Denmark, the world’s first nation to legalize same-sex unions in 1989, will introduce legislation tomorrow that will likely in June make it the eleventh country to officially allow gay marriage.
The draft legislation was announced today by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who said that Church of Denmark priests will individually be allowed to decide whether or not they want to perform same-sex ceremonies. The church has thus far been the stumbling block to the approval of gay marriage, despite a progressive Danish society that is largely in favor of gay rights.
“It will be up to each priest whether he or she will perform gay marriages,” said Thorning-Schmidt in her weekly press conference today. “But the government gives all members of the church the right to get married in church, whether they want to marry a person of the opposite or same sex.”
Though several same-sex marriage bills have been previously defeated in the Danish parliament, this new compromise bill is widely expected to pass, and should therefore take effect on June 15.
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niicis
Amazing news!!! Made my day!
Dick
Poll: Which wingnut will be the first to use a “there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark” analogy?
Robert in NYC
Well done, Denmark. Next in line, the UK. The EU is light years ahead of us.
Curtis
Længe leve ligestilling!
scrumfan
11 down….182 to go.
ronjayaz
Yes, Europe has always been way ahead of us for obvious reasons— all the trash of their countries immigrated to “America.” We are in fact a Nation of Idiots or Rejects which ever plays nicest to U.
Dorothea from Germany
@ronjayaz: Conservative Europeans move to the USA. Progressive Europeans stay here or move to Canada.
Anyway, I am very happy for Denmark. Denmark’s social democrats won in last fall’s election. They immediately announced that they want to introduce marriage equality. So, this doesn’t come as a surprise. I hope that Denmark having marriage equality will pile the pressure on Germany. In Germany, there have been various attempts to introduce marriage equality within the last two years, but they failed due to the refusal by the center-right Free Democrats. However, the Free Democrats recently announced that they consider supporting marriage equality. This is clearly because they desperately need voters.
Danny
Danes are cool. Denmark is a very lovely country.
QJ201
@ronjayaz: we are also a nation of people unwanted in their nations of origin and for many actually driven out of their home countries. Kinda like gay people in the U.S.
Huh ...
@ronjayaz: If ever someone served as proof of their own thesis…
Curtis
@ronjayaz:
OOkay.
I can tell you are a history major :-/
@Huh …:
Well said
Frank
I want a Danish…
Bill Perdue
Good for Denmark, and very embarrassing for the Bigot in Chief, who still pigheadedly opposes marriage equality because his thundergawd tells him to.
“I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. For me as a Christian, it is a sacred union. You know, g(G)od (*) is in the mix.” “Obama and Miss California aligned on same-sex marriage?”. The Christian Science Monitor. May 12, 2009.
(*) Real people don’t capitalize the names of spirits, sprites, gawds or the superstitious cults who make money off ignorance, like the roman catholic cult, an international conspiracy to rape children.
Darrell
@Dorothea from Germany: And I’m sure the CDU/CSU is probably not helping that much either. From what I understand, the FDP is much more in favor of gay rights while the CdU/CSU…not so much…but, yeah, the FDP is kinda in political turmoil right now.
TASTEY GOODIES
SKOAL SCANDINAVIA!!! YA, ET ER GOT!!!! HOPE I SPELLED IT CORRECTLY.
Jim Hlavac
The EU is made up of some 36 states, like the US made up of 50. Because some states in the EU have embraced Gay Marriage, (Spain, um, now Denmark,) like some states have embraced gay marriage (NY, MA, etc,) in the US does not make Europe “Light years ahead of the US.” Denmark has less people than Massachusetts, I do believe. Both are, um, evolving, at the same rate. And US states are for all intents and purposes just like EU countries, in population and square mileage, and often far ahead in wealth (even Mississippi is richer than Greece, and not as nearly in debt, nor as ridden with riots.) Only we long ago unified all our “countries” into states within a Union, while the EU is still working on it. Meanwhile, just 20 years ago, in a burst of “civility” we found appalling, many in the EU, including Denmark, watched as one or two EU states (Serbia, Croatia,) simply slaughtered tens of thousands of other EU states’ citizens, (Bosnia, Herzegovinia, Kosovo,) over religious differences. Prior to 1989, 1/2 the current EU didn’t give a damn about Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Roumanians, etc, having to escape their nations, as no one from Tennessee ever had to scale a wall or cross a minefield to get to Kentucky.
Meanwhile, “enlightened” Denmark’s soldiers actually watched some 6,000 men and boys from Srebrenica get shot to death and buried in mass graves as they stood “light years ahead of the US” by the side and watched the blood of those 6,000 run down around their toes — and did nothing!
Let me know when Ohio bombs the daylights out of Pennsylvania because PA has the Amish and Quakers and Ohio Catholics and Lutheran. Let me know when a city like Cleveland, the size of Sarajevo, is reduced to rubble by Pennsylvania, due to the “enlightened” EU mentality.
Meanwhile, several of the other “countries” or “states” that accept gay marriage are in South America, and not in the EU at all. How much we forget about the “enlightened” Europe our forefathers left — Germany was “enlightened” indeed, mostly from the flames of Synagogues they torched.
Kaio
Jim,
You can’t compare states to countries, there’s a big difference. Yes, western EU is way ahead of the US.
dave
Actually, it was Dutch troops, NOT Danish at Srebrnica, but history and geography are not American educational strengths.
Huh ...
@dave: Do they teach being a smug, pedantic douche in your home country? Because they’re clearly getting that right.
Andrew
Jim….for you info, the states in the U.S. that allow gay marriage do not really have gay marriage. The over 1000 federal rights do not apply to any of the gay marriages in the U.S. because of DOMA which Bill Clinton signed into law in 1996. Yes, Europe, South Africa, Mexico City are way ahead of the U.S. We have a president who still refuses to endorse gay marriage….a president who would be a bastard child in 17 states if this were the 60s.
Michael
@Jim Hlavac First of all the Balcan states WEREN’T EU countries when Srebrenica happened and it was Dutch not Danish troops. Get your facts right before ranting!
rtgy
@Jim Hlavac…Just for the record the EU states are 27 not 36! And Croatia will join in mid 2013.
Belize
@Huh …: Smug pedantic douche > arrogant prick who knows little about the nonsense he is sputtering.
Sorry, I favor elitists who would chastise other people for being stupid over republicans who are glad that you’re stupid so that they can use you for their own twisted political gains.
Belize
@Jim Hlavac:
Bringing up the past does you no favors considering the fact that both the EU and US have had histories of violence.
Do you know what the difference is: countries in the EU have more or less learned from their mistakes. Meanwhile, the US still breeds people like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Bachman.
“as no one from Tennessee ever had to scale a wall or cross a minefield to get to Kentucky.”
Why would anyone want to do that? It’s just like trading one area filled with bigots for another.
“Germany was “enlightened” indeed, mostly from the flames of Synagogues they torched.”
Oh you mean the same Germany that is currently leading environmentally sustainable efforts while the US can barely even commit to a measly carbon limit despite the fact that it’s one of the largest contributor to green house gases? Are we still under the notion that climate change is a myth? Oh and just to remind you, Adolf Hitler wasn’t German–just in case you don’t know that.
“Only we long ago unified all our “countries” into states within a Union, while the EU is still working on it.”
Do you know the big difference there? The US only has one general government; one president who won’t even endorse marriage equality despite the fact that his people had suffered a somewhat similar fate years ago.
“Let me know when Ohio bombs the daylights out of Pennsylvania because PA has the Amish and Quakers and Ohio Catholics and Lutheran.”
And how will they do that given the fact that both States share a similar military power compared to two countries with two different military powers at their own disposal and convenience?
LOL. I agree with you: you’re not necessarily light years behind–just a century or two.
Dorothea from Germany
@Darrell: The CDU/CSU could make itself tolerate the existence of registered partnerships that have fewer rights than “traditional” marriages. I don’t see the Christian Democrats tolerate marriage equality anytime soon. The FDP has demanded for a while now that registered partnerships get the same rights and duties that marriages have. While this is less bad, it’s still bad. However, it looks like they are now slowly getting it. I really hope that the next time a marriage equality bill is introduced in the parliament the FDP will vote in favour of it. Then there would be enough votes (50%) to pass it. CDU/CSU approval is not needed. Marriage equality is supported by the Left, the Greens, and the Social Democrats. These three parties currently make up 47% of the Bundestag. Also, 60% of Germans believe that “marriage equality is a good thing”. In Denmark, approval of marriage equality is over 70%.
@Jim Hlavac: “Only we long ago unified all our “countries” into states within a Union, while the EU is still working on it.”
Unlike you, we do NOT WANT one unified European country. What we want are different European countries with some basic uniform standards. That’s all.
“Meanwhile, several of the other “countries” or “states” that accept gay marriage are in South America.”
The only South American country with marriage equality is Argentina. 7 of the 10 countries that have marriage equality are European.
@Belize: I agree.
Dorothea from Germany
@Jim Hlavac: Aside from marriage equality, you should also have a look at anti-discrimination legislation. Western European countries have comprehensive or nearly comprehensive non-discrimination laws that forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, whereas the USA doesn’t even get ENDA passed, which would only prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment and the feature “gender identity” might even be omitted to get the bill passed.
Robert in NYC
Jim, FYI, there is only one country in Latin America that allows and recognizes same-sex marriage, Argentina. Mexico City also allows it. Where do you get “several” from?
As for the EU, they are indeed light years ahead of the U.S. especially on social issues. The U.S. has only six states where SSM is the law but…..there is NO federal recognition which denies gay couples over 1100 rights and privileges. There is NO such thing of this kind in the EU. Legislation affects their entire countries, not just a handful of states and regions, plus there is more mobility for gay married couples there and even some who are in other legal unions, unlike in the U.S. The UK for example has one of the strongest laws in place protecting LGBT people, along with France and Germany. It’s about to start its own marriage equality consultation this week under a conservative coalition government led by PM David Cameron. What do we have? A ban in 31 states (DOMA), and ballot referenda overturning legislation? Doesn’t happen in the EU.
As Dorothea correctly says, we don’t even have ENDA passed and probably won’t under the current political climate and the obstruction of the right wing GOP of hate. The EU doesn’t breed right wing demagogues influencing and controlling an entire party and its policies, wouldn’t be tolerated or taken seriously as they are here. Just look at the abortion and birth control debate. The EU put that nonsense to rest in the 60s and it is never a wedge issue in politics and there is no attack on women’s rights either, unlike in the U.S. How can you say the EU isn’t ahead?
Robert in NYC
@Dorothea from Germany: Dorothea, do you think Angela Merkel will be voted out at the next election? I think if that happens, marriage equality has a good chance of passing in Germany. Then I think it will have a domino effect if that happens. France will probably do it once Sarkozy is gone. With the UK, France and Germany on board, there will be no turning back, more EU countries will get on board, inevitable I think, a marriage equality zone.
Michael
@Robert in NYC: Not entirely thrue Robert. We DO have far right demagogues, but unlike the US they don’t have widespread support in public opinion. The main difference is that we have seperated religion and politics,we consider faith a private matter, that you don’t flaunt at every opportunity.
Robert in NYC
@Michael: Michael, of course, that was what I was trying to imply. Every country has right wing demagogues but they don’t stand much chance of influencing the outcome of western EU legislation as they do in the U.S. and are not taken that seriously.
The Real Mike in Asheville
@Huh …: Really, a “pedantic” douche, Mr. Kettle?
Dorothea from Germany
@Robert in NYC: “Do you think Angela Merkel will be voted out at the next election?”
Hard to predict. The next election will be in fall 2013. The latest poll shows the Christian Democrats (36%) ahead of the Social Democrats (26%). However, even if the god-bothering bitch gets reelected, her party will have a hard time finding a big enough coalition partner, because their usual coalition partner, the Free Democrats, probably won’t reach the 5% threshold. Also, marriage equality supporters will most certainly be in the majority regardless of which party actually wins the next election. Therefore, I believe that we’ll get marriage equality anyway. The bad thing about our next election is that we have 2 right-leaning parties (CDU, FDP) and 4 left-leaning parties (SPD, Greens, Left, Pirates). This means that the votes of the left-leaning people spread over 4 parties, while almost all votes of the right-leaning people will go to the CDU. That’s why the CDU will probably become the strongest party and win the election.
“France will probably do it once Sarkozy is gone.”
The next French presidential election will be held in April. Keep your fingers crossed for Socialist François Hollande. Latest polls show him ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy. Yay!
Martin
@Jim Hlavac: Strange relationship you have to accuracy and fact… You have no accurate facts in your comment way to go…
And actually we in western europe cared deeply about people in eastern europe and human rights -it was the red army that didnt care. But go get your school money back because you obviously didnt get a pennys worth of education…
Robert in NYC
Meanwhile, in the UK today, March 15, 2012.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/15/public-consultation-on-equal-marriage-for-england-and-wales-opens/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Pinknews+%28Pink+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
Robert in NYC
@Dorothea from Germany: Dorothea, many thanks. That awful Merkel has to go, no question about it. I am indeed keeping my fingers crossed for Francois Hollande. I wonder if Segolene Royale will resurface, the first French politician to support it before Sarkozy was elected?
Dorothea from Germany
@Robert in NYC: I see. Finally, my comment got through. No idea why it was awaiting moderation. Took ages.
Ségolène Royal endorses François Hollande.
What about you? Will you vote for Mr. Segregation Supporter, aka Obama, or for a third party, e.g. SPUSA?
Robert in NYC
@Dorothea from Germany: Dorothea, makes no sense why your comment would have been moderated, none at all.
I figured Segolene Royal would endorse Francois Hollande.
Since there is no viable third party in the U.S. I’m going to have to cast my vote for the Democrats. The Libertarian Party supports both DOMA and marriage equality if states so legislate and under that policy, there will NEVER be marriage equality in all states let alone at the federal level, so voting for them is empowering the republicans the majority of whom oppose our equality. I just won’t give them any power directly or indirectly. Obama is facing his last term supposedly, so whether he evolves or not before then or after, someone else will run for the Democrats who will support it in 2016. It won’t be a republican for sure.