by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
Hungary's Parliament passed a registered partnership law for same-sex couples April 20.
The measure passed 199-159, with support from the governing Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats. Other opposition parties opposed the bill.
A previous partnership law passed by Parliament was struck down by the Constitutional Court just before it was to take effect on Jan. 1. The court said that law unconstitutionally would have granted marriage rights to heterosexual couples who registered, violating the special protection given to marriage by the constitution.
As a result of that ruling, the new law applies only to same-sex couples. It includes all the rights of marriage except in the areas of adoption, assisted reproduction, and the taking of one's spouse's last name.
President Laszlo Solyom is expected to sign the measure. It will take effect two months later.
