Gay Marriage – Not A Universal Right

June 26, 2010 by Jason Shaw 

It’s official, countries in Europe do not have to allow gay or same sex marriages, so announced the European Court of Human Rights this week in central Europe.

Seven judges at the European court ruled unanimously that two Austrian men denied permission to wed were not covered by the guarantee of the ‘right to marry’ which is enshrined in Europe’s human rights convention. In this landmark case, the judges acknowledged “an emerging European consensus” was that gay couples should be afforded legal recognition, it was still up to individual European countries to decide what form such recognition should take. Stating marriage had “deep-rooted social and cultural connotations which may differ largely from one society to another.”

The European Union’s is made up of 27 member countries, from the more liberal and free Sweden, Holland, and the UK to the more religious and conservative countries like Poland.

Most of the member countries have either forms of gay marriage or same sex civil partnership laws, which carry pretty much the same basic status and rights as a marriage.

The case was bought because two Austrian citizens, Horst Schalk and Johann Kopf asked for a marriage permit in the Austrian capital of Vienna during 2002. The gay couple were refused as under Austrian law, a marriage can only be between between a man and a woman. These two men took their case to the courts and legal battle has progressed all the way up through the Austrian legal system before going on to the European court in Strasbourg, France.

Whilst it’s not perhaps the ruling that gays all over Europe may have wanted, it still has some positives, the judges noted that the European rights charter created back in 1950, “marriage was clearly understood in the traditional sense of being a union between partners of different sex.” at that time, and the judges said this was lo longer automatically the case. “The Court would no longer consider that the right to marry … must in all circumstances be limited to marriage between two persons of the opposite sex,” the judges said.

It’s not likely that the ruling will have a massive impact, as all it’s really doing is enforcing the present situation that each member state is entitled to have its own marriage law, and civil partnership laws.

European gay rights groups remain positive – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association told AP ‘the court had recognized “a rapid evolution of social attitudes toward same-sex couples. As more and more countries provide legal recognition for same-sex partners, Europe as a whole is gradually moving towards full equality for same-sex families,” said spokesman Martin K.I. Christensen.

“pleased that the court has recognized same-sex relationships for the purposes of article 8 of the (convention) — the right to family life. It is to be hoped that Austria will follow Britain in including full parenting rights in its civil partnerships,” said Derek Munn of UK’s Stonewall equality charity.

You can read more about this story  at The Guardian.