But they have to wait until 2019 to be able to tie the knot
Same-sex couples will be soon be able to marry in Austria.
The Austrian Supreme Court yesterday lifted legal restraints that prevented same-sex couples from marrying.
Marriage equality from 2019
The old regulation will end on 31 December 2018.
This means that same-sex couples will have to wait until 2019 before they’re able to get married.
Previously marriage was defined as for ‘different sex’ partners.
The Court examined and repealed the phrase ‘different sex’, opening marriage up to partners of the same-sex.
Same-sex couples in Austria could previously enter into a civil partnership.
The Constitutional Court said: ‘The distinction between marriage and registered partnership can not be maintained today without discriminating against same-sex couples.’
They continued: ‘Because the separation into two legal institutions expresses that people with same-sex sexual orientation are not the same people with different sexual orientation.’
The Court felt not allowing same-sex couples the right to marry was discriminatory.
