So if you had not read/heard, The UK very recently legalized gay marriage, and Elton John and his boyfriend were first in line. It was Big News.
…Some friends and I commented on this, and got to wondering–what this really a good idea of Elton making a big show out of being first? The reason was partly that just recently also (in the US) the first lesbian-marriage couple got divorced, after about five years of marriage. It was also a news story–and these were just two ordinary Janes.
Of all this, we assumed a few things about Elton’s marriage:
that he was probably not the first in line–but that he is very rich and famous, and he used that to make sure that he was the first in line.
From what we read, he appeared in public before the marriage, generating publicity for it.
A bit of research online seems to indicate that Elton John’s relationships after Bernie Taupin have been shorter and shorter.
performers in general tend to be more dramatic than other people–hence the term “celebrity wedding”, which is one that is expected to be measured in months, not years.
It would seem that all things considered, Elton’s latest relationship is more likely to blow up than his previous–yet the main two reasons for marriage are religious reasons and tax/legal reasons. No major religion I’ve yet heard of recognizes homosexual marriage, and I’d bet that Elton has a prenup agreement with David Furnish, so there’s no tax or legal incentive to do it.
Did Elton just do this as a farce? He could have kept it lower-key, but chose to make a statement instead.
And when it blows up, will the only thing that it really accomplishes be giving more ammunition to people who oppose gay marriage?
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Elton never had a relationship of that kind with Bernie Taupin. Bernie is straight. The rest of the wild speculation, I’ll leave for others to discuss.
He’s been together with David for a long time and rejected a lot of money to have a mag photograph the wedding and party.
Yeah he did a bit of publicity before hand but he is Elton John, what do you expect?
As to disgracing Gay Marriage(Civil Union) I think you are thinking to like an American.
There is no where near the opposition to this in the UK. Very few people even care one way or the other. It sailed through the political process without any real opposition and the general public have just accepted it. If he fucks it all up people will just roll their eyes at Elton and not civil union.
Oh and he wasn’t first in the UK. Northern Ireland had it the day before.
1/ It’s not a legalised marraige. It’s a “civil partnership”.
2/ Elton was not first. He wasn’t even near first. He was two days off being first.
3/ I don’t imagine it took a lot to arrange the ceremony in the first week. He could have picked any registry office in the UK, they’re not scarce. So no queue jumping involved.
4/ I don’t think Elton’s relationship with Taupin is/was exactly what you think it is/was.
5/ Elton’s relationship with Furnish is over 12 years old.
6/ If you think his civil ceremony wasn’t low-key, you obviously haven’t see his previous efforts.
I’m not sure what point you’re making here. But suggest you go back to the start and do more research.
They were merely united on the first day it was legal; they were not the first.
Elton John and David Furnish have been together for 14 years, according to a few sources I’ve searched on. If his relationships since Bernie Taupin (which apparently didn’t even exist as per Liberal) have become shorter and shorter, then Elton is considerably older than he looks and is to be commended for such spectacular genetics.
Now, I know it’s a radical suggestion, but I might speculate that any celebrity couple, or any couple at all, who’ve been together for 14 years might just be getting married because they love each other and want to solemnize their commitment. At least, the lesbian couple I know who had a non-binding, no legal status commitment ceremony in a Unitarian church did so for that reason, and they didn’t even have a religious or tax reason as “justification.”
(On preview, I see Futile Gesture beat me to it - but I have links!)
Clarifying my post, especially in relation to others…
Futile Gesture noted correctly that it was two days after the first legal day in the UK proper (started in Northern Ireland), but not in England and Wales; they had their civil union on that day.
Upon further Googling, and checking the BBC link listed above, I also see cites for being together for 12 years. Nonetheless, the point stands that it’s utterly inaccurate to paint this as some little fling or “typical” celebrity whirlwind romance heading for equally rapid breakup.
The parenthetical clause was intended to refer to the notion of Elton John and Bernie Taupin having had a relationship, not to a disbelief that Sir Elton had any relationships in the interim.
Finally, from all reports I’ve read, the civil ceremony itself was very subdued (as subdued as you can get with tons of reporters clustering around the building, etc.), and the couple didn’t even so much as smooch for the camera. The reception was a bit more wild but that’s to be expected.
Actually, it’s Sir Reginald Whatever-his-real-last-name-is, IIRC.
Quite frankly, I think Star Jones’s wedding was even more of a disgrace to the institution of marriage than Elton’s. (I suppose you could also argue that it was a disgrace to gay marriage, considering who the groom was.)
It was pretty big news here. Sounds like it was less so in Britain, where (as some posters are confirming) this is not such a big deal. I doubt that many people have ever considered Elton John the standard-bearer for gays around the world, and there’s no reason they’d start thinking of him that way now.
“Elton John” is his legal name, not just a stage name. He officially changed it on December 8, 1971 (by deed poll) from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John.
