Same-sex marriage in Norway

Previously, Norway had allowed same-sex registered partnerships (Norwegian: registrert partnerskap; Northern Sami: registrerejuvvon párragaskavuohta)[lower-alpha 1] since 1 August 1993, when a law regulating such partnerships came into force.[1][2] Norway became the second country to do so, after Denmark, which implemented a registered partnership law in 1989.

Registered partnerships were granted virtually all the protections, responsibilities and benefits of marriage, including arrangements for the breakdown of the relationship.[1][2] Initially, the partnership law stated that registered partners could not adopt, and that only married couples or opposite-sex cohabiting couples could access artificial insemination. In June 2001, however, the Norwegian Parliament approved a bill allowing registered partners to adopt their partner's children.[3] The amendment took effect on 1 January 2002.[1][2][4]

One of the more notable people to register a relationship was former Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss.[5][6]

Since 2009, couples who have registered their relationship may retain their status as registered partners or "upgrade" to a marriage. However, no new registered partnerships may be created.

From 1993 to 2008, 1,485 partnerships between men and 1,233 partnerships between women were registered in Norway.[7]

A bill was proposed on 18 November 2004 by two MPs from the Socialist Left Party to abolish the existing registered partnership law, and make the marriage law gender-neutral. The move was withdrawn and replaced by a request that the cabinet further investigate the issue. The Conservative cabinet of that time did not look into the issue. However, the Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet announced a common, unified marriage act as part of its foundation document, the First Declaration of Soria Moria. A public hearing was opened on 16 May 2007.[8]

On 14 March 2008, the Norwegian Government proposed a marriage bill that would give lesbian and gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals, including church weddings (although the law does not oblige any religious community to marry same-sex couples), full joint adoption rights and assisted pregnancies. The new legislation would amend the definition of civil marriage to make it gender-neutral.[9][10] On 29 May, the Associated Press reported that two Norwegian opposition parties (the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party) had come out in favour of the new bill, assuring its passage at the vote on 11 June 2008. Prior to this, there were some disagreements with members of the three-party governing coalition on whether the bill had enough votes to pass.[11] On 11 June, the lower house (Odelsting) approved the legislation by 84 votes to 41.[12][13][14][15] Norway's upper house (Lagting) passed the bill with a 23–17 vote on 17 June. The King of Norway, Harald V, granted royal assent thereafter. The law took effect on 1 January 2009.[16] In addition to providing a gender-neutral definition of marriage, the law, known as the Marriage Act (Norwegian: Ekteskapsloven; Northern Sami: Náittosláhka),[lower-alpha 2] states that when a woman who is married to another woman becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, the other partner will have all the rights of parenthood "from the moment of conception".

From 2009 to 2015, an average of 270 same-sex marriages took place per year, compared to an average of 127 registered partnerships from 1993 to 2008. 754 partnerships were converted to marriages in the first three years of same-sex marriage being legal. Female couples were more likely to adopt children than male couples, as about 30% of all married lesbian couples had children, compared to 72% of married straight couples and 3% of married male couples.[17]

By the end of 2019, 3,169 same-sex marriages had been performed in Norway.[18]

In 2014, the Church of Norway's National Council voted down a proposal to perform same-sex marriages in the church.[33]

In 2015, the Church of Norway voted to allow same-sex marriages to take place in its churches.[34] The decision was ratified at the annual conference on 11 April 2016.[35][36][37] The church formally amended its marriage liturgy on 30 January 2017, replacing references to "bride and groom" with gender-neutral text.[38] A male same-sex couple was immediately married in the church the moment the changes came into effect on 1 February 2017.[39]