Gay marriage nz

Same-sex marriage

Selected reading

Reports prepared for the 18th Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Washington D.C., July 2010 published in (2011) 19(1) Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law.

William N Eskridge Jr and Darren R Spedale Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? (OUP, New York, 2006).

Yuval Merin Equality for Lgbtq+ Couples (Chicago University Urge , Chicago and London, 2002).

Robert Wintemute and Mads Andenaes Legal Recognition of Homosexual Partnerships (Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland, 2001).

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Parliamentary Library

ISSN 2253-5624 (Print)

ISSN 2253-5632 (Online)

Disclaimer. Every effort has been made to ensure that the content of this manuscript is accurate, but no guarantee of accuracy can be given.

This work is licensed under the Artistic Commons Attribution 3.0 Recent Zealand licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and convert the work, as prolonged as you attribute the work to the Parliamentary Library and abide by the other licence te

Get a marriage licence

1. Start the form

Fill in all parts of the create, except the statutory declaration.

Notice of intended marriage form BDM 60 (PDF 229KB)

Notice of intended marriage form BDM 60 — accessible alternative (TXT 21KB)

2. Subscribe the form in front of a Registrar of Marriages

You or your boyfriend needs to grab the notice to your local Registrar of Marriages in person, so they can witness you signing the announcement. The address is on the form.

After you’ve signed the declaration and posted it to Births, Deaths and Marriages, you have to wait until you get the licence before getting married. It takes 3 days to obtain the licence. If you’re using a celebrant, you can have your licence sent directly to them by email or courier.

Signing the declaration is not your wedding ceremony.

You’ll need to declare:

you’re legally allowed to get married
you’ve been truthful on your marriage licence form
you’ve got consent from a Family Court judge if you’re 16 or 17.

3. Pay the fee

If you’re in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, pay the fee when you create the declaration in front of the Registrar of Marriages.

If you’re anywhere else in New Zealand, when you construct yo

New Zealand legalises homosexual marriage

"Nothing could construct me more haughty to be a New Zealander than passing this bill," she added.

Drag painter Jake Andrew said he learned of the news at a club in Hamilton.

"We cheered, yelled, cried and sang - it was just amazing," he told the BBC.

"I am so happy, not only because I can now marry the person I devote, but because Unused Zealand has moved a step further towards gay and lesbian people becoming completely equal with the rest of our society."

Tania Bermudez and Sonja Fry, a same-sex couple, said the bill was about human rights.

"It means that we can actually call each other wife," Ms Fry said.

However, Conservative Party leader Colin Craig said there were many people who disagreed with the bill.

"We're seeing the politicians make a decision tonight that the people of this country wouldn't make," he said.

Bob McCoskrie, founder of the lobby collective Family First, said the bill undermined the traditional idea of marriage.

"Historically and culturally, marriage is about male and a miss, and it shouldn't be touched," he said.

Marriage Equality Around the Earth

The Human Rights Campaign tracks developments in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage around the world. Working through a worldwide network of HRC global alumni and partners, we lift up the voices of community, national and regional advocates and give tools, resources, and lessons learned to empower movements for marriage equality.

Current State of Marriage Equality

There are currently 38 countries where same-sex marriage is legal: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.

These countries have legalized marriage equality through both legislation and court decisions.

Countries that Legalized Marriage Equality in 2025

Liechtenstein: On May 16, 2024, Liechtenstein's government passed a bill in favor of marriage equality. The law went into effe