OSLO, Nov 18 (AFP) - Norwegian legislators on Thursday rejected moves to allow gay couples to marry under the same laws as heterosexuals and which would have paved the way for them to adopt children, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.
Same-sex couples in the Scandinavian country are currently able to legally register their civil unions but are not allowed to marry in church. They enjoy largely the same rights as straight couples, except they cannot adopt.
A majority of MPs on Thursday scrapped an amendment to the existing legislation which would have rendered the current marriage law "gender neutral", following opposition from among others the Christian Democrats -- the party of Lutheran pastor and Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik -- and the far right.
Since artificial insemination by anonymous donors can be carried out in nearby Denmark, Norwegian same-sex couples can in practice already have children.
"We should ensure that these children have the same rights as children who grow up with a father and a mother," Labour MP Trond Giske said, NTB reported.
Far right deputy Ulf Erik Knudsen said however that "children grow up in better conditions when they have a mother and father as role models."
11/18/2004 16:18 GMT - AFP