Estonian Parliament legalized same-sex unions
The initiative has already received support from the government and was also approved by cultural figures. Public activists, who saw the law as a threat to traditional values, and church representatives opposed the law.
Civil partnership – as an alternative to traditional marriage, available also to gays – has long been in effect in many EU countries. In some of them, same-sex marriage is officially legalized. These include, in particular, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and since last year the list has also been joined by France and Great Britain.
For Estonia, the topic of civil partnership is quite relevant. According to one of the initiators of the law, Imre Sooaar, about 170 thousand people – more than 10 percent of the country's population – live in free relationships outside marriage. Official status, in his words, will allow them to "solve many legal problems."
According to the 2011 census, the popularity of official marriage in Estonia has declined over the past ten years. The share of those who chose the so-called "free marriage," on the contrary, increased to 15 percent. In the same year, the republic, according to Eurostat, became a leader among European countries in the indicator of the share of children born out of wedlock (it amounted to 60 percent). According to data for 2012, the ratio hardly changed.
At the same time, according to sociologists, the majority of the population does not support the legalization of same-sex unions. According to a study recently commissioned by the foundation "In Defense of Family and Traditions," 67 percent of respondents opposed state recognition of homosexual families. Another poll recorded that about 60 percent consider homosexuality unacceptable.
According to Marju Lauristin, professor of sociology at the University of Tartu, this attitude is linked both to people's religiosity (Estonian churches opposed the "Cohabitation Act") and to the Soviet upbringing of the older generation, as well as people's "conservatism and patriarchality." The law, she believes, could become a "test of development and openness" for society.
All of this was certainly taken into account by the Estonian authorities – they long hesitated to pass a law allowing same-sex unions.
The Estonian government proposed holding public debates on this topic as early as 2005. "The spread of same-sex marriages in society and the willingness of homosexuals to legalize their partnerships needs analysis, as a result of which a public-legal decision will have to be made on the need to legalize same-sex marriages in our legal system," noted Minister of Social Affairs Jaak Aab and Chancellor Maaria Mändmaa. The then speaker of parliament, Ene Ergma, allowed for the adoption of the law that LGBT rights advocates had requested.
In parliament, at the same time, it was noted that such a law would not receive majority support. After the 2011 elections, surveys conducted among deputies showed that attitudes towards same-sex unions had not changed: the majority was still against their legalization.
The topic, however, remained on the authorities' agenda. In 2008, Estonia's Minister of Justice Rein Lang stated that the law on partnership would be included in the work plan. Later, he met with LGBT representatives to, as reported, familiarise them with the "analysis on the legal regulation of cohabitation of persons not in a marriage." The authorities stated they were open to suggestions.
In 2011, the Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder (in Estonia, he oversees compliance with the constitution and serves as ombudsman) spoke in favor of registering same-sex unions. He turned to the Ministry of Justice, recommending that an appropriate legal framework be created. The ministry eventually promised that work on the civil partnership law would begin in 2012. The initiative was supported by the ruling Reform Party, as well as the opposition Centre Party and Social Democrats (the latter later joined the ruling coalition). The Reform Party's coalition ally – the IRL party (Pro Patria and Res Publika Union) – opposed it.
The draft law appeared in 2012, but the authorities were in no hurry to adopt it. In spring 2014, after lengthy disputes, the document was submitted to parliament. At the same time, the Estonian government approved it.
The "Cohabitation Act" bill provided that homosexual (and heterosexual) couples could officially register their relationship. While this would not equalize their status with people who have entered into an official marriage, it would allow, among other things, the regulation of property matters. They would also be able – with certain restrictions – to adopt children: if one partner has a child, the other could adopt that child. Such couples would not have the right to adopt other people's children.
The exact number of gays in Estonia is unknown. During the 2011 census, only about 400 people acknowledged living with a same-sex partner. In spring 2014, one Estonian MP stated that the issue of same-sex partnership "concerns at most five percent of the population – purely biologically and psychologically – 10 percent." The Estonian LGBT Association, meanwhile, claimed that among schoolchildren, the share of gays and lesbians already ranges from five to ten percent.
The state has to reckon with the existence of same-sex couples. Several years ago, in particular, a lesbian couple living in Viimsi parish (northern Estonia) and raising three children applied to local authorities for a benefit. The benefit was due to families with three or more children (in the parish it was also received by people living in civil marriages), but the local authorities refused the women, citing that their union did not correspond to the generally accepted concept of family. The couple, however, managed to challenge this decision in court: there, as lawyer Reimo Mets said, it was concluded that a family could also be understood as a same-sex union.
In presenting the civil partnership bill in parliament, reference was made, among other things, to the interests of children born out of wedlock. 'In Estonia, there are many same-sex couples raising children, and these children are in the most vulnerable situation because, God forbid something happens to one of the parents, a whole host of problems can immediately arise,' said Olga Sytnik, a deputy from the Centre Party. Representatives of the Estonian Human Rights Centre took a similar position.
Estonian churches opposed the bill. As early as 2012, when the document was only being discussed, the council of churches (which includes, among others, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate) appealed to the Minister of Justice. The authors of the appeal stated that 'homosexual lifestyle in any form is a sin before the Almighty, and sin and vice cannot be accepted at the legislative level.'
Representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Arho Tuhkru, commenting on the authorities' plans, noted that many in Estonia oppose the bill and that the document itself does not contribute to 'uniting the people.' The rector of the Church of St. Nicholas (of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate), Igor Prekup, in turn, stated that raising children by gay couples is unacceptable.
'Since the possibility is also being considered of giving defenseless children to be raised by people for whom perversion is the norm, I must say that this is a crime for which everyone who does not protest against it is responsible (not to mention those who support it),' the priest declared. Later, the Orthodox Church, reaffirming its rejection of the bill, organized a prayer service in Tallinn in defense of family values.
At the same time, the Foundation for the Defense of Family and Traditional Values launched a campaign against the registration of same-sex unions. It organized a mailing of a corresponding petition. It was reported that the letters received by many residents of the republic claimed that the bill prepared by the authorities leads to 'degradation of society.' The petition was ultimately signed by several tens of thousands of people. Later, when the bill was finally submitted to parliament for consideration, a mass protest action took place in Tallinn.
Opponents of the bill, however, were unable to change the situation. In early October, the Estonian government again expressed support for it (they pointed to the importance of tolerance and stated that 'if we do not pass this law, society will fall back'). A week later, the bill passed its second and third readings. It is to come into force in 2016.
Mikhail TISHCHENKO.
"Lenta.ru"