Ljubljana - A conservative coalition of NGOs that advocate traditional family rights staged a protest in front of the National Assembly on Tuesday in advance of a vote to amendments to the family code that will legalise gay marriage and adoptions in line with a recent landmark Constitutional Court decision.

The protesters - some media estimate that about a thousand gathered - argued that the Constitutional Court decision is not in line with the Constitution. They designated it as scandalous, unjust and ideologically motivated.

Protesters brandished banners with slogans such as "Adoption is not a human right", "Auntie, you are not my daddy; uncle, you are not my mom" and "Rainbow family = father + mother + child".

The protest featured organisations that had been behind three referenda that rejected amendments to the family code along the lines of those about to be passed now, and they also take part in anti-abortion protests.

They are closely affiliated with conservative parties and some opposition politicians, including MPs for the Democrats (SDS), were among the crowd today.

Aleš Primc, one of the figureheads of the movement, decried the National Assembly for thinking it can "shatter the love" of a mother and a father.

He also criticised Left leader Luka Mesec, who now heads the Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, as "a fox in the chicken coop."

"Mesec should never be a minister of family. And he who has surrounded himself with people who do not have families and do not even understand what family means has decided to fundamentally change family law and hence the fundamental relationships in family," he said.

The protesters were picketed by a handful of LGBT+ activists cordoned off by the police.