Fridae

The Swedish parliament's laws committee is considering replacing a current law on same-sex civil unions to allow gay couples to officially marry, Agence France-Presse reports.

Although registered same-sex couples in Sweden have enjoyed the same rights as married heterosexual couples since 1995, same-sex unions are however officially called "partnerships" and not "marriages."

The committee will consider three motions which all propose a change in the marriage law to make it "gender neutral", eliminating the last distinction between the two kinds of unions after gays were in February 2003 granted the right to adopt children, said Marianne Mostroem, a spokeswoman for the parliament.

The first review is to be submitted on March 9, and the debate in parliament is scheduled for April 28.

The governing Social Democrats, who hold 144 of 349 seats in parliament, have yet to take an official stand on the issue, but two of the three motions submitted are signed by seven of their MPs.

The Greens, the formerly communist Left party, the Liberals and the Center, which together hold 117 seats, have said they are in favour of a gender-neutral marriage law.

The conservative Moderate party, with 55 seats, has also yet to take a stand.

The Christian Democrats, who hold 33 seats, are however, vehemently opposed to a new law. Two Christian Democratic MPs and one Moderate MP have submitted a fourth motion that calls for the marriage law to be amended to stipulate that marriage is a union "between a man and a woman - for the sake of children."

According to a poll published on Monday, 61 percent of Swedes are in favour of gay marriage, compared to 30 percent who oppose.

Denmark is the first country in the world to legalise same-sex unions in 1989 while The Netherlands is the first country to legalise gay marriages outright in 2001.