Following a historic ruling, Slovenia legalizes same-sex marriages and adoptions
Slovenia has officially legalized same-sex marriage and adoption, becoming the first Eastern European country to do so.
The amendment was adopted by the state parliament on October 4 with 48 deputies in favor, 29 against and one abstention.
“With these changes, we are recognizing rights for same-sex couples that they should have had a long time ago,” State Secretary Simon Maljevac said when presenting the amendment to his colleagues.
The changes come after a July ruling by the Slovenian Supreme Court, which said that the ban on same-sex marriage and adoption violated the country’s constitution, as it prohibits discrimination.
It reached its decision by a 6-3 decision on each issue.
According to the Slovenian Press Agency, they wrote that the ban “cannot be justified by the traditional meaning of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, nor by the special protection of the family”.
Most neighboring countries of Slovenia, for example Hungary, do not allow civil unions or same-sex marriages.
Until now, same-sex partners could only join in a civil union, which did not give them all the rights enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.