Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Meanwhile, in New Zealand...

New Zealand's parliament has voted to legalize same sex marriage, becoming the 13th nation to do so.

There was a spontaneous celebration and a traditional Maori love song, Pokarekare Ana, from the gallery.

Well done, Kiwis!



Who else?
  1. Netherlands (2001)
  2. Belgium (2003)
  3. Spain (2005)
  4. Canada (2005)
  5. South Africa (2006)
  6. Norway (2009)
  7. Sweden (2009)
  8. Portugal (2010)
  9. Iceland (2010)
  10. Argentina (2010)
  11. Denmark (2012)
  12. Uruguay (2013)
  13. New Zealand (2013)

6 comments:

Brother David said...

You can append Mexico to the list with the proviso that you need to have the civil marriage solemnized in Mexico City. MC is the only jurisdiction currently in Mx with same gender marriage on the books, but the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled that same gender civil marriages in MC are legal and must be recognized in the entire Mexican union.

IT said...

there are also parts of Brazil. I listed just those countries that are uniform (so I didn't mention 9 US states and DC, either.)

Brian R said...

Thanks for posting this. I am over the moon.
I watched about the last hour of the speeches, some were very moving. The bald man who was given flowers is a gay member and spoke about his life with his partner and how for their first years together it was illegal and one churchman had declared they should be killed, another woman talked about her woman partner and the hearing impaired member said one of her daughters was gay and she wanted both her daughters to have the same hopes. I only heard 2 speeches opposed and they were general waffle, saying civil unions were sufficient but one member in reply joked how that member had changed, having originally voted agaisnt civil unions. The woman with the rainbow jacket is the Lesbian member (Louisa Wall) who sponsored the private bill. The galleries were full and they had to open another room with video screen for the public to attend. There were parties in many cities. One Maori member spoke of how Maori marriages were disregarded in early colonial times and the children were officially illegitimate. A Pacific Islander member (Pacific Islanders are very religious) spoke of how the God he worshipped would show love to all people.

The first marriages will be in August after all the forms are prepared.

IT said...

Thank you brian. When they started singing in the video, I had tears in my eyes!

JCF said...

Kiwi Wheeee!!! :-D Kudos & Kongrats.

{pause}

Do you think the USA (nationwide) will even make it into the first 20? :-/

IT said...

JCF:
no chance.