Luxembourg legislature votes to legalize same-sex marriage, adoption

Luxembourg’s legislature voted Wednesday to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, making the tiny country the eleventh in Europe to allow marriage equality for same-sex couples.The measure passed in the Chamber of Deputies by a vote of 56-4 after a petition by opponents failed to gain the required 4,500 signatures.

The group behind the petition, Schutz fir d’Kand (Protector of the Child), said same-sex would “weaken family ties, to the detriment of all.”

The measure combines a reform of both marriage and adoption laws, allowing not only same-sex marriage and adoption, but also provisions to prevent forced marriage, raises the minimum age for marriage to 18 for both women and men, and scraps a compulsory medical exam before marriage.

Luxembourg’s openly gay prime minister, Xavier Bettel, the leader of the Democratic Party, had previously said he expected the nation will have marriage equality by the end of the year..

In Europe, same-sex marriage is legal in Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.  LGBTQN