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 Croatia review would have likely overturned it. She cited multiple European Court of Human Rights rulings which have defined the family as including single people with children, same-sex couples and grandparents with grandchildren, among other types of families. In November 2017, the Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy included life partners in the draft. According to Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the "Life Partnership Act", same-sex marriages and same-sex partnerships performed abroad are recognized as life partnerships in Croatia (EU and non-EU). This also includes unregistered same-sex relationships where couples have been cohabiting for a minimum of 3