A pair of Russian newlyweds have become the first same-sex couple to have their marriage recognised in their home country, after finding an apparent legal loophole.
Eugene Wojciechowski and Pavel Stotzko tied the knot in the Danish capital of Copenhagen earlier this month.
On their return home, they submitted their passports with an updated marital status. But they did not expect their union to be recognised, as same-sex marriage is illegal in the country.
Russia does not register same-sex marriages, but the country’s law states that marriages conducted abroad are deemed legitimate if there is nothing contradicting “Article 14 of the Family Code”.
The article appears to contain a loophole as it prohibits marriages between close relatives and people who have already been registered as married, but does not state same-sex unions can be disqualified.
Photo By Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany (qe07 (9)) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
