ICELAND APPROVES GAY MARRIAGE

The troubled nation of Iceland, which is led by an openly lesbian woman, has chosen to legalise same-sex marriage; making it the seventh in Europe to do so.

The country’s parliament voted to change the legal definition of marriage from only being the union between a man and woman to a union between two individuals.

MPs also voted to end the previous system of civil partnerships for same-sex couples, which means that heterosexual and same-sex couples now both only have the option to marry.

The bill will be sent for final approval by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who is expected to sign the legislation into law.

In April 2009, the widely popular Sigurdardottir was voted in as the first ever openly gay leader of a country. She has been in a civil partnership with a woman since 2002.

Sigurdardottir has not only been grappling with the recent financial collapse of the country but her government has also banned strip clubs and other “exploitative” practices against women since coming into power.