Same-sex couple have their marriage recognised by Russia

by Tim Gibson

In a surprising move a gay couple in Russia has had their marriage recognised by the Russian state. Eugene Wojciechowski and Pavel Stotsko were married in Denmark on the 4th of January this year, when they travelled back to their home country of Russia they did not expect their marriage to seen as legal. In under five minutes they had their passports stamped in Moscow by a government employee, officially confirming their union.

“He did not even change his expression,” the couple said to the independent Russian network TV Rain. He took their documents “without superfluous questions.” This is the first time a gay marriage has been recognised by Russia.

Russian law says nothing about the legality of same-sex marriages conducted overseas. The law only states that marriages cannot be approved if they are between close relatives, between adoptive children, or if one spouse is already married or mentally ill.

This comes after an alarming poll found 83 percent of Russians find gay sex “reprehensible” and a new study that found gay hate crimes have more than doubled since Putin’s 2013 anti-LGBT propaganda law came into effect.

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