Austrian National Assembly vote against marriage equality

Just 2 days before the launch of Vienna Pride, the National Assembly of Austria voted against a proposed resolution to grant homosexual couples “the human right of equal marriage”. Just 26 representatives voted for the legislation, with the remaining 110 members of government voting against.

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) spoke openly at the opening of Vienna’s Pride Village about equality for all, though when it came to the vote, the SPÖ were among those who voted against the resolution.

While much public discourse of late has been on the gathering momentum of the global movement towards marriage equality, many countries like Austria across the globe are locked in political stalemate, in some cases even moving further away.

In Italy, over 300,000 people gathered in San Giovanni Square in Rome this month to protest proposed legislation by current Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi.

Italy is attempting to pass laws to legalise same-sex civil unions by the end of July this year. Vincenzo Brana, head of Italian gay rights association Arcigay, said the protesters “show they are living on another planet, and I would recommend leaving them on that planet alone.”

Further west to Istanbul, The LGBT pride parade was broken up by police this year, shooting attendees with rubber bullets and pepper spray on site. Turkish Pride organisers said that the Istanbul government would not allow the procession this year, due to its convergence with Muslim holy month, Ramadan.

Pride parades have run through Istanbul for over a decade without violence or interference. Many attendees believe the disruption was Istanbul attempting to appease conservative President Recep Erdogan, who has recently seen a downturn in voter support.

OIP Staff