Slovenian voters on headed to the polls
on Sunday to decide the fate of a law approved by lawmakers that
allows gay and lesbian couples to marry in the former communist
nation.
The bill was adopted in March.
The conservative group “Children Are
At Stake,” which is backed by the Roman Catholic Church, gathered
the 40,000 signatures needed to block the law from taking effect and
put it up to a popular vote.
The group's Metka Zevnik said that with
Christmas approaching, she expects voters to repeal the law.
“Today is a beautiful day,” she
told the AP. “Christmas lies ahead, Christmas Eve too, when
Christians gather before the nativity scene to honor the holy family
and the birth of Jesus.”
Gay rights foes used a similar strategy
in 2011 to push back passage of a civil partnership bill that offered
gay couples all the rights of marriage except joint adoption.