Civil Partnerships Anniversary

Fifth anniversary of Civil Partnerships

Tuesday 21 December marks the fifth anniversary of the first Civil Partnerships taking place in England and Wales. Since the ceremonies were introduced in 2005 more than 40,000 couples have registered their relationships.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said:

“Civil Partnerships have been more successful than any of us dared to imagine, and I’m delighted to see that more than 40,000 lesbian and gay couples have made a formal, legal commitment to each other over the past five years. I especially want to send congratulations to all the couples celebrating their fifth anniversaries today!

“As well as benefiting the couples who have registered their unions, the introduction of Civil Partnerships has helped make a real, positive change in the way society thinks about lesbian, gay and bisexual people. As a Government we’re committed to building on this progress, which is why we’re currently looking at what the next steps for Civil Partnerships could be.”

Facts about Civil Partnerships

• Since the Civil Partnership Act came into effect on 21 December 2005, more than 40,000 Civil Partnerships have been registered.
• In 2009 (the most recent year for which detailed figures are available) the local authority areas with the largest number of Civil Partnership registrations were the London Borough of Westminster (with 182 male couples and 60 female couples) and Brighton & Hove (with 123 male couples and 109 female couples)
• In 2009 the mean average age of men forming a Civil Partnership was 41.2 years. For women it was 38.9 years. For straight couples, the average age at first marriage was 32.1 years for men and 29.9 years for women.
• Celebrity couples who have registered Civil Partnerships include: Elton John and David Furnish; John Barrowman and Scott Gill; Alan Cumming and Grant Shaffer; and Clare Balding and Alice Arnold.
• In March 2010, former minister Chris Bryant and his partner Jared Cranney became the first couple to register a Civil Partnership in the Houses of Parliament.