SKOPJE: Macedonian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favour of changing the constitution to explicitly ban same-sex marriages.
Two thirds of politicians in the national assembly agreed to support a proposal by the conservative government, which would define marriage exclusively as "a union between a man and a woman".
The government now has ten days to draft the amendment, which would be presented again to the 123-seat parliament for approval.
Ilija Dimovski, a lawmaker from the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party, said the proposed change was to "protect traditional, family and religious values of marriage."
The move came after an outcry last year over a suggestion that a gay pride parade may be held in the country.
At the time some conservative politicians and the influential Orthodox church called for a ban on same-sex marriages.
While gay unions are not currently recognised by Macedonian law, there is no wording to indicate that marriage can only be between men and women.
Earlier this week nearby Croatia took a move in the opposite direction, adopting a law allowing gay couples to register as life partners and granting same-sex couples many of the same rights as their heterosexual peers.
Comments
Comments are closed.