In the summer of 2005, the socialist Spanish government legalized gay marriage in Spain. My overwhelmingly Catholic country, with a legacy of a 40-year-old fascist dictatorship that even banned divorce, surprisingly became the third European Union member to authorize same-sex unions.
Ten years and around 28,000 couples married later, a whole generation of LGBT people has grown up. We have developed our sexual and family choices in an environment where we are as free to marry as we are to eschew marriage as an old-fashioned option. As many in the US celebrated legalizing same-sex marriage across the country, I counted myself lucky to have lived with this freedom for a decade.
Here’s some of what that decade has taught us in Spain’s LGBT community, and some takeaways for our US counterparts: Equality is a daily, unfinished fight; the focus should be on helping the next generations; law can help change ingrained attitudes—up to a point; & legal equality does not mean societal equality. Read More
European Court: Countries must recognise same-sex partnerships
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Italy has failed to protect the private and family life of cohabitating same-sex couples by not allowing for any legal recognition of same-sex relationships. The ruling does not demand that Italy recognize same-sex marriages. Still, the potential effect of this decision is huge.
The Court argues that not having a law that recognizes same-sex relationships is a human rights violation. The ECtHR has jurisdiction over more than 800 million people in 47 countries, 23 of which do not have any form of registered partnership for same-sex couples. Potentially, this ruling affects all these countries. But the effects are not direct and may not materialize any time soon. Below is a quick explainer. Read More
Ireland: Standing up, being counted in Ireland
Jensen Byrne describes their experience returning home for the marriage referendum--excerpt: Hundreds, possibly thousands, of overseas citizens returned home to vote. #Hometovote trended on Twitter with over 72k mentions in 24 hours. Citizens travelled from as far afield as Namibia, Thailand and Canada and flights to Ireland sold out. Those returning were joined by the 100,000+ primarily young and first-time voters registered as part of a drive spearheaded by marriage equality campaigners.
LGBTI people and their allies started a 'Call your Granny' movement where people called their elderly relatives and spoke to them about the upcoming vote and what a 'Yes' would mean to them. For many it was the first time they had discussed their sexual orientation or gender identity with a grandparent.
My grandparents all passed when I was young, but my parents are both in their 60’s. My mother, a quiet woman who, while accepting, never spoke about LGBTI issues, broached the topic with friends and acquaintances. She spoke to a friend, my neighbour, who had reservations. She said to her "You never know who your children or grandchildren will be, don't make that assumption now. You might regret it later. Vote with that in mind." Read More
Czech Republic: Voters now evenly split on same-sex marriage
A new poll of voters in the Czech Republic has found almost half now support same-sex marriage while less than half still oppose it. 49% of those polled said they now support it while only 47% said they still oppose it.
Registered partnerships for same-sex couples, first introduced in the Czech Republic in 2006, were strongly supported by Czech voters with three-out-of-four people saying they supported them, or nearly 75%. However adoption by same-sex couples remains controversial among Czechs, with a majority still saying they should not be able to adopt children from adoption agencies. Read More
Germany: Same-sex unions at the end of the Regenbogen
Since 2001, German gay and lesbian couples have been able to enter civil unions, and enjoy the same rights as heterosexual spouses for tax and inheritance. But same-sex couples do not have full adoption rights, and their union is not called marriage. Many Germans find this embarrassing.
A 2013 poll found 74% in favour of full marriage rights for homosexuals. So are the opposition Greens and Die Linke in parliament, as well as the Social Democrats, the junior party in the ruling grand coalition. The upper-house Bundesrat, where these three parties have a majority, recently passed a non-binding resolution urging the government to make marriage available to all.
That was largely symbolic, because of opposition within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right block, consisting of two “Christian” parties: her own Christian Democratic Union and the more conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the premier of Saarland, recently argued that if you allow gay marriage, incestuous or polygamous nuptials might be next.
Yet within the CDU attitudes are changing. The defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen told the party’s executive committee that “something fundamental has changed in society.” Read More
Australia: The push for same-sex marriage is back on
The conservative side of politics is grappling with whether government MPs should be allowed to have a free vote on marriage equality. Tony Abbott cast doubt on the idea after the bill was revealed when a spokesperson said “It is rare for a private members’ bill to be voted on and any bill would be subject to the usual process. The prime minister’s position remains the same as it has always been and he supports the current policy that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
A pending vote would trigger Coalition party room debate on the issue and open up the possibility of a free vote. NSW Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos told Sky News the cross-party bill was “finally bringing the issue to a head”. Without a free vote, government ministers would be required to back the party’s existing position or expected to resign from the ministry if they wanted to support the bill.
Labor leader Bill Shorten attempted to introduce a private member’s bill last month in the wake of Ireland’s referendum, but it failed. Read More
Pitcairn Island: World’s smallest country, with no gay couples, legalizes same-sex ‘marriage’
Pitcairn Island, a tiny speck in the Pacific that is home to just 48 people, has passed a law allowing same-sex marriage, but has no gay couples wanting to wed.
Pitcairn deputy governor Kevin Lynch said on the new law came into effect on 15 May but initially was not published online after the island’s website encountered some technical problems. He said the change was suggested by British authorities after England, Wales and Scotland legalised same-sex marriage last year. The law change was unanimously approved by the local council.
As with most law changes, she said, a notice was put up on the verandah of the town hall and a second at the island’s general store. Read More
UK: Same-sex marriage bid goes to court in Northern Ireland
The first two gay couples to enter into civil partnerships in the UK will this week mount a High Court challenge to Northern Ireland's same-sex marriage ban, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.
Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles will be joined by Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kane to seek a judicial review of the ban. Both couples cemented their relationships in civil partnerships a decade ago in Belfast City Hall. But while Northern Ireland was the first place in the UK to recognise civil partnerships, it is now the only part of the UK and Ireland that has not legalised same-sex marriage. Read More
Austria: Votes against gay marriage
The National Assembly of Austria has taken a strong stance against equal marriage. Two days before Vienna Pride, the Assembly voted against a proposed resolution to grant lesbian and gay couples ‘the human right of equal marriage’. Out of 136 representatives, only 26 voted for and 110 against the proposal in a roll-call vote; the Green party, who proposed the resolution, was the only party to fully support marriage equality. Read More
Italy: 100,000 attend Milan Pride in support of marriage equality
On Saturday 100,000 people took part in Milan Pride: walking through the city in support of gay rights in Italy. Dario Davanzo, who manages the event, told La Repubblica: ‘This is the first Milan Pride where we can see such a powerful synergy going on between city and government.’
Participants waved fliers which read: 'Sì’ (‘yes’) in support of the fight for marriage equality in Italy. The streets were said to be ‘dense’ with rainbow flags. The mayor of Milan Giuliano Pisapia marched in the procession and participated by handing out the fliers. He said: ‘We [will] defeat prejudice: and we say "yes" to love and the marriage.' Read More
Italy: Over 300,000 rally in Rome against gay marriage
People travelled from all over Italy and Europe yesterday to protest against the proposed legalisation of gay marriage, and the teaching of ‘gender theories’ in schools. Gathering in the San Giovanni Square in Rome, with estimates of participants running from 300,000 to a million people, the protest put the ‘anti-Austerity’ protests held in London on the same day to shame, for sheer volume of people and absence of criminal behaviour.
Attendees held aloft banners reading “The family will save the world” and “Let’s defend our children”, as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tries to push a civil union bill through parliament. The call for Italy to keep pace with its western European neighbours on the issue has grown stronger since Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage last month.
Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for the “Defend our children!” committee said: “We are asking for families based on marriage be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children’s sexual identities”. Read More
Iran: Bishop Leo Boccardi, the Holy See Ambassador to Iran seeks interfaith response to gay marriage
Bishop eo Boccardi, the Holy See Ambassador to Iran says that he would like to see an interfaith solution to problems such as the legalization of gay marriage in Ireland. The Apostolic Nuncio to Ira made his comments during a meeting with Ayatollah Hosseini Boushehri, the President of Iran's Seminary Schools.
Boccardi is quoted saying, "A referendum in Ireland took place that legalizes marriage between two men. Now what should we do and how can we respond to this?... My hope is that religions can start a dialogue among themselves and keep close contacts to address problems of this sort."
When asked by his host about the reason for the lack of a strong response from the Vatican against the spread of homosexuality, he said, "In today's societies, secularism is institutionalized and the separation of church and state has made religion a personal choice... Over the past 50 years, a trend has been growing that distinguishes between morality and faith, allowing the people of faith to commit immoral acts." Read More