Elton John keen to wed after passing of equal marriage bill
Sir Elton John has revealed that he is keen to marry his civil partner David Furnish, describing the introduction of equal marriage in England and Wales as a “gift.”
Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 66-year-old singer said: “Absolutely, we’re going to get married. We had our civil partnership on the first day it was legally possible. Same-sex people have been waiting a long time for things to happen to them.
“I’ve been through hell [throughout] my 50s and 60s and even before then, so when a government gives you this legislation, which is so wonderful and we didn’t expect it to come so soon in society, then you seize it by the horns and you say, ‘Yes, we’re gonna do this because it’s such a gift and we never thought we’d have it’.”
Sir Elton John and David Furnish were among the very first couples in the UK to enter a civil partnership, holding a ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on the day the legislation came into force in December 2005. Same-sex marriage in the England and Wales was given Royal Assent and became law in July this year.
Speaking about life in a civil partnership, the star said: “It did make a difference when we had our civil partnership. When we exchanged vows it made our relationship stronger. We’re 20 years together this year, but commitment like that really strengthened our relationship.”
He added: “Now, with the marriage thing, we won’t have a big wedding because we already did that with our civil partnership.”
Sir Elton John and David Furnish have been a couple since 1993, and have two sons together. They celebrated the arrival of 2-year-old Zachary in 2010, while their second son, Elijah, was born in January this year.
The pair were recently named London’s fifth most influential couple by the London Evening Standard.
Earlier this week, Russian anti-gay groups called on authorities to ban Sir Elton from performing in Moscow in December.
