| Part of theLGBTQ rights series |
Recognized |
Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage |
See also
|
Notes
|
 LGBTQ portal |
Same-sex marriage has been legal inBelgium since 1 June 2003. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was passed by theSenate on 28 November 2002, and by theChamber of Representatives on 30 January 2003. KingAlbert II granted hisassent, and the bill entered into force on 1 June. Polling indicates that a significant majority ofBelgians support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.[1] Belgium was thesecond country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after theNetherlands.
"Statutory cohabitation", a form ofcivil union open to any two legally consenting cohabiting persons, has been available since 1 January 2000.
In 1995, a bill was introduced in theFederal Parliament to provide for a legal framework of "cohabitation agreements". It was mostly intended as a response to the lowering marriage rates rather than giving rights to same-sex couples. In 1998, the bill was changed to "statutory cohabitation" (Dutch:wettelijke samenwoning,[2]pronounced[ˈʋɛtələkəˈsaːmə(ɱ)ˌʋoːnɪŋ];French:cohabitation légale,[3]pronounced[kɔ.abitɑsjɔ̃legal];German:gesetzliches Zusammenwohnen,[4]pronounced[ɡəˈzɛtslɪçəstsuˈzamənˌvoːnən]) and finally voted on. The Chamber of Representatives approved it by a 98–10 vote with 32 abstentions and the Senate by a 39–8 vote with 19 abstentions. TheAct establishing statutory cohabitation,[a] also known as theAct of 23 November 1998, amended certain provisions of the Belgian Civil Code and theBelgian Judicial Code to give limited rights to registered same-sex and opposite-sex couples. However, being a couple is not a requirement to make a declaration of statutory cohabitation; relatives can do so too. The law was legally published on 12 January 1999, but would not go into effect until 1 January 2000.
Since 2010, the number of statutory cohabitations contracted every year has remained relatively constant, numbering around 38,000 new unions per year. In 2019, 40,801 new unions were registered (compared to 44,270 marriages) and 26,301 unions were dissolved (compared to 22,435 divorces).[5][6] In 2022, same-sex couples accounted for about 4% of all unions.[6]
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Belgium since 1 June 2003, making it the second country in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples, after theNetherlands, and 9 days ahead of theCanadian province ofOntario. Legislation to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples was passed by both chambers of the Federal Parliament in November 2002 and January 2003 with the support of most political parties, and receivedroyal assent on 13 February 2003. In Belgian public discourse, same-sex marriage is commonly known as "marriage for all" or as "homomarriage".[7][8]
In the late 1990s, gay rights organisations in Belgium lobbied for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Belgian civil law did not explicitly require that two people be of opposite gender to be able to marry, as this was considered self-evident.Private member's bills in the 1990s by Vlaams Blok senators to add this as an explicit requirement were never considered.[9][10]
The election programmes of theSocialist Party Differently (SP; Flemish Social Democrats),Agalev (Flemish Greens) and theFlemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD; Flemish Liberals) for the13 June 1999 elections included the aim of legalising same-sex marriage. TheVerhofstadt I Government formed after the elections was made up of a coalition of liberal, socialist and green parties and excluded the long-dominantChristian People's Party, who lost the elections due to theDioxin Affair. The coalition agreement included "implementing a full legal partnership scheme" as well as "immediately making the Act of 23 November 1998 enter into force", which had not been done yet.[11] A royal order signed on 14 December and published on 23 December 1999 made the law on statutory cohabitation go into effect on 1 January 2000.[12]
In 1999, theSocialist Party (PS; French-speaking Social Democrats) andEcolo (French-speaking Greens) also announced their support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. At that point, the only remaining party in government that opposed same-sex marriage was the French-speakingLiberal Reformist Party (PRL), which later merged into theReformist Movement (MR), mainly because it was opposed toadoption rights for same-sex couples. PRL agreed not to block same-sex marriage if adoption rights were excluded. As the firstsame-sex marriage in the Netherlands was performed on 1 April 2001, the Belgian Government, mostly under the lead of Minister of HealthMagda Aelvoet (Agalev), began considering it as well.[13][14] On 22 June, theCouncil of Ministers formally approved opening marriage to same-sex couples.[15] In September, the largest opposition party, the Christian People's Party, held a party convention where they rebranded intoChristian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), with a renewed party platform, including the aim of legalising same-sex marriage, put forward by their youth wing. However, theCouncil of State issued a negative legal opinion on the bill on 30 November 2001, stating that "marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman".[16]LGBT organisations and government ministers criticised the opinion and said they would proceed with the legislation.[17] The Council of Ministers formally approved the government bill on 8 December 2001 and in second reading on 30 January 2002, and submitted it to the Chamber of Representatives on 14 March 2002, where it faced a Justice Committee overloaded with bills to consider.[18] In May 2002, the government bill was withdrawn from the Chamber and instead introduced as aprivate member's bill (which does not require opinions by the Council of State) in theSenate by the group leaders of the majority parties, Jeannine Leduc (VLD),Philippe Mahoux (PS),Philippe Monfils (MR),Myriam Vanlerberghe (SP), Marie Nagy (Ecolo) and Frans Lozie (Agalev).
As Minister Aelvoet resigned on 28 August 2002 andelections were to be held in June 2003, the fate of the bill was unclear. Some politicians also accused Philippe Monfils of deliberately stalling the bill.[19][20] Nevertheless, new momentum was gained at the start of the new parliamentary year in October 2002. The Senate Justice Committee held hearings and voted 11–4 to approve the bill. It passed in the full Senate on 28 November 2002, with 46 votes to 15 and 4 abstentions, and on 30 January 2003 the bill passed theChamber of Representatives by 91 votes to 22 and 9 abstentions.[21][22][23][24] The Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Christian Democratic and Flemish, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Party Differently, Ecolo, Agalev and thePeople's Union voted generally in favour except for several abstentions, whereas the Vlaams Blok andNational Front voted against, theHumanist Democratic Centre voted against with several abstentions and the Reformist Movement voted mostly against.
| Party | Voted for | Voted against | Abstained | Absent (Did not vote) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G Flemish Liberals and Democrats | 11
| – | – | – |
| Christian Democratic and Flemish | 6
| – | 1
| 3
|
| G Socialist Party | 9
| – | – | 1
|
| G Reformist Movement | 5
| |||
| G Socialist Party Differently | 6
| – | – | – |
| G Ecolo | 5
| – | 1
| – |
| Vlaams Blok | – | 6
| – | – |
| G Agalev | 5
| – | – | – |
| Humanist Democratic Centre | – | 4
| 1
| – |
| People's Union[b] | 3
| – | – | – |
| Total | 46 | 15 | 4 | 6 |
| 64.8% | 21.1% | 5.6% | 8.5% |
| Party | Voted for | Voted against | Abstained | Absent (Did not vote) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G Flemish Liberals and Democrats | 19
| – | 4
| |
| Christian Democratic and Flemish | 17
| – | 3
| |
| G Socialist Party | 14
| – | – | 5
|
| G Reformist Movement | 6
| 8
| – | 4
|
| Vlaams Blok | – | 11
| – | 4
|
| G Socialist Party Differently | 10
| – | – | 4
|
| G Ecolo | 10
| – | – | – |
| Humanist Democratic Centre | – | 2
| 4
| 4
|
| G Agalev | 9
| – | – | – |
| People's Union[b] | 5
| – | 2
| |
| National Front | – | – | – | |
| Independent | – | – | – | |
| Total | 91 | 22 | 9 | 28 |
| 60.7% | 14.7% | 6.0% | 18.7% |
KingAlbert II signed andpromulgated the bill on 13 February 2003. It was published in theBelgian Official Gazette on 28 February andcame into force on 1 June.
The first paragraph of article 143 of the Belgian Civil Code (Book I, Title V, Chapter I) now reads as follows:
The first female couple married on 6 June 2003 and the first male couple on 13 June 2003, both inKapellen nearAntwerp.[25]
In November 2003, opponents of same-sex marriage petitioned theArbitration Court to invalidate the law as unconstitutional. Their main argument held that treating fundamentally different situations the same way violated the equality principle of theConstitution.[26] In October 2004, the Arbitration Court, nowadays known as the Constitutional Court, rejected the request.[27]
Originally, Belgium allowed the marriages of foreign same-sex couples only if their country of origin also allowed these unions. Acirculaire issued by Minister of JusticeLaurette Onkelinx on 23 January 2004, however, permits any couple to marry in Belgium if at least one of the spouses has lived in the country for a minimum of three months. This was codified into the Code of Private International Law, which took effect on 1 October 2004.
The same-sex marriage law did not permitadoption by same-sex partners, and as birth within a same-sex marriage did not imply affiliation, the same-sex spouse of the biological parent had no way to become a legal parent. A proposal to permit adoption was approved 77–62 with 7 abstentions by the Chamber of Representatives on 1 December 2005,[28][29] and 34–33 with 2 abstentions by the Senate on 20 April 2006.[30] It received royal assent on 18 May and went into force on 30 June 2006.[31]
A legal inequality persisted for lesbian couples compared to heterosexual couples with regard to parentage; under article 135 of the Belgian Civil Code, the husband of a biological mother is automatically recognised as the child's legal father, but this was not the case for the wife of the mother in a same-sex union. To be recognised as the co-mother, she was required to complete an adoption procedure—a situation that accounted for the majority of adoption cases in Belgium. TheDi Rupo Government promised to address this disparity, and in 2014, as theNetherlands had recently passed similar legislation, LGBT organisations pressured the government to act. In response, legislators worked to agree on a solution.[32] A bill to this end was approved by the Senate on 3 April 2014 on a 48–2 vote with one abstention, and by the Chamber of Representatives on 23 April on a 114–10 vote with one abstention. The bill received royal assent by KingPhilippe of Belgium on 5 May and went into effect on 1 January 2015. Since then, lesbian couples have been treated equally to heterosexual couples: the co-mother married to the biological mother is automatically recognised as a legal parent, and an unmarried partner can formally acknowledge the child at the civil registry. An equivalent legal framework for male same-sex couples has not yet been established, due to ongoing controversy surroundingsurrogacy.
In October 2021, the government confirmed that members of theBelgian royal family may enter into same-sex marriages without having to forfeit thecrown, or lose their royal titles and privileges or their place in the line of succession. This followed similar announcements concerning other European royal families.[33]
According toStatistics Belgium, approximately 2,000 same-sex couples were married between June 2003 and December 2004 (874 in 2003 and 1,133 in 2004). This constituted 1.9 percent of the total number of marriages in Belgium during that period,[34][35][5] with male couples accounting for about 58% of all same-sex marriages.[36] The share of same-sex marriages among all marriages differs from region to region. In 2023, almost 3.7% of marriages inBrussels, 3.3% inFlanders and 2.9% inWallonia were same-sex marriages. The province with the lowest rate wasLuxembourg (1.9%) and the one with the highest rate wasAntwerp (3.8%).[5] TheGerman-speaking Community had an even lower share of same-sex marriages, at 1.7%.[5]
| Subdivision | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp | 193 | 199 | 240 | 200 | 233 | 210 | 187 | 202 | 243 | 288 | 2,195 |
| Brussels | 133 | 136 | 133 | 117 | 144 | 144 | 109 | 118 | 160 | 161 | 1,355 |
| East Flanders | 178 | 168 | 185 | 178 | 203 | 162 | 144 | 187 | 199 | 194 | 1,798 |
| Flemish Brabant | 108 | 92 | 100 | 94 | 106 | 107 | 78 | 76 | 95 | 105 | 961 |
| Hainaut | 79 | 80 | 90 | 91 | 86 | 100 | 69 | 108 | 163 | 134 | 1,000 |
| Liège | 68 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 75 | 79 | 52 | 107 | 128 | 123 | 865 |
| Limburg | 84 | 91 | 78 | 90 | 68 | 87 | 73 | 65 | 100 | 95 | 831 |
| Luxembourg | 16 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 23 | 36 | 20 | 180 |
| Namur | 31 | 43 | 34 | 40 | 32 | 38 | 21 | 29 | 47 | 42 | 357 |
| Walloon Brabant | 22 | 32 | 33 | 35 | 29 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 24 | 33 | 262 |
| West Flanders | 136 | 124 | 141 | 134 | 132 | 122 | 114 | 114 | 155 | 161 | 1,333 |
| Outside Belgium | 41 | 35 | 44 | 40 | 55 | 43 | 36 | 36 | 32 | 38 | 400 |
| Total | 1,089 | 1,091 | 1,170 | 1,112 | 1,175 | 1,128 | 909 | 1,087 | 1,382 | 1,394 | 11,537 |
Figures for 2020 are lower than previous years because of the restrictions in place due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
TheUnited Protestant Church in Belgium has allowed itscongregations to perform same-sex marriages since 2007. Pastors are under no obligation to solemnize same-sex marriages if this would violate their personal beliefs.[37] Solemnizations of same-sex marriages are also possible in theOld Catholic Church of Belgium.[38]
TheCatholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. In February 2010, Father Germain Dufour, a formerEcolo parliamentarian,blessed the marriage of a same-sex couple in a Catholic church inLiège, provoking much controversy in Catholic circles.[39] In September 2022, Roman Catholic bishops in Flanders issued a document permitting same-sex unions to be blessed in their churches. The document allows for a ritual which includes a prayer and a final benediction in front of family and friends. It emphasised that while such blessings did not alter the Catholic doctrine on "sacramental marriage," the move would allow the Church to be "pastorally close to homosexual persons" and a "welcoming [place] that excludes no one."[40] In December 2023, theHoly See publishedFiducia supplicans, a declaration allowingCatholic priests tobless couples who are not considered to bemarried according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples.[41] TheBishop of Antwerp,Johan Bonny, welcomed the declaration, saying, "It helps us move forward."[42]
The 2006Eurobarometer found that 62% of Belgian respondents thought same-sex marriages should be allowed in Europe.[43] A 2008 survey byDelta Lloyd Life found that 76% ofBelgians supported same-sex marriage and 46% thought that same-sex couples could raise children just as well as opposite-sex couples.[44][45] A May 2013Ipsos poll found that 67% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage and another 12% supported another form of recognition for same-sex couples.[46] According to anIfop poll conducted that same month, 71% of Belgians supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.[47]
The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 77% of Belgians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 20% were opposed.[48] APew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 82% of Belgian people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 8% did not know or had refused to answer.[49] When divided by religion, 88% of religiously unaffiliated people, 83% of non-practicing Christians and 66% of church-attending Christians supported same-sex marriage.[50] Opposition was 9% among 18–34-year-olds.[51]
The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 82% of Belgians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 17% were opposed.[52] The 2023 Eurobarometer found that support was 79%, while 19% were opposed. The survey also showed that 80% of Belgians thought that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex", while 18% disagreed.[1]
