This has all happened just so fast.”

The historic decision came with a swiftness rare in Germany’s usually staid politics, just five days after Chancellor Angela Merkel unexpectedly relaxed her party’s opposition to same-sex marriage and allowed lawmakers to vote on the issue according to their consciences. The reform would grant full marital rights -- including the possibility to jointly adopt children -- to gay and lesbian couples, who in Germany are now only able to enter so-called civil unions. The answer came early Friday morning, when the lower house of the German Parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage after a brisk but emotional debate, prompting Ms. Kermer and scores of other gay and lesbian Germans to celebrate in the streets. Ms. Merkel’s softened resistance opened the way for her coalition partners in the Social Democratic Party and two other political groups to press for a vote on the measure, which had previously been blocked by Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their conservative allies. Merkel shifted her stance, saying on Monday at an event hosted by a women’s magazine that she’d like to see a vote on same-sex marriage that is “a question of conscience,” meaning members would not be pushed to vote along party lines. She said that while she had come to support the right of same-sex couples to adopt, she continued to believe that marriage ought to remain a union between a man and a woman. “We know that there will be protests, and that is more than legitimate in a democracy,” Ms. Merkel said, adding her hope “that these demonstrations will be peaceful.” “I hope that the vote today shows not only the mutual respect for different opinions but that this also leads to more peace and social cohesion as well.”

Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the groups that pushed for legalization of same-sex marriage, tweeted that the vote meant “progress is possible.”

The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001, and several other European nations have embraced marriage equality, including Spain, France, and the U.K.
German same-sex couples may be able to marry after Chancellor Angela Merkel drops her opposition for a parliamentary vote.