The Government has recently announced that it will begin consulting in March 2012 on how to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples.

Currently, civil marriages are only open to opposite sex couples and civil partnerships are only open to same-sex couples.

The consultation will look at civil marriage of same-sex couples, but it will not include consultation on civil partnerships for opposite sex couples or religious marriage for same-sex couples.

Earlier this year, the government announced that religious buildings will be allowed to host civil partnership registrations. The change, which will be entirely voluntary and will not force any religious group to host civil partnership registrations if they do not wish to do so, is being introduced as part of the Equality Act 2010. It will give same-sex couples, who are currently prevented from registering their civil partnership in a religious setting, the chance to do so.

The government will be laying the necessary regulations by the end of this year in order to allow the first civil partnership on religious premises to take place as soon as possible in the new year. This is a separate piece of work to the consultation on same-sex marriage.