Swedish Bishops OK Gay Marriage
By YourTango Admin. Posted on .
From The LocalThe Church of Sweden's leaders have said that they are willing to allow gay people to marry in church on the same basis as heterosexual couples, although bishops are unsure whether to call the unions marriage.
"We are prepared to carry out partnerships for homosexuals that have the force of law," said Bishop Claes-Bertil Ytterberg of the church's Västerås diocese.
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Ytterberg said the decision will make the church the first major denomination in the world to allow full gay church marriage in practice. However, the United Church of Canada, the second largest Canadian denomination, already carries out gay marriages.
An official government report proposing changes to marriage laws is to be presented next week. The report is expected to call for all couples, gay or straight, to be given equal marriage rights.
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Tango’s Take
What is it about the Scandanavians that makes them so trendsetting when it comes to love and marriage? They’re so ahead of the curve the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, has devoted an entire study to the difference in marriage here and there. Or rather, the decline of it. Cohabitation is the new norm in Scandinavia. So while the Dutch may be famous for their brothels, the French, for well, the Marquis de Sade and everything since, they both reject gay marriage. But not the Swedes. Is there something that sets these cultures apart? Does their high level of ethnic homogeny work in their favor? The fact that they’re a secular society? Or maybe the fact that everyone comes out of the womb downright stunning makes them less likely to settle down with just one human.
