By Rex Wockner
International News Report
 Acting Norway Prime Minister Per-Kristian Foss |
Openly gay Norwegian Finance Minister Per-Kristian
Foss made gay world history January 25 when he was
installed as acting prime minister temporarily.
Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and Foreign
Minister Jan Petersen, who is second in the line of
succession, were both out of the country.
"I think that this, perhaps, can have a small impact
on the discussion [of gay rights]," Foss, a
Conservative, told Reuters. |
Last month, Foss likely became the first Cabinet-level
official in the world to marry a same-sex partner. He
tied the knot with Jan Erik Knarbakk under Norway's
gay partnership law, which grants more than 99 percent
of the rights and obligations of matrimony.
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"I see that many newspapers are writing about it and
that's nice, but I don't think about it that much,"
Foss told Reuters.
Nations that grant many, most or all marriage rights
to same-sex couples include Canada, Denmark (and
Greenland), Finland, France, Germany, Hungary,
Iceland, The Netherlands (the only nation where gay
couples, including foreign residents, can marry under
the same laws as straight couples), Norway, Portugal,
Sweden and, in the United States, the state of
Vermont.
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Related Sites:
Rex Wockner International Report
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