A narrow yes to registered partnerships
Estonia becomes the first former Soviet state with registered partnerships. By a margin of just two votes.
On 9 October 2014, the Estonian parliament in Tallinn made a decision that deeply divided the small country. With the Cohabitation Act, Kooseluseadus in Estonian, the Riigikogu made it possible for two adults to register their life partnership with a notary, regardless of gender. Estonia thus became the first state of the former Soviet Union to legally recognise same-sex couples.
The vote was extremely close: forty members voted in favour, thirty-eight against. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signed the law the same day. His reasoning: a small country could not afford for its people to discriminate against one another.
But the resistance was fierce. The Estonian Council of Churches, which represents ten Christian communities, had fought the law and even described it as a threat to national security. Polls also showed that a majority of the population was against it. At the time, some international media mistakenly reported that Estonia had introduced marriage equality. In fact, the law made no mention of marriage.
The Cohabitation Act came into force at the beginning of 2016. However, the necessary implementing provisions remained blocked for years because conservative parties were part of successive governing coalitions. Couples could register their partnership, but faced legal gaps in everyday life. Eventually the Supreme Court made clear that the law was valid even without these provisions and had to be applied by the courts.
Gradually the public mood shifted. Nine years after the narrow vote, parliament decided to open marriage to same-sex couples. Since the beginning of 2024, they have been able to marry in Estonia. The decision of 9 October 2014 had paved the way.