On Monday night, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would allow a free vote to legalise same-sex marriage. A parliamentary vote could take place by the end of this week.
What is it that they say about Germans and efficiency?
Merkel is the head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, which you could expect to be a bit touchy on the topic – she herself has said she had a “hard time” with same-sex marriage and gay couples adopting.
However, she’s allowing her party a conscious vote rather than giving voting instructions, a decision her party supports.
“Thank you Angela Merkel! How liberating! For me, we could vote this week!” one MP tweeted.
With all of the other main German parties openly supportive of same-sex marriage, the bill is expected to pass, which should please the majority of Germans who support marriage equality.
Wow, it’s almost like their politicians listen to their constituents and enact laws accordingly.
However, we were pretty surprised Germany hadn’t legalised gay marriage yet. Although they introduced civil unions for gay and lesbian couples way back in 2001, it never progressed to the right to marry.
So which other surprising countries still don’t have marriage equality?
Austria
Switzerland
Northern Ireland – although it was made legal in the Republic of Ireland in 2015.
Malta
Liechtenstein
Hungary – in fact, the country brought in a new constitution in 2011 to specifically restrict marriage to heterosexual couples.
Czech Republic
In Slovenia, marriage equality was granted after initially failing a referendum in 2015, but gay partners are still not allowed to adopt or undertake IVF.
On the other hand, Columbia legalised same-sex marriage despite a poll showing 57% of Colombians opposed same-sex marriage, making them the fourth in Latin America to do so.
Although the coalition like to point out they suggested ~the most destructive, money-wasting option ever~ using the plebiscite to legalise gay marriage ad nauseam, only one of the countries where gay marriage is legal put it to a public vote – the rest were done by parliaments and court rulings.
