Gay marriage upheld

last updated 8 January 2015

Berlin

A conservative challenge to Germany’s year-old law legalizing gay marriage failed last week when the country’s high court ruled the law constitutional. Edmund Stoiber, the Bavarian governor who led the fight to kill the law, called the ruling “regrettable,” but said he would not try to overturn it if he wins the German chancellorship in September’s election. In Berlin, where the mayor is openly gay, liberal groups cheered. “This is everything we have wished for,” said gay activist Axel Blumenthal. The law allows homosexual couples to marry, divorce, and receive spousal benefits and inheritances.