Slàinte!

Marriage Bill Passes In Scotland, With A Surprise Scheduling Twist

scotland-russiaFelicitations, Scotland! You’re all gay married now.

Scottish Parliament just passed the marriage bill, after a years-long deliberation. That means wedding bells will start soon. In fact, they may start sooner than expected.

Originally, the timetable was supposed to be about a year from passage to implementation. But apparently, love has found a way to do the impossible and hasten the pace of government.

UK officials are reportedly working together to make marriage equality start before the end of the year. In the mean time, England and Wales are slated to see marriage equality start on March 29th.

This process has been underway since early 2009, when organizers submitted a petition to reverse a ban that was put in place in 1977. That effort limped along with some hesitation, in part because Scottish officials worried that their marriage laws would be out of sync with the rest of the UK. But when England and Wales launched a consultation on equality in 2011, Scotland finally followed suit.

The government announced plans for a marriage bill in 2012, then finally introduced it in 2013, and now at last has passed it in 2014. The journey towards equality in Scotland has been agonizingly slow, but at last it’s reached its culmination.

Polls show the country generally quite supportive of marriage equality. In a 2010 survey, 61 percent were in support, with just 19 percent opposed.

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