Same-sex marriage in Belgium Same-sex marriage in Belgium On 1 June 2003, Belgium became the second country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands. "Statutory cohabitation", open to any two legally consenting cohabiting persons, is also possible since 1 January 2000. In 1995, a bill was introduced in Parliament to provide for a legal framework of "cohabitation agreements". It was mostly intended as a response to the lowering marriage rates, rather than giving rights to same-sex couples. In 1998, the bill was changed to "statutory cohabitation" (; ; ) and finally voted on. The Chamber of Representatives approved it by a
Recognition of same-sex unions in Poland position. The Polish Government, led by the PiS party, planned to amend the Polish Constitution to constitutionally ban any recognition of same-sex relationships. A new registered partnership bill was proposed to the Government of Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party in late 2007. However, the Government rejected this proposal. It was the third bill since a public debate on same-sex unions had begun in 2000. The first one to recognise unregistered cohabiting couples (including same-sex couples) was proposed in 2002. In 2008, a new fourth bill on registered partnerships was being prepared by the opposition Alliance of the Democratic