Czech Republic To Be First Post-Communist Nation With Gay Marriage

The legislation was drawn up by a group of 46 mostly leftist and centrist members of parliament from six of the nine parties in the lower house, including the populist ANO party of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

However, at the same time, 37 lawmakers introduced a rival bill calling on marriage to be constitutionally defined as between one man and one woman. Thankfully, as it’s calling for a constitutional change it’s far less likely to succeed than the bill calling for same-sex marriages to be legalized.

In the Czech political system, a constitutional change requires 60% of the Czech parliament to vote in favor. Meanwhile, a bill that is only seeking to change the law just requires a normal majority vote.

In a poll conducted in May, 50 percent of respondents supported gay marriage. Seventy-four percent approved of the existing registered partnership option.

Babis’s centrist ANO party won that vote by a large margin and formed a minority government, but he failed to secure parliamentary support. He is now trying to form a new cabinet with the center-left Social Democrats that would also need the backing of the Communist party.

Author: red