Same sex marriage in Tas & NZ?

It's looking increasingly likely that both Tasmania & New Zealand will soon be legislating in favour of same-sex marriage.

In NZ, the Marriage Equality Bill passed its first reading in Parliament by 80 votes to 40. Prime Minister John Keys expects debate to be "quite ferocious" despite the early, easy win. The Bill has now been sent to a select committee to take public submissions

In Tasmania, the Same-Sex Marriage Bill, 2012 has successfully passed its first major challenge, winning passage through the Lower House on a vote of 13 to 11. With Parliament in recess for 3 weeks, the Bill must wait to be put to a vote in the Upper House. While not assured of safe passage through the Upper House, Premier Lara Giddings and other supporters are hopeful that it will pass.

And, in Northern Ireland the Alliance Party's ruling council has spoken out in favour of allowing same-sex civil marriage, while in Scotland, robust discussion on this same topic has been occurring over the past 6 months. And with Scotland's Parliament resuming after the summer break, and with a marriage equality bill on the table, it looks increasingly likely that Scotland will be the UK forerunner in legislating for same-sex marriage.

France is also joining the same-sex marriage party, where it's Parliament will soon be considering a marriage equality bill to be introduced by the Prime Minister & supported by the President.

by Michael Daddino from Flickr Creative Commons