Opposition to relationship recognition in Italy comes mainly from the Roman Catholic Church
ITALY
Italy, the only country in western Europe without some form of relationship recognition, has postponed a vote on a civil union bill.
According to Reuters, lawmakers postponed the vote due to concerns about a provision that would allow same-sex couples to adopt children if one of the partners is the child’s biological parent. Opponents have argued that it would lead to surrogacy, which is strictly banned in the country.
Supporters have been holding rallies and protests for weeks ahead of the vote, urging lawmakers to take action. The European Court of Human Rights has already censured Italy for violating the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to recognize same-sex unions in any capacity. The debate will restart on Feb. 23.
Opposition comes mainly from the Roman Catholic Church.
FINLAND
Finland’s Parliament has finalized details of its marriage equality law that will go into effect in March 2017.
Couples in registered partnerships will be able to convert those into marriages, according to Joe My God. Partnerships will be eliminated and marriage will become the only option. Transgender people will no longer be required to be single for their gender change to be recognized.
MOROCCO
Abdelilah Benkirane, Morocco’s Head of Government, has made it clear that the country has no plans to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples because it’s “an Islamic State and will remain so,” according to Morocco World News.
During a meeting with his party, Benkirane said that western countries want “to force all countries to adopt this cause,” but “the phenomenon of homosexuality” is not “in the interest of the individual, the family and is not acceptable in [their] religion.”
Regarding what people do in their private lives, Benkraine said the state should not intervene. However, sex between people of the same gender remains illegal and can be punished by six months to three years in prison.
INDONESIA
Muslim leaders in Indonesia have released a statement that not only rejects the promotion and support of LGBT groups in the country, but asks the government to make the promotion of LGBT activities explicitly forbidden.
According to the Associated Press, “Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government respected individual rights of sexual expression, ‘but it is wrong to encourage other people … and to campaign for legalization of same-sex marriage.’” Earlier this week the government asked the U.N. Development Program to stop funding LGBT programs and last week began demanding that all instant messaging apps ban LGBT-related stickers, emojis and emoticons.