Sweden Becomes 7th Country To Legalize Marriage Equality

On May 1, 2009 Sweden will become the seventh country in the world in which marriage is a gender-neutral contract between two individuals after a vote in the Swedish Parliament on Wednesday. The vote in the Riksdag was 261 to 22 with 66 abstentions.

From The Advocate's website:

Gender-neutral marriage licenses will begin to be issued starting May 1, replacing a civil union option that has been offered since 1995. Religious institutions will not be compelled to perform ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples. A majority of bishops in the Church of Sweden said that churches should not be allowed the task of handling legal registrations of marriages.

The Netherlands (2001), Norway (2008), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), and South Africa (2006) already allow same-sex marriage.

Hmmmm, as evidenced in the links above I notice that 5 of the 7 countries which have legalized gender-neutral marriage have done so since this blog came into existence in January 2005. Coincidence or cause and effect?