LGBT rights in Slovenia  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Slovenia face challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, though the laws concerning LGBT citizens have evolved over time. Under the Penal Code of 30 June 1959, male homosexual acts were illegal in all of (now former) Yugoslavia. During the first half of the 1970s the power over penal legislation was devolved from the Federal Republic to the eight states and provinces. A new penal code that decriminalised homosexual intercourse passed in 1976 and came into force in 1977. All discriminatory provisions were removed. There were no references to lesbian relationships in the old legislation. Same-sex sexual activity age of consent is 15 years regardless of sexual orientation and has been legal since 1977. Registered partnership for same-sex couples has been legal since 23 July 2006, with limited inheritance, social security and next-of-kin rights. In July 2009 the Constitutional Court held that Article 22 of the Registration of Same Sex Partnerships Act (RSSPA) violated the right to non-discrimination under Article 14 of the Constitution on the ground of sexual orientation, and required that the legislature remedy the established inconsistency within six months. On 3 March 2015, the Assembly passed the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in a 51–28 vote. On 10 March 2015, the National Council rejected a motion to require the Assembly to vote on the bill again, in a 14–23 vote. Opponents of the bill launched a petition for a referendum. The petitioners have gained more than enough signatures for a referendum. On 22 October 2015, in a 5–4 vote, the Constitutional Court ruled the National Assembly could not interpret the constitution and that the vote to block the referendum was illegal. The referendum took place on 20 December 2015 and the bill was rejected. On 21 April 2016, the Assembly approved the bill to give same-sex partnerships all rights of marriage, except joint adoption and vitro fertilisation. A petition for a referendum was launched, but the president of the Assembly didn't allow the referendum. He said that it was an abuse of the referendum law. The law took effect on 24 May 2016 and it became operational on 24 February 2017 without changes in marriage (only civil partnership). Since 1998 discrimination on basis of sexual orientation in workplaces has been banned. The same goes for employment seekers. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is also banned in a variety of other fields, including education, housing and the provision of goods and services. The anti-discrimination laws however, are vague and open to interpretation and thus, very rarely enforced.