Celebrations as hundreds of gay couples queue up to tie the knot
LOUISE GRAY
HUNDREDS of same-sex couples flocked to registry offices across the country yesterday to apply for the first gay weddings in Britain.
Sir Elton John and his long-term partner David Furnish were among the first couples to take advantage of the new civil partnerships law that will allow same-sex couples to "marry" in two weeks' time.
In Scotland, Edinburgh City Council said that 76 applications have been handed in so far.
Registrars across the rest of the country saw a steady stream of applications, with around 1,000 delivered on the day the Civil Partnership Act came into effect in Britain.
In the next five years, up to 22,000 couples are expected to register.
But the real sign of a change in Britain's social make-up was the inclusion of Civil Partnerships in the Births, Marriages and Deaths column of the Times.
The 221-year-old column included three notices of upcoming ceremonies between gay couples.
At a party to celebrate the new laws in Glasgow, Jane Carnall, of the Equality Network, said the change in the law showed once and for all that same-sex relationships were recognised in modern society.
She said: "Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender relationships were, until today, virtually invisible to the law - now this invisibility is lifted."
But as well as the champagne and cake, Equality Network were handing out leaflets to explain the implications of civil partnership, including pensions, benefits, inheritance - and divorce.
At Edinburgh's India Buildings on Victoria Street, a lesbian couple were the first to apply this morning. The city is proving the most popular in Scotland for civil partnerships, with 34 male couples and 32 female couples applying so far. Five couples are already booked in for 20 December, when the first marriages will be allowed.
Because of a bureaucratic blunder, couples in Scotland will be able to wed a day before England and Wales, meaning the first same-sex couple to register in mainland Britain will be in Edinburgh. Northern Ireland will be first, on 19 December.
John Maguire and Laurence Scott-Mackay, both in their mid-thirties, who work for an IT company in California, will wed at the India Buildings at 9:30am.
The couple then plan a wedding breakfast at Edinburgh Castle, where Richard Holloway, a former bishop, will conduct a blessing ceremony.
In Glasgow, eight couples have applied for civil partnership. In Dundee three couples have applied , two before Christmas and one in the new year. In Aberdeen five couples attended the registrar's office to apply to marry in December.
In Dumfries and Galloway, which includes the popular registry office at Gretna Green, four couples have applied.
Malcolm Chisholm, the communities minister, welcomed the legislation. He said: "Scotland will be stronger and more successful if we celebrate diversity and the ways in which different cultures, ideas and experiences enrich Scottish life."
But there are concerns that the law will lead to an increase in homophobic attacks.
Dr Teela Sanders, a sociology lecturer at Leeds University, said that ideally, the law will increase tolerance. But she warned it could also cause problems:
"Gay couples should brace themselves for an increasing and predictable religious backlash."
The Scottish Catholic Church will not bless gay unions, but the Church of Scotland leaves the decision up to individual ministers.
And yesterday the Holy Trinity Metropolitan Community Church in Edinburgh was actively encouraging gay couples to come and receive a blessing following a civil partnership.
Happy day for partners who at last have law behind them
SUSAN and Gerrie Douglas-Scott have been in a relationship for more than eight years.
Both were previously married and have five children aged 12 to 25. For the pair, yesterday was a happy day.
"It won't make any difference to how we feel because we're already committed to each other," said Susan, 45, who works as the chief executive of the charity Epilepsy Scotland. "It will give us the same legal rights that married couples have, but we also want to make that public declaration of our love for each other.
"I think a lot of people enjoy that process, but to do the big celebration without the legal system being behind us would have felt false."
The couple plan to hold a civil partnership ceremony on 21 March, which they will follow with a commitment ceremony four days later, attended by 150 friends and family.
They say that both their families have been very supportive of their decision to take this step.
Gerrie, 50, a therapist, humanist celebrant and management consultant, was concerned at how local authorities approached the legislation.
"We are disappointed that many councils don't have equivalent ceremonies to marriage ceremonies. The law doesn't require a public declaration - no 'I do' - and I think that takes away from the ceremony.
"Glasgow has said it will look at offering the same respect to same-sex couples as heterosexual couples. But this ceremony will complete our relationship."
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