Well, at least they don’t have to be ruled by Russians.

A man might feel sad watching his son getting fisted, but he can always say: “at least he isn’t speaking Russian.”

The Guardian:

Same-sex couples in Estonia are able to marry from New Year’s Day, in a milestone move people say brings the Baltic nation closer to its Nordic neighbours.

Estonia became the first former Soviet-ruled country to legalise gay marriage when the Riigikogu, Estonia’s parliament, voted in favour of marriage equality in June. A majority of 55 MPs voted for amending the Family Act, while 34 MPs voted against the bill in the 101-seat parliament.

The election victory of the prime minister, Kaja Kallas, in February, who has since led the country’s most progressive coalition government, is credited with bolstering efforts to achieve marriage equality.

“It’s an important moment that shows Estonia is a part of northern Europe,” said Keio Soomelt, the project manager for the Baltic Pride festival.

“For the LGBT+ community, it is a very important message from the government that says, finally, we are as equal as other couples; that we are valuable and entitled to the same services and have the same options,” said Soomelt, who will swap his civil partnership of eight years for a marriage with his husband in 2024.

Marielle Tuum and Annika Unkauf, one of the few dyke couples in Estonia where both members actually look like women

The law came into effect on Monday, with same-sex couples able to register their marriage applications online from New Year’s Day. The first applications will be processed and certified by 2 February, with applications typically taking one to six months to process.

Perceptions of same-sex marriage have shifted in recent years in the largely non-religious country of 1.3 million. In a poll conducted by the Estonian Human Rights Centre this year, 53% of Estonians supported same-sex marriage. A decade ago, it was just 34%.

Civil partnerships and cohabiting partners have been legally recognised by Estonia since 2013.

Meanwhile, in Russia, since the war started, Putin has escalated the anti-gay agenda to the point where faggots are basically being rounded up on the street.

I know where I’d rather live.

Estonia’s first and only woman prime minister

Estonia got its first woman prime minister almost 3 years ago

Never heard of this country before, but I’m glad they’re sick of being oppressed by these nagging cunts.

ERR News:

A quarter of Estonian boys think women should not participate in politics, data from a new survey shows. The gap in social attitudes is widening between girls and boys, researchers say.

While Estonia is extremely proud of its PISA results, less attention has been paid to the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) which looks at eighth graders’ – 13-15 year olds – knowledge of society and democracy. The Estonian part of the study was carried out by researchers at Tallinn University.

Researcher Maarja Tinn said the results show Estonian boys’ attitudes to gender equality have become significantly more backward since 2016, when the study was last carried out. For example, a quarter of boys think women should stay out of politics, while half believe men are better suited to politics than women.

“We can now see that it was not a small step backward, but a very significant step backward,” Tinn said.

Experts are concerned about the results. “This is worrying because when we look at the gaps between boys and girls, it seems as if boys and girls in Estonia live in completely different worlds,” Tinn said.

She said eighth-grade girls are much more progressive in their views than boys their age.

“In some cases, Estonian girls even outperform Sweden. However, if we look at the boys, they are at the other end of the scale, along with the boys from Serbia and Romania, where the post-Soviet mindset is prevalent,” the researcher said.

Previously the study showed a wider gap between schools where the language of instruction differed between Estonian and Russian, but this has now closed.

Mare Oja, adviser in the field of general education at the Ministry of Education and Research, said the issue of gender equality has been in the spotlight in Estonian education for a long time. “It is surprising and worrying that boys are expressing such attitudes and that the gaps between girls’ and boys’ attitudes are widening,” she said.

Oja said there are many causes as attitudes are formed in different environments and due to many factors. She said the results need to be further analyzed to find out why the changes have occurred.

“Looking at the survey results internationally, young people’s democratic attitudes are more similar to the 2009 survey than to the 2016 survey. In short, the answer could lie in a changed and changing world,” Oja said.

While the study did not look at the causes, they were discussed by the Tallinn University researchers and with colleagues abroad. Maarja Tinn said the reasons can be found in other similar studies.

“When we talk about extreme propaganda aimed at children and young people, including right-wing populist propaganda, it is almost exclusively aimed at boys. The girl has no place as a subject in this propaganda. She is simply an object, about whom, of course, there is a lot of talk in the propaganda about her role and place, but it is not directed at them as human beings. This is because such views are not inclusive of women, but they are more concerned with putting women in their place,” explained Tinn.

On the other hand, it is also easier to approach boys, for example in chatrooms. For example, conversations can start with games and then other topics dropped into the conversation.

“In the same way, the likes of Andrew Tate are popular on Tiktok and we have influencers in Estonia who see no problem posing with them,” Tinn gave an example.

Mare Oja said treating girls and boys equally in education is important, but differences in ability are also taken into account. This is accompanied by other issues, such as boys dropping out of school in higher numbers than girls, different education choices, women’s level of higher education and the pay gap. Ensuring equal opportunities has been a priority for a long time, she said.

However, OECD 2022 report found that while great progress has been made in the field of gender equality in Estonia, discriminatory teaching practices still exist. This includes activities such as wood and metal work for men, but cooking, sewing and knitting classes for girls.

The national curricula approved in 2023 do not allow for separate teaching of boys and girls technology subjects. The report’s recommendation to integrate gender equality into the curriculum has been fulfilled, at least on paper.

You get what you pay for.

Hmm…