Lebanon does not currently have a framework for civil marriage. Interfaith couples not wishing to convert have to travel abroad to marry.
Protesters of all ages took part in the rally, many holding up banners criticizing Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk for failing to approve civil marriage contracts, according to Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper.
Demonstrators, many of whom were students at the American University of Beirut, gathered in front of the Interior Ministry, shouting pro-secularization slogans, the newspaper said.
In 2013, a Sunni-Shia couple became the first in Lebanon's history to be granted a civil marriage after removing their religious affiliation from their documents. A decree dated 1936 enables the conclusion of such marriages if the future spouses are not members of any of the country's recognized religious sects.
