menwedding.com

Gay marriage in Belgium


Beginning in 1998, the Belgian parliament offered limited rights to same-sex couples through registered partnerships. Same-sex couples could register with a city clerk and formally assume joint responsibility for a household. Five years later, in January 2003, the Belgian parliament legalized same-sex marriage, giving gay and lesbian couples the same tax and inheritance rights as heterosexual couples.



Support for the law came from both the Flemish-speaking North and the French-speaking South, and the law generated surprisingly little controversy across the country. The long-dominant Christian Democratic Party, traditionally allied with the Catholic Church, was out of power when the parliament passed the measure.

The 2003 law allowed the marriages of Belgian same-sex couples and recognized as married those from other countries where same-sex marriage was legal. Those provisions were broadened in 2004 to allow any same-sex couple to marry as long as one member of the couple had lived in Belgium for at least three months. In 2006, the parliament also granted same-sex partners the right to adopt children.

seakinglove112
USA, Dallas
Alisson
Alisson 32
Brazil, Sao Leopoldo
chavagil86
Mexico, San Marcos Tlacoyalco
alex
alex 32
Ecuador, Santo Domingo de los Colorados
igor pereira
Mozambique, Beira
SmileBirendra
Nepal, Nepalgunj
Julián
Julián 37
Colombia, Bogota
enhenrik
Sweden, Uppsala
lemon
lemon 31
Mexico, Guadalajara