When was gay marriage legalized in new zealand
NZ legalises same-sex marriage
New Zealand's parliament has passed marriage equality legislation, making it the first country in the Asia-Pacific region and the 13th country worldwide to legalise same-sex marriage.
The bill, which passed 77 votes to 44 on Wednesday, redefines marriage as a union between two people, rather than a gentleman and woman.
National Party prime minister John Key backed the legislation, which was introduced by Labour MP Louisa Wall.
Ms Hall says the law transform has widespread common support, particularly among young people.
She says it shows just how far public opinion has reach in New Zealand.
"Nothing could make me prouder to be a New Zealander than passing this bill," she said.
Same-sex marriage is legal in:
- New Zealand, 2013
- Uruguay, 2013
- Denmark, 2012
- Argentina, 2010
- Portugal, 2010
- Iceland, 2010
- Sweden, 2009
- Norway, 2009
- South Africa, 2006
- Spain, 2005
- Canada, 2005
- Belgium, 2003
- The Netherlands, 2000
In total, leaders of seven of the country's eight political parties supported the change.
It is due to take effect within four months, which means gay couples will be fit to legally wed in New Zealand as early as
New Zealand legalises gay marriage
New Zealand’s parliament has become the 13th in the world and the first in the Asia-Pacific region to legalise same-sex marriage.
Lawmakers voted 77 to 44 in favour of the gay-marriage bill on its third and final reading on Wednesday night.
For us, we can now feel matching to everyone else
by Tania Penafiel Bermudez, Bank teller
People watching from the public gallery and some lawmakers immediately broke into song after the result was announced, singing the New Zealand love song “Pokarekare Ana” in the indigenous Maori language.
“For us, we can now feel equal to everyone else,” said Tania Penafiel Bermudez, a bank teller who said she already considers herself married to partner Sonja Fry but now can earn a certificate to show it. “This means we can feel safe and fair and right in calling each other wife and wife.”
In one of several speeches that ended in a standing ovation, bill sponsor Louisa Wall told lawmakers the adjust was “our road toward healing”.
“In our society, the meaning of marriage is universal – it’s a declaration of love and commitment to a particular person,” she said. She added that “nothing could make me more
New Zealand becomes 13th land to legalize gay marriage
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Recent Zealand's parliament voted in favor of allowing homosexual marriage on Wednesday, prompting cheers, applause and the singing of a traditional Maori celebratory song from the public gallery.
It becomes the 13th country to legalize same-sex marriages, after Uruguay passed its hold law last week. Australia last year rejected a similar proposal.
Countries where such marriages are legal comprise Canada, Spain and Sweden, in addition to some states in the Merged States. France is seal to legalizing same-sex marriages amid increasingly vocal opposition.
Seventy-seven of 121 members of New Zealand’s parliament voted in favor of amending the current 1955 Marriage Act to allow lgbtq+ couples to marry, making New Zealand the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to do so.
"Two-thirds of parliament have endorsed marriage equality," Louisa Wall, the openly gay disagreement Labor Party MP who promoted the bill, told reporters after the vote. "It shows that we are building on our human rights as a country."
The bill was widely expected to pass, given similar support for the change in a preliminary
More than 2000 same-sex couples have wed in the three years since it was made legal on this day in 2013.
Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler were among the first same-sex couples to wed after the bill passed in 2013. Photo: RNZ
The bill legalising same-sex marriage passed its final reading in Parliament in April, 2013, and came into effect on 19 August, 2013.
It said people can marry, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Statistic New Zealand figures show 2118 homosexual couples have married since the legislation changed.
Almost 970 of those couples own travelled from abroad to marry here.
Labour Party MP Louisa Wall, who sponsored the Marriage Amendment Bill, said it was satisfying to know a piece of legislation that really mattered was making a difference.
"All of the difficult work that went into the bill has been worth it for us as a country, it shows others we accept in fundamental human rights, that we are all born free and equal.
"I get mums come up to me and say me about their children who have been competent to come out as gay because the bill started a public conversation," Ms Wall said.
She said she underestimated the number of overseas couple
NZ legalizes same-sex marriage
Thirty-one same-sex marriages were expected to take place throughout New Zealand as the law took effect on Monday.
The country's parliament amended the Marriage Act back in April.
The Unused Zealand activist organization Campaign For Marriage Equality hailed the introduction of the new law, saying it ended a historical injustice.
"A massive congratulations to the happy couples tying the knot today. Marriage equality has finally arrived in New Zealand," spokesman Conrad Reyners said.
New Zealand legalises same-sex marriage
Enquiries about holding gay weddings in Novel Zealand have arrive in from around the world, including Russia, the Merged States, Hong Kong, Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, Guyana and Burma.
Among the first to be married was an Australian couple who wed even though their marriage will not be legally commended at home. Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler won a Tourism New Zealand competition to get part in the ceremony.
McCarthy said he hoped the night would come when his marriage would be legally valid in Australia, and said the ceremony had shown that same-sex married couples were "not freaks [and] that there's nothing to f