Marriage equality becomes reality
For the first time, same-sex couples marry in New Zealand, one of them above the clouds.
On 19 August 2013, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act came fully into force in New Zealand. For the first time, same-sex couples could marry under the same legal conditions as different-sex couples. The law defined marriage as the union of two people, opening it in law to couples regardless of the partners' gender.
The political decision had already been taken in April. Parliament had passed the bill introduced by Labour MP Louisa Wall at its third reading by 77 votes to 44. Putting it into practice, however, took a few months. Forms, registers and IT systems had to be adapted before the new rules could actually be applied on 19 August.
The first day was celebrated very visibly. 31 same-sex couples married on that date. They included Lynley Bendall and Ally Wanikau, whose ceremony was anything but ordinary: they said "I do" on an Air New Zealand flight between Auckland and Queenstown, at an altitude of around 9,000 metres. The guests included the US actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson from "Modern Family".
The reform had symbolic significance beyond New Zealand. The country was the first in the Asia-Pacific region to open marriage to same-sex couples nationwide. The contrast with Australia, where corresponding changes in the law still lay far in the future, was particularly striking at the time. For some Australian couples, New Zealand therefore even became a wedding destination for a while.