onsdag 11 Jun 2008, 14:38

Patriotism and nationalism is a big part of Norwegian culture. There's a well-known saying Det er typisk norsk å være god, which directly translates to It's typical Norwegian to be good. Seeing it translated into English almost makes me embarrassed for myself and my countrymen/women. And living abroad for as many years as I have (going on 9 years), puts things in a bit of a perspective. Maybe we're not as good as we think we are?

But today, for just a moment, I would like to put music aside, raise the Norwegian flag and salute the country in which I was born. Today, the Norwegian government has finally recognized that love knows no gender. Today, a new gender neutral marriage law was signed, giving gay and lesbian couples the right to wed. This makes Norway (only) the 6th country in the world to adopt such a law, a huge leap forward for equality.

The law states:

• Gays and lesbians have the same right to marriage as heterosexuals


• Gay and lesbian married couples has equal rights to be evaluated as potential adoptive parents


• Lesbian couples shall have the same opportunity for assisted artificial insemination as heterosexual couples


• The church shall have the right to, but not forced to wed gay and lesbian couples


• Those who wishes to, may register their same-sex union as a marriage. Those who wishes to stay in a same-sex union may continue to do so. After the law goes into effect you may still have the option of marriage or union

So pop the champagne, and lets all celebrate this historic event. With happy tears in my eyes, I raise my glass and say to you in my most joyous voice with great pride: Hurra Norge!

(Forgive me for a rather poor translation of the law, but this is currently breaking news and I could not find an exact English translation at the time of this writing.)