Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 10:37:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Rex Wockner Subject: GAY MARRIAGE STORIES INTERNET GAY-AREAS READER: An editor recently asked me to scan my recent archives to determine the state of gay-marriage issues outside the U.S. The raw data below was the result. It may be of interest to more than this editor. Rex Wockner, News reporter, San Diego ... 1995: Sweden's law legalizing gay marriage comes into effect Jan. 1 and gays and lesbians are lining up at City Hall doors. ... Sweden's parliament legalized gay and lesbian marriage June 7 by a vote of 171 to 141 with 5 abstentions and 32 absences. At the time, Prime Minister Carl Bildt stated: "We accept homosexual love as equivalent to heterosexual. Love is an important force to personal as well as social development, and should therefore not be denied." ... As in Denmark [includes Greenland] and Norway -- the other nations that allow gays to marry -- the Swedish law grants gay spouses all rights of marriage except access to adoption, artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, and church weddings. In all three nations, one partner must be a citizen living in his/her home country. Denmark legalized gay marriage in 1989 and Norway in 1993. More than 3,000 gay couples have wed in Denmark. 1994: A gay-issues commission created by the Icelandic parliament, the Alltinget, recommended this month that Iceland legalize gay/lesbian marriage, criminalize discrimination against gays, and substantially increase education about gays in schools. The government is discussing the report and has forwarded it to all concerned departments for consideration, said the Swedish gay newspaper Kom Ut. Sweden, Denmark and Norway let gays marry. But married gay/lesbian couples are not granted access to adoption, artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, or church weddings. In all three nations, one partner must be a citizen living in his/her home country. 1993: Norway legalized gay and lesbian marriage April 1. ... The legislation passed the Odelsting chamber of the Norwegian parliament by a vote of 58-40 on March 29 and the Lagting chamber by a vote of 18-16 on April 1. Federal Minister for Children and Family Affairs Grete Berget said the law will come into effect Aug. 1. ... Gay-marriage legislation is pending in the parliaments of neighboring Sweden and Finland. It will likely pass in Sweden first. 1995: A gay-marriage law may well pass the Czech Republic parliament this year, say Ingeborg Polakova and Jan Bednar of SOHO, the nation's leading gay-rights group. SOHO's proposed legislation will be considered when the parliament begins a planned updating of the Czech Civil Code and Family Law. If it passes, gay couples who register their partnership would have every right of marriage except to adopt children. International lobbying is requested of the following officials. (1) Milan Uhde, Predseda Poslaneckeho snemovny Parlamentu CR, Snemovni 4, 118 26 Praha 1, Czech Republic. (2) Ivan Medek, Reditel Odboru vnitrni politiky, Kancelar prezidenta republiky, 119 08 Praha-Hrad, Czech Republic. (3) President Vaclav Havel at fax number 011-42-2-241- 82045. 1995: Spain's government will consider creating registered partnership for gay and straight couples this spring, Madrid gay leaders report. Legislation written by gay groups has received support in the media, regional parliaments, and the federal parliament, which last month voted to tell the government to write its own proposal. Most if not all rights of marriage except adoption are expected to be included in the final plan. Individuals may adopt in Spain regardless of their sexuality. Some 30 Spanish cities register "civil unions," including Barcelona, Cordoba, Granada, Ibiza, Toledo and Valencia (which has a regional law). Meanwhile, on Jan. 1 a national law took effect to protect the partner who did not sign the lease when an unmarried couple lives together. If the renter moves or dies, first dibs now go to "the person who has been cohabiting with the lessee in a similar affective relationship to that of a spouse, regardless of sexual orientation, for at least the two previous years." 1995: Hungary's Constitutional Court legalized common-law gay marriage March 8. Common-law and formally married couples have all the same rights in Hungary. Any couple that lives together permanently and has sex is considered married under common law. The court said a law limiting common-law marriages to "those formed between adult men and women" was unconstitutional. "It is arbitrary and contrary to human dignity ... that the law (on common-law marriages) withholds recognition from couples living in an economic and emotional union simply because they are same-sex," the court wrote. The justices ordered parliament to make the changes necessary to implement common-law gay marriage by March 1, 1996. Paradoxically, the court also ruled that formal, civil marriages are for heterosexual couples only. "Despite growing acceptance of homosexuality (and) changes in the traditional definition of a family, there is no reason to change the law on (civil) marriages," the justices wrote. Gay leaders welcomed the ruling. Lajos Romsauer, president of Homeros Lambda, said it doesn't matter that only common-law marriage was legalized for gays because all the same rights are granted. Homeros initiated the legal action that led to the ruling. Denmark, Norway and Sweden are the other countries where gay couples have the same rights as married people, under "registered partnership" laws that are commonly called "gay marriage." 1995: Recent surveys in the Brazilian state capitals of Salvador, Curitiba and Aracaju found that 60 to 80 percent of Brazilians believe gays must have the same rights as heterosexuals and 50 to 65 percent think gay couples should be able to get married, correspondent Luiz Mott reports from Salvador, Bahia. Seventy-three Brazilian cities and towns -- including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia -- ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Legislation to create civil-union contracts for same-sex couples was recently introduced nationally by Worker's Party Deputy Marta Suplicy, Mott said. Mott and his lover were united in a religious ceremony in the Pacifist Christian Church and Mott has demanded that the Justice Department recognize the marriage under civil law. He is waiting for a response. 1995: Gay marriage should be legal in Slovenia in two years, the head of the government's Bureau for Women's Politics, Vera Kozmik, told the Slovene National TV program "Tednik" ("Weekly") March 23. The bureau is co-sponsoring a petition to parliament along with gay activists. It has 155 signatures to date. "Tednik" also conducted an interview with gay leader Sandi Perdih at the largest cemetery in Ljubljana, the capital, as Perdih paid his respects to gays who were driven to suicide by homophobia. According to a poll, 57 percent of Slovenians oppose gay marriage and 29 percent approve of it. 1995: Seventy cities and towns in the Netherlands now let gay couples register their relationships and legislation has been introduced in parliament to grant gay couples the legal rights of marriage, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Gays in some professions, including civil service, health care and education, as well as employees of the airline KLM, already receive spousal benefits. Gays can register their relationships and receive all rights of marriage (except those related to adoption, artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization) in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. And a court in Hungary recently legalized common-law marriage for gays, which grants every right of matrimony. 1995: The Amsterdam City Council last week sent a letter urging the Dutch government to grant gay couples equal rights in the areas of parenting, adoption, kinship, inheritance and alimony, reports correspondent Bert Schuur. More than 90 Dutch cities and towns now allow gay couples to register their relationships, but no rights are granted by the process. Gays are allowed to enter into legal marriage-like partnerships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and, in Hungary, a court recently ordered the government to legalize common- law marriage for gays that will include every right of matrimony. == end ==