Could the Faroe Islands be the Next Place to Legalise Same-Sex Marriage?

Voters in the Faroe Islands went to the polls yesterday (September 1st) in the country’s parliamentary elections. Campaigning has been dominated by the issue of same-sex marriage, and it’s likely that the result of the vote will determine whether or not equal marriage stands a chance of being accepted into law.  

Last year, Pink News reported that 61% of islanders were in favour of gay marriage; during last year’s pride an estimated 5,000 people marched for gay rights (that’s 1 in 10 of the population). However, when it came to extending Denmark’s equal marriage law to the island back in March 2014, the vote was defeated.

It’s perhaps worth mentioning that the Faroe Islands is an autonomous country in the Kingdom of Denmark. It means that whilst the islands have control of most of their domestic issues (like same-sex marriage) it’s Denmark that controls foreign policy, justice, police and military. 

Denmark legalised gay marriage in 2012.




According to Yahoo, “The ruling centre-right government has been prevented by one of its smaller coalition members, the Christian Centre Party (Midflokkurin), to put same-sex marriage to a vote in parliament”

The make-up of the new parliament, therefore, could pave the way for a vote on same-sex marriage. Greenland – another Danish dependency – legalised gay marriage earlier this year. Pitcairn (tiny Pacific island with less than 50 inhabitants) did so, too, and Puerto Rico recently saw its first same-sex weddings.

It'll be interesting to see what comes from the results of the election. We'll keep an eye on what's going on. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.



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