One in Eight New Scottish Marriages Are Gay Marriages

One in eight marriages in Scotland are between same-sex couples, new figures reveal.

The National Records for Scotland says that of the 3,889 marriages that have taken place in the country since gay marriage was introduced, 462 involved couples of the same sex – nearly 12 percent.

In the same time there were just 20 civil partnerships, 12 male and eight female, 57 fewer than before gay marriage was enacted.

The huge rise in gay couples getting married may be due to a temporary rush after the rules were changed.

In total, the number of marriages increased by 340 since the first quarter of 2014 – a rise of 9.6 per cent.

Colin Macfarlane, director of Stonewall Scotland, told the Daily Record: “The fact that nearly 500 same-sex couples have married since January shows just how important equal marriage is to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

“There can be no denying that the policy of equal marriage has been a huge success.”

The figures also show deaths in Scotland were at their highest level for 15 years, with an 18.4 per cent increase compared to the first quarter of 2014. The main reason was an increase in deaths from circulatory and respiratory diseases.

The birth rate also fell, with 13,320 births registered in the first quarter of 2015, 4.4 per cent fewer than in the same period last year.

This was the lowest number of births in a first quarter since 2003.