Russia officially bans same-sex marriage

[Estrella]

Russians are hardcore when it comes to family values and are very traditionalist, so this isn't a surprise.

So hardcore that they pointlessly restrict access to an institution that is the cornerstone of family (in a very traditionalist sense, anyway).

[Estrella]

Why the 2 Czechoslovak twins are much more progressive on this issue than every other Eastern European country I don't know.

Unlike much of the former Soviet bloc, Czechoslovakia was largely areligious even before the Communist takeover. Hence the anti-Communist resistance was mainly secular. So religion-based anti-LGBT sentiments don't have much of a base simply because so few Czechoslovak people are religious.

One thing people (not just you) don't realize about Czechoslovakia is that despite superifical similarities, by the time the country was created in 1918, Czechia* and Slovakia had been parts of separate countries** for around a millenium. Accordingly, there are sometimes pretty significant cultural differences between them - especially when it comes to religion. What you said applies to Czechia, but certainly not to Slovakia. The latter is very much a Catholic (though nothing close to Poland) and generally conservative country, though in a pretty low-key way: culture wars don't play a very big role in Slovak politics.

* pedantry corner: it's actually Bohemia and Moravia (and bits of Silesia). A person from Brno will appreciate being called a Czech/Bohemian (the same word in Czech) about as much as a Glaswegian will appreciate being called an Englishman.
** slightly iffy what "separate" means given the geopolitical insanities of Middle Ages Europe, and technically not true after 1867, but you get what I mean

[Estrella]

For some reason, i think Estonia and Poland will someday adopt it too. Czech Republic is probably the first to pass it, followed by Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland and Estonia I think (which order is left to debate). Poland might be a hot take, but if they go the Estonia direction, it might happen but it won't be tomorrow.

Seriously, what prompts you to think that Poland will ever pass a bill legalizing SSM?
Even former President, labor union leader (!), and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (lol) Lech Wałęsa contemplated back in 2013 banishing homosexual parliamentarians to the backbenches and, to top it all off, even brick them in...

Poland actually is one of the more promising eastern nations. At the moment it doesn't look good and the church is still very relevant, but there is some call for moving to legalizing it. About half of all Polish people are in favour of SSM and we might get a left-liberal government next time they hold elections (PL2050 + Lewica + another party).

While it isn't guaranteed that a left-liberal government will have the balls to force SSM through, you shouldn't underestimate the power of spite. Everyone knows about Jarosław Kaczyński and LGBT-free zones and Ayatollah Rydzyk, but it often goes unnoticed that this extremism has produced an equally extreme (in relative terms, obviously) backlash. It takes two to have a culture war. 

[Estrella]

Aside from eastern Germany, I don't think a single former communist country has SSM.

I think Slovenia has it legal, although sources seem to differ.

No, the parliament approved it in 2015, but it was rejected in a referendum. They have civil partnerships, though.

For some reason, i had a false memory that that referendum was anulled for some technicality, but further research finds nothing to support that.

Maybe it was a confusion with the 2015 Slovak same-sex marriage referendum?
The referendum was not valid, despite getting a 95% support among voters, as the turnout did not reach the required threshold of 50%, with only 21.4% of citizens casting a vote.

That's pretty funny, because I made the exact same Slovak-Slovene error today in a completely different post. (I made, and then deleted a post to Estrella on the Prince Philip dies thread asking about the status of the defunct Karađordević Yugoslav dynasty forgetting that Estrella is from Slovakia, and had to awkwardly change the post to asking about the Bohemian monarchy instead)

Maybe I should just double down on this mistake, and maintain both "countries" are the same polity playing an elaborate ruse on the international community.

I wish I was here in 2018 when Robert Fico* and Miro Cerar announced their resignation on the same day

The confusion is actually even worse in native languages:
- in Slovak, Slovakia is Slovensko, the adjective Slovak is slovenský and Slovenia is Slovinsko
- in Slovene, Slovenia is Slovenija, the adjective Slovene is slovenski and Slovakia is Slovaška

* not to be confused with Roberto Fico, who was elected President of Italian Chamber of Deputies a week later