Spain saw its first same-sex marriage July 11.

A law extending ordinary marriage to same-sex couples and legalizing gay adoption took effect July 3, following a 187-147 vote by the Congress of Deputies.

After eight days of paperwork, the first same-sex couple was able to tie the knot. The wedding, between psychiatrist Carlos Baturín, 69, and store window decorator Emilio Menéndez, 50, took place in the city council chambers of the Madrid suburb of Tres Cantos. They have been together for 30 years.

“We’re normal people who love each other and want to be happy,” Menéndez told reporters. “The happiest day of our lives was when we fell in love with each other. … There have been many wonderful days; today is yet another wonderful day.”

“Today we are even more a family,” added Baturín, who is from the U.S.

Alberta, the last Canadian province that was resisting same-sex marriage, threw in the towel July 12.

Canada’s House of Commons voted to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide June 28 – a move that forced the hands only of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Prince Edward Island. Courts previously mandated legalization of same-sex marriage in all other jurisdictions. The federal legislation passed third reading in the Senate and receive royal assent on July 20.

Alberta’s government, led by Premier Ralph Klein, had noisily resisted the idea of same-sex marriage since Ontario’s highest court made that province the first to offer it in June 2003. But no more.

“We will proceed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, much to our chagrin, following proclamation of the federal Civil Marriage Act,” Klein said.

“We will develop legislative options to ensure the rights of religious officials – and those Albertans who hold social or cultural beliefs or values, whether religious or non-religious, will be free to express opposition to … a change to the traditional definition of marriage, and will not be required to advocate, promote or teach about marriage in a way that conflicts with their beliefs.”

Following the House of Commons vote, Prince Edward Island said it would begin issuing licenses to same-sex couples. Two territories – the Northwest Territories and Nunavut – have yet to act.

Lesbian former talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell hosted 10 same-sex weddings when her R Family Vacation Cruise stopped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, July 12.

At the time, same-sex marriages were allowed in 11 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, but a new federal law covering the entire nation took effect this week.

Ten couples from the ship, which carried about 2,200 passengers, got married at Pier 21 at half-hour intervals.

Mayor Peter Kelly and regional councilors hosted a private reception for O’Donnell at the Halifax Citadel, the Canadian Broadcast Company reported.

“This country has respect for all of its citizens and allows them to all be equal under the law,” O’Donnell said. “It’s very, very inspiring for those of us in the United States who have just been nationally shamed by a president who tried to introduce bigotry into the U.S. constitution.

“We love Canada,” she said. “In fact, most Americans love Canada a lot more than they used to before we had our current president. Now we love you even more. Every time he opens his mouth Canada gets a little more appealing.”

Brazil allowed a same-sex couple to adopt a child together for the first time July 7.

Vasco Pereira da Gama, 33, and Dorival de Carvalho Jr., 41, a couple for 13 years, operate a beauty shop and a modeling agency in the city of Cantanduva in São Paulo state. They also write social columns for local newspapers.

In granting the adoption, Judge Júlio César Spoladore Dominguez said that the Federal Psychology Council has determined that “homosexuality is not a sickness, a disturbance or a perversion.”

Austria’s Parliament July 7 added gays and lesbians to the Nazi Victims Compensation Act, thereby granting them equal access to survivors’ funds.

The gay organization Homosexual Initiative Vienna has fought for the change for 20 years – but isn’t sure it will make any difference now.

“We fear that there may not be any gay and lesbian survivors still alive who could file an application under the new provision,” said Secretary-General Kurt Krickler. “All those homosexual victims that had filed applications in the past but were turned down have died.

“It was certainly the cynical intention of the two government parties – the conservative People’s Party and the right-wing Freedom Party – to drag out this issue as long as possible,” Krickler charged.

A 50-year-old man in northern Nigeria has been sentenced to death by stoning for having gay sex, the United Nations said July 8.

U.N. Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston called for an immediate review of the Shariah law sentence.

The man had been acquitted of having sex with a younger man but admitted to the judge, when asked, that he had had gay sex in the past, which led to the sentence.

There is a reasonable possibility that the U.N.’s intervention will prevent the execution. Several Nigerian women sentenced to death for adultery have been spared following international outcries.