18 Jul New judgment in favour of same-sex marriage
Bulgarian court recognizes marriage of same-sex couple for the first time in the history of that country. The court ruled in favor of two lesbians who want to live there as a married couple.
The couple, Cristina Palma, from Australia and Mariama Diallo, got merried in France in 2016. The couple moved to Bulgaria together shortly afterwards. Cristina Palma started legal proceedings after her Bulgarian residency request was rejected, despite her being married to a citizen of the European Union.
Cristina Palma then started a lawsuit over the refusal of her residency, which she won on June 29, when the Sofia court ruled in her favour. The Sofia Court said in its ruling it must fall in line with the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice on a similar case in Romania (Relu Adrian Coman and Others v Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrӑri and Others, judgment no. C-673/16, 05.06.2018). The ECJ ruled that EU countries may not obstruct the freedom of residence of an EU citizen by refusing to grant their same-sex partner, a national of a country that is not an EU Member State.
Bulgarian law still prevents same-sex couples from marrying or adopting children. The Bulgarian Penal Code also does not recognize hate crimes based on homophobia and transphobia, but the ruling has left Bulgarian LGBTI advocates hopeful for the future.
This is a good news for the LGBTI movement fighting for legal recognition in Bulgaria,’ said Veneta Limberova, chairwoman of the Youth LGBT Organization Deystvie.
Bulgaria is one of six EU member states – along with Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia – that do not legally recognise same-sex relationships.
Source: Australian SBS news.