News (World)

Estonia becomes first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships

Estonia becomes first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships

TALLINN, Estonia — Estonia on Thursday became the first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships, while Kyrgyzstan – another ex-Soviet republic thousands of kilometers east – considers anti-gay legislation.

Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn, Estonia René Kedus

The parallel moves reflect starkly divergent paths taken by the countries that once were parts of the Soviet empire.

In Estonia, lawmakers voted 40-38 vote to approve a partnership act that recognizes the civil unions of all couples regardless of gender. Twenty-three lawmakers were absent or abstained in the third and final reading of the bill.

The new law will gives those in civil unions – heterosexual or gay – almost the same rights as married couples, including financial, social and health benefits provided by the government and legal protection for children. It does not give adoption rights for couples in such unions but does allow one partner to adopt the biological child of the other.

It comes into force in January 2016, after it has been signed by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves who supported the bill.

The Estonian Human Rights Center hailed the vote as “historic,” saying it would send a strong message to neighboring Russia, which passed what it called “a draconian anti-gay law” last year.

“Estonia (has) made a leap toward a society that is freer, more equal and values human rights for all,” the group’s director, Kari Kasper, said.

In contrast with Estonia, lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation about 3,500 kilometers (some 2,170 miles) east, on Thursday began considering a bill that would make gay “propaganda” punishable by a prison term of up to one year.

Kyrgyz rights activists saw the bill as a copycat version of a Russian law adopted last year that prohibits vaguely defined propaganda to minors of “non-traditional sexual relations” and has provoked international outrage.

Article continues below

Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished mostly Muslim Central Asian nation on China’s mountainous western border, has cultivated close ties with Russia and aspired to become a member of a Moscow-led economic bloc. The bill’s authors have described it as a necessary measure to support “traditional family values.”

Estonia, which like Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union for almost five decades, is considered the most Western-oriented of the former republics, with a long history of cooperation with its liberal-minded Nordic neighbors.

However, there has been little tolerance of gays in the small Baltic nation of 1.3 million, particularly among the sizeable ethnic-Russian minority and in rural areas where traditional values prevail.

The law has been under preparation for years and stirred one of the fiercest public debates since the country regained independence in 1991.

© 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Don't forget to share:

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

U.S. appeals court in Cincinnati key to how and where gay marriage advances

Previous article

U.S. Supreme Court says it erred in halting Nevada same-sex marriages

Next article