NZ has first gay marriages

At 8:30am this morning New Zealand time (6:30am Sydney time) marriage equality became legal. The Australian couple from Newcastle (north of Sydney) are amongst the first ones to have gotten married being at 9:30am over there  (7:30 here). They're also the first gay Australians to be married in NZ, with 30 more couples coming soon.

Trent Kandler and Paul McCarthy (pictured), who won our Making History competition back in July, are among the first couples to tie the knot, exchanging vows at 9:30 this morning in the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Wellington. Trent and Paul first met 11 years ago in Newcastle and have been together ever since. 

Meanwhile, Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is getting hitched at 30,000 feet, marrying his longtime partner Justin Mikita on an Air New Zealand flight today. Ferguson and Mikita first married in New York last month. 

293 domestic same-sex couples lodged marriage forms as soon as they could be legally accepted, with 30 Australian couples also applying. more