LIECHTENSTEIN VOTES FOR GAY PARTNERSHIPS

The majority of citizens in the small central European country of Liechtenstein have voted to legalise same-sex partnerships in a referendum.

Sixty eight percent of those who took part in the poll backed the new law, with around 31% voting against it.

The law, which had already been passed by the country’s parliament but also had to be approved by voters, gives registered same-sex couples many of the same rights as married heterosexual couples.

Inequality remains in a few areas such as second-parent adoption, artificial insemination, and surrogacy.

With a population of under 40,000 people, the German-speaking country is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east.