After entering into a civil partnership eight years ago, Canadian David Furnish and Sir Elton John will marry in May now that England and Wales officially legalized same-sex marriage over the weekend.
"I'm very proud of Britain and the laws that we've seen come into existence since we've been together," the superstar said on the Today Show. "Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time -- through the '60s and the '50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act.
"So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn't just say, 'Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We're not going to bother to get married.' We will get married."
The Las Vegas Review-Journal was the first to report the news with an interview with Furnish, originally from Scarborough, Ontario. "We don't feel the need to take an extra step legally. But since we're committed for life, we feel it's really important to take that step, and take advantage of that amazing change in legislation. We all live by example."
As for a huge wedding, Furnish says the couple will keep things rather low key. "Over eight years ago, we had 650 people on the 21st of December at our house in Windsor," he said. "But with the kids, everything is different. I think what we'll do is go to a registry in England in May, and take the boys with us, and a couple of witnesses."
Furnish and John became known to each other when Furnish directed "Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras," the 1997 documentary on John culled from interviews and backstage footage from his 1995 Made In England tour. Furnish said the 2005 civil partnership with John changed the two more than they anticipated.
"After we did it, we felt this amazing sense of commitment and happiness we didn't anticipate happening," Furnish said. "It's a really nice thing. Initially, the political side of you is like, 'No, no, we must have equality.' When you finally get it, it's like, 'Oh my god, this feels really nice.' It's a lifting thing."
Furnish also said both he and John have tattoos of their sons' names Elijah and Zachary, Furnish with the ink on his inner forearms while John has them tattooed on his back. And he added that society has changed so much in 20 years the thoughts of marrying his partner and having children were "unthinkable, literally unimaginable" two decades ago. "With access to more information, the barriers come down," Furnish said.
According to John's official site, John and Furnish were in Las Vegas to celebrate John's 67th birthday and to celebrate the grand opening of FIZZ Las Vegas, a restaurant in Caesars Palace to "reflect the personal style of Elton and David, as if they were entertaining at home -- even housing 51 pieces of their private colored photography collection." The venue also features a selection of "high-end champagnes" and a menu the couple and their personal chef created to complement the beverages.
John will spend almost all of April in Las Vegas as part of The Million Dollar Experience, his residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. John released his last studio album "The Diving Board" in 2013.
