One Europe, different rights for gay

by Quentin Hurel - 2013.02.01

The draft bill which gives right of marriage to same sex people is being examined by the French MP. This text is based on the equality principle and grants marriage to all French citizens, giving homosexuals the same rights as their heterosexual peers.



While was this law examined by the French MP, how does the rest of the Europe treat this question?



In fact, only 8 European countries, 6 of which from the EU, accept the gay marriage and give the same rigorous statute to all couples.



The Netherlands was a pioneer in 2001. Dutch Homosexual couples can also adopt and have access to MAP and surrogate pregnancies. Belgium came next two years later, joined by Spain which legalized it in 2005. Sweden went one step further in 2009 by including in its Constitution the interdiction of refusing a religious marriage to homosexuals. Finally, Portugal and Denmark joined the group respectively in 2010 and 2012. In 2009 and 2010, those countries were Norway and Iceland who had completed the European list.



Besides, 10 members of the EU have also authorized a kind of civil union. France did it in 2000, allowing the homosexual person to benefit from social security of his/her lovers. What is more, he also is responsible for his/her “spouse”'s debts. But, heritage is not treated in the same way. To quote another example, Germany has adopted since 2001 a “living together agreement”, which bestows similar rights than marriage to same sex couples, except for taxation and adoption. Furthermore, it is only proposed to homosexuals, as in Finland and Austria. Angela Merkel has even refused recently to grant the same fiscal rights to this kind of relationship. A “partner statute” which can allow tax reduction and heritage rights has also been recognized in The Czech Republic in 2006 and Hungary in 2007. Before that, the UK had conceded in 2004 the “civil partnership” that offers homosexual people the same rights as heterosexual ones. But at the moment, the homosexual marriage seems to be a political priority for David Cameron. Finally, the debate has just led the Government to exempt the Anglican Church to celebrate homosexual unions. The legalization will not change a lot the homosexual couples' situation. The civil union is already nearly equivalent to marriage, with the same rights and the same responsibilities, but without the symbolic name, neither the possibility to get married in Church. In 2010, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ireland and Austria have adopted too the civil union, and out of the UE, Croatia and Switzerland have followed the movement.



The major problem is that homosexuals have not the same rights as the other citizens in these cases. If their love is accepted, their situations still differ. The legal dispositions are different according to states, almost specific to everyone, and so, Rights and Duties can be more or less close to marriage.



Nevertheless, it's the best part of the EU concerning homosexuals' rights. In 2013, 11 states of the EU (Italia, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland) still do not accept any kind of homosexual union. It’s far too much. Even if the EU disposes limited competences concerning family legislation, the situation is not acceptable. The EU must fight homosexual discrimination.



Fortunately, the European Parliament has acted towards the abolition of discrimination affecting homosexuals, especially concerning marriage and adoption. In 2012, it has adopted a resolution which called the EU’s members to allow LGBT people’s cohabitation, registered partnership or marriage. The European Commission was also called to work on promoting mutual rights in the all Europe. In this way, we can expect such evolution of the European legislation and the sooner it takes place, the better will be. The EU will surely improve itself with such decisions.



