Record number of same-sex couples in Northumberland tie the knot
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
It comes as more same-sex marriages took place across England and Wales than in any year since it became legalised in 2014.
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Hide AdCampaign group Out4Marriage said that the rapid growth rate of same-sex marriage illustrates why legalising it was so important.
Office for National Statistics data has revealed that 105 same-sex couples married in Northumberland in 2022. This was up from 56 in 2019 and was also the highest figure of any year since same-sex marriage was legalised in 2014.
Nationally, the number of couples getting married has steadily risen since then – including 7,800 in 2022, the largest figure on record and more than 10% higher than any other year.
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Hide AdBenjamin Cohen, co-founder of Out4Marriage, said: “Far from devaluing the institution of marriage as some opponents claimed at the time, same-sex marriage has enhanced and preserved the institution of marriage in our country.”
In Northumberland, 2,688 opposite-sex marriages took place in 2022 – up from 2,130 in 2019.
The ONS data also showed that those who did marry continued to do so later and later.
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Hide AdIn 2022, the median first-time marital age for men and women in opposite-sex relationships was 32.7 and 31.2 years old respectively, the highest figures since records began in 1846.
Meanwhile, cohabiting before marriage was more popular than ever – with nine in 10 married couples doing so in 2021 and 2022, the highest figures since records began in 1994.
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