Okay, enough making fun of Mary Cheney.

Let's turn our attention to Sweden, where the Swedish Lutheran Church has decided to bless gay unions. Starting in January 2007, happy homos can march down the aisle and join millions of other committed couples. Don't be fooled, however, the deal doesn't give gays the right to marry, per se. Sweden's The Local reports:

Sweden allows gay couples the same rights as married couples, but the law still defines gay unions as "partnerships", not "marriages".

The Church board said couples who had entered into legal civil unions would be able to hold a wedding-like ceremony in the church, which would not however include an exchange of vows.

While peeps may not be able to exchange traditional vows, the move does bring queers closer to mainstream society. Though it hasn't been a state institution since 2000, the church counts an estimated 7.2 million followers out of the country's 9 million.

Meanwhile, the government's considering removing all gendered language from its marriage laws, which would thus obliterate the final linguistic boundaries between "marriage" and "partnership". Thank heaven!