Humanist Weddings Deserve Legal Status Now, Not Later | Column

Column. Humanist weddings are legal in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey. In England and Wales, they still are not. On Thursday, 24 September, a government consultation on marriage law reform closed. The wait may finally be ending. It should end faster.

Today a humanist couple in England or Wales can have a meaningful ceremony with a trained celebrant. But the law does not recognise it. They must hold a separate civil ceremony to be legally married. Religious couples face no such double step.

The evidence on humanist weddings is in

This is not an experiment. Scotland legalised humanist marriage in 2005. Since 2022, humanist weddings there have outnumbered religious weddings of all kinds combined.

Northern Ireland followed in 2018, after a Court of Appeal ruling that refusal breached human rights. Humanist weddings now make up around one in seven marriages there.

The UK Government itself estimates that about 50,000 couples a year in England and Wales would choose a legal humanist wedding. That is not a niche demand.

The power already exists

Here is the frustrating part. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 already gives ministers power to allow humanist marriages by order. Humanists UK says that could take as little as 90 minutes of debate in each House.

Instead, the issue has been reviewed three times. The Law Commission reported in July 2022. The government has now consulted on wider reform, with legislation promised “when parliamentary time allows”. That phrase has buried many good ideas.

Why this is a humanist issue

Humanism holds that meaning and commitment do not need a deity to be real. A wedding is one of the most human moments there is. Denying equal legal status tells non-religious citizens their promises count for less.

Andrew Copson of Humanists UK says the discrimination should end “here”. He is right. Ministers can act by order now and fold the rest into wider reform later.

Fairness in life’s big moments is a recurring theme for us, from assisted dying to marriage. Read the Humanists UK statement.

This is an opinion column. Fact basis: Humanists UK release (24 September 2026), UK Government marriage law consultation, and the Law Commission report (July 2022).