Stephen Gately Ties Knot With Gay Partner

Former Boyzone singer Stephen Gately today tied the knot with his gay partner in a private ceremony in London.
The 30-year-old singer made an official commitment to Andy Cowles, an internet entrepreneur, in Las Vegas three years ago.
But the couple took advantage of the introduction of civil partnership legislation in Britain to put their union on a legal footing.
The private family ceremony took place at the exclusive Goring Hotel, which is adjacent to Buckingham Palace, and concluded before lunchtime.
A hotel spokesman said that Sir Elton John, who was expected to be one of the guests, was not present. But he was unable to reveal any further details about other guests at the wedding.
“It doesn’t matter how many were there. It’s a private function and that’s the end of the story,” he said.
Former Boyzone manager Louis Walsh said he was invited to the wedding but was confined to his sick bed at his home in Dublin.
“I couldn’t make it because I’ve got a touch of the flu. But I think Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch (former members of Boyzone) are going,” he said.
Gately’s first brush with fame was when he won a small part in Alan Parker’s 1991 film The Commitments, which told the story of a struggling band of Dublin singers. But in 1993, he was signed up by Walsh and became one of the five members of Boyzone.
The boy band went on to record six UK number ones and sold more than ten million albums. When lead singer Ronan Keating left in 1999 to begin his solo career, the band split up. Gately pursued his own solo career and released several singles but was dropped by his record label in 2001.
He is currently working as an actor and is due to play the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury next month.
Under the civil partnership legislation, Gately and Cowles will have all the rights afforded to a married couple such as next of kin rights, inheritance rights and pension rights.
Gately had expressed a desire to have an Irish wedding but no civil partnership legislation has been introduced in Ireland so far.
However, a working group is currently examining the issue.
from Ireland On-Line