French President Francois Hollande was set to sign a gay marriage and adoption bill into law Saturday after it was cleared by the Constitutional Council which turned down a challenge by the right-wing opposition. Hollande, who had made "marriage for all" a key election pledge, made the announcement saying it was "now time to respect the law and the Republic" after the top French institution cleared the bill. The first gay wedding can be held 10 days after Hollande signs it into law.

Portugal's parliament Friday adopted legislation allowing individuals in a gay marriage or partnership to apply to adopt each other's children. Coinciding with International Day Against Homophobia, the bill leapt its first hurdle by passing a first reading with 99 votes in favour, 94 against and nine abstentions. It won support from the opposition Socialist Party and the extreme left along with 16 members of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's centre-right Social Democrats.

Brasilia, May 14 (EFE).- Brazil's National Judiciary Council, or CNJ, on Tuesday approved by a vote of 14-1 a resolution amounting to de facto legalization of same-sex unions. The CNJ decision says that civil registrars will be "obligated" to convert stable unions between two people of the same sex into marriages, if that is requested, and that they will not be able to refuse to marry gay couples. The CNJ, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa, oversees and regulates the activities of the judiciary.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Reuters) - Minnesota's state Senate on Monday approved a bill that would make Minnesota the 12th U.S. state to allow same-sex couples to marry and only the second in the Midwest, advancing it to the governor, who has pledged to sign it. The majority Democrat state Senate voted 37-30 to approve the bill legalizing gay marriage, putting Minnesota on the verge of becoming the third state in the nation to approve same-sex nuptials in May after Rhode Island and Delaware.