The Latvian parliament has voted to allow same-sex couples to establish civil unions in a historic first for the Baltic nation. Officials voted on Thursday (9 November) to permit same-sex couples the right to have their partnership legally recognised as part of legislation set to come into effect in mid-2024. Couples in civil unions will be afforded certain tax and social security benefits, as well as union hospital visiting rights, although unions will still have less rights than married couples which, legally speaking, are still defined as only between a man and a woman. Gay rights activist Kaspars Zalitis noted that couples in same-sex unions would still be unable to adopt children and still face inheritance issues in Latvia.