Last week enlightened politicians in Iceland passed a law legalising gay marriage. Iceland, is the only country in the world to have an out gay leader - their Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who passed the law on Friday.
In an inspiring move, all 49 lawmakers approved the change in the law, which will now see the words "man and man, woman and woman" added to marriage legislation in the European country. The law also allows churches to perform gay weddings if they want to by saying "ministers will always be free to perform same sex marriage ceremonies, but never obliged to".
One of the largest churches on the the island, the protestant church has not yet decided whether it will hold the ceremonies, which replace registered partnerships, but are expected to make an announcement later this week.
Ms Sigurdardottir, 67, became the world's first out gay head of government last April, when her Social Democrats formed a left-wing coalition with the Left-Green Movement. Iceland has always considered the rights of it's gay and lesbian population carefully and were one of the first in the world to repeal bans on gay people.
The country's president has to approve this new bill but, his approval is basically just a formality. There is vast support over the island nation and public opinion is in favour of the amendment. Iceland will be the seventh in Europe to legalise gay marriage.
Jason Shaw
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
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