The tiny Channel Island of Alderney has just voted to legalise same-sex marriage.
The change in the law was voted through at a States meeting last night, with nine members voting in favour and one abstaining, ITV News reports.
There are approximately 2,000 people who live on the island, which is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency.
Alderney Corbletts Beach
“There are people who wish to take immediate advantage of this law when it comes into force and I wish them the best for the future,” chairman of the Policy and Finance Committee James Dent.
“They will make a piece of history.”
The law will be enacted after it is approved by the Queen and her Privy Council, which is a constitutional formality.
The only member at the ten-strong States meeting who didn’t back the proposal was its Vice President Ian Tugby.
He claimed he had originally planned to vote yes, but changed his mind after residents apparently contacted him about concerns they had for children and “confused messages”.
One gay couple, Dits Preece and Alan Jones, saw the decision being made from the public gallery.
Alderney Fort Clonque
Despite being together for 15 years, they have been putting off getting married until they can get married at home in Alderney.
The first same-sex marriages in the UK took place in 2014, but the laws for England, Scotland and Wales do not apply to the Channel Islands.
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