Estonia Has Legalized Same-Sex Marriage And Adoption In A Win For LGBTQ Rights
The new law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024
![Estonia Has Legalized Same-Sex Marriage And Adoption In A Win For LGBTQ Rights](/content/images/size/w1200/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/estonia-same-sex-marriage-legal-adoption.jpg)
Estonia has legalized same-sex marriage and adoption after a historic vote at its parliament.
![a woman holds a sign that says, "Love is a terrible thing to hate."](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/a-sign-writing-love-is-a-terrible-thing-to-hate.jpg)
Same-sex partnerships have been legal in Estonia since 2016 but only heterosexual couples could get married.
![People take part in an LGBTQ demonstration](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/celebration-march.jpg)
Same-sex couples were also unable to adopt children together; one partner had to adopt the biological child or children of the other partner as a step-parent.
![Two men kiss each other](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/estonia-same-sex-marriage-legal-adoption-1.jpg)
But on Tuesday June 20, Estonia’s parliament voted to amend the law so that two adults can marry “regardless of their gender” and adopt children together.“
![First woman prime minister in Estonia](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/first-woman-prime-minister-in-estonia.jpg)
“Everyone should have the right to marry the person they love and want to commit to,” Estonia’s first woman prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement after the vote.
![people celebrate same-sex marriage and adoption](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/people-celebrate-same-sex-marriage-and-adoption.jpg)
“I’m proud of my country. We’re building a society where everyone’s rights are respected and people can love freely,” Kallas wrote on Twitter.
![people on the streets celebrating same-sex marriage and adoption](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/people-on-the-streets-celebrating-same-sex-marriage-and-adoption.jpg)
This made Estonia the first Baltic state and ex-Soviet country to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption.
![same-sex marriage and adoption are legal](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/same-sex-marriage-and-adoption-are-legal.jpg)
It is also the second central European country to reach marriage equality, after Slovenia in October 2022.
![same-sex marriage and adoption celebration](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/same-sex-marriage-and-adoption-celebration.jpg)
The new law will go into effect starting January 1, 2024.
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