Britain legalised gay marriage on
Wednesday after Queen Elizabeth II gave her royal assent to a bill
approved by lawmakers, the culture ministry said.
Same-sex couples will be able to marry from next year after Prime
Minister David Cameron pushed the legislation through against the will
of dozens of his own Conservative lawmakers.
Members of parliament cheered as they were told the historic bill,
pushed through by Prime Minister David Cameron despite opposition
within his own party, had passed into law.
The first gay weddings are expected in the middle of next year as the
government is sorting out issues such as the impact on pensions.
“This is a historic moment that will resonate in many people’s lives,”
said Culture Minister Maria Miller, whose department was responsible
for the bill.
“I am proud that we have made it happen, and I look forward to the first same sex wedding by next summer.”
Lawmakers in parliament’s lower House of Commons formally approved the
bill on Tuesday night, a day after the upper House of Lords gave it the
nod.
The queen’s assent, given in her capacity as head of state, was then
announced in both chambers of parliament on Wednesday, at which point it
became law.
“I have to notify the House in accordance with the Royal Assent 1967
that Her Majesty has signified her Royal Assent to the following acts…
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill,” John Bercow, the speaker of the
House of Commons, told MPs.
The cheers that greeted the news belied the stormy passage that the
bill had through parliament, during which many of Cameron’s
Conservative lawmakers opposed it.
