Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom were recognised that day. Same-sex marriage continues to be unrecognised in Northern Ireland, following several votes against it and one vote in favour of it by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Same-sex marriages are recognised as civil partnerships. Legislation to allow for the recognition of same-sex marriages in Northern Ireland has been debated in the Northern Ireland Assembly five times since 2012. On four of those occasions, only a minority of assembly members voted in favour of same-sex marriage, though the most recent vote on the issue in November 2015 saw a majority of MLA's vote in favour of same-sex marriage.
Unionism in Ireland Party. While the Alliance Party supports the status quo position of Northern Ireland, it does not define itself as Unionist. Moderate unionists who support the principle of Equal Citizenship between Northern Ireland and Great Britain have campaigned for mainstream British political parties to organise and contest elections in Northern Ireland. Equal citizenship pressure groups have included the Campaign for Equal Citizenship (CEC), Labour Representation Campaign, Democracy Now and, currently, Labour - Federation of Labour Groups. Momentum for this concept picked up after the Conservative Party Conference voted in favour of working in Northern Ireland in 1989. No Conservative has been