DLNews Staff:

Most Eastern European countries have neither legalized same-sex partnerships nor marriages, but Slovenia is showing how it can be done!

On Tuesday, the Balkan peninsula became the first Eastern European country to launch same-sex marriage. The Slovenian parliament in Ljubljana voted on Tuesday with a clear majority of 48 votes in favor of a corresponding amendment to the law.

Twenty-nine deputies voted against, and there was one abstention.

The vote follows a decision by the Slovenian Constitutional Court, which in July granted lesbian and gay couples the right to marry and adopt children.

The Constitutional Court found the previous law to be discriminatory. It defined marriage only as a union between a man and a woman - and provided the right to adoption only for heterosexual couples.

The ruling declared the relevant provisions null and void and called on Parliament to pass an amendment to the law within six months.

With the amendment now passed, the Slovenian parliament is simply stating "that differences should not be a reason for discrimination," said State Secretary Simon Maljevac (41) when presenting the relevant draft.

“We recognize the rights of same-sex couples, which they should have received a long time ago.”

“A total of 18 European states have legalized same-sex marriages, most of which also allow homosexual couples to adopt. Other European states allow registered partnerships but not marriage: these include the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary and Italy.

However: In Hungary, since last year, people have been punished if they talk about homosexuality in front of minors.”

Criticism comes from the opposition party.

The largest conservative opposition party, SDS, criticized the Constitutional Court's ruling and organized several demonstrations with thousands of participants.

"The best father will never replace a mother - and vice versa," said Alenka Jeraj, 49, the leader of the SDS parliamentary group, at the opening of the parliamentary session to vote on the new law.