As from 3 June 2014, same sex couples will be able to marry at British Consulates in 23 countries, under the Consular Marriage and Marriages under Foreign Law Order 2014.  Today’s CofE Daily Digest carries a report of the story in the The Times (£) which reported that Hong Kong has refused the British consulate the right to conduct same-sex marriages – “a veto that even China and Russia have not applied”.

However, an informative Press Release was issued by the FCO on 3 June and which explains

“[the] list of [23] countries is limited because British missions are only able to provide a same sex marriage service in countries where it is not possible for British nationals to have such a marriage under local law and where the local authorities have given permission for the missions to conduct consular marriages of same sex couples”.

The countries involved are:

Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, and Vietnam.