Elton John to Get Married
Nine years into their civil partnership, Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish are planning to get married following recent changes to UK law. The couple are preparing for a low-key wedding in an English registry office this May.
Back in 2005, over 650 guests attended a ceremony in Windsor to celebrate the couple’s civil partnership. "We didn't think it would make much difference to our relationship, but it solidified our relationship," Sir Elton has stated about their original union. Since then, he and Furnish have demonstrated - even in the heady world of celebrities - a same-sex relationship can last just as long, if not longer, than a heterosexual one.
However it seems that the term ‘partner’ is not enough to describe the love Elton and David have for each other. Now that same-sex marriage has been legalised in the UK they have chosen to follow their hearts and become equally (and legally) bound in wedlock, just like any male/female couple. Furnish has said: "We don't feel the need to take an extra step legally. But since we're committed for life, we feel it's really important to take that step, and take advantage of that amazing change in legislation. We all live by example."
It has been a long and slow journey for couples like Elton and David. Homosexuality has been a controversial subject for many years, with same sex couples only relatively recently receiving wide-spread acceptance, which means that first civil partnerships – and now marriages – represent huge progress for the gay community.
"Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time - through the '60s and the '50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act”, Elton John acknowledged. "So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn't just say, 'Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We're not going to bother to get married.' We will get married.”
Congratulations on creating your soon-to-be identity as husband and husband, Mr and Mr John-Furness?
Published: 08 April 2014