Category Archives: Equal marriage

Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage

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Lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted for the bill drafted by centre-right government despite church officials’ objections

Greece has become the world’s first Christian Orthodox nation to legalise same-sex marriage after the Athens parliament passed the landmark reform amid scenes of both jubilation and fury in the country.

In a rare display of parliamentary consensus, 176 MPs from across the political spectrum voted in favour of the bill on Thursday. Another 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present.

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Same-sex couples able to marry in Estonia from New Year’s Day

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Registrations open after country became first former Soviet-ruled nation to legalise gay marriage

Same-sex couples in Estonia are able to marry from New Year’s Day, in a milestone move people say brings the Baltic nation closer to its Nordic neighbours.

Estonia became the first former Soviet-ruled country to legalise gay marriage when the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, voted in favour of marriage equality in June. A majority of 55 MPs voted for amending the Family Act, while 34 MPs voted against the bill in the 101-seat parliament.

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‘Something special’: same-sex couple wed in UK year on from fleeing Ukraine

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Yulia and Tetiana knew they would have to marry abroad – but never in the context of an invasion

Yulia and Tetiana had spent a while deliberating over a date for their wedding before they decided it had to be 1 March – exactly a year to the day they fled the war in Ukraine.

“That date should be a sad anniversary, the anniversary of us leaving our old life behind, but we decided to rewrite this story and made it our special anniversary,” said Tetiana, 42. “We lost a lot and there is a lot of evil in this world, but we’ve turned that evil into something good.”

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‘It’s like we don’t exist’: Japan faces pressure to allow same-sex marriage

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Diplomats add their voices to Japanese campaigners in demanding LGBTQ+ rights as Hiroshima prepares to host the G7 summit

Akane Kousaka and her partner live in fear of the day when one of them falls ill or is injured in an accident. The LGBTQ+ couple have a “partnership certificate” issued by their ward office in Tokyo, but it comes with none of the legal guarantees afforded married heterosexual couples – including the right to visit a spouse in hospital.

“We might be able to get special permission, but we shouldn’t have to rely on other people’s goodwill … it’s not right,” Kousaka told the Observer. Other countries were leaving Japan behind, she added.

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Tokyo same-sex marriage ruling ‘a step forward’, say campaigners

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Court rules same-sex marriage ban is constitutional but says lack of legal protection is human rights violation

A court in has ruled that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional, but said the lack of legal protection for same-sex couples violated their human rights, a step welcomed by equality campaigners.

Japan is the only G7 nation that does not allow same-sex marriage and its constitution defines marriage as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”. The conservative ruling party of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has shown no interest in legalising same-sex marriage, although polls show a majority of voters support it.

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Tokyo issues long-awaited same-sex partnership certificates

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Partnership certificates allow same-sex couples to be treated as married couples in areas like housing, health and welfare

Tokyo’s metropolitan government began issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples who live and work in the capital on Tuesday, a move that’s been long-awaited in a country that still does not allow equal marriage.

The status does not carry the same rights as marriage, but allows LGBTQ partners to be treated as married couples for some public services in areas such as housing, health and welfare.

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Pete Buttigieg urges Republicans to back same-sex marriage bill

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Senate Democrats hope at least 10 Republicans will support Respect for Marriage Act after 157 in House voted against it

The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has delivered an emotional appeal for Republicans to support a law protecting same-sex marriage as it heads for the Senate.

Democrats who control Congress aim to protect same-sex marriage amid uncertainty over which privacy based rights the conservative-dominated supreme court might target next, having overturned the right to abortion last month.

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Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is allowed, UK judges rule

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JCPC overturns decision by lower court that ban was unconstitutional, in setback for LGBTQ rights

British judges have ruled that Bermuda’s ban on same-sex marriage is permitted under its constitution, in a setback for gay rights in the British overseas territory.

The UK’s judicial committee of the privy council (JCPC) – the ultimate court of appeal for Bermuda and dozens of other British overseas territories, dependencies and Commonwealth states – on Monday overturned a decision by Bermuda’s highest court, which ruled the ban to be unconstitutional.

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Pope Francis backs same-sex civil unions

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Pontiff’s endorsement likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in Catholic church

Pope Francis has given his most explicit support to same-sex civil unions in a move that is likely to further enrage his conservative opponents in the Catholic church.

His comments came in an interview in a documentary film, Francesco, which premiered at the Rome film festival on Wednesday.

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Ex-pope Benedict XVI accuses opponents of wanting to silence him

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Comments in authorised biography also associate gay marriage with the Antichrist

The former pope Benedict XVI has accused opponents of wanting to silence him, while associating gay marriage with the Antichrist and attacking humanist ideologies in an authorised biography published in Germany.

The 93-year-old, whose original name is Joseph Ratzinger, said in Benedict XVI – A Life he had fallen victim to a “malignant distortion of reality” in reactions to his interventions in theological debates.

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‘Cluck off’: UK’s only Chick-fil-A outlet to shut in LGBT rights row

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Reading branch of US chain to close after protests over stance on same-sex relationships

A US fast food chain is to close its first branch in the UK after protests and boycott calls by LGBT campaigners.

Chick-fil-A faced demands to “cluck off” when the fried chicken outlet opened in a shopping mall in Reading this month.

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MPs vote to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland

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Government has said it will honour resounding result despite ministerial doubts

MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland, a plan the government has said it will honour despite ministerial doubts.

The Commons voted 383 to 73 to pass the amendment to a largely technical bill on the stalled Northern Ireland assembly, tabled by the Labour MP Conor McGinn, a longstanding campaigner for equal marriage in Northern Ireland.

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Taiwan’s marriage law brings frustration and hope for LGBT China

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Public acceptance is improving, but in some cases Chinese authorities are moving in the other direction

It was a landmark moment for LGBT rights. When Taiwan passed a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, crowds in Taipei erupted into cheers, chanting: “First in Asia”.

For those watching from across the Taiwan strait in China, where gay couples do not have that right, the moment was heartening but also profoundly sad. Matthew, 27, an LGBT activist in Chengdu, spent the day following the proceedings online on his own. A few days later he flew to Taiwan to watch two male friends register their marriage after 14 years together.

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