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
Human rights in Croatia education, the distribution of homophobic materials, and defamation of homosexuality and homosexuals. Limited scope of rights were conferred upon same-sex couples after three years of cohabitation in 2003, but registered unions were not permitted until 2014. Since then Croatia provides all marital rights except joint adoption for registered and non-registered same-sex partnerships. In November 2010, the European Commission's annual progress report on Croatia's candidacy stated that Croatia's numerous homophobic incidents are worrying since inquisitions need to make further efforts in combating hate crimes. The European Parliament, as stands in its 2010 resolution, “expresses its concern at the resentment against the