Chief Pleas approves same-sex marriage
WHILE Sark may be the last of the Channel Islands to approve same-sex marriages, it was actually the first to ask about implementing the changes some years ago.
Proposals for the new law were approved by Sark’s Chief Pleas at its Michaelmas meeting and this week members ratified the law itself.
This is now being sent to the Privy Council and Guernsey’s Royal Court, where it will need to be ratified before coming into force.
Policy & Finance Committee president Peter La Trobe-Bateman said the island could have been the first to adopt the changes: ‘It was quite frustrating for us because we brought this up to the law officers years ago,’ he said.
‘They said that until the rest of the Bailiwick does it, it would be very difficult for us. They were worried about us setting a precedent so we ended up being last.’
Sark was ahead of the rest of the Bailiwick in allowing couples to marry anywhere, however, and Conseiller La Trobe-Bateman said this had already proven popular.
Once the same-sex marriage law comes into effect, expected to be February next year, the island is hoping that the tourism industry will receive a boost.
He said enhancements to La Seigneurie Gardens, such as the opening of an amphitheatre in its grounds, are likely to lead to the site being promoted as a wedding venue.
