Norwegian Lutheran Church votes in favor of same-sex marriage
The Lutheran Church in Norway voted in favor of allowing same-sex couples to get married, and the religious movement in the church that lobbied for the change is happy with the results.
"Finally we can celebrate love independently of whom one falls in love with," Gard Sandaker-Nilsen, leader of the Open Public Church, said as quoted by Reuters.
The voting took place on Monday, April 11, during the church's annual conference. Of the 115 delegates present, 88 were for allowing gay couples to be wed. This would put in place new rules, but priests can still object if they do not wish to preside over the marriage.
The Norwegian church in Norway is not the first Christian organization to allow same-sex marriage. According to Reuters, both the Protestant Church in France and the Presbyterian Church in the United States have also allowed it.
However, the Church of England is not in agreement. According to a report by The Independent in January, the Anglican Church in the United States has been penalized for recognizing same-sex marriage. This was when the Primates had a meeting in Canterbury, and they remained firm in their stance that marriage is between a man and a woman. This has apparently created a divide between liberals who support gender-neutral unions and the conservatives who are against it.
Norway has recognized registered same-sex partnerships since 1993, and it made gender-neutral marriage legal in 2009, the sixth country to do so. However, under the law, religious communities are not required to perform the marriage.
In a poll conducted by Ipsos in 2013, 78 percent of respondents in Norway believed that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married legally, while 11 percent thought that they should be given legal recognition but not marry.
