new, zealand, legalizes, gay, marriage, bill, uruguay
Louisa Wall, the bill's sponsor, said the success was "our road toward healing." Creative Commons

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage passed a final hurdle in New Zealand's parliament on Wednesday, making the country one of 12 worldwide where the practice is legal. Members of the parliament voted 77-44 in favor of the Marriage Amendment Bill, which was created and introduced by Louisa Wall in 2002 with the intention of changing the government's definition of marriage. The law is expected to take effect in four months.

According to CNN, it is likely that Uruguay will be joining New Zealand soon, as senators there approved a similar bill on Tuesday. To become law, the bill only needs the signature of Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, who has indicated that he supports the measure. In France, a bill which would legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt will be debated in the Senate this week after having cleared the lower house of Parliament (French President Francois Hollande has shown his support for the bill). And Nepal has long since passed a measure legalizing gay marriage, though the rights still have not entered into effect since it happened in 2008.

The Netherlands led the way in legalizing gay marriage in 2001, and seven other European countries followed later: Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Portugal and Denmark. The other 3 countries where the practice is legal are Argentina, Canada and South Africa. In the United States, 9 states recognize gay marriage, but the federal government does not.

In New Zealand, gay couples have had access to many legal rights as civil unions since 2005, but the new bill will now allow them to jointly adopt children and have their marriages recognized in other countries.

The Guardian reported opposition to the bill on the part of the Roman Catholic church and other conservative groups, who said that legalizing gay marriage would undermine the institution of the family. The law allows clergy to refuse to preside over gay marriages if they feel it conflicts with their beliefs.

Discontent was registered by the lobbying group Family First, which last year brought a petition to Parliament with the signatures of 50,000 people who opposed the bill. The group's founder, Bob McCoskrie, said that the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman shouldn't have been touched, and added that he believed same-sex marriage should have been given a public referendum. Surveys of New Zealanders, however, indicate that about two-thirds favor gay marriage.

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