Cuba, one of the last communist countries in the word, has legalised equal marriage – marriage between any consenting adults regardless of their gender. Estonia, supposedly one of the bastions of freedom in Europe, still hasn’t fully processed the Cohabitation Act that should grant same-sex couples equal rights to married couples. “What’s wrong with you, Estonia?”, asks Sten Hankewitz, the executive editor of Estonian World.
Egert Rünne, the executive director of the Estonian Human Rights Centre, writes that the Estonian Reform Party seems to have forgotten what it was fighting for when it was in the opposition; also, the Reform-led government has moved forward with bills that don’t have all the possible threats to our rights mitigated.
Freedom House gives Estonia the freedom score of 94/100 estonianworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from estonianworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Annual LGBTI report: Estonia’s legislation stagnated, hate speech on a rise
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In its annual review of the human rights situation of LGBTI people in Europe and Central Asia, ILGA-Europe, an advocacy group, listed Estonia with the countries that have seen a rise in hate speech and where same-sex partnership registration or marriage rights legislation has stagnated.
The tenth edition of ILGA-Europe’s annual review of the human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people in Europe and Central Asia documents progress and trends in the past year.
The review reports a stark rise in abuse and hate speech against LGBTI people in many countries, but it highlights positively that more people are turning to the courts for the recognition of their human rights – or for the clarification of existing legislation that is meant to protect them.