Latest News - 22 March 2007:

Sweden took a step toward allowing same-sex marriage Wednesday when a government appointed committee in Stockholm proposed extending this right to same-sex couples.

Sweden has provided for civil unions between same-sex couples since 1994 but does not permit same-sex marriages.

Former Chancellor of Justice, Hans Regner, who was commissioned in 2005 to review Swedish matrimony legislation, said the proposed amendments would take affect from January 2008.

If the new law is passed, couples who have entered such unions would automatically be considered legally married and the institution of civil union would be deleted.

Same-sex marriage is legal in five other countries: Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and South Africa. In the United States, the state of Massachusetts allows same-sex marriage.

The Swedish proposal needs parliamentary approval but is expected to pass in a country with widespread support for same-sex marriage.

Regner said he had considered various arguments against changing the marriage legislation but had come to the conclusion that there was no reason to reserve marriage for heterosexual couples only.

The Church of Sweden, a Lutheran church, welcomed the proposals saying that it will perform marriage ceremonies. Archbishop Anders Weyryd said that it was good that “same-sex couples would be offered the same legal protection”.

The new position adopted by the church would also end the need for same-sex couples seeking a church wedding to attend a civil registry. Whilst the Church of Sweden currently performs blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples, the church cannot register them and the couple must sign a civil registry at a government office.

Some 80 per cent of Sweden’s 9 million people belong to the Church of Sweden that was separated from the state in January 2000.

That the Church accepted the recommendations of the government report makes it even more likely that Parliament will approve the proposals.