Germany’s upper house approves legalization of same-sex marriage

Lawmakers in Germany's upper house of parliament on Friday approved the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country.

The Bundesrat nod came a week after the "marriage for all" vote in the lower house Bundestag, with 393 parliamentarians voting for the measure, 226 against, and four abstentions.

Germany has so far only recognized civil partnerships between gay couples, putting the country out of step with several European Union nations that ensure full marital rights for same-sex partners.

Last week's historic vote in the Bundestag followed an unusually quick debate just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel reversed her conservative party's long-standing opposition to same-sex marriage, and permitted parliamentarians to vote according to their consciences.

Merkel, who is running for a fourth term as chancellor in September elections, cast a "no" vote.

The measure's passage through the Bundesrat was expected, and meant that it had crossed its last parliamentary hurdle before the summer break.

In a separate vote, the Bundesrat approved a measure to compensate thousands of homosexuals convicted under an anti-gay law that existed for most of the 20th century.

Those convicted under Paragraph 175 of the nation's criminal code - which prohibited homosexuality and made it punishable with tough jail sentences - are to receive a lump sum of 3,000 euros (3,420 dollars), as well a further 1,500 euros for each year of imprisonment.

First enacted in 1871, the strict provisions of Paragraph 175 were initially tightened by the Nazis in 1935, two years after they seized power, and then adapted by post-war governments in both the western and Communist eastern parts of Germany.

The law was watered down in West Germany in 1969, but not fully abolished until 1994. About 64,000 men were convicted under Paragraph 175.