A stalemate in parliament
One sentence in the Civil Code, a stalemate in parliament: how Kosovo put the brakes on same-sex partnerships in 2022.
On the evening of 16 March 2022, the parliament in Pristina voted on a new Civil Code. The extensive work was meant to modernise large parts of private law. A single sentence caused uproar: registered life partnerships between persons of the same sex were permitted. The details were to be regulated by a later law.
The result could hardly have been closer. Only 28 of the 120 members voted in favour, roughly the same number against, and a few abstained. The bill had therefore failed. Kosovo would have been the first Muslim-majority country to provide for same-sex partnerships in law. Even members of the party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose government had introduced the draft, voted against. In the debate, many invoked family and religion. Kurti countered that rights belong to everyone.
The next day, dozens of activists gathered in Pristina. "Homophobes, you have no place in parliament," they shouted. Blert Morina of the Centre for Equality and Liberty pointed out that Kosovo is governed by its constitution, not by religious scriptures. And this constitution expressly prohibits discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.
The community was not entirely happy with the draft either, however. It held on to marriage as a union of a man and a woman and put same-sex couples off with a law at some unspecified time. Human Rights Watch therefore called for marriage to be opened altogether instead of creating a special arrangement.
Little has happened since. In 2024 Kurti announced a new attempt, but religious communities continue to mobilise. Legal recognition of same-sex couples in Kosovo is still a long time coming.