German lawmakers yesterday voted to legalize same-sex marriage after a short but emotional debate, with 393 voting for, 226 against and four abstaining.
Although German Chancellor Angela Merkel voted against the measure, she on Monday paved the way for its passage by freeing other members of her conservative coalition to take up the issue as a “question of conscience,” allowing members to vote individually.
That prompted her center-left rivals to quickly call for a snap vote on the issue, adding it to the agenda on the legislature’s last regular session yesterday before the Sept. 24 elections.
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While some in Merkel’s conservative bloc spoke against the measure, Berlin Christian Democrat Jan-Marco Luczak urged his fellow party members to vote for marriage equality.
“It would be absurd to try and protect marriage by preventing people to marry,” he told lawmakers.
Many applauded Merkel’s comments that opened the way for the vote, but Social Democrat Lawmaker Johannes Kahrs said in the debate that she had been a longtime opponent of same-sex marriage.
“Many thanks for nothing,” he said.
The new law will not take effect for several months because it still needs to pass the upper house of Parliament and be approved by the president, although those are formalities. It is also expected to face legal challenges.
Merkel told reporters that her vote against the measure was based upon her reading of the nation’s law concerning marriage and that she did think same-sex couples should be able to adopt.
Germany’s basic law is vague, saying only that “marriage and the family shall enjoy the protection of the state,” but Merkel said that for her, “marriage as defined by the law is the marriage of a man and a woman.”
However, she added that she stood by her contention that the interpretation was a “question of conscience” and urged all views to be respected.
All of Merkel’s potential coalition partners after the September election, including the center-left Social Democrats of her challenger, Martin Schulz, have been calling for same-sex marriage to be legalized.
It is not clear whether Merkel thought her comments would prompt such a quick vote, but many analysts have suggested that by opening the door to marriage equality, she removed yet another issue that might have helped her opponents in their campaigns against her.
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