![\"finland\"](\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/finland.jpg?resize=297%2C400\")
<\/p>\nFinland Clears Last Hurdle in Enacting Same-Sex Marriage Law<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Finnish parliament Friday voted down a petition that would have blocked<\/a> a law to permit same-sex<\/a> marriages, allowing it to come into effect as scheduled on March 1.<\/p>\n While Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Norway, along with Iceland, had passed same-sex<\/a> marriage legislation in 2009 and 2010 respectively, Finland took a more complicated path\u00a0and did likewise only in 2014, with its conservative parties blocking the measure several times previously. A petition allowed the 2014 bill to go forward on a 101-90 vote, with a similar petition in opposition entitled \u201cGenuine Marriage\u201d now falling 120-48.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s it! The parliament confirms same-sex<\/a> marriage to be 100 percent certain from here to eternity. Happy weddings,\u201d Green Party leader Ville Niinisto wrote on Twitter after the vote.<\/p>\n The Council of Europe\u2019s Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks\u00a0lauded the development<\/a>, noted that 13 European countries had now embraced marriage equality, among 27 which provide for some form of same-sex<\/a> registration of partnerships. These include\u00a0Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom<\/p>\n The post Finland Clears Last Hurdle in Enacting Same-Sex Marriage Law<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n