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Same-sex marriage has been legal in Finland since 1 March 2017. A bill for the legalisation of same-sex marriages was approved by the Finnish Parliament in a vote of 101–90 on 12 December 2014 and signed into law by President Sauli Niinistö on 20 February 2015. Further legislation to harmonise other laws with the legalisation of same-sex marriage was passed in 2016. The law took effect on 1 March 2017. Finland was the twentieth country in the world, the twelfth in Europe as well as the last Nordic sovereign state to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. From 2002 until 2017, Finland recognized registered partnerships for same-sex couples, which provided the same rights and responsibilities as marriage with the exception of joint adoption rights and the right to a joint last name. Registered partnerships Legislation introducing registered partnerships (Finnish: rekisteröity parisuhde; Swedish: registrerat partnerskap) for same-sex couples was passed by the Parliament of Finland on 28 September 2001 with a vote of 99–84. The law went into effect on 1 March 2002. Registered partnerships, which were available only to same-sex couples, provided the same rights and responsibilities as marriage for opposite-sex couples, except for adoption rights and the ability to take a common family name, and they were registered and dissolved using a procedure similar to that for civil marriage. The legislation also granted immigration rights to a foreign partner. The Parliament revised the law in May 2009, allowing a person in a registered partnership to adopt the biological children of their partner. On 1 March 2017, the ability to enter into a registered partnership was closed off. No further partnerships are granted in Finland, and existing registered partners only retain their status if they do not marry. Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage has been legal in Finland since 1 March 2017. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Parliament of Finland on 12 December 2014 with support from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Green League, the Left Alliance, the Swedish People's Party and the National Coalition Party (NCP). The Finns Party, the Christian Democrats and the Centre Party opposed same-sex marriage, though the latter has since rejected attempts to repeal the same-sex marriage law. In Finnish public discourse, same-sex marriage is commonly referred to as "equal marriage" or "gender-neutral marriage". 2007–2011 parliamentary term A poll conducted by Christian newspaper Kotimaa in March 2010 showed that a narrow majority of Finnish MPs opposed same-sex marriage. Of the 126 MPs who were asked if they would support a gender-neutral marriage law, 46% were in favour and 54% were opposed. 63% of Social Democratic lawmakers supported same-sex marriage as well as all MPs from the Greens and the Left Alliance. A majority of MPs from the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party opposed same-sex marriage. However, a later survey in April 2010 by Helsingin Sanomat reported that there was cross-party support for same-sex marriage and joint adoption rights. The Secretary of the National Coalition Party, Taru Tujunen, said that an initiative on same-sex marriage would be put forward at the next party conference. At their June 2010 party conference, the NCP delegates voted in favor of a gender-neutral marriage law, though the vice-chairman of the NCP parliamentary group, Ben Zyskowicz, said that a majority of NCP MPs were against it. Two weeks earlier, the Social Democrats passed a measure in favor of same-sex marriage. The Left Alliance and the Green League also support it. Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who held a speech at the opening ceremony of Helsinki Pride week on 28 June 2010, said he supports a gender-neutral marriage law with full adoption rights for same-sex couples. On 2 July 2010, Justice Minister Tuija Brax announced that the Ministry of Justice would be preparing a reform to the Marriage Act (Finnish: Avioliittolaki; Swedish: Äktenskapslag) in the autumn of 2011. It was considered possible that same-sex marriage would be legalized after the 2011 parliamentary elections, where it was speculated to turn into a major theme, though in an August 2010 survey by Yle only 20% of respondents said the issue should be a major theme. 2011–2015 parliamentary term According to the voting advice application of the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, 90 of the 200 MPs elected in April 2011 supported joint adoption rights for same-sex couples, while 93 MPs opposed it. Upon joining the Katainen Cabinet, the Christian Democrats required assurance that no government bill would legalise same-sex marriage. However, it was agreed during talks on government formation that, if proposed as a member's initiative by individual MPs, such a bill could be endorsed by the remaining five parties in government: the National Coalition Party, the Social Democrats, the Left Alliance, the Green League and the Swedish People's Party. The legislative proposal was presented as a member's initiative on 29 September 2011. On 21 March 2012, after five months of signature gathering among MPs, the bill to legalize same-sex marriage was submitted to Parliament. 76 out of the 199 voting MPs had signed their support for the draft bill, and several additional members were expected to vote for it, including Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen. On 27 February 2013, the bill was voted down by the Legal Affairs Committee in a 9–8 vote. After being turned down by the committee, a similar bill was put forward as a citizens' initiative, organised by the Tahdon2013 campaign ("I do 2013"). The campaign started to gather signatures on 19 March 2013, and by the evening of the first day, the initiative had gathered over 90,000 online signatures, eventually reaching a total of 166,851 signatures. The required minimum for an initiative to be sent to Parliament is 50,000 signatures. Citizens' initiatives had only been possible in Finland since 2012. Therefore, in March 2013, it was still unclear whether a citizens' initiative would be considered on equal footing with a government bill (hallituksen esitys, regeringens proposition), or a member's initiative (lakialoite, lagmotion). Members' initiatives signed by at least 100 MPs are given precedence in the legislative process, while initiatives with less signatures mostly expire at the end of the legislative session. In April 2013, the Speaker's Council of Parliament issued recommendations on how citizens' initiatives are to proceed in Parliament. All initiatives shall be sent to a committee chosen by the plenary session of Parliament. The committee should inform signatories of the initiative within six months on how the committee plans to handle the matter (e.g. by holding hearings with specialists), whether to recommend the initiative for a vote in the plenary session, etc. The committee has full authority on the matter and works independently. Signature gath.... Discover the Veronica Henry Kaisa Ranta popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Veronica Henry Kaisa Ranta books.