First Northern Irish Same-Sex Couple Turned Civil Partnership Into A Marriage

Cara McCann and Amanda McGurk were happily ‘married’ before. Still, in the face of legal issues, they are ‘partners.’ The lesbian couple could finally officially announced their status as a married couple on December 7th, calling it a ‘wonderful, positive change for society.’

The two stepped out of Belfast City Hall with celebratory gestures as they finally won their right to marry. Them, along with 1,300 other couples tied in ‘Civil Partnership,’ can now apply for a marriage status.

Cara spoke, after she walked out with her marriage certificate in hand, “We want to thank everyone who was part of this great movement for love and equality, and which has delivered this wonderful, positive change for our society.”

The DUP party has long opposed same-sex marriage law on religious grounds, Northern Ireland’s biggest party. This issue has been a longstanding crack to reestablishing powersharing status, Northern Ireland’s governing system.

“We fought long and hard for the right to marry,” said Cara.

This new change is brought after the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Act allowed marriage between same-sex couples only for those who have not yet applied for Civil Partnership. But the new change allows those in Civil Partnerships to apply for marriage within a 3-year window. Just this week, 32 couples have applied for their marriage certificate.

On the other hand, married couples are allowed to change their marital status to Civil Partnership reversely.

Cara and Amanda have long fought and marched for the Love Equality campaign. Expressing their happiness, Cara said, “It is just surreal that this day has come, and we feel so much more equal and valued today once we received our marriage certificate.”

“Marriage is universal, everyone across the globe knows what a marriage is.”

Both Cara and Amanda couldn’t believe that they’ll be living to see this happen during their lifetime. Amanda said, “This is the final piece in the jigsaw of the marriage equality campaign and I think Northern Ireland is definitely a different place today.”

“We have been campaigning and hoping for this day for many, many years and are delighted to be the first.”

With this change, the issues surrounding the LGTBQ+ community will hopefully receive more attention. Cara described how she and her partner were elated to be the first to see a ‘different’ Northern Ireland starting that day.