Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

has been legal in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

since 1 July 2018. The

States Assembly The States Assembly (; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable of each of the twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of Jersey lie in the system of self-government according ...

passed a bill 42–1 allowing same-sex couples to marry on 1 February 2018.

Royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

was granted on 23 May 2018, and the law took effect on 1 July. Jersey followed the other

Crown Dependencies The Crown Dependencies are three dependent territory, offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the The Crown, British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, both lo ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in legalising same-sex marriage, after the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

in 2016 and

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

(excluding

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

and

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

) in 2017.

Civil partnerships A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...

providing a subset of the rights and benefits of marriage have also been available for same-sex couples since 2012. A bill for legalisation received royal assent on 14 December 2011 and was registered in the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

on 6 January 2012. It took effect on 2 April 2012.

Civil partnerships

In August 2009,

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Terry Le Sueur Terence Augustine Le Sueur Order of the British Empire, OBE was Chief Minister of Jersey between 2008 and 2011. He was born at Millbrook, Saint Helier, and was educated at De La Salle College, Jersey and Oxford University, where he was the Kin ...

announced that a bill to allow

civil partnerships A civil union (also known as a Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. Civi ...

(, ; , ) offering same-sex couples some of the rights and benefits of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, would be drafted and be due for introduction to the Assembly of the

in October 2009. On 20 October 2009, the Assembly voted in favour of civil partnerships "in principle". The vote was 48 in favour, 1 against and 4 abstaining. A draft bill legalising civil partnerships was approved by the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

on 24 March 2011 and introduced to the Assembly on 31 May. The Assembly passed it on 12 July 2011. On 14 December 2011, the bill received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

and was registered in the

on 6 January 2012. In March 2012, the Government of Jersey issued orders implementing the law, which took effect on 2 April 2012. In March 2022, the States Assembly passed a bill allowing opposite-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships as well. It would also allow married couples to convert their marriage into a civil partnership. The law entered into force on 24 March 2023. Civil partnerships were similarly extended to opposite-sex couples in the United Kingdom in 2019.

Same-sex marriage

Legislative action

On 28 May 2014, Deputy Sam Mézec of the

Reform Jersey Reform Jersey is a centre-left social democracy, social-democratic political party in Jersey. In all general elections since 2014, Reform has won the most seats of any party in the States Assembly. However, it has not won a majority of seats in ...

party submitted a proposition asking the States Assembly to support, in principle, the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, and to request the

to prepare the necessary draft legislation to give effect to the proposal. On 8 July 2014, the Assembly voted for an amendment to the proposal, introduced by Senator Ian Le Marquand, to request the Chief Minister to present a detailed study into the effects of allowing same-sex marriage by 31 December 2014. The amendment was passed by 24 votes to 18 and the amended proposition by 39 to 1. On 26 November 2014, Chief Minister Ian Gorst submitted a report, which included a commitment to introduce legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in civil and religious ceremonies by the end of 2017, and to create safeguards for religious organisations and officials who do not wish to conduct same-sex marriages, among others. On 14 July 2015, the Chief Minister submitted a proposition to ask the States to decide whether they agree, in principle, that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry and to request that the draft legislation necessary to implement it be introduced for approval by the States no later than January 2017. It was approved by the Assembly on 22 September 2015, 37 to 4. On 14 March 2017, following an oral question by Deputy Mézec, the Chief Minister stated that the bill would be lodged in anticipation for debate in the summer of 2017 and would come into force by December of the same year. However, on 8 September 2017, the Chief Minister said that the bill would be delayed and that it would not be in force until at least spring 2018. A draft same-sex marriage bill was eventually introduced to the States Assembly on 3 October 2017. The States debated the bill on 16 November 2017 and agreed to its principles but sent it for further review to the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel. The panel's report was presented to the States on 29 January 2018. Controversially, the report included a recommendation asking the States to approve a "tolerance clause" in the bill, which would have allowed traders to refuse to serve same-sex couples goods and services in accordance with their

religious beliefs A belief is a subjective attitude that something is true or a state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some stance, take, or opinion about something. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to ...

. The "tolerance clause" was strenuously opposed by equality and diversity campaigners in Jersey. The equality charity Liberate organised an online petition that received over 5,000 signatures opposing the inclusion of the clause. The charity gathered key support from members of church groups and wedding suppliers opposing the clause. A final vote on the bill by the States occurred on 1 February 2018, where it passed 42–1. The tolerance clause amendment was rejected by a vote of 40–5. The bill was granted

in the Privy Council on 23 May 2018 and registered in the Royal Court on 1 June. On 26 June, the States approved a proposition to commence the law on 1 July 2018. The first same-sex marriage was performed on 9 July 2018 in

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

between Neil Renouf and John Cronin. The ''Marriage and Civil Status (Amendment No. 4) (Jersey) Law 2018'' defines "same sex marriage" as "the marriage of 2 persons of the same sex and includes a marriage by conversion rom a civil partnership. It also amended Jersey law to state that:

Subsequent changes

In September 2023, the government announced its intention to introduce legislation granting automatic recognition to same-sex parents, allow both same-sex parents to be named on a Jersey

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...

and afford parent status and responsibility to parents whose child was born to a surrogate mother. A law was passed unanimously by the States in March 2024. It received royal assent in the Privy Council on 2 October and was registered in the Royal Court on 11 October as the ''Children and Civil Status (Amendments) (Jersey) Law 2024''.

Statistics

In 2021, Statistics Jersey estimated that 0.2% of the adult Jersey population were in same-sex marriages.

Religious performance

On 15 November 2023, the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

voted to allow clergy to bless same-sex marriages. The measure, which passed with a one vote majority, took effect on 17 December 2023. Jersey is part of the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset (which excludes the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, ...

, whose bishop, Stephen Lake, voted in favour of blessing same-sex unions. The

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council. M ...

has allowed its ministers to conduct same-sex marriages since 2021. The Methodist Conference voted 254 to 46 in favour of the move in June 2021. A freedom of conscience clause allows ministers with objections to opt out of performing same-sex weddings. The smaller

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

has allowed its churches to perform same-sex marriages since 2016.

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

formally expressed support for same-sex marriage in 2009.

References

External links

* * {{Status of same-sex unions

2018 in LGBTQ history