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(Picture) First gay couple get married in UK

Published

10 years ago

March 30, 2014

Andrew Wale is a writer and actor. His
partner, Neil Allard, is a guesthouse owner. Together, they helped
make history.
After the clock struck midnight on Friday, the couple were among the
first men marrying men and women marrying women in a range of
ceremonies across England and Wales as a historic law legalizing
same-sex marriage finally comes into force.
Wale and Allard have long known they wanted to commit officially
and have waited five years for gay and lesbian couples to be able
exchange vows legally in their home country.
That day has finally come.
“When we were born, it was illegal to be gay, let alone get married,”
Wale, 49, said during last-minute preparations ahead of the wedding.
“I didn’t think about the possibility for most of my life. It is only
really recently that suddenly the option seemed to be on its way.”
Wearing velvet-collared three-piece suits with white flowers in their
buttonholes, the smiling couple of seven years hugged and kissed after
they became “husband and husband”.
The marriage law was the final victory in a long battle that has
secured the same age of consent as heterosexuals and the right to
adopt. England and Wales are among 15 countries as well as parts of
the United States and Mexico that allow same-sex marriage. The
Netherlands was the first in 2001, and last year Brazil, Uruguay,
New Zealand and France also joined the list.
The opulent splendor of the Royal Pavilion in the English city of
Brighton provided the backdrop to Wale’s and Allard’s marriage.
Theirs was the first same-sex wedding in a city that celebrates gay
pride every year and is proud of its history of inclusion.
As the winners of a competition by the local council to find the right
couple for the historic occasion, they exchanged vows shortly after
midnight beneath the nine lotus-shaped chandeliers hung from the
gilded cockleshell domed ceiling of the music room, where King
George IV’s guests were once entertained with Handel or Italian
opera.