Isle of Man legalises same-sex marriage
By Will Stroude
The Isle of Man has approved plans to introduce same-sex marriage.
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Amendment) Bill – which was introduced in England and Wales in March 2014 – has been approved at third reading by the Legislative Council by six votes to three, the BBC reports.
The move comes less than ten years after the age of consent for male same-sex relations was equalised in the self-governing Crown dependency, which sits in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Ireland.
Homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1992, while civil partnerships were introduced in in 2011.
Responding to the news on Facebook, local LGBT support charity The Manx Rainbow Association said the changes showed the island – which is home to just over 85,000 people – was “shaking off its dark past”.
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