Finland’s Parliament has voted 105-92 to legalise same-sex marriage, making the nation the 20th in the world to do so. All Nordic countries now have marriage equality. The vote happened after a public petition with 160,000 signatures forced a debate on the issue. There was celebration at Parliament, where The Guardian reports shouts "I do!" - the battle cry of the movement - echoed through the streets. Changes brought about by the bill are not expected to take effect until 2016 at the earliest. Finland has allowed registered partnerships since 2002. Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, as well as England and Wales in the United Kingdom, have marriage equality laws that are in effect. Scotland will extend full marriage rights to its LGBT citizens by the end of the year and Luxembourg is set to in early 2015.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 29th November 2014 - 11:36am