Gay women have keenly embraced the change in same-sex marriage laws, though one in seven were previously married to a man, new figures reveal.
A total of 15,098 same-sex couples have married since the law changed in March 2014, with 55 per cent of newly-weds being female couples.
Of these women, 14 per cent had been in heterosexual marriages; while 8 per cent of the men were once married to a woman.
The figures suggest that it may take longer for women to discover and publicly acknowledge their homosexuality, and that there may be more barriers in the way, such as social disapproval. However, Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity, said that it was a positive sign.
“This may well reflect an increased confidence in individuals feeling more fluid in their sexual orientation, and more confident in living their lives as their true selves, which is both positive and encouraging,” a spokesperson said.
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Just over half the number of same-sex marriages were conversions from civil partnerships, and for just under half it was the first time the relationship had been legally acknowledged, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The number of civil partnerships fell sharply after same-sex marriage became legal. There were fewer than 1,700 civil partnerships in 2014, compared with more than 5,600 in 2013.
The take-up rate of marriage was lower than for civil partnerships when they became legal. There were 1,450 marriages of same-sex couples in the first three months, much lower than the 6,147 civil partnerships formed in the first three months after they were introduced in December 2005.
The ONS said that the greater take-up of civil partnerships was possibly because before the introduction of civil partnerships there was no other option for same-sex couples to formalise their relationships.
The average age for a gay marriage is higher than for heterosexual couples, at 40 for men and 37 for women, compared with 36.5 years for straight men and 34 for straight women.
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The ONS said that the most popular month to get married so far had been August 2014, with 844 marriages.
Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK and Ireland that has not legalised same-sex marriage, despite growing public demand for change. The latest opinion poll, by Ipsos Mori, found that 68 per cent of the public in Northern Ireland believe same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, rising to 82 per cent among 16-to-34-year-olds.
Amnesty International has said that the figures show that Northern Ireland’s politicians are “badly out of step with ordinary people” on marriage equality.