Marriage equality, fifteen years after partnership

On 1 March 2017, same-sex couples in Finland were allowed to marry for the first time. The date had a special touch. Exactly fifteen years earlier, on 1 March 2002, the law on registered partnership had come into force. It gave couples almost all the rights of marriage. But only almost: joint adoption remained closed to them, as did a shared family name.

That Finland closed this gap is above all thanks to its civil society. After an earlier attempt in parliament had failed, a citizens' initiative collected more than one hundred and fifty thousand signatures. In November 2014, parliament narrowly approved it while thousands celebrated outside. But more than two years passed before the law, along with the necessary amendments, could take effect. And only a few weeks before the deadline, parliament had to vote on a counter-initiative that sought to restrict marriage to a man and a woman again. It failed clearly.

When the time came, many couples chose the simplest route. Those already registered could convert their partnership into a marriage with a simple form at the registry office. An unspectacular trip to the office, yet for many a moving moment. In the first month, around seven hundred and seventy couples did so, plus almost ninety new weddings. From 1 March 2017, new partnerships could no longer be registered.

Finland was thus the last Nordic country to introduce marriage equality. The Evangelical Lutheran Church found it harder. Officially it held on to marriage between a man and a woman, but a loose network of "rainbow pastors" married same-sex couples anyway. These marriages were valid regardless, since marriage in Finland is a civil matter.