WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand became the first Asia-Pacific nation to legalize same-sex marriage after a parliament vote Wednesday, 27 years after sexual relations between men were decriminalized.
The third and final reading of the Marriage Equality Bill was passed 77 votes to 44. The legislation amends 1955 laws to rule that all adults in New Zealand, including those identified as transgender or transsexual, can marry.
New Zealand joins 11 other nations that allow same-sex marriage, including Canada, South Africa and Spain. Prime Minister John Key voted in favor of the law change, after last May saying he wasn’t opposed to gay marriage, shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama voiced his support. Key had previously voted against civil unions, which New Zealand legalized in 2005.
“A civil union is demeaning — this idea that you will never be good enough, that your love is somehow less than or not as worthy,” Lynda Topp, a New Zealand entertainer who in March joined her same-sex partner in a civil union, said in an email. “Our marriage is as honest, loyal and committed as anyone’s and we should have the same rights as anyone else.”
