Equality charities rejoice at passing of same-sex marriage laws

Equality charities are rejoicing today after news that same-sex marriage has been approved in Jersey.

The States voted to pass the new marriage laws last night, 42 pour - 1 contre.

Earlier in the sitting, politicians also voted by 40 votes to 5 to reject a clause, which would have allowed traders to refuse to serve same-sex couples if it was deemed incompatible with their religious beliefs.

The law now has to go to Privy Council for Royal Assent. The charity claim this could take about three months and they expect to see same sex couples walking down the aisle in Jersey by early May 2018.

Liberate was gathering support to reject the 'tolerance clause' and achieved 5,237 signatures from countries all over the world, including Russia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Romania, the USA.

In a statement, the charity wrote they wished 'to thank the Chief Minister Ian Gorst and his team for their determination that this was the right thing to do for the island and their unwavering support throughout the process, even when things didn’t go to plan'.