Legal (permitted by law and recognised by the state):
- Opposite-sex church weddings (couple legally married and registered)
- Same-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings
- Opposite-sex marriages in a register office / registered premises for weddings
- Religious civil partnerships (civil partnership ceremonies in a religious building)
- same-sex blessings in a church / synagogue
- same-sex marriages in a church / synagogue where the marriage is recognised by the church / synagogue but not by the state
- Pagan handfastings (weddings) in England & Wales - both same and opposite sex
- Pagan same-sex handfastings in Scotland
- Blessings of polyamorous relationships
- Same-sex church weddings (couple legally married and registered)
- Opposite-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings
- Same-sex marriages in a register office / registered premises for weddings
- Marrying more than one person
Another difficulty is that if a transsexual married to a person of the opposite sex to their original sex wants to change their birth certificate to reflect their new sex, they would have to divorce their partner (whereas if same sex marriage were legal, they could stay married).
- Pagan opposite-sex handfastings where the celebrant says the required form of words (the same as for all other legal weddings)
3 comments:
The phrase "where the celebrant says a particular form of words" on Scottish legal Handfastings makes it seem different to other religious marriages in Scotland - it is not...all religious marriages (and in fact all civil marriages too) must use the same "form of words" to make them legal (the declarations by the couple that they take each other as husband/wife, and the following declaration by the celebrant that the couple are now recognised as being married)
yes that's what I meant, but I agree it might sound as if it was something different.
UPDATE: Religious civil partnerships are now legal in the UK, and some have actually happened. the first place to register for them was Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester, and the first place to perform one was Ullet Road Unitarian Church, Liverpool.
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