Liechtenstein voters approve civil partnership law

Liechtenstein flagCitizens of Liechtenstein on Sunday voted in favor of a law that permits same-sex civil partnerships. A referendum was held last week to get peoples opinion in this regard and the results show that 68 percent of the voters supported the Civil Partnership Act.

The Liechtenstein Parliament unanimously approved the law on March 16, but opponents of the civil partnership law, Vox Populi, called for a national referendum. The new law will confer the same tax, inheritance and welfare rights that married couples in Liechtenstein receive, but exclude the right to adoption. The law is scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2011. Liechtenstein joins a growing contingent of countries and US States that recognize same-sex partnerships as either full marriage or civil unions and partnerships.

The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil unanimously recognized legal rights for partners in same-sex civil unions, though Hungary added a prohibition against gay marriage to its Constitution one month earlier. Ireland, which legalized homosexuality in 1993, passed a civil partnership bill in 2009 extending rights to same-sex couples. Although a Greek court invalidated in May 2009 the first same-sex marriages performed in country, the Swedish parliament passed a same-sex marriage law in April. In December 2008, Hungary struck down a same-sex partnership law by alleging that it would diminish the importance of marriage. In November 2008, the Australian Senate approved a same-sex equal rights law but did not grant the right to marry.

Liechtenstein voters approve civil partnership law

Report by Reuben