Civil Partnership Act Drafter Vows Bill Will Go Ahead
An initiator of the gender-neutral cohabitation act that poll results Tuesday showed most Estonians are against said it will not affect the second reading in Parliament in the fall.
Randpere told ERR radio that the figures (only 34 percent support among both Estonians and non-Estonian inhabitants combined) were not a surprise and argued that poll results have changed in the past, with a doubling in the number of people who supported the proposition of allowing same-sex partners to enjoy the same legal protection as married couples.
"It is clear that the draft law will continue. The first reading has ended and the deadline for amendment proposals is September 12," said Randpere, adding that he himself was submitting a few amendments.
One of them is a change in the name of the act, to "Non-Marriage Cohabitation Act."
"This is the moment where politicians should take and show their leader role. The question is not that we are promoting a different type of lifestyle or homosexual way of life. We aren't doing that. We are promoting tolerance. And that's progress."
Randpere cautioned that the majority should not necessarily be allowed to start defining what is "not normal." He referred to eugenic experiments in Nazi Germany and even in postwar Western countries.
He also drew parallels to the death penalty, saying that most Estonians would favor it, too, but that that did not mean it should be restored.