German lawmakers vote to legalize same-sex marriage; Merkel votes no [View all]

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

German lawmakers voted by a wide margin to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, a landmark decision which came just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped her longstanding opposition to a free vote on the issue.

The bill gives homosexual couples in Germany the same rights as heterosexual couples, and will allow same-sex couples to marry and jointly adopt children. It passed by 393 votes to 226, with four abstentions.

The bill is likely to pass through the Bundesrat -- Germany's upper house -- next week. The Bundesrat has previously approved legalizing same-sex marriage.

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Speaking after the vote, Merkel said she had voted no on the issue, but that it had been important to put it to a vote of conscience.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/europe/germany-gay-marriage-vote/index.html