenty per cent of the population potentially that starts looking at that, that's quite an increase to any industry. " Retailers too are cashing on the change in the law, with high street chain stores selling items like "His and His" and "Hers and Hers" monogrammed towels or cards reading "Mr and Mr". The most high-profile union of the week will take place on Wednesday when musician Sir Elton John and David Furnish hold a civil ceremony in Windsor's Guildhall. In all, a total of 687 civil partnerships are due to be formed on December 21, the General Register Office said. The registration authority is expecting the most civil partnerships in the City of Westminster, in London, where 20 male couples will be joined.

ITN Source | December 23, 2005

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