Story: Marriage and partnering

Legalisation of same-sex marriage, 2013

Legalisation of same-sex marriage, 2013

Natasha Vitali (left) and Melissa Ray married in Auckland on 19 August 2013, the first day same-sex marriage was possible in New Zealand. They are shown here during the ceremony, looking down the aisle as their marriage licence is brought into the church. Over the following three months more than 100 same-sex couples would marry, one-third of them overseas couples who were unable to do so in their home country. Well over a third of the New Zealanders were already in civil unions, the number of which fell dramatically after same-sex marriage was legalised. 

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New Zealand Herald
Reference: 190813NZHGBWED12.JPG
Photograph by Greg Bowker

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How to cite this page:

Megan Cook, 'Marriage and partnering - Loosening rules, expanding choices: partnering from the late 1960s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/43386/legalisation-of-same-sex-marriage-2013 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Megan Cook, published 5 May 2011, updated 1 May 2017