Queer Couples Gain Rights in Lithuania, Slovenia, Japan and the Czech Republic

LITHUANIA — The Lithuanian constitutional court ruled on December 18 that an anti-LGBTQIA+ law that bans people from providing minors with information about same-sex relationships is unconstitutional, and violates the rule of law. Originally passed in 2009, the “law on the protection of minors from negative effects of public information” was challenged last year by the government. The court ruled that it violates articles 25, 29 and 38 of the constitution. Article 25 states that every person “has the right to hold opinions and to express them freely; a person shall not be prevented from seeking, receiving and imparting information and ideas,” while article 29 states that discrimination affects the dignity of the person. Article 38 indicates that “the family is the foundation of society” and that “the state should protect and cherish the family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood.”

LIECHTENSTEIN — As of January 1, same-sex marriage is legal in Liechtenstein. The law was passed in May 2024 and took effect on the first day of 2025. Same-sex couples have been able to adopt children since March 2023. Liechtenstein was the last German-speaking country to approve marriage equality: same-sex marriage has been legal in Luxembourg since 2015, in Germany since 2017, while Switzerland and Austria passed their own legislation in 2022 and 2019 respectively.

CZECH REPUBLIC — The Czech Republic began to officially recognize same-sex partnerships on January 1 through an amendment to the civil code passed last year. The law defines a partnership as “a permanent union between two people of the same sex, concluded in the same way as marriage.” Although it grants most of the same rights and obligations as married couples, such as joint property and pensions, a partnership doesn’t have the same status for adoptions. Same-sex partners won’t be able to jointly adopt children; and when a child is born to a same-sex couple, only the biological parent would be recognised as legal.

SLOVENIA — Slovenia’s constitutional court has ruled that the Treatment of Infertility and in Vitro Fertilisation Procedures Act must include single women and women in same-sex partnerships. The court found that banning these women from accessing assisted reproduction procedures is unconstitutional. As a result, the law must be amended by the national assembly within one year. When the current law was passed in 2000, the inclusion of single women and lesbian was submitted to a referendum, where it was rejected with 73.3% of the vote. However, in October 2020, a group of left-wing MPs asked the court to review the constitutionality of the law. In 2022 Slovenia became the first country in Eastern Europe to pass an amendment allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. But IVF procedures were not considered at the time.

JAPAN  — The high court in the prefecture of Fukuoka ruled on December 13 that country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, as it violates article 13 of the constitution on people’s right to “pursue happiness.” This is the third high court ruling in support of marriage equality in Japan after the Saporo high court in March and the Tokyo high court in October. Japan’s civil code defines marriage as between a man and a woman by using the phrase “husband and wife.” Article 24 of the Japanese constitution states that marriage should be based on “mutual consent of both sexes.” Japan is the only G7 country not to allow same-sex couples to wed. Taiwan is currently the only Asian country to have fully legalised same-sex marriage, while Thailand’s legislation will come into effect later in 2025. It is technically possible for same-sex couples to marry in Nepal, although only a few have managed to do so.

EL SALVADOR — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights found on December 20 that El Salvador had violated the human rights of a 22-year-old woman who was denied an abortion in 2013. The ruling in the “Beatriz et al v. El Salvador” case marked the first time the court had ruled directly on abortion issues. In its decision, the court found El Salvador “internationally responsible for failing to comply with its duty in guaranteeing the rights to access to effective judicial remedies, to personal integrity, to health and to privacy of a woman who underwent a pregnancy with multiple risks in a situation of obstetric violence generated by legal uncertainty.” The court ordered the country to “adopt guidelines for medical and judicial personnel when a pregnancy poses a risk to the patient’s life or health.” The woman at the centre of the case, known as “Beatriz”, suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease, and had already gone through one risky pregnancy. Her second pregnancy was life-threatening and not viable; the foetus did not have a cerebral cortex. Beatriz applied to El Salvador’s constitutional court for a termination, but her petition was denied. Abortion is completely banned in El Salvador, even when there is risk to the patient’s life or the pregnancy is not viable, and is punishable with up to 50 years in prison. Beatriz was forced to give birth by caesarean and the baby died five hours later. She died in October 2017 in a car accident, but her family continued her fight.

NORWAY — The Norwegian parliament has passed a bill extending the legal limit for an abortion from 12 to 18 weeks, adopting a similar framework to neighbouring Scandinavian countries Sweden and Denmark. Currently, women can have an abortion after 12 weeks with the approval of a medical committee, but this system – which dates back to 1978 – was described as “obsolete and paternalist” by the centre-left MPs who proposed the bill. The parliament also voted in favour of giving women up to 18 weeks to decide for themselves on the reduction of the number of foetuses in the case of multiple pregnancies. In May, Denmark also announced the extension of the legal limit from 12 to 18 weeks from June 2025, while Sweden has granted the right to abortion up to 18 weeks since 1974.

US — The US state of Idaho, has become the first in the country to enforce an abortion travel ban after an appeals court ruled in favour of the legislation. The so-called “abortion trafficking law” was passed in 2023, establishing criminal charges for “harbouring, or transporting” pregnant minors for the purpose of travelling to another state for terminations without parental permission. The law was initially blocked by a judge on free speech grounds because it also prohibited “recruiting” minors for interstate abortion care. But on December 3, a court of appeals overturned that decision as long as the provision was removed. Inspired by this law, Republicans in the state of New Hampshire also introduced a bill criminalising people who help a minor seeking abortion care. Similar laws have previously been introduced but not passed in Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma, while Tennessee has blocked an abortion travel ban.

AFGHANISTAN — A decree issued by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, in early December has banned Afghan women and girls from attending institutions offering medical education. While they were already barred from school and universities, this order made specific restrictions on medical education. The Taliban have also banned women from being treated by male medical professionals in some provinces. Human Rights Watch warned that this rule “will result in unnecessary pain, misery, sickness, and death for women ». Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan three years ago, they have issued more than 70 edicts, directives and decrees denying women and girls their basic rights, including the right to attend school, work, or travel without a male guardian. In August 2024, the regime banned women from singing, reading aloud or speaking in public spaces.

IRAN  — Iran implemented a draconian law on 13 December that could impose the death penalty, flogging or prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years on people who “promote nudity, indecency, unveiling or improper dressing”. The Law on the Protection of the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab dictates that those whose conduct is considered “corrupt on Earth” could be sentenced to death under article 286 of Iran’s Islamic penal code. The law also imposes fines of up to US$15,000, travel bans and restrictions on education and employment for women and girls who defy compulsory hijab laws, and grants impunity to security agents who assault women or girls for defying the wearing of the hijab. In November, after a young woman who stripped down to her underwear at the Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch in Tehran was detained, the government announced it would establish a mental health clinic for women who refuse to wear the hijab.

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