The nation of Iceland, which is the only country with an openly gay head of state, voted unanimously on Friday to legalize same-sex marriage. 

The Althingi parliament voted 49-0 to change the wording of its marriage legislation to include same-sex couples. 

Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland, told Reuters that the country is fairly pragmatic, and that the international press made a bigger deal out of the sexual orientation of lesbian Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir than the domestic news outlets. 

"[Gay marriage] has not been a big issue in national politics -- it's not been controversial."

The Protestant church of Iceland has not yet decided whether to allow gay and lesbians to marry in its buildings.

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