Even through all the chaos, love wins!
Lawmakers in one of the world’s smallest countries have given the green light to bring in marriage equality. Politicians in Andorra, which is nestled between Spain and France and has a population of 77, 000 people, have drafted a bill to recognized same-sex marriages, according to Go Tech Daily.
While Andorra already recognizes civil unions, LGBTQ people are celebrating the possibility of oncoming marriage equality. And it’s been a long time coming. Back in 2013, a poll from the Institut d’Estudis Andorrans found that 70 percent of Andorra’s citizens already supported the idea of same-sex marriage. That said, the country will most likely catch up with where its citizens stand by this summer.
“From the entry into force of this law, the Andorran legal system will recognize two forms of marriages, civil marriage, to which both gay couples like heterosexual couples, and canonical marriage,” reads a draft of the bill.
While civil unions already offer the same rights as married straight couples, the introduction of marriage equality is more about respecting society’s stance on same-sex couples and LGBTQ people.
As Ester Molné, a Democratic counselor stated during the bill’s introduction, “The term ‘civil union’ was confusing, especially when it was necessary to register in foreign civil registries, which were not always recognized and therefore the affected couple could not be registered.”
But now that the bill has been passed by lawmakers, how does it become an official law? Well, you see, Andorra is a diarchy, meaning its run by two princes. The thing is, those two princes do not live in Andorra, according to Gay Star News. One prince is whoever happens to be the president of France. Then the other is the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Urgell in Catalonia, which is within Spain. This historic law signifies Andorra’s place between the two large nations. In order to have the marriage equality bill passed into law, one of those two princes will have to offer their approval. Thankfully, Emmanuel Macon, France’s current president, is expected to approve the bill.
We look forward to seeing that historic moment come to fruition.
Sources: Gay Star News, Go Tech Daily
