Same-sex marriage in Belgium
On 1 June 2003, Belgium became the second country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands. Originally, Belgium allowed the marriages of foreign same-sex couples only if their country of origin also allowed these unions. Legislation enacted in October 2004 however, permits any couple to marry in Belgium if at least one of the spouses has lived in the country for a minimum of three months.
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Civil union[edit]
The act of 23 November 1998 granted statutory cohabitation (Dutch: wettelijke samenwoning; French: cohabitation légale) in Belgium. The act gives limited rights to registered same-sex and opposite-sex couples by inserting a Title V-bis on statutory cohabitation in the Belgian Civil Code and by amending certain provisions of the Belgian Civil Code and the Belgian Judicial Code. However, persons who are not a couple can also make a declaration of statutory cohabitation; this includes relatives.
The law was legally published on 12 January 1999. It went into force on 1 January 2000, according to a royal order signed on 14 December and published on 23 December 1999.[1]
Marriage[edit]
Legislative history[edit]
On 28 May 2002, a bill legalising same-sex marriage was introduced in the Senate by Jeannine Leduc (VLD), Philippe Mahoux (PS), Philippe Monfils (MR), Myriam Vanlerberghe (SP.A-Spirit), Marie Nagy (Ecolo) and Frans Lozie (Agalev). It passed on 28 November 2002, with 46 votes to 15. On 30 January 2003, the bill passed the Chamber of Representatives by 91 votes to 22.[2][3][4]
King Albert II signed and promulgated the bill on 13 February 2003 and on 28 February it was published in the Belgian Official Journal and came into force on 1 June.
The first paragraph of article 143 of the Belgian Civil Code (Book I, Title V, Chapter I) now reads as follows:
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- in Dutch: Een huwelijk kan worden aangegaan door twee personen van verschillend of van hetzelfde geslacht.
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- in French: Deux personnes de sexe différent ou de même sexe peuvent contracter mariage.
- (Two persons of different sexes or of the same sex may contract marriage.)
The same-sex marriage law did not permit adoption by same-sex partners, and as birth within a same-sex marriage did not imply affiliation, the same-sex spouse of the biological parent had no way to become the legal parent. On 1 December 2005, a proposal to permit adoption was approved by the Chamber of Representatives of the parliament.[5][6] It was passed in April 2006, thereby enabling legal co-parenting by same-sex couples.[7]
Statistics[edit]
According to the Belgian Official Journal, approximately 300 same-sex couples were married between June 2003 and April 2004 (245 in 2003 and 55 in 2004). This constituted 1.2 percent of the total number of marriages in Belgium during that period. Two thirds of the couples were male and one third female. On 22 July 2005, the Belgian government announced that a total of 2,442 same-sex marriages had taken place in the country since the extension of marriage rights two years earlier.[8]
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Public opinion[edit]
The 2006 Eurobarometer found that 62% of Belgian respondents think same-sex marriages should be allowed in Europe.[9]
A 2008 survey by Delta Lloyd Life found that 76% of Belgians accept same-sex marriage and 46% of Belgians think same-sex couples can raise children just as good as opposite-sex couples can.[10][11]
A May 2013 Ipsos poll found that 67% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage and another 12% supported other form of recognition for same-sex couples.[12]
According to the Ifop poll, conducted in May 2013, 71% of Belgians supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ Major legal consequences of marriage, cohabitation and registered partnership for different-sex and same-sex partners in Belgium
- ^ Legislative record of the same-sex marriage bill in Dutch and in French, by the Belgian Senate.
- ^ Belgium legalizes gay marriage
- ^ Belgium approves same-sex marriage
- ^ "Belgium backs gay adoption plans". BBC News. 2 December 2005.
- ^ "Belgium moves to allow gay adoption". Euronews. 2 December 2005.
- ^ "Belgium passes gay adoption law". BBC News. 21 April 2006.
- ^ "Belgium Reaches 2,500 Gay Marriages". 365Gay. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ "Eurobarometer 2006" (PDF). 2006.
- ^ (Dutch) "De Nationale Familie-enquête 'En hoe leeft u?'" (PDF). Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ (Dutch) "Familie-enquête 2008". Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ "Same-Sex Marriage". Ipsos. 7-21 May 2013.
- ^ (French) Enquête sur la droitisation des opinions publiques européennes
See also[edit]
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