Macedonia Set to Ban Gay Marriage

The Parliament of Macedonia is set to halt any prospect of same-sex marriage in this land-locked state that used to be a part of Yugoslavia. 

A plenary session of the Parliament is expected to pass a package of constitutional changes this week including one that would strictly define marriage as between a man and a woman. The package of changes now goes to the people for a public debate of 30 days and then back to the Parliament for a final vote. 

Macedonia will join a growing list of countries where man-woman marriage is protected within legislation or constitutionally. Recent countries to move in that direction include Hungary, Lithuania, and even Finland has passed a similar law that has not yet been finally approved. 

Contrary to what many think and what the LGBT movement wants people to think, gay marriage is far from sweeping the world. In fact, only 16 nations in the entire world allow for it. Not even a majority of European countries allow for it. Of the 47 nations of the Council of Europe, only 9 countries allow for it. 

Vlatko Gjorcev of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party said this week, “The vast majority of Macedonian citizens think of marriage this way.” It is speculated the constitutional change is a precursor to strengthening the ban on same-sex couples to adopt.