Lawmakers in the predominantly Catholic island nation of Malta have voted to legalize same-sex marriages.
Nationalist party MP Edwin Vassallo was the only lawmaker to oppose the vote, citing his Christian faith.
On Tuesday evening, opponents of the measure held a silent vigil outside parliament, but Wednesday's vote was hailed by many commenters on social media.
On Wednesday night, a government-sponsored celebration was organized with Malta's LGBTIQ Consultative Council - a government body representing the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning organisations - in front of the capital's historic Auberge de Castille.
Smallest State of the european Union, Malta became the 25th country to open marriage to same-sex couples and the 15th in Europe.
"Malta's government wrote on Twitter, "#MarriageEquality is now reality in #Malta.
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The vote was one of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's first actions following his election victory last month. "This shows that our democracy and our society have reached a certain level of maturity, and we can all say that we are equal", said Mr Muscat after the adoption of the text.
Malta joined much of Western Europe on Wednesday when its parliament approved legislation eliminating the traditional "you are now husband and wife" declaration in civil ceremonies and replacing it with "you are now spouses".
Divorce was illegal in the island nation until 2011. Since then, the country has introduced civil unions and past year became the first European state to ban "gay cure" therapy.
Once Malta's President signs the bill into law, the landmark bill will introduce changes to the Criminal Code, the Code of Civil Organization and Procedure, the Civil Code, the Interpretation Act, the Marriage Act, the Civil Unions Act and other subsidiary legislation. "The talking is finished inside parliament, but the work must continue outside its doors", Paradis said.
Even though the legislation amendments are yet to be signed into by the country's President, a formality, so they are not in force yet, Malta has practically become the 15 country in Europe and the 13 European Union member state to legalize same-sex marriage (the Netherlands led the way in 2001). The last in date has been Germany, which has legalized the June 30, thanks to a vote of the lower House in spite of the opposition of German chancellor Angela Merkel.
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