The first same-sex couple registered their union just after midnight, becoming ground-breakers in a new era for Latvian society, Reuters reports.
After registering at a law office in Riga’s historic centre, Maksims Ringo and Janis Locs exchanged silver rings at a party in the city’s main library and hope to receive gold rings if same-sex marriage is legalised in Latvia, Ringo said. He also added, noting improved hospital visiting rights for example under the new law:
“We are together for five and a half years … so for us, it’s mostly practical.”
Homosexuality remains controversial in Latvia, whose lawmakers changed the constitution in 2005 to define marriage as only permitted between a man and a woman.
Last November, Latvia’s parliament voted to formalise civil unions between same-sex couples after 46 same-sex couples successfully petitioned the courts to have their family unit recognised in the eyes of the law.
The new law will allow partners in such a union the right to visit hospitals, as well as some tax and social benefits. However, they cannot adopt children and still face inheritance problems.
Changes to Latvian law mean there are now only five EU countries where people in same-sex relationships cannot register civil unions: Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Last May, Latvia’s parliament elected President Edgars Rinkevics as the first openly gay head of state in the European Union, despite the fact that 45 per cent of Latvians in a 2019 Eurobarometer poll said they would be uncomfortable with a high-profile gay or bisexual person.
Latvian gay rights activist Kaspars Zalitis says several notary offices where civil unions are registered under the new law have queues of same-sex couples wanting to register their relationships as soon as possible.
