DENMARK APPROVES SAME-SEX ADOPTION

Same-sex adoption rights have been approved by Denmark’s Parliament, known as the Folketing, in a relatively close vote.

Activists and gay parents have been fighting for over a decade for the right to adopt children in the same way that heterosexual couples do.

The measure passed with 62 vote for and 53 against last week. There were 64 absentees. The government must now present a bill to the Folketing which will allow for the law to be changed.

Although gays and lesbian can adopt children as individuals in Denmark, the new law will give Danish same-sex couples the right to adopt as a couple in the country and internationally.

Same-sex marriage has not been legalised in Denmark, but in 1989 the country was the first in the world to allow same-sex civil unions.

Other European countries that have passed gay adoption legislation include Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.