The United Kingdom became the latest (after the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Spain) to legally permit homosexual marriages. After decades of political campaigning, as many as 1,200 ceremonies were scheduled to take place once the law was changed.

The first ceremonies under the new Civil Partnerships Act took place December 19th, in Northern Ireland, followed by Scotland the next day and England and Wales on the 21st. Retailers were already on the bandwagon with new “Mr. & Mr.” and “Mrs. & Mrs.” invitation cards.

Meg Munn, Minister for Women and Equality, said, “The legislation requires that every authority must offer a civil partnership. The basic level of that is a simple signing of a register—some couples may just want that alone. But if any councils are saying they won’t allow [public] ceremonies, for couples who want that kind of celebration, then it’s time they came into the 21st century.”

Source: BBC News