Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he hopes to get a long-stalled civil union bill through parliament in October. Renzi vowed early in his term to get make civil unions legal under Italian law before the start of 2014, but the bill stalled in the face of stiff opposition. Renzi was cautious with his new timeline in remarks quoted by ANSA.

Renzi outlined his new timeline as the bill’s lead author, Senator Monica Cirinnà announced a deal with conservative members of the Justice Committee to allow an amendment adding language designed to emphasize that civil unions were not considered equivalent with marriage between a man and a woman.

Opposition from Catholic leaders has helped keep the bill on ice despite the fact that 75% of Italians favored some form of partnership rights for same-sex couples and nearly half backed full marriage equality in a BuzzFeed News/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this year. Read More via Buzzfeed