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Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. 🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states. This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺

reuters.comreuters.com

3.8K reposts12.7K likes

Andrew Pope
@andrewpope.bsky.social

This is great news! While those Eastern European countries to fight for the right to hold their marriages locally, the fact all EU nations will need to recognise marriages held elsewhere in the EU is a big win. And good news for tourism as people pop across the border to tie the knot. 🥰 🇪🇺

Johnsays
@johnsays.bsky.social

This is great news. Lots of posts pointing out that this doesn't require Poland to legislate for SSM domestically - true - but the fact that they must recognise SSMs at all and that nothing bad happens makes continued opposition increasingly untenable. It is a major blow to anti-SSM politicians.

Peter Berry
@thrawcheld.bsky.social

The US founding fathers esp Anti-Federalists would have loved the EU which is structurally very much like the US under the Articles of Confederation – all sovereignty lies with states, federation only has powers explicitly delegated to it by states – except it turned out to be actually workable.

Catherine Winters
@catherinewinters.com

Canada's spent 200 years angrily asserting that we'd never join the US. As of this year, almost half the country wants to join the EU. (We're...we're not that great at geography.) Still, if it were an option, I'd support it.

Anymouse
@anymouse.bsky.social

Canada shares a direct land border and several water borders with the EU. (Hans Island between Denmark and Canada, St Pierre and Miquelon between France and Canada).

Verbal Jones
@verbaljones.bsky.social

Nah. This can't be true. Europeans have always stridently assured me that they are far, FAR ahead in acceptance, inclusion and civil rights than this backward ol' United States ever could be. No way same-sex marriage was legal here before it was legal there. Europeans are too wonderful for that. 😆

Nicolai von Ondarza
@nvondarza.bsky.social

Great to see. I remember a presentation from a great Polish colleague in a seminar on differentiated integration asking this very question a while back, whether and how Poland (which is not part of the enhanced cooperation on trans-European divorce law) would deal with, for example...

John Hull
@johnhull.bsky.social

Surely that just means that if a couple married in Holland, and moved to Bulgaria, then Bulgaria would have to accept their marriage. It doesn't mean that Bulgarians can marry each other in Bulgaria. A good step forward, but still some way to go.

Eugene The Silliest Goose
@transgander.bsky.social

:3 Nice! I'm sure some countries are going to be upset but sucks to be them. Its 2025 we are well passed the time of giving weird conservatives the ability to oppress an entire group because they think they're icky or whatever. If you don't like gay marriage don't get gay married.

sedou.bsky.social
@sedou.bsky.social

this will give a massive boost to "they want to lgbt all of you/west bad" talking points to dipshits that are close to getting power in multiple countries. gotta be more realistic and admit it takes long time for population to become more tolerant/die out and not force it

eb99
@eb99.bsky.social

Not to nitpick, but this is more the equivalent of the 2013 Windsor ruling (which mandated states recognize other states' same-sex marriages) rather than Obergefell (which required all states perform same-sex marriages)

Johnny
@johnnyzcz.bsky.social

Windsor required the *federal* government to recognize same-sex marriages, not for *states* to recognize a marriage performed in another state that would be illegal in the home state. RFMA did what you're describing (post-Obergefell)

eb99
@eb99.bsky.social

But yes, combined with the ease of travel from Schengen this pretty much allows same-sex couples in countries where same-sex marriage is not legal to get married.

Riley 🐺
@fangs.enby.dog

this is equivalent to the respect for marriage act, not obergefell. obergefell made it so all us states had to legally PERFORM same sex marriage. RFMA made it so that if obergefell is overturned, while states may not perform same sex marriages, ones done out of state have to be recognized

Mat G
@gienieczko.com

> This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺 Would be really cool if it were true, but no, that's still a fight we have to fight domestically. This just forces them to recognise marriage from other countries. A gay couple in Poland still cannot get married in Poland.

Johnsays
@johnsays.bsky.social

Yes, but it becomes extremely difficult for Poland to continue to deny same sex marriage domestically when it is recognising them already and the sky hasn't fallen down.

Mat G
@gienieczko.com

I'd go as far as to say that this is exactly the moment to pass gay marriage laws in PL because the right is going to absolutely flip their shit over this ruling *anyway* and start talking about a "German subject state", so might as well go full hog. Alas, our spineless govt is not gonna do that.

Paul McO'Smith III
@pavsmith.bsky.social

i'm trusting what this really means is that laws which relate to married couples, like property, probate, etc. will be extended to all couples legally married within the EU. if that's true, then that's a fantastic outcome!

Mat G
@gienieczko.com

> They can get married in Poland simply by crossing the border to Germany This is a) not in Poland and b) the "simply" there is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It's good that it's an option *for some people* but it's not enough. This is "just go abroad for an abortion" rhetoric but for gay marriage.

Al
@movietrubs.bsky.social

There is also still a *huge* amount of wiggle room for individual member states to determine what recognising a gay marriage actually entails in their domestic law.

Vanessa Global
@vanessaglobal.bsky.social

You are making a huge leap of assumption that seems to be without merit. The ruling seems to be recognition of gay marriage, not legalization. Countries such as Poland will likely have or put measures in place to guard their more conservative traditions.

Dave Keating
@davekeating.substack.com

Until now, the gay marriage situation in the European Union has been the same as in the United before 2015: some states have it, some states don't. While in the US the divide was North-South, in the EU the divide was West-East. davekeating.substack.com/p/a-rainbow-...

davekeating.substack.comA rainbow curtain has descended across EuropeGreece has become the first Orthodox nation to adopt gay marriage. Italy is now the only country on the Western side of the old Iron Curtain without equal marriage rights.