Looking back on 10 years of same-sex marriages

The legislation was passed by the UK Parliament in July 2013 and took effect on March 13, 2014, with the first weddings taking place on March 29, 2014.
As marriage is a devolved matter, different parts of the UK legalised at different times; in Scotland, it has been recognised and performed since December 2014 and, in Northern Ireland, since January 2020. 
Civil partnerships, which offer most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage, have been recognised since 2005. 
The United Kingdom was the 27th country in the world and the 16th in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide.
The legislation was welcomed in Cumbria as elsewhere, and our main picture shows Lee Metcalfe and Kyle Thompson embracing at the Nan Tait, in Barrow, at what was believed to be the town’s first gay wedding.

They are also pictured walking back down the aisle after the ceremony in January 2015.

To mark the change in the law in Scotland, Gretna Green’s Famous Blacksmiths Shop wedding anvil received a gay makeover. The traditional black symbol of love, over which thousands of couples have married down the years, was transformed into a ‘rainbow of colour’ by artist Erin Colquhoun.

In March 2014, Ben Mahoney from Carlisle was pictured ahead of his marriage to fiancé William Grant. The pair are shown together on a night out.

The desire for equality was illustrated by gay rights activist Peter Patchell, who staged a protest at the wedding of the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.

In Amsterdam, a new law allowing same-sex marriage took effect in April 2001, and three couples who took advantage of it are pictured cutting their wedding cake.

The same year, TV show This Morning staged a ‘gay wedding’ prior to the legislation being passed.

Our final picture shows actress Sophie Ward, right, with her partner Rena Brannan, who, in July 2000, were also due to ‘wed’ at a ceremony in the Cotswolds.