Italy is the only major Western European country with no civil partnerships or gay marriage. The European ECHR in Strasbourg ruled this week that the government has the responsability for protecting homosexuals by granting them a legal status. Judges said the Italian government had breached the rights of three gay couples by refusing them marriage or any other recognised form of union. As a result, the prime minister has said his government would introduce laws on same-sex civil unions this year. The issue is highly debated within the Italian society, hundreds of thousands of people marched in Rome in June against the proposed legislation.