by the 2019 election platforms of both the Conservative People's Party, and Isamaa. Speaker Eiki Nestor rejected the call, saying "that not even the Bible made such a specification, and neither should the Constitution". In December 2021, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that transgender people can change their legal gender while remaining married to their spouse. Estonian law permits the Ministry to petition to annul such a marriage under a "public interest" defense. A spokesman for the Ministry said, "during the last five or six years, significant changes have taken place in society, as a result of which it can no longer be said that the marriage of a same-sex couple is contrary to Estonian public order." Attempt at constitutional ban Following the 2019 elections, the Centre Party entered into a coalition government with the Conservative People's Party and Isamaa. The People's Party made a referendum on same-sex marriage a condition for joining the government. Eventually, the coalition agreement between the three parties included the pledge of conducting a referendum on same-sex marriage. The referendum would have asked voters whether the Estonian Constitution should define marriage as the "union of a man and a woman". Initially, the referendum was supposed to be binding and directly amend the Constitution if approved by voters; however, after several months of controversy and debate, the government decided that the referendum would be non-binding and would gauge public opinion on the issue. The government agreed to hold the referendum in spring 2021. The referendum proposal was widely criticized by the Reform Party and the Social Democrats. Opponents argued that the measure was "divisive", "confusing", and "unnecessary". In November 2020, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas announced that the wording of the referendum would likely be "Should marriage in Estonia remain as a union between one man and one woman?", and made assurances that the referendum would take place in spring 2021, though an exact date had not yet been agreed on. Further controversy arose when the Election Committee announced it would not be possible to hold the referendum in spring if the government wanted to use a new electronic voter list, in line with recently passed legislation. In response to the referendum proposal, the extra-parliamentary Estonian Greens launched a petition in October 2020 on the government website rahvaalgatus.ee calling for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The portal allows citizens to present various petitions, with petitions receiving