First South Africa...

...now the UK is giving its blessings to gay matrimonial blessings; via the BBC:

Hundreds of gay couples are preparing to form civil partnerships in the coming weeks as the law changes after decades of campaigning.

At least 1,200 ceremonies are confirmed as being scheduled already, according to figures from councils compiled by the BBC News website.

Registrars are preparing for the first ceremonies, with couples permitted to register from Monday morning.
[...]
The first ceremonies under the Civil Partnerships Act can take place in Northern Ireland on 19 December, followed by Scotland the next day and England and Wales on 21 December.

Under the law, couples who want to form a partnership must register their intentions with local councils. Unlike marriages, the signing of the legal partnership papers does not need to happen in public.
[...]
Alan Wardle, of gay campaign group Stonewall, said the importance of the change should not be underestimated.

"Our view is that civil partnerships are transformative for the lives of individual couples and their rights, but also for society more generally.

"Society now legally recognises gay relationships for the first time.

And yes, there is some complaints from the conservative religious sector:

But a spokesman for the one of the UK's major Christian groups told the BBC they believed same-sex couples should not get the same rights as married couples.

"If you transport something unique, like marriage, into a different context, there's always a cost. And the cost here is in terms of reduction of marriage and the undermining of it," Don Horrocks of the Evangelical Alliance said.

But it doesn't sound like they're creatting too much of a huff, especially as mass-market retailers like Asda (which is owned by Wal-Mart!) seem quite happy to have some gay business:

An Asda spokesman said the store had also launched new, gold commitment rings.

“Ever since gay weddings were given the official go-ahead we have had a number of requests from customers asking if we sell gay wedding cards,” he said. “We see no reason why we can’t sell these for our gay customers.”

What would our conservative religious leaders think? Well, based on what John Aravosis over at AmericaBlog is posting about Ford Motor Company's retreat from advertising in gay publications, I think I have a pretty good guess.