Today’s a landmark day for civil partnerships

Today marks a new landmark in achieving equality and equal rights in the UK as a change in law means couples in existing civil partnerships can now ask for their union to be recognised legally as marriage, if they wish.

Earlier this year, on 29 March 2014, we helped make history by conducting the UK’s first same sex wedding at Camden Town Hall. Today, many couples met with registrars to be the first to convert their civil partnership to a marriage.

There are two ways for couples to convert a civil partnership into a marriage. Either through a ‘standard conversion process’ where a Superintendent Registrars will sign a legal declaration along with the couples, or a ‘standard conversation’ followed by a ceremony, where civil partners can choose to mark the occasion with a marriage service following the signing of the declaration.

Adrian Turner and Stuart Warren’s civil partnership ceremony took place in September 2007. Adrian Turner said: “This marks a significant step on the sometimes rocky road to full equality and equal rights with the rest of the society to which we belong. It is the State recognising our relationship as being equal to heterosexual marriage. We will be proud to call each other husband.

”The couple told us they chose to get married in Camden as Adrian works in the borough. “Stuart and I are incredibly pleased that Camden has facilitated our being able to take part in a small way, in history, by making it possible for us to convert our civil partnership on the first day that it becomes possible.“

10 December is also Human Rights Day. There could not be a more auspicious day for it to become possible for civil partnerships to be converted to marriages!”