Same sex marriage in the Faroe Islands

Registered partnerships

Denmark's registered partnership law was never adopted in the Faroe Islands.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage legislation first appeared in the Løgting after the Tórshavn gay pride parade in 2012. A set of bills to extend Denmark's same-sex marriage legislation to the Faroe Islands was submitted to the Løgting on 20 November 2013. If approved, they would have entered into force on 1 April 2014. Opposition to the bills from the parties of the governing coalition crippled its passage and the bills were rejected at the second reading on 13 March 2014 despite its popular public support.

Same-sex marriage became a significant issue during the September 2015 elections.

Following the election, independent member Sonja Jógvansdóttir, along with Republic member Bjørt Samuelsen, Social Democratic member Kristianna Winther Poulsen and Progress member Hanna Jensen submitted a same-sex marriage proposal identical to the 2013 bill to the Parliament Secretariat. The proposal, along with a bill permitting same-sex divorce, entered the Løgting on 17 November 2015. If approved, the law would be scheduled to go into effect on 1 July 2016.

The first reading took place on 24 November 2015. Though a majority of the committee scrutinising the bill are said to be in favour of same-sex marriage a second reading of the bill was postponed to the third week of March 2016. On 14 March 2016 the Welfare Committee entered their recommendation to the Løgting. The committee was divided, but a majority with Katrin Kallsberg, Sonja Jógvansdóttir, Óluva Klettskarð and Djóni N. Joensen recommends the parliament passes the bill. The minority of the committee which consist of Kaj Leo Johannesen, Jenis av Rana and Jógvan á Lakjuni recommends the Løgting rejects the bill.

The second reading of the bill was held on 16 March 2016. There was not a majority for the proposal, as two members from the coalition: Kristin Michelsen and Heðin Mortensen from the Social Democratic Party said that they could not vote yes for the proposal at that point, they suggested that the proposal be sent back to the Welfare Committee. They and several other members of the Løgting were afraid that the proposal would mean that same-sex couples would have a right to get their marriage blessed and performed in the church and they could not support that. There was a proposal from Kári P. Højgaard, Kaj Leo Johannesen and Kristin Michelsen that the law proposal should go back to the Welfare Committee. After a short break the Lagting voted for the suggestion to send the proposal back to the committee. 26 members voted in favor, 2 against and 5 abstained. Several conservative members who would vote against the proposal, and vocally stated their opposition against same-sex partnership in the past, changed their mind in favour of legalizing registered partnerships.

The problem for some of the members of the Løgting who are in favour of civil same-sex-marriage, is §14, 2 in the Danish Marriage law. This paragraph says that couples who have had a civil marriage can get their marriage blessed by the church. The Welfare Committee moved an amendment for the Løgting which says that the marriage law will not be implemented by the Løgting before § 14,2 has been either deleted or refrased so that there is no doubt that same-sex-couples can only be married in a civil ceremony and not by the church. This, however, is not for the Løgting to decide but must be done by negotiations with the Danish Folketing because the law is Danish and family law is a common Danish and Faroese matter, which means that the Løgting can not make decisions regarding family-laws.

The bill returned for its second reading on 26 April 2016. After a very long meeting which started at 11 in the morning and ended after midnight, the Løgting voted at 00:30 on 27 April. However, before they voted, Heðin Mortensen from the Social Democratic Party withdraw a proposal about a referendum, which he had proposed earlier on 26 April. It caused a government crisis. Mortensen asked for a short break, so that he could discuss the matter with the prime minister, his party and the other coalition parties. After one and a half hours break, Mortensen withdraw his proposal. He told Kringvarp Føroya, that he would not risk making the coalition fall apart, at least not because of a second reading. He said that he had sacrificed himself on this matter, that he had to choose between withdrawing his proposal or sacrificing the government coalition, because there was no one else from the government parties who were in favour of a referendum. A few minutes later the Løgting voted in favor of the proposal with 19 votes for and 14 against. Every Government MP, Independent MP Sonja Jógvansdóttir, and two Opposition MPs (Magni Laksáfoss and Edmund Joensen of the Union Party) voted yes. The bill was approved in its third reading on 29 April by a 19-14 vote. A proposal for a referendum was defeated in a 16-17 vote.

In order to implement the Faroese law further changes to the law have to be passed by the Danish parliament. A bill to this effect was introduced on 8 February 2017, and had its first reading on 28 February 2017. Committee debate is schedueld for 4 April 2017. A second reading on the bill is schedule for 20 April, while a final reading is scheduled for 25 April.

Public opinion

A May 2013 Gallup survey found that 68% of Faroese people supported same-sex civil marriage, 27% were against and 5% undecided.

Another poll conducted in May 2014 found that regional divisions were significant in attitudes towards same-sex marriage, despite its overall results is similar to previous polls (62% support, 28% opposition, 10% undecided): respondents in Norðoyar and Eysturoy showed 42% and 48% support, respectively, and were less likely to support same-sex marriage than those in Suðurstreymoy, for example, which is near the capital Tórshavn and which showed 76% support towards same-sex marriage.

Another poll conducted in August 2014 found that out of 600 respondents, 61% supported same-sex marriage, 32% opposed it, while the rest were undecided.

A poll conducted by Gallup Føroyar in April 2016, requested by Kringvarp Føroya and Miðlahúsið (Sosialurin, in.fo and Rás2), asked respondents whether they support the proposal that would legalize civil same-sex-marriage. 64% were in favour. The support decreases with an increasing age. For young people between 18 and 24, as many as 79% said yes. While for people who are 60 or above, it was divided into 53% who are in favor and 40% who are against. The capital area, Suðurstreymoy, had the largest support of those who said yes with 79%, while the largest part of the people who are against came from Norðoyar and Eysturoy, which showed 45% and 42% in opposition, respectively. A majority of voters from most political parties support same-sex marriage. The largest majority of voters supporting same-sex marriage are Progress voters with 89%, followed by Republic voters with 83%, 75% of Social Democratic Party voters and 62% of Self-Government Party voters. 50% of both the Union Party and the People's Party voters also support same-sex marriage. The Centre Party voters are the only notable exception, with only 16% of voters supporting same-sex marriage, while 84% are against.