Croatia: 65% of voters approve same-sex marriage ban

Croatia’s constitution will be amended to ban same-sex marriage after 65% of voters chose ‘yes’ at a referendum.

The organisation U ime obitelji (In the Name of the Family), gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on whether to ban equal marriage.

The electoral commission noted that from early results, 65% had voted “yes” to the question: “Do you agree that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman?”

The result means that Croatia’s constitution will be amended to ban same-sex marriage.

More than 700,000 people signed the recent petition to change the constitution to define marriage as “the lifelong union of a woman and a man.”

Zagreb, Split, and several other large urban areas had not yet returned their results.

Hundreds of gay rights supporters in Croatia staged a mass demonstration on Saturday against the referendum.

British band The xx issued a statement last week saying they did not condone the use of their music by U ime obitelji in its campaign.

International LGBT rights group ILGA-Europe had also called on citizens in Croatia to do the right thing in voting in favour of equal marriage.

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