Today we as members of the National Assembly voted on and adopted the United Left’s proposed Amendment to the Marriage and Family Relations Act with 51 votes in favour and 28 votes against. By adopting the amendments we finally rectified the unconstitutional and discriminatory state of affairs. With this decision Slovenia once again established itself as a progressive, democratic and tolerant society in the field of human rights, and joined other states that establish complete equality between different-sex and same-sex couples. Today – by making a decision with which everyone has gained and no one was deprived – we entered the 21st century in the area of human rights.
The United Left in its striving for freedom and equality proposed the Amendment to the Marriage and Family Relations Act, which rectifies the unconstitutional state of affairs and systemic discrimination of same-sex couples, which was up to today enshrined in the Republic of Slovenia’s legal order. The change grants all same-sex couples in Slovenia the basic social, economic and legal rights, which were so far unwarrantably provided only to different-sex couples. To the majority these rights are self-evident, such as the right to sick leave on behalf of one’s partner malaise, the right to income compensation for family member caregiving, the right to health insurance coverage via partner, and many others. By adopting the Act we, therefore, implement equality before the law, which is a basic principle of the Slovenian constitution.
The Act was adopted far too late, its passing being the result of more than 20-years of discussion. With it we are not establishing anything radical, we are just upholding the basic principles of a democratic society.
The amended Act provides in the field of marriage equality before the law and equal treatment of every resident/inhabitant in Slovenia. No one is deprived of any right. Rather the opposite, the Act expands the extent of rights and grants them to those who previously did not have them, although were entitled to according to the Slovenian constitution. We are glad that the majority of members of the National Assembly recognized that it is possible to regulate the same relationships only in a single manner. On the other hand we are saddened by the fact that some individuals are still not willing to recognize equality for all.
The amendment brings no change to different-sex marriages, here everything remains as it is. However, those fellow citizens who were up to today discriminated are finally becoming equal members of our society, with all the rights they should have had long ago. Not just because this is determined by the Slovenian constitution, but also because any other solution would be unjust. By adopting the Amendment to the Marriage and Family Relations Act we all gained and no one was deprived.
Initiative for Democratic Socialism and the coalition of United Left
Ljubljana, 3.3.2015
