Denmark approves same-sex marriage in the Faroe Islands
The road to approving same-sex marriage in the Faroe Islands has finally been completed.
The islands have become the final Nordic country to legalise marriage equality.
The archipelago known as the Faroe Islands, which is self-governing, voted to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry last year.
However the legislation required a change in law from the government of Denmark in order to be put into practice.
The country of just 49,000 inhabitants is seen as a kingdom of Denmark – which legalised same-sex marriage back in 2012, including religious ceremonies.
The Faroese raised concerns that Christians would be opposed to the measure if it included church weddings, however, so religious weddings were not included in their law.
The Danish Parliament approved legislation to allow for the islands’ rule, which disallows religious same-sex marriages, in a vote approved 108-0.
The first same-sex weddings are now expected to take place in July.
Eiler Fagraklett, head of LGBT Faroe Islands, said: “It was an intense, exciting and unpredictable moment.
“When the MPs finally passed the amendment to the bill and thereby granted us with equal rights, it came as a huge relief.
“For the coming generations of LGBT people, it will make a world of difference to be able to enjoy the same rights as other citizens.
“Life has been made a lot better and easier for us in the Faroe Islands,” Fagraklett said.
Polls in 2014 found that around two-thirds of those in the Faroe Islands said the supported the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.
In 2015 the country elected an out-gay politician to Parliament for the first time.
A bill that would have extended Denmark’s equal marriage law to the Islands was originally voted down in March 2014, by a vote of 20-11.
