After passing a gay marriage bill on
Wednesday, New Zealand lawmakers joined onlookers in the parliament's
public gallery in a rendition of the love song “Pokarekare Ana.”
According to the AP, the song was sung
in the indigenous Maori language. (The video is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: New
Zealand: Fourteenth nation to legalize gay marriage.)
Several speeches ended in a standing
ovation, including MP Louisa Wall's remarks to colleagues.
“In our society, the meaning of
marriage is universal – it's a declaration of love and commitment
to a special person,” the measure's openly gay sponsor said. Wall
added that “nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander
than passing this bill.”
MP Maurice Williamson, a member of the
conservative National Party, delivered a colorful and powerful speech
that went viral on YouTube.
“[O]ne of the messages I had was that
this bill was the cause of our drought,” Williamson said. “Well,
if any of you follow my Twitter account, you will see that in the
Pakuranga electorate this morning it was pouring with rain. We had
the most enormous big gay rainbow across my electorate.”
(Related: Maurice
Williamson's “Big Gay Rainbow” speech goes viral.)
The law is expected to take effect in
August.