Richard Taki and Shane Scally married in Auckland Figures released to mark one year of marriage equality in New Zealand show there have been 926 same-sex weddings in New Zealand since August 19, 2013. They include 532 New Zealand couples, and 237 Australian pairs. “We are seeing continued national and international interest by same sex couples in getting married in New Zealand,” says Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Jeff Montgomery. “Almost 400 overseas couples have come to New Zealand to get married, which is great for our tourism industry.” Montgomery says more than 200 of the 532 New Zealand same-sex couples to marry in the past year have changed the form of their relationship from a civil union to a marriage. “There has been a drop in the number of same sex civil unions, to 20 per cent of the number before the law change took effect. A number of male/female couples continue to choose civil unions.” Montgomery says overall Births, Deaths and Marriages is really pleased the implementation of the changes to the law have gone so well. "Couples intending to get married, need to fill out a notice of intended marriage form and then one of the couple needs to bring the form to a Registry Office, make a statutory declaration in front of a Registrar of Marriages and pay the fee. Births, Deaths and Marriages, and our agents have issued a number of marriage licences for same sex couples which are valid for three months.” Same-sex marriage stats: • Female-Female = 520 (of these 119 were a change of relationship from civil union) o 333 couples from New Zealand o 118 couples from Australia o 11 couples from China o nine couples from Singapore o seven couples from United Kingdom • Male-Male = 406 (of these 95 were a change of relationship from civil union) o 199 couples from New Zealand o 120 couples from Australia o 17 couples from China o six couples from Thailand o six couples from the United Kingdom • Civil Unions = 66 (equivalent period 2012/13 = 331) o 15 were female couples o 13 were male couples o 38 were male/female couples
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 19th August 2014 - 9:23am