Ten couples will make history in Brighton & Hove when they are married at the same time in Brighton Town Hall on the first day the law allows.
ALL TEN couples are presently civil partners and will be converting their existing civil partnerships into marriages at 10am on Wednesday December 10, 2014.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act came into effect on Saturday 29 March 2014. At that time there was no legal way for couples in civil partnerships to be married. This inequality will be rectified when conversions begin this December for any civil partners who choose to take up the option to be married.
Cllr Ollie Sykes, lead councillor for city services, said: “This is another great day for Brighton & Hove in terms of marriage equality. I would like to congratulate the ten happy couples on their special day. And I would also like to thank all of the couples for helping us celebrate the final step in law towards marriage equality.”
All ten couples will be given a commemorative certificate to mark their involvement in the December 10 celebration.
Linda Holm, Brighton & Hove City Council Superintendent Registrar, said: “It has been an absolute privilege to lead the Registrar team through this year of historic changes in the law and to achieve greater equality for same sex couples.
“We have been contacted by many couples keen to book with us to convert their civil partnership to marriage. So we chose to offer the chance to be the first to do so to as many couples as possible. We have had an enormous amount of interest with bookings from about 150 couples so far. We are delighted that we are able to have such a key role in helping civil partners become legally married.”
The ten couples to be married are:
1. Jim and Raymond, Civil Partners from December 2005, Bournemouth, Dorset
2. Ian and Ron, Civil Partners from January 2006, Brighton: Ian and Ron have been together 52 years
3. John and Ion, Civil Partners from May 2006 in High Wyecombe, Buckinghamshire: John and Ion have been together for 36 years
4. John and Aaron, Civil Partners from November 2007, Brighton Town Hall
5. Michael and Francis, Civil Partners from January 2008, Brighton Town Hall
6. Diane and Angela, Civil Partners from June 2010, Brighton Town Hall
7. Neil and Tom, Civil Partners from August 2011 in Sandon, Staffordshire
8. Peter and Philip, Civil Partners from December 2011, Wandsworth, London: Peter and Philip’s anniversary is on the 10 December
9. Krysten and Faye, Civil Partners from March 2013, Shoreditch, London
10. Paul and Peter, Civil Partnered June 2013, Brighton Town Hall
The couples will attend a champagne reception at Moshimo in Bartholomew Square after they are married.