Sweden approves gay marriage

[marshlander]

Don't know how many have heard the news that the Swedish parliament has voted 7-6 parties in favour of marriage rights for all. The one dissenting party is, of course, the Christian Democrats.

The new legislation comes into effect on 1st May and couples already in registered partnerships (similar to UK civil partnerships) will be offered the opportunity of staying as they are or of applying to the authorities to have their status amended.

More info here

[princealbertofb]

So we all plod off to Sweden to tie the knot??? mile:

[fjp999]

Goodness, I thought ya all over there in Europe had taken care of this already

[yar]

Canada is our closest hope even though it is not legal in the U.S. ( yet)

[marshlander]

Goodness, I thought ya all over there in Europe had taken care of this already

Tell that to the Poles So much for the European Union making rules that the member states have to stick to in order to join the club. I'll leave it to Fred to explain the veto! Marriage is only an option in Holland, Belgium, Spain and, from the beginning of this year I believe, Norway. Now, of course, Sweden is opening up. A number of other countries, such the United Kingdom, have a civil partnership arrangement, which is legally pretty much marriage in all but name. Several states also have a watered down form of registered partnership, but many do not recognise same-sex partnerships at all.

Country by country breakdown of the situation here.

[fredv3b]

Goodness, I thought ya all over there in Europe had taken care of this already

Tell that to the Poles So much for the European Union making rules that the member states have to stick to in order to join the club. I'll leave it to Fred to explain the veto!

Am I now the de facto GS politico?

The EU does make rules that the member states have to stick to. However marriage is not one of them. There are certain broad areas where member states have agreed that the EU should make the rules, and in general they have given up their national vetos on such matters in favour of qualified majority voting (i.e. instead of agreement having to be unanimous, directives are passed if they have at least [I think] about 75% of votes [the number of votes held by a nation depends on its population]). However outside these broad areas the EU can only enforce rules with everyones agreement i.e. national veto. Marriage (and other 'social' issues) has always been considered to be outside the remit of the EU.

Quite frankly, there are many people, particularly in England who want no part of a 'European Super-State'. If Europe were to state who can and can't get married, what rights and responsibilities marriage entailed, etc. then I for one would be up in arms about it, even if what they were proposing I agreed with entirely e.g. gay marriage.

[fjp999]

Am I now the de facto GS politico?

If Europe were to state who can and can't get married, what rights and responsibilities marriage entailed, etc. then I for one would be up in arms about it, even if what they were proposing I agreed with entirely e.g. gay marriage.

[COLOR="Purple"]Thanks for that marsh and fred (GS-fredPolitico).

Of course was just a joke since over here the conservatives are always going on how lawless the Europeans are and how gay marriage has destroyed the family and church

wanna explain why going up in arms and all fred? will we get to see you bashing in some starbucks windows [/COLOR]

[fredv3b]

Of course was just a joke since over here the conservatives are always going on how lawless the Europeans are and how gay marriage has destroyed the family and church

Oddly we Europeans consider the US to be lawless due to your lack of hand gun control, murder rate, etc.

wanna explain why going up in arms and all fred? will we get to see you bashing in some starbucks windows

Why, because a 'European Super State' would, effectively, be a conquering of my own country, albeit bloodless. Starbucks is entirely safe from me, it has done nothing to support a 'European Super State'.

[fjp999]

Oddly we Europeans consider the US to be lawless due to your lack of hand gun control, murder rate, etc.

[COLOR="Purple"]Oddly enough our murder rate is probably lower than one would think:

Murders (per capita) (most recent) by country (NationMaster - Murders (per capita) (most recent) by country)

#1 Colombia: 0.617847 per 1,000 people
#2 South Africa: 0.496008 per 1,000 people
#3 Jamaica: 0.324196 per 1,000 people

before hitting the USA we go thru 8 European countries (4 in the top ten) then:

#24 United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people

even surprised me [/COLOR]

[marshlander]

I happen to agree with Fred on the national autonomy issue. However, I recognise my own ambivalance when it comes to the sort of human rights and fairness issues that our national government can be rather slow at picking up. Sometimes external pressure is really useful. However, I get the impression that most European law seems to stem from unaccountable sources and that is unacceptable ... mostly. :frown: