Gay Labour MP’s joyful marriage announcement celebrating equality goes viral: ‘Love wins’
Sydney and Labour MP Luke Pollard (R( are now married. (X/LukePollard)
Gay Labour MP Luke Pollard’s marriage announcement on X/Twitter has gone viral after he shared photos with the message “love wins.”
The MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, in Devon, married his partner a few weeks ago “in a small ceremony at Port Eliot in Cornwall”, he wrote on Sunday (1 September).
“Sydney is my rock and I’m a very happy man that I get to call him my husband,” Pollard said. “When I was growing up it was illegal for two men to marry. We have come a long way. Love wins.”
It has been more than 10 years since the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill came into force in England and Wales. The first same-sex marriages took place on 29 March 2014.
Pollard’s post, which has received more than 60,000 likes, has been commented on by more than 3,000 people, most of whom shared their well-wishes.
“Awwww, such lovely pictures. May your future together be filled with happiness and joy,” one person wrote. Another said: “Many congratulations, may you have a long and happy life together.”
In 2021, the MP revealed that he had been facing homophobic trolling on social media after posting a photo of himself and Sydney to mark Valentine’s Day. Much of the hate focused on an apparent age gap between the couple.
“Age gap” criticism is often targeted at gay men, to perpetuate homophobic tropes.
It wasn’t the first time the MP had been targeted by homophobes. Ahead of the 2019 election, in which Pollard faced a challenge from the notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ Ann Widdecombe, his constituency office was vandalised with homophobic graffiti.
He remained defiant, refusing “to let any bigot make me into a victim”.
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