12/18/2007
Hungary Passes Same-Sex Civil Partnership Law
Hungary's parliament approved a law on Monday bestowing a host of new rights on same-sex couples, allowing them to register their relationships as civil partnerships:
Reuters reports: "Registered couples will have the same rights as married heterosexual couples in inheritance, taxation and other financial matters. But they will not be allowed to adopt children, unlike married couples. After decades under communist rule when homosexuality was banned or simply out of sight, it is far less widely accepted in Eastern Europe than in most of Western Europe. The Czech Republic and Slovenia allow same-sex partnerships to be registered, but none of the former communist states allow gay marriages."
The law passed by a vote of 185-154, with nine abstentions.
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Now there is a reason to move back to my home country, besides all the hot guys there. My grandfather immigrated from Hungary to the USA in 1912.
Posted by: Johnny Lane | Dec 18, 2007 10:04:31 AM
Another reason to MOCK the supposed land of "Liberty & justice for All"...NOT! America the land of hypocracy..for ALL the World to see!!
Posted by: Disgusted american | Dec 18, 2007 10:26:09 AM
You know that the U.S. is lagging behind in LGBT civil rights when Hungary passes civil partnerships while we don't even have employment protections or a hate crimes law.
Posted by: Bloggernista | Dec 18, 2007 11:00:56 AM
Good move for Hungary! They still need work in matters of adoption but they're stepping in the right direction.
Posted by: Shabaka | Dec 18, 2007 11:13:40 AM
It should be noted that this step is, if only in part, being taken due to Hungary's 2004 accession to the European Union and their obligation to absorb what's called the 'acquis communautaire' which is essentially, the body of all EU legislation agreed before Hungary joined. This means that all EU states have some similar base of legislative perspective and as such, Hungary could be said to just be moving towards fulfilling their treaty obligations.
Not that it's a bad thing. It's amazing. What will no doubt take more time is acceptance by the Hungarian people for what could be labelled as highly 'Western-European' values. Acceptance being so much more powerful than tolerance.
Posted by: Patrick | Dec 19, 2007 7:53:55 AM
indeed, this is very good news. we shall be among the first ones with my partner to get registered. let's not forget that, while hungary has always been a little more liberal than the rest of the communist gang, we still have a very long way to go. but also, hungary has always been in the centre of europe, literally.
Posted by: shivamantra | Dec 26, 2007 7:22:42 PM