LJUBLJANA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Parliament of Slovenia on Tuesday passed legislation that will allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt with 48 votes against 29.
The changes follow a July ruling by Slovenia's Constitutional Court, which ordered Parliament to abolish the discrimination against same-sex couples within six months.
Same-sex couples have been able to hold a wedding ceremony in Slovenia since 2017 and share many of the same rights as heterosexual couples. However, so far their marriage was legally called "a partnership union," and they were also not allowed to adopt children. From now on, the union of a same-sex couple will also be called "a marriage," and such couples will have the same rights as heterosexual couples.
"With the ... legislation change we acknowledge that differences should not lead to discrimination," Simon Maljevac, state secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, told Parliament during last Friday's debate.
"Slovenia is finally joining a number of countries in Europe and the world that have already given equal rights to heterosexual and same-sex couples," he said. So far, over 30 countries in the world have done so.
The changes were drafted by the center-left government of Prime Minister Robert Golob. The center-right opposition parties voted against them, arguing that the changes are taking away a child's right to have a mother and a father. ■
