The 29th of March 2014 marked the date of my cities first same sex wedding which was proudly hosted in Brighton. Truly there was no better place to have it, Brighton which is known as the UK’s gay capital. This marks the start of many more happy couples officially becoming Husbands and Wives in the UK. I know as someone who asked my Partner to marry him/her last year that this is a wonderful event and although we don’t plan on having the wedding for at least another 4 years it’s wonderful to know that we have the freedom to do it.
I do feel that marriage is not as important as it once used to be however the idea of telling someone you want to spend the rest of your life with them is still a nice one. This marks a major breakthrough in equal rights for the LGBTQ community and hopefully this marks the start of many more both in and out of the UK. America has been making massive steps forward as well with many states now allowing same sex marriage.
Although this is wonderful news we still need to remember that the fight for equal rights is not over. There is still much work to be done for the LGBTQ community within schools, work, overseas and more. The Transgendered and non-binary communities are only just starting to gain the same sorts of rights that the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Communities were gaining 10-20 years ago. This is a massive victory but there is still a lot to do! I We can see the sun beginning to rise in the UK and given a bit more work hopefully the days of the LGBTQ community being a fringe outcast are over.
I look forward to a brighter future ahead of us and many more happy couples walking down the aisle!
"This is a massive victory but there is still a lot to do!"