The Republic of San Marino has just passed a law allowing civil unions for same-sex couples!
Just a few hours ago (of this article’s publishing), the landlocked microstate within the Italian Peninsula, which is considered the smallest and oldest still living republic in the world, voted to legalize and recognize the unions of same-sex couples.
The Great and General Council voted 40 v. 4 in favor of the Regulation of Civil Unions law with an addition 4 lawmakers choosing to abstain, according to Italian news source Gay News.
Possibly the most important section of the law with 14 articles is its definition of a civil union:
"The civil union is the contract by which a family-like community is governed by two adult individuals of the same sex or different sex in order to organize their life in common.”
The law was first presented to the lawmaking council by Valentina Rossi last year on December 18, 2017. Lawmakers then argued over, analyzed, edited, and eventually voted on the law in the early morning hour of 1:00 CET today.
Despite this celebration, San Marino has a negative past with LGBTQ rights and law. Only six years ago did the country take down the law forbidding same-sex couples from living together.
But as Michele Pazzi, the secretary for the LGBT-San Marino association pointed out at that time, “This is a little step towards the full recognition of same-sex couples.”
Now, the country has taken one step further, though there’s currently no word as to when the law will go into effect.
h/t: Gay News
