Same-sex marriage is officially legal in Slovenia

The legislation has come into effect after a same-sex marriage bill was approved last year.

A lesbian couple walk to a polling station in Slovenia. Source: EPA

Gay and lesbian Slovenians can now legally get hitched, after the country's marriage equality legislation went into effect this week. 

Civil partnerships have been recognised in Slovenia since 2006 and a same-sex marriage bill was approved ten years later in April 2016.

At least one same-sex couple married over the weekend, as soon as it became legal to do so. 

Ksenija Klampfer, head of the department in charge of weddings in Maribor told Politico she was "happy and proud" to be performing a lesbian wedding. 

“We believe that such marriages are an important step towards the formation of an inclusive society where people have equal rights.”

Lana Gobec of LGBT+ rights group Legebitra said it was a "big step forward". However same-sex couples still do not have the right to adopt children. 

"We will continue to strive for complete equality of heterosexual and same-sex couples," Gobec said.