Island With 48 Residents And No Gay Couples Legalises Gay Marriage

A tiny island that homes just 48 people has passed a law that legalises gay marriage - despite having no gay couples living there.

The Pacific Island of Pitcairn, a British Overseas Territory, has followed in the footsteps of England, Wales and Scotland by backing same-sex marriages.

The law was actually passed in May and islanders were apparently perfectly relaxed with the new rules.

Island resident Mirelda Warren told The Guardian that she has only known of one gay man on the island - but it didn’t stop them from voting the change through.

She said: “It’s not Pitcairn Islanders that were pushing for it.

“But it’s like anything else in the world. It’s happening everywhere else, so why not?”

Ms Warren, who is a seventh-generation resident, said that the law was not talked about since it passed, and has only been mentioned since news spread to the outside world.

She added: “I kind of cracked up when I saw the Google alert in my inbox.

“I scanned down, and smiled again, and thought ‘We’ve kept that one quiet for a couple of months’.’’

The news has been welcomed by same-sex marriage supporters, including Rodney Croome, the national director of Australian Marriage.

He said: “It shows how much the islanders value equality and inclusion.

“It effectively says that gay islanders belong on Pitcairn Island as much as anyone else, and that’s a positive message.”

Croome also suggested that couples who couldn’t marry in their home country could visit Pitcairn and marry there instead.

He added: “Assuming there’s not a residency requirement, I could imagine some couples from off the island might find it a romantic destination, including Australians who can’t marry in their own country.”

However, a potential stumbling block has emerged after it was revealed that the island’s only preacher is a Seventh-Day Adventist - a religion that opposes gay marriage.

The two-mile rock of Pitcairn was first settled in 1790 and is considered to be the world’s smallest country by population.

In 2004 the island was rocked by controversy after six men were jailed for child sex offences that had been going on for decades.