More overseas residents had same-sex marriages in New Zealand in the June quarter than local couples. Tasmanian couple Lee Bransden and Sandra Yates married in Rotorua in May The latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show that of the 188 same-sex nuptials in the three months, 100 were between couples from overseas. Anecdotally, many of the couples from offshore marrying in New Zealand are believed to be from Australia, the remaining Western nation without any kind of marriage equality. Among them were Lee Bransden and Sandra Yates, a couple from Tasmania, who married in Rotorua in May. Bransden has a terminal illness and the couple want to get married, but couldn’t at home. People from all over the world rallied to fundraise so they could marry in New Zealand. The September 2014 quarter was the last time overseas same-sex weddings outnumbered local ones. There were just six same-sex civil unions in the June quarter, marking a continued decline since marriage equality came into effect almost two years ago. Eighteen more gay couples transferred their civil unions to marriages. In all, 114 female couples married in the quarter, along with 74 male couples. Since 19 August 2013, there have been 1,754 same sex marriages since the law change, of which 785 were among couples from overseas.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 6th August 2015 - 9:46am