How the Internet Celebrated Germany Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

Germany is on course to become the 23rd country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. On Friday, the national parliament voted in favor of legalization with 393 votes for and 226 against. The vote came days after Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would allow members from her conservative CDU/CSU grouping to vote however they felt, as opposed to voting in accordance with a party line.

As the news broke in the early hours of the morning, social media erupted in celebration.

“This has been so overdue,” said Reddit user Trear. “I’m glad they finally voted. When 83% of us Germans approve same sex marriage, it’s hard to believe that this vote has only hardly been possible, the CDU/CSU finally could not block the vote. Happy to be a German today!”

“Eeek, now I can’t use that excuse anymore,” said Reddit user RiotTerablo. “Better come up with some good one’s before my boyfriend wakes up:). Danke Deutschland!”

“A great day for Germany, despite all the nay-sayers,” said Reddit user pj_squirrel. “Finally we’re where dozens of countries already were for years.”

YouTuber Stephan Jonas couldn’t contain his excitement.

Twitter user “A-M” said it was “about bloody time.”

Twitter user Josie described it as “the perfect ending to #PrideMonth.”

Stonewall wished its German followers “Herzlichen Glückwunsch” (“Congratulations”).

There were even celebrations in the parliament.

Martin Schulz, chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, welcomed the news.

Despite allowing a free vote, however, Merkel herself voted against the bill.

Before the bill enters law, the president will need to sign it some time after July 7. But unlike the American system, the German presidency is a largely ceremonial position, making this step less contentious than it would be in the United States.