Same-sex marriage drawing overseas couples to New Zealand

Wellington – More than a third of the same- sex couples getting married under a new law in New Zealand are coming from overseas, authorities said Tuesday.

In the period till the end of September, 40 of the 177 same-sex marriages involved couples from abroad, Xinhua reported from Statistics New Zealand.

Out of these, 61 were between women and 56 between men.

New Zealand became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region and the 13th in the world to allow same-sex marriages when it passed the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act earlier this year, and the law came into effect Aug 19.

In the quarter ending September, a total of 2,681 opposite-sex marriages were registered in New Zealand, but overseas resident couples accounted for just 10 percent of these, Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson said in a statement.

Figures released by the registrar-general a month after the law came into effect showed more than a quarter of the same-sex couples to be married were from abroad, including countries such as China, the US and Britain.