The
Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) voted yesterday to approve
same-sex marriage with 261 votes for and 22 against the legislation.
The new law will
take effect on 1 May 2009
and repeals
legislation that allowed
same-sex couples to form a civil
union via a
registered partnership.
| |
 |
| |
The Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) |
Couples who have a
registered partnership will be able to
keep that status or amend it to a marriage but civil unions will no longer be available.
Soren Juvas, president of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights said it was "a great victory".
Asa Regner, secretary general of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education said that yesterday's vote resulted in a
very important change in Swedish law.
"This was the last area where same-sex couples were treated differently," she said.
The Church of Sweden has already expressed support for the new law, according to Agence France-Presse.
The church synod is scheduled to decide in October whether or not to perform same-sex marriages and is expected to allow individual parishes to determine their own policy.
Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Peter Furness, said seven nations and two US states now permit same-sex couples to marry, leaving Australia further behind than ever.
"What is particularly important about the Swedish decision is that the pre-existing civil union scheme is seen as an unequal, unfair and second-best alternative to full marriage", Mr Furness said.
Other jurisdictions which provide equal marriage are Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and the US states of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
