After months of political infighting, and decades of battles by homosexuals for civil rights, Italy’s Senate on Thursday approved the country’s first law granting legal recognition to civil unions, but stopped short of giving same-sex couples the right to stepchild adoption.

The paring of the adoption provision was crucial to the passage in the Senate, where the bill faced enough resistance that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tied its fate to a confidence vote on his government, which passed handily, 173 to 71.

The bill also grants some civil rights to unmarried couples, who have historically been largely ignored under current legislation.

The bill, which Mr. Renzi called “historic” on Twitter after sealing agreement over the text on Wednesday, now goes to the lower house of Parliament, where it seems certain to pass in coming weeks.

Source: Italian Senate Approves Civil Unions for Gay Couples, but Not Adoptions – The New York Times