Recognition of same-sex unions in the Czech Republic


The Czech Republic offers registered partnerships for same-sex couples. Registered partnerships grant several rights of marriage, including inheritance, right to declare a same-sex partner as next of kin, hospital visitation rights, jail and prison visitation rights, spousal privilege, and alimony rights, but do not allow joint adoption, widow's pension, or joint property rights. The registered partnership law was passed in March 2006 and went into effect on 1 July 2006. The country also grants unregistered cohabitation status to "persons living in a common household" that gives couples inheritance and succession rights in housing.

Registered partnerships

There had been several attempts to allow same-sex registered partnerships. In 1998, a registered partnership bill reached the Chamber of Deputies, but was defeated by two votes. In 1999, the chamber voted against another bill. In February 2001, the Zeman Government presented a third bill, which was rejected by Parliament in October 2001.
On 11 February 2005, another bill was defeated by one vote. It was backed by 82 out of the 165 deputies present, most voting in favour being Social Democrats, Communists, Freedom Union members and some deputies from the opposition Civic Democratic Party.
In April 2005, a new partnership bill passed its first reading in the chamber with 82 votes for and 9 against. On 16 December 2005, it passed its third reading with 86 votes for, 54 against, and 7 abstentions.
PartyVoted forVoted againstAbstainedAbsent or excused
Czech Social Democratic Party-
Civic Democratic Party
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party--
Freedom Union – Democratic Union-
Independents---
Total 54753

On 26 January 2006, it was passed by the Senate.
On 16 February 2006, President Václav Klaus vetoed the bill. In response, Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek said that he would seek a parliamentary majority in the lower chamber to override the veto and did so successfully on 15 March 2006 with the exact number of votes needed out of 177 votes cast.
PartyVoted forVoted againstAbstainedAbsent or excused
Czech Social Democratic Party
Civic Democratic Party
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party--
Freedom Union – Democratic Union--
Independents---
Total 571821

In September 2014, a group of deputies introduced a bill to allow stepchild adoption by same-sex couples. In October 2014, the Sobotka Government decided to not take a stance on the bill. Instead, on 24 October 2016, it approved its own draft bill on the issue, and introduced it to Parliament on 8 November. The bill was never brought to a vote.
There are a number of differences between registered partnerships and marriage. Registered partners do not have the same rights to shared property as married couples, and do not receive the same tax benefits. Registered partners do not have the right to a widow or widower's pension or other benefits and they do not have adoption rights. Another major distinction is that registered partnerships can only be concluded in the 14 regional capitals, whereas marriages can be concluded in over 1,200 registry offices throughout the country. This was noted in a July 2016 report by the Ombudsman office, which also stated that a dying person in a hospital cannot enter into a partnership because of these restrictions.

Statistics

By June 2009, 780 registered partnerships had been conducted in the Czech Republic. By the end of 2010, that number was about 1,110, 66 of which had been annulled. A large majority of these partnerships involved Czech citizens, though there were also several couples from the United States, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Azerbaijan and Canada.
YearFemale couplesMale couplesTotal
200658177235
200777175252
200868160228
200972131203
201051144195
201170107177
201278128206
201379122201
201485148233
201597147244
2016140196336
2017136172308
2018152147299
Total1,1631,9543,117

Between 2006 and 2017, Prague registered the most partnerships with 898, followed by Central Bohemia, South Moravia, Moravia-Silesia, Ústí nad Labem, Olomouc, Liberec, Plzeň, South Bohemia, Hradec Králové, Karlovy Vary, Pardubice, Zlín and Vysočina.
From July 2006 to the end of 2018, 3,117 registered partnerships had been performed in the country. Of these, 1,954 were between male couples and 1,163 were between female couples. During this period, 448 registered partnerships were annulled, far lower than the divorce rate of about 50%. In 2018, 299 couples entered into registered partnerships, and for the first time the number of female couples surpassed that of male couples; there were 152 female partnerships and 147 male partnerships.

Same-sex marriage

The Green Party and the Pirate Party expressed support for same-sex marriage in their 2017 electoral programs.
Following the adoption of a same-sex marriage law by the German Bundestag, Zbyněk Stanjura, deputy of the Civic Democratic Party, suggested that his party could agree to a free vote in Parliament.
Before the October 2017 election, LGBT activists started a campaign called "We Are Fair" to achieve same-sex marriage within the next four years. The campaign also asked all candidates for the Chamber of Deputies for their position on same-sex marriage. 82 of the 200 elected MPs are supportive of same-sex marriage: 38 ANO 2011 MPs, 1 ODS MPs, 18 Pirate MPs, 5 Communist MPs, 10 Social Democrat MPs, 1 Christian Democrat MPs, 4 TOP 09 MPs and 5 STAN MPs. No SPD MP supported legalising same-sex marriage.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš supports the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
On 12 June 2018, a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, sponsored by 46 deputies, was introduced to the Chamber of Deputies. In response, three days later, a group of 37 deputies proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The bill allowing same-sex marriage requires a simple majority in the Chamber of Deputies, whereas constitutional amendments require 120 votes. On 22 June 2018, the Babiš Government announced its support for the same-sex marriage bill. The "We Are Fair" campaign presented 70,350 signatures in support of same-sex marriage to the Chamber of Deputies in late June. The first reading of the same-sex marriage bill was scheduled for 31 October, but was delayed to 14 November. As debate on both bills began, individual MPs spoke on both sides of the issue rather than split on party lines, indicative of a conscience vote. A vote was expected in January 2019, but was then postponed to 26 March 2019; however, no vote took place on 26 March and no new date has been announced.
On 10 January 2019, President Miloš Zeman stated that he might veto the bill legalising same-sex marriage, if it is passed by Parliament. Such a veto would force a second vote on the law, with the support of 50% + 1 of deputies required to override the presidential veto and pass the law.

Public opinion

In 2007, 36% of Czechs supported the legalisation of same-sex marriage, while 57% were opposed.
A May 2017 opinion poll found a 52% majority in favour of legalising same-sex marriage.
A Median poll, conducted in February 2018, found that 75% of Czechs supported the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry, while 19% were opposed. 13% believed that legalising same-sex marriage would threaten opposite-sex marriages, and 8% believed it would threaten them personally. Additionally, 61% of Czechs were in support of same-sex adoptions, while 31% were opposed.
In June 2019, according to a survey conducted between 4-14 May 2019 by CVVM, 75% of respondents supported registered partnerships with 20% opposed, 47% supported same-sex marriage with 48% opposed, and 60% supported stepchild adoption with 31% opposed.
During the debate on the same-sex marriage bill's first reading, a poll indicated that 61% of Czechs supported same-sex marriage. Various Czech celebrities also expressed support, including tennis player Martina Navratilova, singers Bára Basiková, Aneta Langer and Dara Rolins, photographer Robert Vano, actresses Simona Stašová, Erika Stárková and Anna Geislerová, politician Ivan Bartoš, actors Daniel Bambas, Petr Vaněk and Hynek Čermák, opera singer Dagmar Peck, former Miss Czech Republic Michaela Salačová, and Michal Šmarda, Oto Teuber, Milan Kroupa and Martin Habáň, the mayors of Nové Město na Moravě, Nový Kostel, Jablonec nad Nisou and Březina, respectively.
A Median poll, made public in January 2020, showed that 67% of Czechs supported same-sex marriage. In addition, 62% supported joint adoption by same-sex couples. The survey found a large generational gap, with younger respondents overwhelmingly in support, but those aged 55 and above being mostly opposed.