Shannon and Grainne tie the knot in UK's first gay 'marriage'
Mon Dec 19, 1:00 PM ET
BELFAST (AFP) - Lesbian lovers Shannon Sickels and Grainne Close became even closer when they became the first gay couple to get "married" in the United Kingdom as they tied the knot in Belfast City Hall.
To the strains of Dolly Parton's 1972 hit "Touch Your Woman", the pair were the first to take advantage of the new civil partnership law, which allows homosexual couples to obtain the same rights as heterosexual couples in areas such as employment, property, pension and inheritance.
Their union on Monday sparked protests outside the City Hall from those vehemently opposed to anything approaching gay "marriage".
Community worker Close, 32, who grew up in a Catholic family north of Belfast, met American playwright Sickels, 27, four years ago in New York.
As they emerged from the ceremony, Sickels said: "We are delighted. Here's to many more."
Both wore trouser-suits with a spray of pink flowers, Sickels clad in white and her spiky-haired partner in black.
The smiling pair did not kiss for the cameras but showed off the platinum diamond rings they designed themselves, before departing in a traditional black taxi.
"For us this is about making a choice to have our civil rights," Close told reporters beforehand.
"Acknowledged and respected and protected as any human being," Sickels continued.
"We could not be here without the hard work of many queer activists and individuals from the queer community. We feel very privileged and blessed to be able to be here doing this. We look forward to having a wonderful day. This is for all the people who went before us and all the people who would like to come after us."
Belfast couple Christopher Flanagan and Henry Kane were next in, arriving in a pink stretch limousine.
The law came into force in Northern Ireland on Monday, with Scotland to follow on Tuesday and England and Wales on Wednesday.
A large crowd gathered outside City Hall. Some protesters carried signs reading "Sodomy is sin". Gay rights campaigners waved placards reading: "Earth is flat. Bring back slavery."
Free Presbyterian clergyman David McIlveen told BBC television: "Homosexuality in the Bible is described as an abomination. You cannot place something that is unnatural on the same level as something that is natural."
Gay relationships were "totally unacceptable and contrary to the teaching of the Bible," the Protestant minister said.
"While the word marriage is not used in the ceremony, we do believe it is deemed and received by those taking part to be one thing only - marriage."
Some 1,200 couples are expected to tie the knot over the coming months, with rock star Elton John and his partner David Furnish set to be among the first wave.
Close and Sickels were the first to have a full civil parnership ceremony in a register office. However, an exception to the usual 15-day waiting period after registration was granted to a male couple in an English hospice on December 5 because one partner was hours from death.
Nearly 700 gay "marriages" were expected to take place within the first week in England and Wales.
The United Kingdom is the latest country in Europe to recognise some form of gay union, following Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as other European countries which officially recognise same-sex partnerships.
To create a civil partnership, a couple must first register their intent, undergo a compulsory waiting period, then go to a register office or other authorised place.
There they sign an official civil partnership document in front of a registrar and two witnesses. The ceremony is much like a civil wedding although the term "gay marriage" has no legal force and same-sex ceremonies are not allowed in church.
Northern Ireland is a conservative province with the Protestant and Catholic Churches taking a firm line on sexual morality.
The general age of consent is 17, a year older than in mainland Britain. However, it was 21 in the UK for gay men until the mid-1990s.
Homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 1982 after Belfast gay rights activist Jeffrey Dudgeon took the state to the European Court of Human Rights.
He was a guest at Sickels and Close's ceremony.
Dudgeon said: "It's only 20 years ago that we were jailed. Now we are allowed to get married."
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