German politicians have voted to legalise same-
sex marriage. A total of 393 politicians voted to
legalising "marriage for everybody", while 226
voted against and four abstained from voting.
The snap vote took place today, only days after
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel changed
her mind to allow a free vote.
Ms Merkel, has always been against same-sex
marriage, but she allowed for the vote after
saying on Monday that politicians could take up
the issue as a "question of conscience". As
expected, she voted against the bill citing
concerns over the welfare of children.
Members of Ms Merkel's conservative coalition
were given the freedom to individually vote for
their choice rather than follow party lines. The
Chancellor said though she voted against
legalising gay marriage, she hoped Parliament's
approval of the measure would lead to more
social cohesion.
She said: "For me, marriage in the basic law is
marriage between a man and a woman and that
is why I did not vote in favour of this bill today."
Germany has allowed same-sex couples to enter
civil partnerships since 2001, but same-sex
marriages had remained illegal. All of Ms Merkel's
potential coalition partners after the September 4
election have been calling for the legalisation of
same-sex marriage. However, her traditional
Catholic conservative bloc was not happy when
she announced that she would allow politicians to
vote on same-sex marriage according to their
individual conscience drew the ire of some in her
traditionally Catholic conservative bloc.
The "marriage for all" bill will grant gay and
lesbian couples full marital rights and allows
them to adopt children. It will likely be signed
into law by the President some time after July 7.
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