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
LGBT rights in Spain degrees of liberty in the world to its LGBT citizens. After recognising unregistered cohabitation between same-sex couples countrywide and registered partnerships in certain cities and communities since 1994 and 1997, Spain legalised both same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2005. Individuals who identify as transgender are allowed to change their legal gender without the need of sex reassignment surgery or sterilisation. Discrimination in employment regarding sexual orientation has been banned nationwide since 1995. LGBT people are allowed to openly serve in the military and MSMs have been allowed to donate blood since 2005. Spain has been recognised