OSLO, Norway — Gay couples in Norway will be granted the same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed Tuesday.
Norway’s upper house of Parliament voted 23-17 in favor of the gender-neutral marriage law. It replaces 1993 legislation that gave gays the right to enter into civil unions similar to marriage but did not allow church weddings or adoption. It takes effect Jan. 1.
“We are so overjoyed. We have worked for this for so long,” said Jon Reidar Oeyan, leader of the Norwegian National Association of Lesbian and Gay Liberation.
A parliamentary majority had announced agreement on the legislation last month, and the lower house voted 84-41 in favor last week.
The law gives individual congregations and clergy the right but not the legal obligation to perform wedding ceremonies for gay couples.
In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to offer full marriage rights to gays.
