Ireland made history Saturday May 23, by becoming the first country in the world to adopt same-sex marriage through a national election.
While 18 other countries have legalized gay marriage, Saturday’s election marks a turning point, and other European countries are now expected to hold similar elections.
After the votes were counted, more 60 percent of the more 3 million people eligible to vote went to the polls, and nearly two-thirds voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, according to the New York Times.
Thirty-eight-year-old Irish actor Colin Farrell, whose brother Eamon is gay, told E! News of the decision:
Today Ireland has opened up her heart in a way that the whole world will feel… How we have changed our fortune in 24 hours, how we have lit the way, how we have guaranteed a brighter and more loving future for all who call this beautiful land home. Bravo citizens of Ireland.
A number of other celebrities took to social media Saturday to congratulate Irish voters for adopting the law, many of them from the United States: