UNITED KINGDOM: Guernsey Approves Marriage, Northern Ireland Now Last Holdout Of British Isles

Patrick Strudwick reports at Buzzfeed:

Campaigners, politicians, and members of the public are celebrating a historic vote in the States of Guernsey, which on Wednesday finally approved the introduction of same-sex marriage by 33 votes to five. It makes Northern Ireland now the only part of the British Isles without marriage equality, following similar successful campaigns in Jersey and the Isle of Man. The vote came just 11 days after the Channel Islands celebrated Pride.

A preliminary vote in December 2015 made today’s move a near certainty but a second, free vote has secured a victory for equality campaigners. It comes over a year after Guernsey launched a public consultation into marriage for LGBT people, with 90% of respondents declaring support for “a non-discriminatory equitable system for the legal recognition of committed couples”, and over 10 years since the States of Guernsey first agreed to consider same-sex marriage rights.

Guernsey has a population of 62,000.

Today the States approved the Same-Sex marriage legislation. It will now go to UK for Royal Sanction & then return to the States in 2017. pic.twitter.com/8truHAeolt

— States of Guernsey (@Govgg) September 21, 2016