British pop legend Sir Elton John plans to marry his long-time partner David Furnish following changes to laws in the United Kingdom.
“We’ll do it very quietly,” Elton said in a US television interview, “but we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion.”
Elton’s partner David Furnish told an entertainment publication that they would marry in an English registry office in May.
The couple have been civil partners since 2005.
“I’m very proud of Britain and the laws that we’ve seen come into existence since we’ve been together,” Sir Elton said.
“Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time – through the ’60s and the ’50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act.
“So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn’t just say, ‘Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We’re not going to bother to get married.’ We will get married.”
