Gay marriage

On March 15, the Czech parliament overrode President Vaclav Klaus' veto against the new law for the legal registration of same-sex marriages by a slim majority. This makes the Czech Republic the second post-communist state (after Slovenia) in which same-sex marriages are permitted. The law caused a fierce dispute between Klaus and Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek. However, Jan Nemec doubts that this victory will help the prime minister in this summer's elections. "It's unfortunate that such a sensitive ethnic issue became the subject of political debate just a few months before the elections. Paroubek won, but will the gays and lesbians vote for him in June as a token of their gratitude? They probably just feel that they have at last been given something which they were entitled to anyway."

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