Subject: The Debate in the Parliament/ FINLAND
From: Hannele Lehtikuusi <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 1996 09:59:54 +0300 (EET DST)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ISLAND!

We have got the translation on Icelandic law in Swedish.
I will forward it to these lists as soon as we get it typed.
It is lacking the explanatory part - and I wonder if there
is one.

Law was passed in Island on the 4th of June.
This information reached us just about
2 hours too late - after the Debate in Parliament of Finland.
But for the fight itself these steps never come late in the
sense that there is always an effect in larger scale.

But to say something shortly about the Debate in the Finnish 
Parliament on the 5th of June on the Private Bill on same 
sex parnership law.

Nearly 4 hours Debate was
a trying experience but also encouraging. We were satisfied
with the Debate generally.

We were also lucky to get just couple of hours before the Debate
the results of respected (also concerned as reliable) Poll 
(ie. Taloustutkimus). We were able to hand over the information 
to the MPs defending the Bill in the Debate. Quite in the begining
the major argument was that most of the Finns object
this kind of Bill. Till they were met with Poll resulting 
that nearly 70 %  support for the same sex partnersip law.

 Polls result was:
 44 % support GAY/LESBIAN MARRIAGE
 67 % support same sex partnership law (as indicated in Private Bill)
 33 % objects any kind of gay unions 
     (whether marriage of parnership law)
 
 Next time we will try to raise attention in the Media when Islandic
 law gets into force by bringing a wedding cake to the
 Islandic Embassy.

Hannele Lehtikuusi
chairperson
SETA
Finland