Austria has legalised gay marriage, the new law will allow same-sex couples to marry by 2019.
Austrian Constitutional Court made a decision, which will transform into the new law and give the same-sex couples a right to marry. According to the court, by 2019 the dream of many gays will come true. Up to date, same-sex couples had right to have civil partnerships in the country since 2010, but there is not enough. Since 2019, they will be able to get married like the same-sex couples in Germany, France, Britain and Spain do.
The Constitutional Court was examining a complaint about a 2009 law which meant a couple were denied permission to enter a formal marriage by Viennese authorities.
It said in a statement that “the distinction between marriage and civil partnership can no longer be maintained today without discriminating against same-sex couples,” adding that keeping the two institutions separate suggests that “people with same-sex sexual orientation are not equal to people with heterosexual orientation”.
Civil partnership and marriage: pros and contras
Civil partnerships will still be available as an option after this point, the Constitutional Court ruled and will be opened up to straight couples, too. In Austria, restrictions on same-sex marriage will be lifted in late 2018, unless the government does so itself earlier.
