April 10, 2013
New Zealand lawmakers have proposed a bill in support of same-sex marriage. In the second of three votes needed to pass the measure, it passed 77-44. The final vote is scheduled to take place in mid-April.
Does this mean Bilbo Baggins might marry Gandalf in The Hobbit part 2?
UPDATE: The bill passed 77-44 on April 17. New Zealand has become the 13th nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
April 10, 2013
Uruguay, a small South American country of 3.3 million people, has essentially approved same-sex marriage. On December 11, 2012 the Uruguayan House of Representatives passed a bill approving same-sex marriage by a whopping 81-6 margin. On April 2, 2013 the Uruguayan Senate approved a similar bill 23-8. The bill has to go back to the House for reconciliation, and then on to the president, who has already promised to sign it into law. It’s no longer a question of whether same-sex marriage will become legal in Uruguay, but how soon. Once the bill is signed, Uruguay will become the 12th country to legalize same-sex marriage (if France doesn’t beat them to it).
This was a very fast development, considering the fact that the country just approved civil unions for same-sex couples in 2009.
The only other South American country in which same-sex marriage is legal is Argentina.
Theosophical Ruminations
Thinking to Believe 