Watch the Thrilling Moment Uruguay Passed Marriage Equality: VIDEO

Last night the nation of Uruguay became the 12th in the world to pass marriage equality. Here's the moment it happened. It will give you chills (the good kind)!

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Uruguay Senate Approves Marriage Equality in 23-8 Vote

Uruguay will almost certainly be the next nation to approve marriage equality after its Senate approved the measure in a 23-8 vote. The House passed the bill in December and the bill must return there for the legislation to be reconciled. President José Mujica says he intends to sign the bill.

Freedom to Marry writes: "When marriages between same-sex couples begin this summer, Uruguay will join 11 countries that have the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide: The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, and Denmark. Three others have taken judicial and regional steps to allow same-sex couples to share in the freedom to marry in parts of the country: Brazil, Mexico, and the United States."

News: Richard Hanna, Mandela, Omega, Uruguay

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88-year old President George HW Bush remains hospitalized with a high fever after being checked in with a "bronchitis-like cough" before Christmas.

94-year old former South African President Nelson Mandela has been released from the hospital following his own health scare.

  Uruguay's Senate has postponed their marriage equality vote until April.

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After previously balking at the suggestion, Democratic NJ Assemblyman Reed Gusciora now says he wants to put marriage equality to a popular vote.

US Rep. Richard Hanna, a Tea Party backed Republican from New York, today announced that he opposes DOMA. "The simple fact remains that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all legally married couples are treated equally under federal law," he said. Hanna is only the second sitting GOP congressperson to say DOMA needs to be repealed. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was the first.

Biogen, a drug manufacturer that specializes in multiple sclerosis treatments, will "gross up" pay to make up the difference for gay and lesbian married couples who suffer financial punishment under DOMA, the government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage.

British High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge blasted Prime Minister David Cameron for pursuing marriage equality, something he calls a distraction that only impacts ".1%" of the population. "[Gay marriage] is a minority issue. We need a much more focused position by the Government on the importance of marriage," said Coleridge, who created his own non-profit to fight divorce.

Meanwhile, Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps defended the Tories' equality push. Though some critics want to see a ban on fox hunting pass first, Shapps says they simply don't have the votes in Parliament; marriage is a much easier win, he said: "It makes sense to bring something forward if you think there's a chance of there being a parliamentary majority and at the moment there doesn't appear to be one... There probably is a parliamentary majority for gay marriage."

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Les Misérables did big business on Christmas: about $18 million opening day and number one at the box office.

DC gay bar Omega Nightclub had its last call.

Uruguay's House Overwhelmingly Approves Marriage Equality in 81-18 Vote; Senate Has Votes to Pass

Uruguay's House has overwhelmingly passed a marriage equality bill and prospects look excellent that it will join the nations of the world which offer the freedom to marry to its citizens.

From Rex Wockner and Andres Duques (at Blabbeando):

Eighty-one of the 99 members of Uruguay's House of Representatives voted to legalize same-sex marriage this evening. Twelve members of the chamber were not present for the vote. The bill now advances to the Senate, where support is equally strong, according to LGBT activists.

President José Mujica plans to sign the measure into law in early 2013.

"Very happy here!" said Álvaro Queiruga of the LGBT lobby group Colectivo Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep Collective).

Uruguay will be the 12th nation to offer same-sex marriage nationwide.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Mexico (where same-sex marriage is legal in the Federal District, i.e. Mexico City, and in the state of Oaxaca, and those marriages are recognized nationwide).

It also is legal in nine U.S. states - Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington -- and in Washington, D.C.

Among the most controversial aspects of the law so far are new surname rules, the AP reports:

Judging from the congressional debate so far, giving gays and lesbians all the same rights and responsibilities of married straight couples seems to have been the easy part for most lawmakers. The naming change seemed to cause the most controversy as the measure came through legislative committees.

In the end, the legislators proposed to let all couples choose which surname comes first for their children. And if they can't decide, the proposed law says a "sorteo," such as the flip of a coin, in the civil registry office should decide the issue.

The AP adds that "The bill also would clarify rules for adoption and in-vitro fertilization, and eliminate the words 'marido y mujer' (husband and woman) in marriage contracts, referring instead to the gender neutral 'contrayentes' (contracting parties)" and the law "would let couples, gay or straight, decide whose surname goes first when they name their children."

 

Uruguay Poised to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage; Vote Imminent

Urugay will vote today on same-sex marriage, the AP reports:

Legalizing gay marriage has long been a goal of the Broad Front, which has ample majorities in both houses of Congress. After the lower house votes, the project would go to the Senate. President Jose Mujica hopes to sign it into law early next year.

The "Marriage Equality Law" also would replace Uruguay's 1912 divorce law, which gave only women, and not their husbands, the right to renounce marriage vows without cause. In the early 20th Century, Uruguay's lawmakers saw this as an equalizer, since men at the time held all the economic and social power in a marriage, historian Gerardo Caetano said.

"A hundred years later, with all the changes that have occurred in Uruguayan society, this argument has fallen of its own accord," Caetano said Tuesday. "It's absolutely logical now that divorces can happen if either party wants it. And I really think it won't have much of an impact."

The AP adds that "The bill also would clarify rules for adoption and in-vitro fertilization, and eliminate the words 'marido y mujer' (husband and woman) in marriage contracts, referring instead to the gender neutral 'contrayentes' (contracting parties)" and the law "would let couples, gay or straight, decide whose surname goes first when they name their children."

Uruguay would join The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina and Denmark as the 12th in the world to have state-wide marriage equality.

UPDATE: Video link to Uruguay House HERE.

Uruguay To Begin Debating Marriage Equality Law

After two delays earlier this year, it appears Uruguay's Congress is ready to finally vote on marriage equality there.

[The law] was drafted by gay rights activists in the so-called "Black Sheep Collective" and now has the support of lawmakers in the ruling Broad Front coalition, which decided Wednesday to debate the measure next week in the House of Deputies' constitutional commission.

"Today's society is much broader than the heterosexual, and the civil code should reflect this: a marriage institution that applies equally to all," Federico Grana, a member of the collective, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "This goes well beyond homosexuality — it's a law that gives all the same rights and responsibilities."

The Catholic Church in Uruguay is, not surprisingly, opposed to the potential law, insisting that the civil unions already in place are good enough for same-sex couples. Extending marriage to them, says Bishop Joseph Fuentes, "discriminates" against heterosexuals.

"Giving this kind of union the same obligations and rights as marriage would represent serious discrimination against a married man and woman," he said.