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Croatia says no to gay marriage referendum

 

They said no to gay marriage. Croatians voted Sunday 1 December against marriage between two persons of the same sex. Voters had to decide on a revision of the Constitution which so far does not contain a definition of marriage. They had to answer the question of whether marriage must be established by the Constitution as "a union between a man and a woman."

According to the first partial official results on the ballots counted in 33% of polling stations, 64.84% Croats responded "yes" to this question and therefore chose not to pave the way for gay marriage.

This consultation was launched by a conservative group called "on behalf of the family," which managed to collect a petition with 700,000 signatures, enabling Parliament to convene a referendum. Gay marriage is not allowed in Croatia, but these movements near Catholic circles, wanted to block such an eventuality. They rallied after the announcement by the government of a new legislation.

"We believe that marriage, children and family are so important that the whole society must decide to change their definition," has said from the & rsquo , AFP Zeljka Markic, President "On behalf of the family."

At 15:00 GMT, three hours before the closing of the polling stations, the turnout was low: 26, 75%. It was even much lower than that recorded at the same time (33.79%) in the referendum on Croatia's accession to the European Uni , enemies in 2012, and at the end of the vote was only 43%.

"Vote for your dignity"

The center-left government has tried to prevent the referendum by legal means, but without success. "President Ivo JosipoviÄ? and Prime Minister Zoran MilanoviÄ? Croats had called out thinking. If Croatia accepts this restrictive view of marriage it goes against European values ​​of respect for minorities, "said Laurent Rouy our antenna, FRANCE 24 correspondent in Belgrade.

Faced with this vote, the center-left activists of human rights and civil society figures had called Croats vote no and defend the right of homosexuals . More than a thousand people had thus demonstrated Saturday in Zagreb against the revision of the Constitution, holding placards that read "Homosexuality is not a choice, but the hatred is a "or" vote for your dignity. "

"It's like if you were forced to ask permission to marry four million people. This is exactly how my fiance and I live in this situation, "for his part told Ljubomir Mateljan, a gay activist.

Despite this result, the attitude towards homosexuals has improved considerably in recent years in this country that has acceded to the European Union last July. While in 2002 the first gay pride was marked by aggression, a year later, Croatia was granted to same-sex couples the same rights as hey , térosexuels cohabiting.

With AFP news