After half a century of waiting – this gay couple were finally allowed to tie the knot
While many same-sex couples celebrated as they converted their civil partnerships to marriage starting yesterday, one couple had waited longer than most.
Percy Steven, 75, and Roger Lockyer, 87, became one of the first couples in the UK to convert their civil partnership to a marriage yesterday at Westminster Council.
But having been together for 49 years, it was long overdue.
When they first got together, gay sex was still illegal, and when civil partnerships were introduced in 2005, they were one of the first to enter one.
Lockyer told the Guardian that being able to refer to themselves as married, finally, was “really rather lovely”.
On signing the marriage certificate at Westminster Council, he said: “I feel different already.”
