Same-sex couples can now enter into registered partnerships in Latvia – World

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Legislative changes in Latvia allowing gay couples to form registered partnerships came into effect on Monday. TASR reported that the first same-sex couple formed such a union shortly after midnight, according to the DPA and Reuters.

photo: SITA/AP, Andrea Alexandrou

It will arrive in Bucharest on July 29, 2024. Illustration

“The introduction of (same-sex) civil partnerships is an important signal that all families in Latvia will be protected, valued and accepted,” said Kaspars Zálítis of the human rights organization Dzivesbiedri (Partners for Life). He said the new legislation will make life better for many couples. According to him, some notaries’ offices have already seen a growing interest in registered partnerships.

Despite this change, the topic of homosexuality continues to divide Latvian society. In 2005, parliament amended the constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Last November, while he voted to legalize registered same-sex partnerships (which are now in force), he did not give such partners the same rights as husbands.

Under the new legislation, same-sex couples can register their union with a notary, which will allow them to visit during hospitalization or use tax or social benefits. However, they cannot adopt children together and do not have the same rights as married couples when it comes to inheritance.

Only five countries in the EU remain that do not recognize registered same-sex partnerships: Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Last May, Latvia’s parliament elected as president Edgars Rinkévičs, a former foreign minister who is the first head of state in the European Union to publicly declare his homosexuality.