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Prime Minister Alexander Stubb praised the legislature for “approaching the same level as that of other Nordic and Western countries on this very delicate and difficult issue,” referring to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, all of which already allow same-sex couples to marry. Finland previously allowed same-sex couples to register their partnerships, but they were not allowed to marry.
Although the law might not take effect until 2016, the vote makes Finland the 18th country in the world to approve allowing same-sex couples to marry nationwide. This tally does not include the United States and Mexico, where marriage equality is still localized, or countries like Australia and Colombia who have extended some recognition to same-sex couples, but not full marriage rights. The last country to approve marriage equality was Luxembourg in June, and that law could take effect as soon as January of 2015.
The bill faces one final vote, largely seen as a formality. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, said that he expected the government to approve of the marriage bill before the end of 2014. The first marriages could take place as early as January 2015, since the bill will take effect six months after a final vote.
Luxembourg will become the 17th country with the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide, joining The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, Denmark, Uruguay, Brazil, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (including England, Wales and Scotland). Two others have taken regional steps to allow same-sex couples to share in the freedom to marry in parts of the country: Mexico and the United States.Felicitations, Luxembourg!
"We view Europe as Sodom and Gomorrah. Europe must not tell us how to live. The Europeans can live any way they like, but they mustn’t tell us what to do. Of course [a gay mother] should definitely be deprived of her rights to the child. Homosexuals must not raise children. They corrupt them. They do them much more harm than if the child were in an orphanage. I am deeply convinced of this."This incredibly ignorant sentiment is today's Queer Quote. It should be noted that Russia also bans adoption of Russian children to any country that has marriage equality. It is estimated that there are at least 700,000 children in Russian orphanages and another 3 million living on the street.
By Aug. 1, same-sex marriage will be legal in California, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington — all states where it was not legal one year earlier.
There are about 59 million people living in these seven states, which means that the availability of same-sex marriage in the United States as a percentage of population will have more than doubled within the year. As of early last year, same-sex marriage was legal only in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and the District of Columbia, which have 35 million people among them.
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The availability of same-sex marriage is increasing almost as rapidly on a global scale. It was legalized in Brazil and France earlier this year and will become legal in Uruguay and New Zealand by August.
Earlier this year, France, with a population of about 64 million, became the largest European country to legalize same-sex marriage, and the largest in the world to do so by legislative action.
By August, there will be about 585 million people living in countries or jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal. That is roughly double the 289 million people living in such places in August 2012.His worldwide numbers depend on the question of how widespread marriage equality is available in Brazil, with its 139 million residents. Silver has a nice graphic depicting the growth in marriage equality worldwide as well:
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| Rufus Gifford | James Costos |
Le Sénat a adopté mardi soir par 179 voix contre 157 le premier article du projet de loi sur le mariage homosexuel, le plus important, celui qui ouvre le mariage aux personnes de même sexe. Cet article a été adopté "conforme", c'est-à-dire sans modification par rapport au vote en première lecture de l'Assemblée nationale. Ce vote devient donc définitif sauf si l'ensemble du projet de loi était rejeté à l'issue de son examen par le Sénat. Il ne sera pas soumis à une deuxième lecture de l'Assemblée nationale ni à la CMP (Commission mixte paritaire).From my years of high school and college French the first sentence can be translated as "The Senate adopted on Tuesday evening by 179 votes to 157 the first article of the project of the law on homosexual marriage, the most important, the one which opens marriage to persons of the same sex."
The bill now goes to the upper house, the French Senate, where the debate will begin on March 18.The assembly had already approved a key article that redefined marriage as a contract between two people rather than between a man and a woman.The Senate - which is also dominated by the Socialists and their allies - is thought likely to back the measure, which will become law by May or June, our correspondent says.France would then join 11 other countries where same-sex marriage is legal.The marriage law is seen as France's most important social reform in France since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité!Opinion polls suggest that around 55-60% of French people support gay marriage, though only about 50% approve of gay adoption.Correspondents say the ease with which the article passed suggests the bill as a whole will pass.Debates are expected to go on for more than a week, as MPs discuss hundreds of amendments, most of them filed by the centre-right opposition.On the way they are expected to approve the other key measure in the bill, which would allow gay couples to adopt children.The bill marks one of France's biggest social reforms since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981."We are happy and proud to have taken this first step," Justice Minister Christiane Taubira said."We are going to establish the freedom for everyone to choose his or her partner for a future together."
