Thursday, February 02, 2006

Lesbian Couple First to Wed in UK Army


(Link) "It was wonderful to get married and being the first was the icing on the cake. We want to be together forever," said one blushing 19-year-old bride.

1 comment:

LNewsEditor said...

JIC Post:
From News.com.au

A lesbian couple has become the first in the British army to tie the knot under the country's new civil partnership laws.

Sonya Gould, 19, and Vanessa Haydock, 18, both privates in the Royal Logistics Corps, exchanged vows before friends and family at the register office in Chippenham, Wiltshire in the west of England, The Sun newspaper reported today.

"It was wonderful to get married and being the first was the icing on the cake. We want to be together forever," said Haydock, pictured in The Sun kissing Gould in uniform – albeit not smack on the lips.

While they are the first homosexual couple in the British army to get hitched, they are not the first in the armed forces, after two Royal Air Force women sealed their civil partnership before Christmas last year.

"As an equal opportunities employer, the armed forces seeks to reflect the diverse community it serves," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, which until February 2000 banned gays and lesbians from the armed services.

"We are pleased that serving personnel who are registered in a same-sex relationship now have equal rights to those enjoyed by married couples."

Same-sex civil partnerships became possible on December 5 last year when a law came into force allowing gay and lesbian couples to obtain the same rights as heterosexuals in areas such as employment, pension and inheritance.