^abNeither performed nor recognized insome tribal nations of the US. Recognized but not performed in several other tribal nations andAmerican Samoa.
^Registered foreign marriages confer all marriage rights in Israel. Domestic common-law marriages confer most rights of marriage. Domestic civil marriage recognized by some cities.
^A "declaration of family relationship" is available in several of Cambodia's communes which may be useful in matters such as housing, but is not legally binding.
^Guardianship agreements confer some limited legal benefits in China, including decisions about medical and personal care.
^Hong Kong provides inheritance, guardianship rights, and residency rights for foreign spouses of legal residents.
Same-sex marriage has been legal inSlovenia since 9 July 2022 in accordance with a ruling from theConstitutional Court of Slovenia. The court had ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages violated theConstitution of Slovenia and gave theParliament six months to amend the law to align with the ruling, although the decision took effect immediately after publication.[1][2] TheNational Assembly passed legislation to align with the court ruling on 4 October 2022, though it was vetoed by theNational Council one week later. This veto was overridden by the National Assembly on 18 October, and the law went into effect on 31 January 2023.[3][4] Polling suggests that a majority ofSlovenes support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.[5] Slovenia was the31st country in the world, the eighteenth inEurope and the first of formerYugoslavia to allow same-sex couples to marry. Previously, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage had been approved by Parliament on 3 March 2015; however, it was rejected in areferendum on 20 December 2015.
From 2017 to 2022, Slovenia recognized same-sexpartnerships providing all of the legal rights ofmarriage with the exception of jointadoption andin vitro fertilisation. These unions were established in February 2017 but closed off following the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2022.[6] From 2006 to 2017, Slovenia recognized a more limited form of registered partnerships for same-sex couples, which gave partners access to pension and property rights.
A comprehensiveregistered partnership bill passed itsfirst reading in Parliament in July 2004, but was rejected at second reading in March 2005.[7][8] The bill would have provided for all of the rights ofmarriage except for jointadoption.
A law establishing partnerships,[9] titled theRegistration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005 (ZRIPS;Slovene:Zakon o registraciji istospolne partnerske skupnosti), was proposed by thegovernment ofJanez Janša on 31 March 2005.[10] The law covered onlyproperty rights, the obligation to support a socially weaker partner and someinheritance rights. It did not grant any rights in the areas ofsocial security,health insurance andpension, and it did not confer the status of anext-of-kin to the partner. The adoption of this law sparked considerable political debate in theNational Assembly, with deputies from theSlovenian National Party opposing the recognition of same-sex unions. The oppositionSocial Democrats andLiberals argued that the proposed law was too weak and refused to take part in the voting. The bill was passed with 44 votes for and 3 against on 22 June 2005. It was published in thegovernment gazette on 8 July, and became effective on 23 July 2006.[11][9]
On 2 July 2009, theConstitutional Court found that it was unconstitutional to prevent registered partners from inheriting each other's property. It held that treating registered partners differently from married partners constituteddiscrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation, breaching Article 14 of theConstitution of Slovenia. It gave Parliament six months to remedy the situation.[12][13] In response, the Minister of the Interior,Katarina Kresal, announced that the government ofBorut Pahor would prepare a new law to legalise same-sex marriage.[14] This sparked considerable controversy in the public.[15]
TheRegistration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005 was repealed upon passage of thePartnership Act 2016, and ceased to be operational on 24 August 2017.[9] The ability to enter into a partnership was ended, and all partnerships were converted into the new civil partnerships established by the 2016 legislation.
On 2 July 2009, Minister Kresal announced that Slovenia was likely to legalize same-sex marriage in the near future, citing the Pahor Government's commitment to ensuring equal rights for same-sex couples. The announcement stirred some level of public controversy, mainly because it provided grounds forsame-sex adoption.[14]
On 21 September 2009, the government presented a draft family code which would have allowed same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.[15][16][17][18][19] The bill went through a period ofpublic consultation until 1 November 2009.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] In December 2009, the government considered amendments to the bill,[27] and gave final approval to the measure on 17 December 2009.[28][29][30] It was submitted to the National Assembly on 21 December 2009.[31][32] On 2 March 2010, the bill was approved by the Assembly in its first reading.[33][34] On 24 January 2011, due to the difficulty of passing the bill, the government announced its intention to amend it before final passage in the National Assembly. The amended bill would have granted same-sex registered partnerships all the rights of marriage except for joint adoption—thoughstepchild adoption would have been permitted—and retained the definition of marriage as a "union between a man and a woman".[35][36]
On 3 March 2010, theSupreme Court of Slovenia ruled that a male couple with dual Slovenian-American citizenship, who adopted a baby girl in theUnited States, were to be recognised as the child's legal parents in Slovenia as well.[37] On 17 July 2011, the Ministry for Work, Family and Social Affairs allowed a woman to adopt her same-sex partner's biological child. This raised the possibility that such an adoption would be possible even if the 2011 Family Code were to be repealed in a referendum.[38][39]
On 7 April 2011, the National Assembly approved the amended bill in its second reading.[40] It passed its final reading on 16 June 2011.[40][41][42] The new law was challenged on 1 September 2011 by a conservative popular movement called "The Civil Initiative for the Family and Rights of Children", which called for a nationalreferendum on the issue, and started gathering the requisite signatures.[43] In response, the government asked the Constitutional Court to declare whether such a referendum would be constitutional. On 26 December 2011, the Constitutional Court ruled that holding a referendum on this issue was constitutional.[44] Areferendum on 25 March 2012 led to the rejection of the bill.[45][46]
On 14 April 2014, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Anja Kopač Mrak, presented a bill to grant partnerships all the rights of marriage, except for adoption andartificial insemination. It underwent a public consultation process until 5 May 2014.[47][48] However, the bill's fate was uncertain due toearly parliamentary elections on 13 July 2014, which were held following the resignation of Prime MinisterAlenka Bratušek. On 15 October 2014, the Ministry announced another public consultation on the draft, which lasted until 15 November.[49] In January 2015, Minister Anja Kopač Mrak said that the bill would be put on hold while a proposal to legalise same-sex marriage was to be considered by Parliament.[50]
On 22 December 2015, following the20 December 2015 referendum, which prevented same-sex marriage from being legalized in Slovenia, Deputy Jani Möderndorfer introduced a bill to grant same-sex couples all the rights of marriage, except for joint adoption andin vitro fertilisation.[51][52][53] The bill would also repeal theRegistration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005, and all partnerships would have to be converted to a new institution, calledpartnerska zveza (pronounced[ˈpàːɾtnɛɾskaˈzʋéːza])[a] inSlovene, within the first six months after the bill's date of application.[9]Partnerska zveza had the same formal registration procedure as marriages. On 10 March 2016, thegovernment ofMiro Cerar expressed its support for the bill.[55][56] On 5 April, the bill was approved by the Committee on Labour, Family, Social Policy and Disability of the National Assembly.[57][58] On 21 April, it was approved by the Assembly in a 54–15 vote.[59][60] TheNational Council did not require the Assembly to vote on the bill again.
On 28 April, the Union of Migrant Workers (SDMS) filed a motion, with 2,500 signatures, in order to be allowed to proceed with a petition for a referendum.[62][63][64] However, on 5 May, the Speaker of the National Assembly,Milan Brglez, refused to set a thirty-five-day deadline during which the proposers could collect 40,000 valid signatures to force a referendum, arguing that this and several other SDMS referendum initiatives constituted an abuse of the referendum laws.[65][66] He sent the bill forpromulgation the next day.[67][68] It was promulgated by PresidentBorut Pahor and published in the official gazette on 9 May 2016.[69][70] The law took effect on the fifteenth day after publication (i.e. 24 May 2016) and became operational nine months later (i.e. 24 February 2017).[71][72][73][74][75] On 10 May, the SDMS challenged Brglez's decision to the Constitutional Court,[76] which rejected the challenge on 21 July 2016.[77][78][79]
The ability to enter into a partnership was closed off following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Slovenia. Partners could convert their union into a recognized marriage until 31 July 2023.[6] Couples were afforded an extra two months to convert their partnerships into marriages if they were unable to do so previously for "excusable reasons". Otherwise, all partnerships were dissolved on 31 July.[80]
According to Slovenia's official statistics agency, SiStat, 284 same-sex partnerships had been performed in Slovenia under both the 2005 and 2016 laws up to the end of 2018.[81] A majority of partnerships were between men, and most were performed in 2017 and 2018.
On 10 February 2015, the Committee on Labour, Family, Social Policy and Disability of the National Assembly passed the bill by 11 votes to 2.[88][89] The Assembly passed the bill in its third reading in a 51–28 vote on 3 March.[90][91][92] On 10 March 2015, theNational Council rejected a motion to require the Assembly to vote on the bill again in a 14–23 vote.[93][94] The bill was sent to PresidentBorut Pahor for his signature or veto.
On 10 March 2015, opponents of the bill announced that they had collected more than 80,000 signatures to call for a referendum. They filed 2,500 of them, as required, in order to be allowed to proceed with the petition for a popular vote.[96][97] On 17 March, the leader of the SMC parliamentary group said that, although the party supported same-sex marriage legislation, it would not try to prevent a possible referendum on the issue. ZL, the main proponent of the bill, criticized the statement.[98] However, on 19 March, SMC politicians clarified that they were against blocking proponents from collecting signatures, but that the party would support the motion to block the referendum when the signatures are submitted.[99][100]
On 23 March 2015, a thirty-five-day term began in which the supporters of an eventual referendum had to collect 40,000 valid signatures.[101] On the same day, a group of 23 deputies from SD, DeSUS, ZL and ZaAB filed a request calling for aspecial session of the Assembly in order to vote on a motion to block the referendum.[102][103] On 26 March, the National Assembly voted 53–21 to block the referendum on the grounds that it would violate the constitutional provision prohibiting popular votes on laws eliminatinghuman rights and fundamental freedoms.[104][105]
The proponents of the referendum, who announced that they had collected 48,146 signatures before the Assembly's vote, said they wouldappeal the decision to the Constitutional Court, which they did on 2 April.[107][108][109] The court had the option of declaring the referendum unconstitutional, as Article 90 of the Constitution prohibits referendums on the subject of constitutionally protected human rights. Any referendum in Slovenia is only successful if a majority of participants and at least 20% of all eligible voters vote in favor of the law. The Constitutional Court deliberated about the appeal in four sessions on 10 June, 9 July, 10 September and 24 September.[110][111][112][113][114] In October 2015, theRoman Catholic Archbishop of Ljubljana,Stanislav Zore, signaled his support for the referendum.[115]
On 22 October 2015, the court officially published its decision, permitting the referendum to proceed. However, the ruling did not address Article 90, making a new challenge to the referendum possible. The ruling solely regarded the ability of the National Assembly to declare a referendum unconstitutional.[116][117][118]
On 4 November 2015, the National Assembly decided that the referendum would take place on 20 December 2015.[119][120][121] The bill was rejected, as a majority of voters voted against and the votes against were more than 20% of registered voters, as required by the Constitution.[122][123][124]
2022 Constitutional Court ruling and passage of legislation
On 16 June 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled 6–3 that the heterosexual definition of marriage was inconsistent with theConstitution of Slovenia's requirement for equal treatment. Discrimination against same-sex couples "cannot be justified with the traditional meaning of marriage as a union between a man and a woman", the court ruled. It found that article 3 of the Family Code, which defined marriage as the union of "a husband and a wife", was incompatible with the Constitution. The court ordered theSlovenian Parliament to bring legislation in line within six months, although the ruling would take effect immediately after publication.[1][2] The court wrote that the decision "does not diminish the importance of traditional marriage as a union of a man and a woman, nor does it change conditions under which persons of the opposite sex marry. All it means is that same-sex partners can now marry just like heterosexual partners can." The court also ruled that the ban on joint adoption by same-sex couples was inconsistent with the constitutional requirement for equal treatment. Slovenia was the first country of formerYugoslavia, the first of the former communist countries (excludingEast Germany), and the 18th inEurope to legalize same-sex marriage.[125][126] The court's decisions were published on 8 July and became effective the following day.
Parties of thecoalition government welcomed the decision in announcements on social media.[127] The Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity,Luka Mesec, welcomed the court decision and said he would prepare draft legislation to conform with the ruling: "The Constitutional Court has ordered us to do it, and we will do it with the greatest pleasure."[127] Prime MinisterRobert Golob also welcomed the court ruling.[128] The government published legislation to amend the Family Code in accordance with the court's ruling on 15 July, and stated that the amendments to the code would be fast-tracked through the Parliament.[129] The National Assembly passed the bill on 4 October 2022 in a 48–29 vote.[130][131][132] The LGBT rights group Legebitra released the following statement, "After more than 30 years of demands for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, we are finally closer to actual equality. We are happy that the MPs supported the changes to the Family Code with a majority of votes and finally equalized the rights of same-sex couples in marriage and equal treatment in adoptions."[133]
Radiotelevizija Slovenija reported in early August 2022 that the first two same-sex marriages had been performed in Slovenia.[134]
On 11 October 2022, the bill was given a suspensoryveto by theNational Council by a vote of 17 to 11, requiring another vote in the National Assembly. That same day, representatives of the Coalition for Children submitted some 30,600 signatures to the National Assembly to start the process of a conducting a referendum on the vetoed legislation; however, referendums that deal with human rights are not permitted by law.[136] It was announced on 14 October that there would be an extraordinary legislative session in the Assembly the following Tuesday, 18 October, to re-vote on the vetoed legislation.[137][138] The Assembly passed the bill by a final vote of 51–24.[4]
On 28 October 2022, the National Assembly approved a resolution by 45 votes to 27 with 2 abstentions, deeming a proposed referendum on changes to the Family Code inadmissible.[140][141]
The bill was signed into law by PresidentBorut Pahor, and published in theOfficial Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on 28 October.[144][145] Opponents of the legislation were informed that they had 15 days from the publication date to contest the decision to the Constitutional Court (i.e. until 12 November),[146] which they did within that time period.[147] On 11 January 2023, the Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the National Assembly to declare the referendum inadmissible.[148] The law was published once more in theOfficial Gazette on 16 January 2023, and took effect 15 days later (i.e. 31 January 2023).[6]
AEurobarometer survey published in December 2006 showed that 31% ofSlovenes surveyed supported same-sex marriage and 17% supported same-sex adoption. Both were lower than the EU average of 44% and 33%, respectively.[153]
A survey conducted in October 2009 showed that 23% of respondents supported adoption rights for same-sex couples, while 74% were opposed.[154]
A poll conducted byDelo in February 2015 showed that 59% of Slovenians supported same-sex marriage, while 37% were against. A separate question in the same survey found that 51% of Slovenians supported the bill which was being debated in the National Assembly at the time to allow same-sex marriage, while 42% were against. The poll also showed that 38% of respondents supported adoption by same-sex couples and 55% were opposed.[155] Another poll conducted by Ninamedia in March 2015 showed that 42% of respondents supported the new law, while 54% were opposed. Support was highest among those younger than 30, and in theSlovene Littoral.[156]
A poll conducted byDelo in March 2015 showed that a majority of respondents thought that the Constitutional Court should not allow a referendum on the issue of same-sex marriage. Of those who said they would participate in a possible referendum, 36% said they would support the law, and 50% said they would vote against it.[157] In aDecember 2015 referendum, Slovenes rejected a bill legalizing same-sex marriage with 63.5% against and only 36.5% in favour.[158]
The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 54% of Slovenians thought that same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 40% were against.[159] In 2019, the Eurobarometer found that support had increased to 62%, while 35% were opposed.[160] The 2023 Eurobarometer showed that support was unchanged, at 62%, while 37% were opposed. The survey also showed that 58% of Slovenians agreed that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex", while 40% disagreed.[5]
LGBTQ portal
