In a landmark moment for LGBT rights the Scottish Parliament has passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes to 18. We are delighted that Scotland has become the 17th country to legalise same sex marriage nationwide.

Thirty-four years after Scotland decriminalised homosexuality in 1980, the final major piece of sexual orientation discrimination has been removed from Scots law.

This is an opportunity to celebrate the significant progress that has been made and to recognise all the work that generations of LGBT people in Scotland have put into fighting for equal rights over the course of many decades to get us to this point.

Achieving equality under the law doesn’t guarantee an end to the barriers, prejudice and discrimination that LGBT people continue to face in society. And there is still a great deal of progress to be made in order to achieve full legal equality for trans and intersex people. So we will continue to work tirelessly to bring about equality in law, and in policy and practice, for all LGBT people.

As six years of campaigning for equal marriage draws to an end, we want to say
a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Equal Marriage campaign over that time, and all those who have supported our work for LGBT equality in Scotland over the past 17 years.