Tag: same sex marriage

Same-sex couples will hopefully be able to get married from October this year Germany’s president has signed a bill to make same-sex marriage legal. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signed the legislation late yesterday (20 July). It will come into force on 1 October at the earliest. Lawmakers approved the bill on 30 June, with 393 politicians voting for marriage equality while 266 voted against. Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against same-sex marriage. However, she freed her Christian Democrats from the party whip on the issue calling...

UK Prime Minister Theresa May calls for marriage equality in Northern Ireland UK Prime Minister Theresa May has defied her allies in the DUP by saying she supports marriage equality in Northern Ireland. Conservative leader May had to do a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party after failing to win an outright majority in June’s UK election. But the DUP opposes abortion and LGBTI equality and has blocked attempts to allow same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. May tackled the issue while hosting...

The city government decided to offer the leave until Taiwan's marriage equality laws were implemented Taipei City will become the first city in Taiwan to offer paternity and maternity leave for same-sex parents Even though Taiwan recently bacme the first country in Asia to approve same-sex marriage it could take up to two years for the legislation to clear parliament. The city’s mayor, Ko Wen-je said the lag in updating the marriage equality laws meant same-sex couples are still not eligible for...

Singapore has made a marriage void between a married couple after the husband underwent the harrowing operation to change her sex. The argument from local authority is that their marriage had become a same-sex union and therefore contravened the city-state’s laws on same-sex marriage. The couple were married as husband and wife in 2015, and after a few years of marriage, the husband made the decision to start living her life as a woman. She underwent the operation to change her biological sex, and changed her national...

Congratulations Malta! Malta has decided to make same-sex marriage legal today (12 July). The small southern European island, largely made up of Catholic people, now has one of the leading LGBTI rights laws in the world. The wording in civil ceremonies of ‘you are now husband and wife’ will now be changed to ‘you are now spouses’. There was only one voice of opposition in government, with one politician claiming it was ‘morally unacceptable’. A victory celebration of same-sex couples and LGBTI people is...

Senator Dean Smith confirmed that he is drafting a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia. Many MPs want the bill debated when the Australian parliament returns in August. This comes after a new poll suggested Australian voters want to go to the polls for same-same marriage, rather than let politicians have a free vote in parliament. Senator Smith, who is openly gay himself, has been seeking to end the “embarrassment” of the nation and legalise same-sex marriage. Leader of the opposition, Bill...

The DUP has blocked equal marriage legislation multiple times. Thousands of equal marriage campaigners took to the streets of Belfast on Saturday (July 1) to urge the government of Northern Ireland to introduce equal marriage. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage is not legal. Marriage equality in Northern Ireland is back under the spotlight after Theresa May struck a deal with the DUP to continue governing. The DUP, the largest party in Northern Ireland, and its...

Turns out we've still got time to find The One Even though same-sex marriage is legal in both the U.S. and the UK, it seems as though not every gay man is ready to tie the knot. While most of us expect to get married in our 30s, it turns out most LGBT+ men like to wait a little longer to make that big commitment. New research has discovered that the average age for gay men to tie the knot is around...

Congratulations Germany! Germany has voted to legalize same-sex marriage. 393 politicians voted for marriage equality, while 266 voted against. Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against same-sex marriage. However, she freed her Christian Democrats from the party whip on the issue calling for a ‘vote of conscience’. The reform gives same-sex couples full marital rights, and allows them to adopt children. The German legal code will now read: ‘Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex’. ‘We are feeling really emotional,’...

Germany’s parliament will hold a vote on same-sex marriage this week. The last-minute decision comes just days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly softened her stance on marriage equality, with a free vote expected to take place in the Bundestag this Friday. If passed, the bill will allow same-sex couples to marry with the same rights as opposite-sex couples, including the potential to jointly adopt children. And it’s expected to pass, as all of Germany’s other main parties – the Social Democrats,...

It now means same-sex marriage is legal in every Nordic country. Denmark has approved the Faroe Islands’ vote to legalise same-sex marriage. The country had voted to legalise it last year, excluding religious ceremonies, but it required formal approval from Denmark, which voted to legalise same-sex marriage in 2012, to be brought into law. Eiler Fagraklett, head of LGBT Faroe Islands said: “It was an intense, exciting and unpredictable moment. When the MPs finally passed the amendment to the bill and thereby...

Chile could soon become the latest country to introduce same-sex marriage after the Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, pledged on Thursday to push forward with her long-promised equality plans. Ms Bachelet said in her State of the Union address in the port city of Valparaiso that she will send a bill to the Chilean Congress in the second half of 2017, with the aim of allowing marriage between gay marriage. The left-of-centre leader returned to the presidency in 2014, having previously served between...

Marriage equality has been the law of the land for almost two years, but not everyone is ready to accept settled law. One man, Chris Sevier, has been trying to defeat same-sex marriage with an ongoing campaign to try to marry his laptop. In the latest development, the Utah Attorney General’s Office was forced to state in a new court ruling that there is no constitutional right to marry a laptop, KSTU-TV reports. Lawyers for the state asked a federal judge...

Even Cambodia's much revered King Norodom Sihamoni supports marriage equality Hoping to ride the momentum of Taiwan’s historic ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, LGBTI activists and lawmakers in Cambodia are pushing the discussion in their own country. Several opposition political parties said they would legalize same-sex marriage if they won next year’s election. At a roundtable event about LGBTI issues, politicians from Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Funcinpec, the Khmer National United Party (KNUP), the League for Democracy Party (LDP) and the...