Photo from the British Embassy Facebook Page
“Love is in the air! Congratulations to Mark and Richard who were married by Ambassador Daniel Pruce on #ValentinesDay. We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness,” the British embassy said on its Facebook page.
It was actually the 87th same-sex marriage conducted in the premises, the embassy said.
While same-sex marriage is not allowed in the Philippines under the Constitution and family laws — based on the majoritarian belief of marriage as a sacrament between one man and one woman — foreign embassies are given extraterritorial privileges under the Geneva Convention, such as immunity from intrusion, damage and disturbance by the host countries.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in Britain in 2014, and according to Wikipedia, the UK “provides one of the highest degrees of liberty in the world for its LGBT communities.”
The embassy said the UK “continues to champion the rights and equal treatment of all regardless of gender,” and used the hashtags #LoveIsGREAT #LoveIsLove. (PressONE.ph)