Ministry Floats Idea of Same-Sex Partnership Without Adoption (18)

Published: 28.08.2012 14:37

Tallinn Gay Pride, an annual event promoting diversity and equality
( Photo: Postimees/Scanpix )

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The Justice Ministry's new strategy document on civil partnerships would allow same-sex couples to register their union but not be allowed to adopt children.

Postimees reported that the white paper released this week does not pertain in any way to marriage, and does not extend the institution to same-sex couples. The document notes that a registered marriage provides the greatest measure of social security.

The paper deals with two other options: registered and unregistered cohabitation.

For registered cohabitants, one partner would have the right to become the adoptive parent of a child raised by the other partner as a single parent, but couples would not have equal rights to married couples to adopt children.

A question that remains open at the Ministry is whether the option of registered cohabitation would be open only to same-sex couples, Postimees said. The rationale for doing so, according to the ministry, would be that such couples are not allowed to marry in Estonia, and this would be the best way of protecting their interests. That was the route chosen by several Scandinavian countries - Denmark in 1989 - which have since changed over to the possibility to register gender-neutral marriage.

In France, gender-neutral registered partnership is popular and 60 percent of applicants are of different genders, but this has not reduced the popularity of marriage.

The ministry said it looks forward to receiving comments from political parties, interest groups, church leaders and the public by October 1.

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Comments (18)

  • reosarevok

    28.08.2012 16:46

    Funny that church leaders are expected to have a say on the issue, really. Maybe the comments should come from people who actually know anything about relationships and raising children, and from people who have researched the related issues (which don't seem to appear in that list of people they look forward to receive comments from). That's about the adopting children part, of course - the right of couples to have the same legal rights for regardless of their gender is so obvious that it's fairly depressing we're still debating it.

  • Mart Mang

    28.08.2012 19:54

    Well said, reosarevok...

  • Hugo

    28.08.2012 20:30

    No one is telling the church that they would have to start performing same-sex marriages. That is for the church to decide. Marriage (or registered partnership) is first a legal construct and secondly a religious one. Changing the legal definition would not force the church to do anything it opposes. Germany, Denmark and Sweden seem to be surviving quite well years after giving same-sex couples legal protection and rights. It's not taking anything away from male-female married couples.

  • Dutch

    29.08.2012 09:49

    It is intensly sad that in this day and age a ministry would feel the need to "float" the idea of -limited- equality. The mere fact that something like this needs to be "floated" clearly indicates that a number of citizens are not considered equal. And to then invite church leaders to kick in an open door by asking them their well known (bigoted) opinion on the matter... One is either equal under the law or one is not. There is no grey area.

  • Juhan026

    29.08.2012 11:45

    As an average citizen, my understanding of this is that the church has a foothold in IRL. And it has been the only party in coalition that has been blocking it for nearly a decade now. Altough there are outspoken pro gay rights ministers in IRL, the party as a whole has lined up with church on the issue. Unless they put it on a free vote in the parliament, the church remains only obstacle and also a key to resolve this. And this is happening in the least religious country on the planet. Just highlights the shortcomings of the coalition governments.

  • Marriage

    29.08.2012 12:41

    This is a social issue and the church is part of society. To say the church should not have a say in the matter just because you don't agree with its opinion makes you just as bigoted as you claim it is.

  • Juhan026

    29.08.2012 13:27

    Well, yes and no. If I look at my own wider family, lets say out of 50 people, we have got couple of gay people and a couple of church members. That gives you an idea of the scale of propotions we are talking about. Both marginal minorities. But I think it is appopriate for the State to step in and say - knock it off! State shouldnt pick sides on this one, but act upon the best interest of the whole society. And I believe that extended gay rights are in the best interest of the society. Church will get over it, as it always has done, but at the same time we can improve quality of life for gay people. The only thing I should be worried about, is the fact that church is actively involved in politics and that we do have political parties out there who are willing to spread their message. But I suppose, thats democracy for you. My hope lies with the general public and the good old fashion common sense.

  • avatar

    auslane

    29.08.2012 21:56

    @Marriage - you are exactly correct. Similarly, the KKK had an equal say in race relations, and if black people were allowed to vote, enter the same shops and be educated at the same school as white people.

  • US Expat

    30.08.2012 21:13

    Politics is about pragmatism and inviting everyone to the table, and then reaching a consensus. There is a growing awareness that gay people exist (even here in Estonia) and deserve equal rights, so full equality is on its way... just a matter of time.

  • Conservative

    31.08.2012 19:46

    As much as some don't like it, the church's opinion, as well as the opinion of religious/conservative people, has to be taken into consideration. We do live in a democracy, don't we?

  • 5aturn

    01.09.2012 06:16

    @Marriage: the church can have a say over itself not over society as a whole. People who want to follow Church rules are free to do so. If you don't believe in gay marriage, by all means don't have one.

  • 5aturn

    03.09.2012 13:37

    @Conservative. Yes and conversely if you get a say of how homosexuals should live their lives then homosexuals should have a say in how you live your life. Like, I dunno, making it illegal for religious people to marry the person they love. As you say, we do live in a democracy, don't we?

  • @5aturn

    03.09.2012 19:01

    But people say things about how the church and other religion's institutions should be run or what they should be allowed to do or say all the time. Just look at some of Dutch's posts for a small example.

  • Juhan026

    04.09.2012 10:31

    @@5aturn, but this is correct. Church is an institution, and must follow the law of the land. It provides services to the general public, and according to law it can not discriminate. Yet, it does. Likely because its historic privilegued position in the society. And that history, Im afraid to tell you, has come to an end. We are not governed by Ordermeisters anymore, but elected parliament and its about time they will start to respect that.

  • @Juhan026

    04.09.2012 17:10

    The Church, or any other officially recognized religious body, cannot be made to do things that go against their core beliefs. That is discrimination and you will see big court cases over it in the near future.

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