Celebrating ten years of same-sex marriage

Marriage is of great importance in England and Wales. The principles of love and long-term commitment which underpin it bind society together and make it stronger.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed on 17th July 2013 (ten years ago today), and made the marriage of same-sex couples lawful in England and Wales. In doing so, the legislation granted same-sex couples the same opportunities previously afforded only to opposite-sex couples: to have a marriage solemnised by way of a civil ceremony.

Some of the key parts of the legislation that recognise same-sex marriages as being equal to opposite-sex marriages are as follows:

• Part 1(1) of Schedule 3 provides that references to marriage, to a married couple, or to a married person in existing England and Wales legislation should be read as including reference to marriage of a same-sex couple.

• Although ‘husband’ continues to mean the male married partner, Part 2 of Schedule 3 states that it will be taken to include a man married to another man. Likewise, ‘wife’ will include a woman married to another woman. This is significant as it represented an extension of traditional spousal names to same-sex couples in a way which was never achieved in previous legislation.

• Parties to a same-sex marriage entered into outside England and Wales are now treated as being married in England and Wales, regardless of whether the particular country provided for same-sex marriage at the time the 2013 Act came into force. This also means that parties who married overseas can petition for divorce in England in Wales.

Nine months after the first same-sex marriage was solemnised, it became possible to convert a civil partnership into a same-sex marriage, extending the opportunities granted to individuals in same-sex relationships. 

Between 2014 and 2019 (the last time the National Office of Statistics released data on this topic) there were 38,947 recorded same-sex marriages. As a result, at least 77,894 people in the UK have exercised their right to celebrate their love in the socially-sanctioned act of marriage.

The 2013 Act was therefore considered a huge step forward in achieving equality between the treatment of opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Whilst the legislation is about marriage, the impact has been much wider. It demonstrates society’s respect for all individuals, regardless of their sexuality, making our society fairer and more inclusive for all of its members.