Marriage for all: celebrities tying the same-sex knot
June 30, 2017
As in Germany, same-sex marriage rights have been slow in coming internationally. While same-sex unions have been around since the times of Ancient Greece, it wasn't until 2001 that the Netherlands became the first country to introduce full marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Even if gay couples could enter into civil rights partnerships in countries like Germany, they were not accorded full equality under the law - civil union partners could not legally adopt children in Germany, for instance.
But as a successful German vote on same-sex marriage shows, the tide is turning. And a host of gay and lesbian artists, musicians and celebrities have taken the opportunity to embrace same-sex marriage rights, particularly in the US after the Supreme Court sanctioned marriage for gay and lesbian couples in 2015 - or in individual states like New York, where gay marriage was sanctioned in 2011 (allowing, for instance, "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon and fiance Christine Marinoni to tie the knot in the state a year later).
In 2014, same-sex marriage was also legalized in Britain, with singer Sir Elton John and partner David Furnish taking the opportunity to upgrade their civil union.
A May 2015 referendum in the Irish Republic also said yes to full marriage rights for gay couples - it was the first time that gay marriage was legalized by popular vote, the yes vote winning a resounding 62 percent.
Same-sex marriages are now legal in 23 countries.
Germany also joined the list after Chancellor Angela Merkel finally acceded to allowing members of parliament the right to vote according to their individual conscience on the issue of same-sex marital rights. Merkel herself voted against the bill, which passed easily by 393 to 226.
The move was widely supported by the general public, as a German Anti-Discrimination Agency report this week showed that 83 percent of respondents favor same-sex marriage.