Guernsey officially approves same-sex marriage

Guernsey has officially approved same-sex couples to marry on 21 September.

Members of the States has voted 33 to 5 to legalize same-sex marriage.

Until today, the Channel island was one of the only places in the UK that did not allow either civil partnerships or same-sex marriage.

In June 2015, Guernsey launched a consultation on marriage to assess the public’s view.

It showed 71.5% of respondents were in favor of same-sex marriage.

The new legislation must now be approved by the Privy Council and barring any unforeseen issues, it is expected that the first same-sex marriages in Guernsey will be able to take place from mid-2017.

Liberate Vice-Chair Ellie Jones said: ‘We, as a charity, have been working tirelessly since our inception to bring about equality in the island; and the LGBTQ community on the island have been working towards this result for many years.

‘We are ecstatic that Guernsey is now a more equal place to live and that the States have demonstrated their support for LGBTQ islanders, some of whom have waited a very long time to be able to get married.

‘Given that 80-90% of the population responded in favor of marriage equality in the 2015 States consultation, we are proud that the result of the vote corresponded with the majority of islanders’ clearly expressed wishes.

‘We would like to thank all of those in the States and the wider community who have worked so hard to bring this about, and we wish luck to all whose who will be hearing wedding bells in 2017!’

Source: www.gaystarnews.com