Congratulations! The first gay couple has married in Scotland
As Scotland’s same-sex marriage bill came into force this evening one couple married on the stroke of midnight.
Joe Schofield and partner Malcolm Brown tied the knot at 00:01 this Hogmanay, in a humanist ceremony. Theirs is also the first legally recognised Humanist same-sex wedding in the country. Humanist marriages remain unrecognised in England and Wales, meaning couples must also enter into a marriage at a Registry Office.
The move comes after the Scottish Parliament approved same-sex marriage with 105 votes to 18 in February 2014, and the law came into effect earlier this month.
First #humanist same-sex wedding due to take place in Scotland shortly after midnight https://t.co/TQt9Q5VCne pic.twitter.com/58n5aXG9dM
— Humanist Society (@humanistsociety) December 30, 2014
Scotland enforces a 15-day notice period for all weddings, so the first couples not converting to marriage from civil partnerships will marry from 00:01.
Joe and Maix, pictures of who were tweeted by the British Humanists, were believed to have been the first to marry under the new law, other than some 250 couples who already converted their civil partnerships to marriage since 16 December.
Our best wishes to newlyweds Joe and Malx, who’ve had Scotland’s first same-sex marriage at the stroke of midnight. A humanist wedding, too!
— British Humanists (@BHAhumanists) December 31, 2014
They married at the Trades Hall in Glasgow.
Another couple, Susan and Gerrie Douglas-Scott were to be married in private, and joined by the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie, who were to act as witnesses.
Scotland’s national poet Liz Lochhead and Scottish government minister Marco Biagi MSP were believed to have been present at the Schofield and Brown wedding.
