same-sex marriage in Sweden

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sweden since 1 May 2009 following the adoption of a gender-neutral marriage law by the Riksdag on 1 April 2009. Sweden was the seventh country in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples nationwide. Existing registered partnerships remain in force and can be converted to a marriage if the partners so desire, either through a written application or through a formal ceremony. New registered partnerships are no longer able to be entered into and marriage is now the only legally recognized form of union for couples regardless of sex. On 22 October 2009, the governing board of the Church of Sweden voted 176–62 in favour of allowing its priests to wed same-sex couples in new gender-neutral church ceremonies, including the use of the term marriage. Same-sex marriages have been performed by the church since 1 November 2009. History Cohabitation In 1987, Sweden established a statutory relationship protection scheme separate from marriage for all unmarried cohabiting couples, including same-sex couples. It was the first statutory protection for same-sex couples in Sweden. Unlike common-law marriage, this relationship status is legally recognized at the moment when two people enter a "marriage-like" relationship, which makes the couple eligible for other rights and benefits. Specifically, the protections apply when two persons begin to reside together in a joint home and live together as a couple in a presumptively permanent, sexual and cohabiting relationship. It ensures that the couples may legally contract for how their protected common property will be divided before any eventual separation and that an equal division of that property will be presumed in the absence of establishing different ownership shares. Each member of the couple is referred to in a gender-neutral manner as a sambo as shorthand for persons who live together (bor tillsammans). From 1988 to 2003, there were two different laws governing cohabiting couples' rights, one for heterosexual couples and one for same-sex couples. These separate laws were united into a single law in the Sambolag ("Cohabitees Act"), which took effect in July 2003.