Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sweden since 1 May 2009 following the adoption of a gender-neutral marriage law by the Riksdag on 1 April 2009. Sweden was the second Scandinavian country, the fifth in Europe and the seventh in the world, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa and Norway, to open marriage to same-sex couples. Existing registered partnerships, established in 1995, remain in force and can be converted to marriages if the partners so desire, either through a written application or through a formal ceremony. New registered partnerships are no longer able to be entered into and marriage is now the only legally recognized form of union for couples regardless of sex. Polling indicates that an overwhelming majority of Swedes support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
On 22 October 2009, the governing board of the Church of Sweden voted 176–62 in favour of allowing its priests to wed same-sex couples in new gender-neutral church ceremonies,Church of Sweden Priests to Wed Gay Couples in Gender-Neutral Ceremonies, Fox News, 22 October 2009. including the use of the term "marriage".Church of Sweden to conduct gay weddings , UPI, 22 October 2009. Same-sex marriages have been performed by the Church since 1 November 2009.
Cohabitation
In 1987, Sweden established a statutory relationship protection scheme separate from marriage for all cohabiting couples, including same-sex couples. It was the first statutory protection for same-sex couples in Sweden. Unlike common-law marriage, this relationship status is recognized at the moment when two people enter a "marriage-like" relationship, which makes the couple eligible for some rights and benefits. Specifically, the protections apply when two persons begin to reside together in a joint home and live together as a couple in a presumptively permanent, sexual and cohabiting relationship. The law ensures that couples can agree on how their jointly acquired property will be divided in the event of a separation. In the absence of such an agreement, an equal division is presumed unless evidence of different ownership shares is provided. Each member of the couple is referred to in a gender-neutral manner as a , a term used as shorthand for "persons who live together" (). From 1988 to 2003, there were two different laws governing the rights of cohabiting couples—one for heterosexual couples and another for same-sex couples. These separate laws were unified into a single statute in July 2003 known as the Cohabitees Act ().
This legal status offers limited rights, primarily focused on economic protection related to joint ownership of the common home and household goods. However, certain benefits and obligations have gradually been extended to relationships. For example, subsidized assisted reproduction is available to such couples and requires the partner's consent. Nonetheless, before the recognition of same-sex marriage and registered partnerships, the limitations of this legal framework were especially pronounced for same-sex couples, who lacked access to more comprehensive legal protections. Notably, a surviving partner is not entitled to inherit the deceased partner's property by default; instead, they must request a division of the common home and household goods from the deceased's heirs. As a result, the surviving receives only half the statutory sum granted to widows and widowers when the deceased partner has willed their estate to someone else. The rest of the estate passes to the deceased's children, parents or other blood relatives, unless the partner is explicitly included in a will. Unlike married couples—who enjoy presumptive rights to all jointly acquired property and income—same-sex are only protected with respect to the shared home and household goods that were intentionally acquired for joint use. This limitation continues to apply regardless of the partners' gender. Over time, however, the legal status of cohabiting couples has evolved. For instance, while were once barred from adopting their partner's children, they may now do so under the Children and Parents Code (). Additionally, cohabitation status is open to non-Swedes, meaning that one does not need to be married to move to Sweden to live with a partner.
Registered partnerships Registered partnerships (, ) were legalised in Sweden in 1995. A law to this effect was approved by the Swedish Parliament in June 1994 by a vote of 171–141, promulgated on 23 June, and took effect on 1 January 1995. Sweden was the third country in the world to legally recognise same-sex unions, after Denmark and Norway.
Registered partnerships, which were only available to same-sex couples, provided the same range of protections, responsibilities, and benefits as marriage—including adoption rights and legal procedures for relationship dissolution. Same-sex registered partners were granted the right to adopt jointly in 2003, and in vitro fertilisation for lesbian couples became permitted in 2005. From 2000, non-Swedes who were legally residing in Sweden were also eligible to enter into registered partnerships. The main distinction between registered partnerships and marriage was that they were governed by separate laws. Additionally, registered partnerships were strictly civil arrangements and could not be officiated by religious authorities. LGBT advocacy groups pushed for a gender-neutral marriage law that would define marriage as a civil institution conducted solely by the state—similar to the practice in several other countries—as this "would promote the separation of church and state", unlike the existing system in which churches hold the legal authority to conduct marriages.
Same-sex marriage Background In 2004, Parliament established a committee to investigate the possibility of opening marriage to same-sex partners. The report, issued in March 2007, supported enacting a gender-neutral marriage law and abolishing the registered partnership law (registered partnerships would be automatically converted into marriages), while granting an "opt-out" to religious institutions, which would allow them to refuse to marry same-sex couples. This last point was quite controversial and increased calls for a gender-neutral marriage law. The committee further suggested that the Swedish Government bring the changes into effect by 1 January 2008.
Six of the seven political parties in the Riksdag were in favour of such a reform. These were the Left Party, the Greens, the Social Democrats, the Liberal People's Party, the Moderate Party and the Centre Party. The Christian Democrats opposed the idea, while the liberal conservative Moderates signed on their support at their party congress in 2007. The majority of Swedes approved of same-sex marriage, but there was strong opposition from religious organisations and other self-described "family-oriented" groups. Many complained about the slowly advancing governmental process of changing partnership into marriage, especially as the two types of unions were already essentially the same and many considered the change "inevitable and natural". Supporters said there was no validity in the argument that same-sex marriage would threaten opposite-sex marriage because a gender-neutral marriage law would have no greater impact on society than the partnership law and argued it was simply a matter of principle and equality. For the opposition, they saw it as a threat to the symbolic value of marriage.
Court case On 12 May 2008, media sources reported that a married same-sex couple from Canada were challenging the Swedish Government in court because it refused to recognise their relationship as a marriage. Although a lower court, including the Court of Appeals, refused to hear the case, Sweden's highest administrative court, the Supreme Administrative Court, agreed to hear the case. The couple argued that a same-sex marriage entered into in accordance with Canadian law should be recognised in Sweden, despite the fact that there was no legal basis for it under then Swedish law. On 18 December 2008, the court ruled that the Swedish Tax Authority did not break any rules as the definition of marriage under Swedish law was at the time the union of one man and one woman, and that same-sex relationships were to be recognised as a registered partnership.
Vote in the Riksdag The Reinfeldt Cabinet consisted of the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democratic Party. Justice Minister Beatrice Ask reacted positively when the committee presented its report in March 2007. How the legalisation would end was not clear as one of the coalition partners—the Christian Democrats—was against it. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Mona Sahlin, said that the party would put forward its own bill in the Parliament if the cabinet failed to reach a consensus on the issue. In early October 2007, the Green Party, the Left Party and the Social Democratic Party said they would join forces to introduce an opposition motion in Parliament to legalize same-sex marriage. On 27 October 2007, the Moderate Party formally backed same-sex marriages, meaning that the Christian Democrats would be the only party to oppose the law. Göran Hägglund, the leader of the Christian Democrats, said on Sveriges Radio, "my position is that I have been tasked by the party to argue that marriage is for men and women. ... When we discuss it between parties we are naturally open and sensitive to each other's arguments and we'll see if we can find a line that allows us to come together." On 14 January 2008, two leading politicians from the Christian Democrats took a position against the party and expressed support for same-sex marriage.
On 12 December 2007, the Church of Sweden voted to support the introduction of civil marriage for same-sex couples, but recommended that the term "marriage" be restricted to opposite-sex couples in the Church. It was asked by the cabinet for its opinion on the matter before the introduction of legislation in early 2008. "Marriage and (same-sex) partnerships are equivalent forms of unions. Therefore the Church of Sweden's central board says yes to the proposal to join the legislation for marriages and partnerships into a single law," the Church said in a statement. "According to the Church of Sweden's board the word 'marriage' should, however, only be used for the relationship between a woman and a man", it said.
Reports suggested the cabinet would table its same-sex marriage bill in early 2008; however, it had yet to propose a bill. This was likely due to the Christian Democrats' opposition from within the four-party centre-right governing coalition despite being the only party opposing the move. After negotiations on a compromise broke down and facing a parliamentary ultimatum in late October 2008, the cabinet prepared to present its bill to a free vote. On 21 January 2009, legislation to amend the Marriage Code () to define marriage as the union of "two spouses" was introduced to the Swedish Parliament. The bill was passed on 1 April by a vote of 261–22 with 16 abstentions. It was promulgated and published on 16 April, and took effect on 1 May. The bill was supported by all parties except the Christian Democrats and one member of the Centre Party.
+1 April 2009 vote in the Riksdag Party Voted for Voted against Abstained Absent (Did not vote) Swedish Social Democratic Party – – Moderate Party – Centre Party – Liberal People's Party – – Christian Democrats – Left Party – – Green Party – – Total 22 16 50
The first same-sex couple to marry in Sweden were Alf Karlsson and Johan Lundqvist at Stockholm City Hall on 1 May 2009. The marriage ceremony was officiated by Green Party politician Maria Wetterstrand.