A proposed law which would've granted same-sex couples the
chance to adopt has been rejected by Slovenians in a nationwide
referendum.
The law, which was drafted by Slovenia's former left-leaning
government, was designed to allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt
the biological children of their partners - but not from a third
party.
Provisionally passed in June 2011, it was stalled by the Civil
Initiative for Family and Children's Rights, who collected a
42,000-strong petition to challenge the law in a national
ballot.
They were backed by the Roman Catholic Church, who claimed it
was against traditional family values.
Now, according to the BBC, more than half of voters rejected the
proposed law in preliminary results. Nearly sixty per cent of
counted votes rejected the bill, while forty per cent supported
it.
Estimates suggest that the referendum only drew a twenty-six per
cent turnout from voters.
The move comes six years after Slovenia allowed official
registration of same-sex relationships.
