Number 7

By my count. The Swedish parliament has just passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

Asa Regner, secretary general of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, told CNN that Wednesday's vote meant a very important change in Swedish law.

"This was the last area where same sex couples were treated differently," she said.

Thinking about the implications of that last statement, it only points up that civil unions and domestic partnerships are stop-gaps. Full equality is full equality, and "separate but equal" is, by definition, not.

Sweden joins Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, and Norway.

And, making a rare prediction, same-sex marriage will be a done deal in most of the American Northeast by the end of this year.