Estonian parliament passes the gender-neutral civil partnership bill

Estonian parliament, Riigikogu, made history on Thursday, by narrowly passing the gender-neutral civil partnership bill.

On Thursday morning, Estonia became the first former Soviet republic to pass gender-neutral civil partnership bill, giving same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex couples.

Estonian Parliament voted 40 against 38 to pass the bill into law.

Most votes in support of the bill came from MPs from the governing coalition, consisting of the Reform Party and the Social Democrats.

Most MPs from the conservative IRL party voted against.

Four parlamentarians from the opposition Centre Party also supported the bill.