Same-sex marriage has been legal in Liechtenstein since 1 January 2025. In November 2022, the Landtag passed a motion calling on the government to introduce a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, with broad support from across the political spectrum. A bill legalizing same-sex marriage was introduced in February 2024 and passed its final reading in the Landtag on 16 May 2024 by a 24–1 vote. It received royal assent from Prince Alois on 9 July and took effect on 1 January 2025. Polling suggests that a majority of Liechtensteiners support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Liechtenstein was the third European microstate, the 22nd country in Europe and the 37th in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

Liechtenstein also recognized same-sex registered partnerships from 1 September 2011, following approval by voters in a referendum. It was the second country in the world to pass a partnership law by referendum, after Switzerland in 2005. Since the introduction of same-sex marriage on 1 January 2025, registered partnerships are no longer available in Liechtenstein.

Registered partnerships Background On 19 November 2001, MP Paul Vogt from the Free List submitted a registered partnership initiative to the Landtag of Liechtenstein, which after a long discussion referred it to the cabinet for its opinion. The goal of reducing discrimination was undisputed; rather the kind of recognition and the timing compared to neighbouring countries were cause for discussion. On 15 April 2003, the cabinet published its position on the matter; it compared the legal situation in Liechtenstein to European countries with recognition of same-sex couples (e.g. Germany had recently introduced registered life partnerships), but also with neighbouring Austria and Switzerland, which had no legal recognition of same-sex couples at the time. As the cabinet saw no urgent need and preferred to await developments in Austria and especially Switzerland, it recommended rejection. On 14 May 2003, the Landtag rejected the initiative.

On 17 September 2007, Amnesty International submitted a petition calling for the legal recognition of same-sex couples. A subsequent motion put forward in the Landtag by the Free List requesting that the cabinet introduce a registered partnership law similar to Switzerland's passed on 24 October 2007 with 19 representatives voting in favour and 6 voting against. Motion

+24 October 2007 vote in the Landtag Party Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Progressive Citizens' Party – Patriotic Union – Free List – –Total60

Passage of legislation in 2011 In December 2009, Justice Minister Aurelia Frick announced she would finalise a draft of the registered partnership bill by January 2010. Liechtenstein: Homo-Ehe kommt nächstes Jahr The draft was presented in April 2010. Vernehmlassungsbericht der Regierung betreffend die Schaffung eines Gesetzes über die eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft gleichgeschlechtlicher Paare (LEBENSPARTNERSCHAFTSGESETZ; LPARTG) sowie die Abänderung weiterer Gesetze Liechtenstein macht den Weg frei für homosexuelle Partnerschaften Liechtenstein will Homo-Ehe erlauben After the consultation period for the bill finished on 16 July, a few items were amended as a result of the discussion. The bill was described as very similar to the Austrian law passed in autumn 2009. In Liechtenstein endete am Freitag die Beratungsfrist für eine Einführung der Eingetragenen Lebenspartnerachaft In August 2010, Prince Alois declared his support for the proposal. Erbprinz für eingetragene Partnerschaft On 23 November, the cabinet formulated the final version of the bill, Partnerschaftsgesetz verabschiedet Partnerschaftsgesetz verabschiedet which was approved by Parliament in its first reading on 16 December. Homo-Partnerschaft kommt voran It passed its second reading on 16 March 2011 in a 21–0 vote, and was published on 21 March as the Registered Partnership Act (). Ja zur eingetragenen Partnerschaft

+16 March 2011 vote in the Landtag Party Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Patriotic Union – Progressive Citizens' Party – Free List – –Total04

According to a report approved by the government in October 2022, the partnership law used "gender-equitable formulations" in its general clauses and legal definitions, implying that both same-sex and opposite-sex couples could enter into registered partnerships under the law. Registered partnerships were closed to new couples from 1 January 2025. Existing couples were entitled to retain their status as registered partners or convert their unions into recognized marriages.

Referendum

A group called Vox Populi ("Voice of the People") announced its intention to force a referendum on the new law. VOX POPULI Partnerschaftsgesetz: Doch noch Widerstand According to the Constitution of Liechtenstein, the organization had until 21 April (30 days) Liebe ist ein Menschenrecht to collect at least 1,000 signatures. As the necessary signatures were gathered (1,208 valid signatures), a referendum was held between 17 and 19 June 2011. Partnerschaftsgesetz: Volk entscheidet Mitte Juni Liechtensteiner stimmen im Juni über Homo- Ehe ab The registered partnership law was approved by 68.8 percent of those who voted and thus went into effect on 1 September 2011.

By municipality, the "Yes" vote received its largest support in Planken (at 73.4%), followed by Schaan (73.0%) and Ruggell (72.4%), whereas the highest "No" vote was recorded in Eschen (40.8%).

+Breakdown of voting by municipality Municipality Yes (%) Yes votes No (%) No votes Formal total Participation rate (%)Balzers71.6%1,28328.4%5101,79374.4%Eschen59.2%91140.8%6271,53874.9%Gamprin69.2%43930.8%19563477.1%Mauren63.9%87036.1%4921,36274.8%Planken73.4%15226.6%5520785.4%Ruggell72.4%60227.6%23083279.4%Schaan73.0%1,51827.0%5612,07975.5%Schellenberg66.6%29133.4%14643780.7%Triesen70.0%1,15530.0%4941,64970.1%Triesenberg67.7%78132.3%3731,15472.1%Vaduz70.6%1,23729.4%5161,75371.4%Liechtenstein68.8%9,23931.3%4,19913,43874.3%

Family name In 2016, the cabinet reformed family name law. Registered partners were granted the possibility to have a common family name; however, it was simply called "name" as opposed to "family name" for married couples, thus keeping a distinction. The reform was discussed in the Landtag on 4 March at first reading, and was approved in its second and final reading on 31 August 2016 by a vote of 25–0. It was published in the official gazette on 3 November 2016 and took effect on 1 January 2017.

Adoption rights On 15 June 2021, the State Court of Liechtenstein () ruled that same-sex couples should have the right to adopt, and struck down the sections of the 2011 partnership law which had forbidden adoption by registered partners. It gave Parliament one year to rectify the issue. Following the court decision, the government drafted a bill granting same-sex couples the right to adopt their stepchildren (i.e. stepchild adoption), which was passed on 6 May 2022. On that same day, Parliament narrowly rejected an amendment that would have explicitly banned joint adoption and excluded same-sex couples from accessing assisted reproductive technology.

After a consultation period lasting from 6 July to 30 September 2022, the government passed a motion for full adoption equality on 31 October 2022. The proposal passed its first reading in the Landtag on 2 December by a 22 to 3 vote. It was approved in its final reading on 2 March, and went into effect on 1 June 2023.

Statistics 11 registered partnerships were performed in the first two years following the entry into force of the new law, eight between two men and three between two women. Elf eingetragene Partnerschaften in Vaduz geschlossen This made up 2.7% of all unions performed those two years. The number of registered partnerships performed in Liechtenstein per year is shown in the table below. The data is collected by the Office of Statistics ().

+Number of partnerships registered in Liechtenstein20112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024TotalFemale2110020132113623Male4420114133510332Total6530134265623955

Same-sex marriage

Background In June 2017, Justice Minister Aurelia Frick said she was open to a public debate on the legalisation of same-sex marriage. MP Daniel Seger from the Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP), who had helped draft the partnership law, welcomed the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Germany and hoped Liechtenstein would follow suit. «Ehe für Alle» in Liechtenstein: Hoffen auf Politik und Volk

In 2018, a same-sex couple, Lukas Oehri and Dario Kleeb, were denied a marriage license at the Civil Registry Office in Vaduz. They filed suit in court, arguing that the same-sex marriage ban was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of Liechtenstein. The Administrative Court (VGH, Verwaltungsgerichtshof) ruled in the couple's favour, but the judgement was overturned on appeal by the State Court (StGH, Staatsgerichtshof) in September 2019. The StGH ruled, in case 2018/154, that banning same-sex marriage was not unconstitutional. However, the court concluded that several provisions of the 2011 partnership law were discriminatory, notably its provisions prohibiting registered partners from adopting. In response, the government announced it would evaluate the issue after "careful discussion". Eventually, legislation permitting same-sex registered partners to adopt went into effect in June 2023.

Passage of legislation in 2024 Following the Swiss National Council's vote to legalize same-sex marriage on 11 June 2020, Amos Kaufmann from the LGBT group Flay expressed his hope that Liechtenstein would soon follow suit. The Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper wrote that the issue might "soon be on the political arena". Minister of Social Affairs Mauro Pedrazzini said he expected discussion on the issue to become quite present in the lead up to the February 2021 parliamentary election. A spokesman for the Pariotic Union (VU) said the party had "more pressing issues", but said they would follow the developments in Switzerland and take a formal decision later on. FBP party president Marcus Vogt said the party was still debating whether to take an official stance in support of same-sex marriage. In an interview with Radio Liechtenstein in February 2021, Prince Hans-Adam II expressed his support for same-sex marriage but said he opposed allowing same-sex couples to adopt. During the February 2021 election campaign, over 80% of candidates for the Landtag said they supported legalising same-sex marriage. Following the election, the Liechtensteiner Vaterland reported that there was a "solid majority" in the Landtag to legalise same-sex marriage. On 24 March, the VU and the FBP signed a coalition agreement, with the government programme including the promise that "legal certainty for non-traditional family models will be improved".