Rights of Sexual Minorities as the Subject of Referenda in the Republic of Slovenia
Rights of Sexual Minorities as the Subject of Referenda in the Republic of Slovenia

Summary/Abstract: Slovenia is a country that in terms of the number of referendum votes held belongs to the forefront in Central and Eastern Europe. In the years 1996-2016, 16 legislative referenda were held, and 22 issues were put to the vote. This testifies to the opening of the political elite to the processes of democratization and the introduction of direct democracy institutions not only to constitutional regulations, but also to political practice. The article presents referenda on the rights of homosexual people in Slovenia. Even with ballots being frequently held in the country, this still fails to raise the voters’ turnouts or their political participation. The referenda described in the article were on the broadening of rights of homosexual people, including their rights to adopt children. Even with openness of the political elites to the new trends and phenomena the Slovenian society proved very conservative and opposed the proposals. The referenda significantly inhibited the process of liberalization of social policy in Slovenia.

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