FILE - This is a Wednesday Dec. 21, 2005 file photo of pop star Elton John, right, and his longtime partner David Furnish, embrace as they wave to members of the media and the public after they had a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in the town of Windsor, England John and Furnish were the most prominent of hundreds of same-sex couples planning to form civil partnerships in England and Wales on Wednesday, the first day that such ceremonies become possible. With little fanfare or controversy, Britain announced Wednesday July 17, 2013 that Queen Elizabeth II _ hardly a social radical _ had signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriages in England and Wales. France has also legalized gay marriages, but only after a series of gigantic protests attracting families from the traditional heartland that revealed a deeply split society. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)