Czech Republic to become the first former Eastern Bloc country to legalise same-sex marriage

Last Friday, Czech Public Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced that the government would be backing a marriage equality bill. If the bill becomes law it would make the Czech Republic the first former Eastern Bloc country to legalise same-sex marriage, which would greatly help the fight for LGBT+ rights in other former communist nations.

Two bills are set to go forward, one arguing that the definition of marriage should be changed to include same-sex couples, another wanting the definition to remain between a man a woman and for an amendment to be added to the Czech constitution to solidify this. The bill for same-sex marriage only needs a simple majority to pass, while the constitutional change would need a 120-vote approval out of the 200-seat house.