Gay Marriage - In the Army, in Parliament

It's just as well that the US wingnuts don't pay too much attention to developments this side of the Atlantic. These pictures simultaneously celebrate two of their biggest nightmares: gay marriage, in the military!

From The Independent:

One groom wore ceremonial uniform with his Iraq medal, the other morning dress with an orchid. Surrounded by silverware and paintings commemorating great battles, Lance Corporal James Wharton, 23, and his new husband enjoyed their first dance to Tina Turner in the warrant officers' mess of the most prestigious regiment in the land.

The Household Cavalry, famed for escorting the Queen during state occasions and the fact that it counts both her grandsons among its officers, celebrated its first gay wedding in style. L/Cpl Wharton was joined in a civil partnership with his boyfriend, the Virgin air steward Thom McCaffrey, 21, surrounded by members of L/Cpl Wharton's regiment, the Blues and Royals.

Meanwhile, in rather a grand weekend for marriage equality here in the UK, gay government minister Chris Bryant was able to hold his own "marriage" (OK, civil partnership) in the grand setting of the British Houses of Parliament.

Europe Minister Chris Bryant became the first homosexual MP to enter into a civil partnership in the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

The Labour MP for Rhondda, a former Church of England clergyman, tied the knot with his partner Jared Cranney, a company secretary.

The ceremony took place in the Members’ Dining Room, overlooking the Thames, after the Speaker John Bercow gave his permission for it to go ahead.

(Read more: Daily Mail)