Estonia's new government was installed just a few weeks ago, but even this short time was enough to draft a law that would legalize same-sex marriage.
The Estonian parliament will vote on the draft legislation at the beginning of next week, and LGBTQ+ activists hope that the representatives will support the liberal coalition government's bill. If it does happen, the Baltic country will become the first former Soviet state to legalize same-sex marriage.
"The adoption of marriage equality is the last milestone for Estonia on its way to a truly open and equal society and European values, shaking off the last shackles of the Soviet regime and its tragic past of oppression," independent political analyst Vootele Pai, former advisor to the Minister of the Interior, told Euractiv .
Pai said that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many fear that Estonia - a member of NATO and the European Union, a committed supporter of Ukraine - could be next in line. According to the portal, some see wider symbolism in Estonia's legalization of same-sex marriage.
"Besides a physical war with tanks and missiles, this war is also a war between cultures, values and freedoms," Pai said.
However, according to Christian Veske, the country's commissioner for gender equality, "there is still a lot to be done."
Laws similar to the current proposal have been rejected in neighboring Latvia and Lithuania, LGBTQ activists now hope that Estonia will "lead the way in development in a region" where, according to Euractiv, "social conservatism is a remnant of Soviet rule that ended in 1991 ".
