The public debate attracted a significant response from LGBT rights groups, who opposed the family law bill and urged the Estonian Government not to discriminate between same-sex and opposite-sex couples in marriage, stating that, "We call on the government to drop a clause in the draft law on the family, which does not allow the registration of same-sex marriages or partnerships". On January 4, 2006, five Estonian NGOs supporting LGBT rights issued a press release calling for a new partnership law to give same-sex couples equal rights with opposite-sex couples.