Green Signal for Same-sex religious weddings

The prohibition on religious marriages on same sex-couples has been removed from September 1, 2020.

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 has removed the prohibition and paved way for the opening of same-sex couple religious ceremonies.

Thus, the same-sex couples in Northern Ireland can have religious functions from September 1, 2020 as the new regulation came into existence.

Same-sex civil nuptials became authorized in Northern Ireland in January with respect to regulations laid in line with the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019, which required the Northern Ireland Secretary to announce secondary lawmaking providing for same-sex marriage and greater access to abortion if devolution was not restored by 21 October 2019.

Government of the United Kingdom is also planning to introduce separate regulations that allows the conversion of same-sex civil partnership to marriages. Even though there exists an idea like this no one know when this will happen.

The new amendment was very much important for the couples in Northern Ireland, previously they weren’t having the provision to marry in their own church because of the law, said Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, Patrick Corrigan to the BBC News.

“We now urge the government to finish the job of marriage equality in Northern Ireland without further delay, by allowing couples in civil partnerships to convert to married status if they so wish.” He added.