[Brussels, 15 February 2013] French and UK lower houses voted in favour of same-sex marriage. After the votes by the upper houses, they will be the twelfth and the thirteenth countries in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage.
On the 5 February 2013, the House of Commons (UK) voted a bill to legalize same sex marriage, with 400 in favour and 175 against. The debate was a big source of division in the Conservative party.
Watch a video of the vote here.
In France, the National Assembly voted in favour of gay marriage after two weeks of debate and several months of mobilisation and demonstrations by pro and anti-same-sex marriage. 329 deputies voted in favour, and 229 against.
The bill will be discussed in April at the Senate (Upper house), and the majority of Senators will most probably vote in favour.
Watch a video of the vote here.
The UK and France will be the twelfth and the thirteenth countries in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage.
Let’s recall that today, 88 countries still penalize homosexuality. Death penalty is still applied in 11 countries such as Afghanistan and Yemen. [[http://ilga.org/ilga/en/index.html]]
