Tag: Finland

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Finland’s President Signs Legislation Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

The Washington Blade reports that last Friday saw Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö sign recent legislation into law that legalizes same-sex marriage for the Scandinavian country.

Niinistö signed the measure roughly four months after lawmakers in the Scandinavian country narrowly approved the measure. They considered the bill after supporters of marriage rights for same-sex couples collected more than 166,000 signatures to bring it before the Finnish Parliament.

Finland’s same-sex marriage law is scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2017.

In other international news, Ireland will be voting on marriage equality on May 22nd. Polls show over 60% of voters support the measure.

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Finland’s Lawmakers Approve Same-Sex Marriage

By a vote of 105-93, Finland’s Parliament approved same-sex marriage – the last country in the Nordic region to do so.

Since 2002 gay and lesbian couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships,  but those legal unions had limits.  With marriage, same-sex couples will also be able to adopt children and share the same surname.

Finland becomes the 12th European country to adopt marriage equality.

Due to changes in other legislation, the new law will not take effect until 2016.

Congratulations Finland!

(source)

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Finland: Marriage equality supporters gather largest number of petition signatures in the country’s history

Although Finland legalized domestic partnerships in 2002, the country has not gotten around to sealing the deal with full marriage equality.

That may change now that a petition has been submitted with three times the necessary number of signatures to bring the issue to Finland’s Parliament:

Supporters gathered 162,000 signatures in favor of it in the Scandinavian nation of 5.4 million people. The figure represents the largest number of signatures collected in favor of a citizen’s initiative in Finland and only 50,000 signatures, or less than a third of 162,000, were needed for the Parliament to have to consider the initiative. The Finnish Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee voted narrowly not to consider a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in February but thanks to the up-swell of public support lawmakers will have to look at the issue again.

(source)

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Finland: Marriage equality supporters successfully gather signatures needed to send issue back to Parliament

Early this month Finland’s marriage equality bill died in committee. However – the public was not happy with that result and have taken action:

A drive to gather the 50,000 signatories required to take a gender-neutral marriage bill to Parliament reached its target in just one day. The accumulation of the required support means that lawmakers must now consider a bill which was previously blocked at the committee stage.

Members of the public rushed to support the “I Do 2013” campaign, which was launched Tuesday to gather the 50,000 signatures required to compel parliament to consider legalising same-sex marriages. Public enthusiasm for the petition was so great that the civic proposal website crashed as a result of the overwhelming demand.

Finland is the only Nordic country that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

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Finland: Parliament committee rejects marriage equality

Finland, the only Scandinavian country which has not legalized same-sex marriage, has seen a parliamentary committee in Finland has reject a proposed marriage equality bill there:

The bill, proposed by the National Coalition Party (NCP) minister Alexander Stubb proposed the bill, which would have made marriage gender-neutral, therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry.

It was rejected 9 votes to 8, and so it will not go before the full legislature for consideration.

The bill would have made regulations relating to marriage equal for all, irrespective of the gender of the partners. In Finland, gay and lesbian couples can currently register their partnerships, but do not automatically take each others’ surnames, or adopt children, reports YLE.

A signature drive has now begun to place the issue at the ballot box.

(source)

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Finland to may adopt marriage equality

 

Marriage equality has been proposed in Finland by a group of local MPs. The suggested legislation would change the civil definition of marriage in the country while protecting religious groups that wish to remain homophobic.

Reports the Star Observer:

The Finnish Parliament have now sent the initiative to the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, where its passage is uncertain.

The draft amendment was signed by 76 of the 200 members of Parliament, with more lawmakers including Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen expected to vote for it, Reuters reports.

European Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Alexander Stubb, the first signatory of the initiative, spoke passionately for the amendment during debate.

“This initiative is aimed at dismantling a system that causes inequality, in which couple relationships are divided into A and B categories” he said.

Finland was one of the first countries to recognize the legal status of same-sex relationships by instituting a domestic partnership registry in 2002.