Subject: EuroLetter 57
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 00:19:05 +0100 (MET)

EURO-LETTER 

No. 57					February 1998

THE EURO-LETTER IS PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF ILGA-EUROPE - THE
EUROPEAN REGION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION
BY GAY AND LESBIAN INTERNATIONAL LOBBY IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE
DANISH NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS. Editors:
Steffen Jensen, Ken Thomassen, Peter Bryld, Lisbeth Andersen and
Soeren Baatrup.  Contact to Euro-Letter: E-mail:
[email-masked] URL: http://www.inet.uni2.dk/~steff Fax: +45
2036 7856 Tel: +45 3324 6435 Mobile: +45 2033 0840 Mail: c/o
Steffen Jensen, Gl. Kongevej 31, 4.th, DK-1610 Copenhagen V,
Denmark  You can receive Euro-Letter by e-mail (send a message
to the above address)  and from no 30 onwards the Euro-Letters
are available on the Internet at 
http://www.france.qrd.org/assocs/ilga/euroletter.html
http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/orgs/ILGA/euroletter  You can find a
link to Euro-Letters at http://www.inet.uni2.dk/~steff 

IN THIS ISSUE
THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION (ILGA) WAS GRANTED
CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
NEWS FROM FINLAND
PUBLIC SCANDALS: GAYS AND LESBIANS FACE STATE-CONDONED VIOLENCE
AND LEGALIZED ABUSE IN ROMANIA
ROMANIA'S PRESIDENT TO PARDON SOME GAY AND LESBIAN INMATES
AUSTRIA CELEBRATES YEAR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WHILE PERSECUTING GAY MEN
TWO AUSTRIAN CASES PUT TO STRASBOURG
DECRIMINALIZATION IN BELARUS STILL NOT CONFIRMED
EU-CANDIDATES: ALSO HUNGARY TO MONITOR
UK GAYS TO FACE PRISON
DUTCH GOVERNMENT DECIDES AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE - BUT IN
FAVOUR OF ADOPTION BY SAME-SEX COUPLES
Belgium: NEW GUIDELINES FROM THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
ABOUT DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP
AGE OF CONSENT AND OTHER INEQUALITIES IN LATVIA
New book: SEXUALITY, YOUTH PROTECTION & HUMAN RIGHTS 

Documents relating to ILGA-Europe can be found at ILGA-Europe's
homepage http://inet.uni2.dk/~steff/ilgaeur.htm

An update of the Survey on the Legal Situation for Gays and
Lesbians in Europe can be found at
http://inet.uni2.dk/~steff/survey.htm

A description of partnership laws and other laws regarding
same-sex partners can be found at 
http://inet.uni2.dk/~steff/partner.htm

*******************************************************************

THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION (ILGA) WAS GRANTED
CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Press release from ILGA-Europe

As of 15 January 1998, ILGA has finally gained consultative
status with the Council of Europe. "It took quite some time to
achieve this", explains Steffen Jensen, ILGA-Europe board member
from Denmark who has been co-ordinating this second application
for NGO status.  

"ILGA's first application dates back to July 1989, and it was
rejected in 1990 because our activities were not ,directly
related to the present work programme of the Council of Europe`.
It was only in March 1995 that ILGA submitted a new application.
On 15 October 1997, the Secretary-General of the CoE informed
the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of his
decision to grant consultative status to ILGA.

Since no objection has been raised by these two organs of the
CoE within three months, the decision has become effective from
15 January 1998." In his substantiation, the Secretary-General
writes: "The ILGA is an active and representative organisation
in its field of competence. It has already established working
relations with the Council of Europe. Furthermore, the
organisation has a specific contribution to make to any
discussion on discrimination generally as well as on more
specific  issues such as discrimination against people with HIV
and AIDS."

"Indeed", explains Steffen Jensen, "ILGA and its member
organisations have had working relations since the early days of
ILGA. They gave input, for example, to the Voogd report which
led to the landmark Recommendation 924 of the Parliamentary
Assembly in 1981, and many ILGA members supported lesbian and
gay test cases to the European Commission and Court of Human
Rights. In 1981, the Court ruled that a total ban on homosexuality constitute a
violation of the Convention, and in 1997 the Commission declared
unequal age of consent laws for heterosexuals and homosexuals to also be a breach of the Convention.

ILGA's lobbying also influenced the admission policy of the CoE
for new members from the former East-bloc. Applicant countries
had to agree to adapt their penal codes to certain European standards, including the decriminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults.
A policy that influenced law reform in Lithuania, Albania,
Moldova, Romania, and Macedonia."

ILGA has also lobbied the Parliamentary Assembly for a motion to
establish an Additional Protocol to the Convention which would
add "sexual orientation" as a non-discrimination category in Article 14. 

These efforts, so far, did not turn out successfully. The motion
got stuck in the Parliamentary system. "But ILGA's new status
will hopefully increase the impact of our lobbying efforts", says Jensen. "We have also contacted the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI), a high-profile body set up according to the Plan of
Action on Combating Racism, Xenophobia, Anti-Semitism and
Intolerance adopted at the First Council of Europe Summit in
Vienna in 1993. ECRI also feels that the existing protection in
Article 14 is too weak and also has proposed that an additional protocol to
provide a wider protection under the Convention be considered."

The consultative status of ILGA will also mean that the
organisation will be heard before the Council takes measures in
the field relevant to the organisation. Furthermore the CoE has
three bodies for co-operating with NGOs: the Plenary Conference
of NGOs, the Liaison Committee of NGOs and the Parliamentarians/NGOs joint Committee. ILGA will be invited to be part of all three bodies.  

The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation
founded in 1949 which today comprises 40 member states (all 45
European countries except from Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Monaco, the Vatican, and Yugoslavia, e.g., Serbia/Montenegro).
In 1953, The Council of Europe established the European
Convention on Human Rights and an enforcement machinery whereby
states and individuals may refer alleged violations of the
Convention to the European Commission and the European Court of
Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European
Union or the European Council, the European Court of Human
Rights not with the European Court of Justice, the Court of the
EU in Luxemburg!

NEWS FROM FINLAND
By Hannele Lehtikuusi

Press release dated 19th of December 1997 informed that the
Ministry of Justice nominated Commitee (6 members) to deal with
the partnership legistlation. 

SETA has its representative in this group, Mr Rainer Hiltunen.
The commitee should finnish their work by the end of 1998.

Discussion on artificial insemination is in the debate in
Finland at the moment. The bill is denying rights from the
single women and lesbian couples to receive artificial
insemination treatments.

Bill has been objected largely in the political field and it is certain that the Minister of Justice has to change the proposal. At the moment most of the clinics have been treating women regardless their sexual orientation and marital status. It is expected that this quideline will win.

Massive renovation of the Penal Code is taking its steps 
slowly. The commitee of Law is now dealing with the next part of
it that includes age of consent and deletes finally the (dead
letter) piece of legistlation that has forbidden to promote
homosexuality.

Age of consent will be 15, regardless of the sexual orientation.
This part of Penal Code should be passed during this spring.

PUBLIC SCANDALS: GAYS AND LESBIANS FACE STATE-CONDONED VIOLENCE
AND LEGALIZED ABUSE IN ROMANIA
Press release from IGLHRC

(Bucharest, January 14) -- Today in Romania, gays and lesbians
are routinely denied some of the most basic human rights
guaranteed by international law.  Despite recent amendments to
the criminal code provisions relating to homosexual conduct, gays and lesbians
continue to be arrested and convicted if their sexual relations
become public knowledge.  They face frequent physical abuse and
harassment by law enforcement officials, as well as systematic discrimination in
many walks of life. In 1996, for example, Gabriel Presnac and
Radu Vasiliu were beaten brutally by police and now face five years'
imprisonment for kissing and holding hands in a public place. 
Romanian law not only prohibits private sexual acts between
consenting adults of the same sex, but may also be interpreted
to punish speech and association that expresses a homosexual
identity: in one case, Mariana Cetiner was arrested and now
serves a three-year prison term for merely asking another woman
to have sexual relations with her.

Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission thus charged Romania today with sustaining a
climate of legalized intolerance toward gays and lesbians. Jeri
Laber, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch, and Scott Long,
advocacy coordinator of the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission, presented the joint report Public Scandals: Sexual Orientation and Criminal Law in Romania, at a press conference in Bucharest.
"This report documents case after case of detentions, beatings,
and harassment directed at gay men and lesbians," stated Mr.
Long.  "The Romanian government can no longer ignore this issue,
they must take action now to stop the abuse".

Article 200 Continues to Punish Homosexuality
A provision dating from the era of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu,
Article 200, paragraph 1 of the Romanian penal code punished
"sexual relations with a person of the same sex" with one to
five years' imprisonment.  The Council of Europe, upon admitting
Romania in 1993, insisted that the law be repealed.  After three
years' delay, during which homosexuality became a fiercely
contested political issue, the Romanian parliament in 1996
passed a new version of the law, punishing homosexual acts
"committed in public, or causing public scandal," with one to
five years' imprisonment.  New language also criminalized

"inciting or encouraging a person to the practice of sexual
relations between persons of the same sex, as well as propaganda
or association or any act of proselytism," with the same
punishment.

The Romanian government presents these new provisions as a
liberalization.  Clearly, however, they not only preserve but
expand the pretexts under which persons suspected of
homosexuality can be arrested and convicted.  The broad reference to "public scandal" ensures that private acts need only  become known to instigate
legal reprisal.  It effectively denies gays and lesbians equal
access to privacy.  Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission also establish that no
comparable provision punishes, or even mentions, sexual acts
"committed in public" by persons of opposite sexes.  Finally, the new language ensures that even speech sympathetic to homosexuality, as well as 
meeting places, organizations, publications, and demonstrations,
may be subject to criminal prosecution.  Gays and lesbians are
denied the rights to expression, association, and assembly: any
public manifestation of homosexuality is punishable under the
new provisions.  Effectively, being gay or lesbian having a public identity as such is now against the law.

Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission also document how other vaguely written legal
provisions are used to harass persons suspected of
homosexuality.  The report also describes a pattern of physical
abuse by police and other officials.  In the climate of
contemporary Romania, gays and lesbians are regarded as people
without rights.  Prisoners suspected of homosexuality are
routinely beaten by police.  In detention, they are targeted for
rape and other forms of abuse by other inmates, with the knowledge
and active encouragement of guards and other authorities.

Recommendations to the Romanian Government and 
Inter-Governmental Bodies
Human Rights Watch and IGLHRC call on the Romanian government to
end discrimination based on sexual orientation, prevent
harassment and physical abuse of persons perceived as gay or lesbian, and
punish those responsible for such abuse in the past.  Human
Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission call on the Romanian government:

to eliminate all laws which permit, encourage, or enforce
discrimination against persons based on their perceived sexual
orientation.  These include not only Article 200 of the Romanian
penal code, but also a series of other laws by which gays and
lesbians are prosecuted and/or more severely penalized than
heterosexuals who engage in similar acts;

to eliminate all laws which can be used to punish individuals
for consensual, private homosexual acts between adults;

to clarify or repeal ambiguous legal provisions which can be
used to persecute individuals for peacefully exercising rights
of expression, association, and assembly, as well as laws that
arbitrarily interfere with privacy.

Human Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission call on international bodies, including the
Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, and the European Union:

to bring an end to beatings, maltreatment, and other forms of
abuse practiced by police and other officials on the basis of
victims' perceived sexual orientation, and to punish those found
responsible for such abuses in the past;

to press the government of Romania to undertake the above
reforms; 

to investigate the multiple forms of discrimination based on
sexual orientation in addition to the simple existence or
absence of laws explicitly criminalizing homosexual acts in
evaluating the human rights records of applicant as well as
member states; 

to investigate and address discrimination based on sexual
orientation through their existing mechanisms for rights
protection, including mechanisms to protect the rights of
minorities.

For more detailed recommendations, see the body of the report.

ROMANIA'S PRESIDENT TO PARDON SOME GAY AND LESBIAN INMATES
Press release from IGLHRC

In a historic meeting, the President of Romania promised to
pardon all prisoners currently jailed under his country's
draconian laws penalizing sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex. During the hour-long session, held in Bucharest's Presidential
Palace on January 15th, President Emil Constantinescu was briefed on the status of gays and lesbians in Romania by Scott Long, advocacy coordinator of
the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and by
Jeri Laber, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch.

The President was given a copy of a report, published by Human
Rights Watch and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission, detailing a pattern of systematic abuse of the most basic human rights of Romania's sexual minorities.  The report, titled "Public
Scandals: Sexual Orientation and Criminal Law in Romania,"
demonstrates that despite recent amendments to the criminal code
provisions relating to homosexual conduct, gays and lesbians
continue to be arrested and convicted if their sexual relations
become public knowledge.  They face frequent physical abuse and
harassment by law enforcement officials, as well as systematic
discrimination in many walks of life. In 1996, for example,
Gabriel Presnac and Radu Vasiliu were beaten brutally by police and now face five years' imprisonment for kissing and holding hands in a public place.  Romanian law not only prohibits private sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex (under article 200 paragraph 1), but may also be interpreted to
punish speech and association that expresses a homosexual
identity (under article 200 paragraph 5): in one case, Mariana
Cetiner was arrested and now serves a three-year prison term for
merely asking another woman to have sexual relations with her.

President Constantinescu promised to pardon all prisoners
convicted under article 200 paragraph 1 and article 200
paragraph 5, including Mariana Cetiner.  The President stated
that his pardon should send a signal to the Romanian public and
added,   homosexuality is the last remaining human rights
problem we have to address in Romania, and we will address it."

"We are very encouraged by the President's response," said Mr.
Long, "but we will have to wait and see how the decision is
implemented.  We will monitor the situation closely."  Currently
neither the President nor the Minister of Justice have a final
list of prisoners convicted under article 200 paragraph 1 or 5. 
According to Romanian law, the prisoners themselves will have to continued  individually petition the President for a pardon in order to initiate the proceedings.  "We are mindful that the President's pardons are not equivalent to a repeal of the discriminatory laws," declared Mr. Long.  "We call on the Romanian Parliament to follow the President's lead and put an end to the abuse."

The unprecedented meeting with the President Constantinescu was
preceded by similar gatherings with Romania's Prime Minister,
Justice Minister, General Inspector of Police, General Director
of Penitentiaries, and members of the Senate's Human Rights and
Judiciary Committees.

AUSTRIA CELEBRATES YEAR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WHILE PERSECUTING GAY MEN
by Helmut Graupner, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA, Vienna

While Austria in its Criminal law still discriminates against
gay men it intends to commit the 50th anniversary of the
UN-Declaration on Human Rights by celebrating the Year of Human
Rights 98. This year of Human Rights is planned to culminate in
big celebrities on the International Day of Human Rights as part
of the Vienna meeting of the European Council.

Two Austrian l/g associations, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA and HOSI
Wien,  are represented in the National Committee for of Human
Rights and they, and the rest of the Austrian l/g movement, will
not allow that the Austrian celebrates human rights without
being called to account for its continuing violation of our
human rights.

TWO AUSTRIAN CASES PUT TO STRASBOURG
by Helmut Graupner, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA, Vienna

In December two men who have been convicted to prison sentences
under the discriminatory age of consent (Art. 209 CC: 18 for
gays; 14 for heterosexuals and lesbians) sent complaints to the
European Commission on Human Rights.

One of them, a man of 29,  has been sentenced (to 8 months
imprisonment on probation) after confiscation of his date-block.
This date-block with Christian names and ages has been the only
evidence in the case. The courts did not see any of the youths
nor did they clarify their real existence or their real age (see
Euroletter 40, 5).

The other one, 28, has been convicted (to 6 months imprisonment
on probation) for consensual sexual relations with a 15 year old
adolescent who himself had started the initiative to the
relation.

Rechtskomitee LAMBDA who assists the complainants is confident
that - as in the Sutherland-Case - the Commission will find the
Austrian discriminatory age of consent legislation in violation
of the European Convention of Human Rights (Art. 14 & 8).

DECRIMINALIZATION IN BELARUS STILL NOT CONFIRMED
by Helmut Graupner, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA Vienna

Euroletter 43 (12) reported  that a delegate to teh XIth
International Aids-Conference insisted that Belarus - as the
first of the successor states of the Soviet Union - did
decriminalize homosexual relations between consenting adults as
early as 1991.

In August 1993 however the Ministry of Justice of Belarus in a
letter to Helmut Graupner indicated that Art. 119, outlawing
anal and oral intercourse between men, was still in force. It
reported that a new Penal Code was under elaboration and that
the new Code would not take over the total ban and introduce an
equal age of consent of 16 (Art. 126 of the draft CC). Later on
however it was not possible to get any further information on
the state of this announced reform.

Euroletter 55 again reported that the total ban in Belarus would
have been repealed but it gave no source for that.

So the reports of decriminalization in Belarus are still
unconfirmed and we should suppose that the ban still does exist.

EU-CANDIDATES: ALSO HUNGARY TO MONITOR
by Helmut Graupner, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA, Vienna

Among the five states invited for accession to the European
Union not only Cyprus but also Hungary has  discriminatory
criminal laws for homosexuals. While the age of consent for
heterosexual relations is set at 14, the age limit for gays and
lesbians is 18 (Art. 199 CC). Moreover sexual contacts with
children (under 14) can be prosecuted upon complaint only if the
contacts are heterosexual, but are prosecuted ex officio if they
are homosexual (Art. 209, 31 CC).

According to what was suggested for Cyprus (Euroletter 55) we
would like to suggest, that ILGA Europe informs its political
contacts within the EU structure about this discrimination of
gays and lesbians in Hungary. Discriminations which have
repeatedly been denounced by the European Parliament and hold to
be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights  by
the European Commission of Human Rights (on 1st July 97 in
Sutherland v. UK). We believe that a political discussion in the
European Parliament would be extremely helpful at this point in
time to have the discrimination abolished.

UK GAYS TO FACE PRISON
By Paul

Shock & Disbelief
A sense of shock and disbelief is spreading across the UK's Gay
community as seven men from Bolton North West England  face
possible prison sentences on charges of Buggery, Gross Indecency and under age gay sex with a 17 year old male.

Antiquated laws used
The nature of  the charge of  buggery relates to having anal sex
below the age of 18. The charge of Gross Indecency has been made
under an antiquated law which makes criminals two men having sex in a building where there is another person present, whether or not in the same
room. Gay sex with an male below the age of consent relates to the law which make a criminal of a male below the age of 18 having any form of sex
with another male whether or not anal sex has occurred . Sources advise that the 17 year old male in this case is only a few months short of  his 18th
Birthday. A birthday he could now spend in prison.

UK Gays in Danger
Whilst the seven men have gone to ground in fear of their lives
after fire bombing and beatings there is a sense of fear
spreading through the Gay community as it becomes more apparent
that a successful prosecution of these men will set a dangerous
precedent which could lead to the legal persecution of the UK's
Gay community.  Sources advise that a test case of this nature
could be the tip of the Iceberg of more cases to follow.  The
case is being seen as a back door to making a criminal offence
of gay culture.

Government Silent
Despite the growing crisis, and election promises by the New
Labour Government of changes to equalise the legal situation for
Gay people in the UK the Government remains silent. The British
Government have received an urgent letter from the European
Court of Human Rights requesting a full explanation, we have no
reports of any response so far.

EU Presidency
It will be smacking in the face of EU principles on Human Rights
if the U.K government now succeed in gaining the Presidency of
the E.U. As we reported last month applications from other
countries to join the E.U are being delayed or turned down on
grounds of similar Human Rights Violations.

UK Gays need outside help
The larger campaigning organisation have remained silent about
the growing crisis, some wonder if they are gagged or just
complacent. The UK Gay population needs your help, we are in
danger of facing the worst persecution of gay people seen in our
country in over two decades. We need you to write to News papers
, UK and world wide Lesbian and Gay Organisations, Members of the Government, talk about this on I.R.C, Bulletin Boards, News groups and  please link your web
site. We still have freedom to speak and now have the benefits
of the Computer Age, use it now. 

DUTCH GOVERNMENT DECIDES AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE - BUT IN
FAVOUR OF ADOPTION BY SAME-SEX COUPLES
By Kees Waaldijk

On Friday 6 February 1998, the Dutch Cabinet finally decided how
it would act on the recommendations of the Kortmann Committee.
This  Committee of legal experts was established in June1996,
following the adoption of resolutions in Parliament asking for legislation to
open up both marriage and adoption to same-sex couples. In
October 1997 the Committee recommended unanimously to allow
same-sex couples to adopt and by a majority of five against
three to allow same-sex couples to marry. Now the Cabinet has
decided to prepare legislation to give effect to the unanimous
recommendation, but not to the majority recommendation.

This legislation would amend three laws which have been adopted
only very recently:

A. The law on registered partnership (in fact a complex of
several laws amending the Civil Code and more than 100 other
statutes) came into operation on 1 January 1998. Same-sex and
different-sex couples can now have their partnership registered.
Apart from some minor differences between the way in which it is
entered into and the ways in which it can be terminated,
registered partnership is almost identical to marriage. The main
exceptions are:

A foreigner without a valid residence entitlement cannot
register a partnership in the Netherlands (neither with a Dutch
citizen, nor with another foreigner). It is not yet clear in law
what exactly amounts to a residence entitlement. A residence
permit for less than one year (as is routinely given to European
Union citizens looking for work in the Netherlands) may not be
enough, let alone a mere tourist visa. (It should also be
remembered that in the case of two foreigners, at least one of
them needs to officially reside in the Netherlands; the same
condition applies to heterosexual marriage.)

The existence of a registered partnership does not affect the
position of the children of either partner. For example, the
parent's partner does not become a parent, nor will this partner
have any authority over, or maintenance duties towards the
child. However, there are a few exceptions to this, notably in
tax law.

Certain entitlements to widow's or widower's pension are
withheld from registered partners.

Most rules based on international or European law that apply to
marriage have not been declared applicable to registered
partnership.

Many rules of Dutch secondary legislation have not been made
applicable to registered partnership yet.

In law, words like 'marriage', 'spouse', 'wedding' etc.,
together with their social status and symbolic meaning, remain
the exclusive domain of married heterosexuals.

It should be noted that no exceptions exist for church weddings
(which have no legal effect in Dutch law) nor for artificial
insemination (for which being married is not generally a
precondition). Most discrimination between married spouses and
registered partners by employers or by commercial or non-profit
organisations is outlawed by the General Equal Treatment Act,
which not only prohibits direct and indirect discrimination
based on sexual orientation, but also discrimination based on
civil status. The status of being a registered partner is now
considered to be a new type of civil status.

B. Also on 1 January 1998 legislation introducing joint
authority and joint custody for non-parents came into operation.
Now a parent and his or her (same-sex or different-sex) partner
can obtain a Court order giving the couple joint authority over
the child of the parent. Similarly a (same-sex or different-sex)
couple of foster-parents, can now obtain a Court order giving
them joint custody over their foster-child. Such joint  authority-custody entails a maintenance duty for both partners towards the child. It also reduces the inheritance tax to be paid when the child benefits from the last will of the
non-parent. So far, other parental rights and duties have not
been attached to it. 

C. On 1 April 1998 a major revision of the law on paternity and
adoption will enter into operation. Until then, adoption in the
Netherlands is only possible for married couples and for married
stepparents. From April marriage will be no longer a condition
for adoption. Then adoption by an individual person (single or
forming part of a relationship, heterosexual or homosexual) will become possible. Also adoption by an unmarried couple will become possible, provided it is a different-sex couple.

Now the Government is already proposing changes to these three
laws. As far as parenting is concerned, the Government seems to
follow the recommendations of the Kortmann Committee in detail:

Adoption of a Dutch child by a same-sex couple will be made
possible. Foreign children (who make up more than ninety percent
of all children adopted in the Netherlands by couples) will be
excluded from adoption by same-sex couples.

Adoption of a child by the same-sex partner of the child's
parent will also be made possible (this will probably happen far
more often, as it will not only allow for adoption by a gay or
lesbian stepparent, but also give the lesbian partner of a
mother a chance to become the second mother of a child born
during their relationship, for instance by artificial
insemination). 

A new, strict criterion will be introduced to limit adoption (by
a heterosexual couple, by a homosexual couple, by a parent's
partner, or by an individual) to situations in which the child
has nothing more to expect from his or her original parent(s)
(for instance because the donor is unknown).

The existing paternity rules will not be extended to female
partners of mothers. For instance, according to Dutch law, a man
can become a legal father simply by being married to a woman who
gives birth to a child. This rule does not and will not apply to
the registered partner of a childbearing woman.

However, some change is proposed to the new law on registered
partnership: if a child is born to a woman in a registered
partnership, the other partner will automatically share the
parental authority over the child with the mother. Since January
1998 such joined authority can already be obtained, but only by
Court order. It is now proposed that such an order will not be
required if the partners are registered and the child is born
during the registered partnership.

Probably the scope of joint authority/custody will be extended
to intestate inheritance and to other parental rights and duties.

As far as the question of same-sex marriage is concerned, the
Government is following the minority of the Kortmann Committee.
The Government considers that the new law on registered
partnership, together with the extended possibilities for joint
authority/custody and adoption, offers virtual equality of
rights for homosexual couples. The main reason why the
Government in not now prepared to create also an equality of
status for homosexual couples, seems to be that same-sex
marriage would not generally be recognised abroad. (The Kortmann Committee held a survey among family law experts in the Council
of Europe, the outcome of which suggests that same-sex
registered partnership would be met with only marginally more
recognition abroad than same-sex marriage would.) The Government does not want to contemplate the opening up of marriage to homosexual couples
before the new law on registered partnership will be evaluated
in the year 2001. 

There is a small chance that the present Parliament will insist
on making full marriage possible for same-sex couples. However,
there is no time left during this Parliament to even start
legislation on the topic. Elections will be held in May 1998. It
seems more likely that some time this year a Bill will be
introduced to give effect to the Government's proposals about adoption and automatic joint authority for registered partners. (That Bill will also provide an opportunity to correct the numerous errors made in the legislation
introducing registered partnership.) With the customary slowness of the Dutch
legislative machine, such a Bill would probably not become law
before the year 2000. And full marriage rights for same-sex
couples in the Netherlands should not be expected before 2005,
if ever.

Belgium:
NEW GUIDELINES FROM THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS ABOUT
DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP
By Pierre Noel

On 30 September 1997, Mr Vande Lanotte, Minister of Internal
Affairs, circulated to all mayors in Belgium new guidelines
concerning granting of stay permits to foreigners on the basis
of domestic partnership.

The Minister - who belongs to the Flemish Socialist Patty (SP) -
begins with stating that "in the present circumstances, one can
note that most people involved in a relationship first live
together, and eventually marry. The growing international
traffic implies many transnational relationships. However, the
foreign partner can stay in Belgium only if he/she marries
his/her Belgian partner or a foreigner with a stay permit. Those
people do not marry because they believe they should, but rather
because they are forced to do it by the regulations related to
stay permits. If these regulations were based on domestic
partnership, those people would have an opportunity to learn
about one another and there would be no need for a final stay
permit. In case the relationship would not last, the foreign
partner would have to leave the country. That is not the case
with marriage, since then the married partner receives an
unlimited stay permit after six or twelve months Furthermore, it
was found that homosexual foreigners involved in a relationship
with a Belgian citizen or a foreign who has a stay permit cannot
stay in the country on the basis of that relationship. They have
to go through other channels (student visas, internships or fake
marriages) in order to live with their partners. This represents
an abuse of the alternative stay permits, which should not be
encouraged and does not constitute an alternative solution for
homosexual couples. Also, discrimination towards homosexual
partners in our society is unacceptable".

Conditions are to be met in order to qualify for this new stay
permit: the Belgian partner or foreign with the stay permit must
commit to supporting his/her lover An unlimited stay permit will
only be delivered after three years and six months of living
together and periodic controls will be done. (For more details
on requirements to be met and the procedure to follow, see the
Moniteur - the official Belgian gazette - of 14 November 1995,
p. 334 ff).

Interestingly, the Minister notes that "people with fraudulent
intentions will try a fake marriage rather than a fake
relationship, because the unlimited stay permit is easier to get
in the first case and the financial commitment is lesser?' It is
also recognised in these new guidelines that Belgium is
following in this way the path open by the Netherlands and other
European countries, and that those other countries have not
found abuses of the law or massive influx of new immigrants.

AGE OF CONSENT AND OTHER INEQUALITIES IN LATVIA
By Juris-Ludvigs Lavrikovs

In 1992 the Latvian Parliament repealed paragraph 124.1 of the
Criminal Code and thus decriminalised sexual acts between
consenting men over 18 years of age.  Nevertheless, homosexuals
in Latvia do not enjoy legal equality with their heterosexual
fellow citizens, and are not protected from discrimination.

Since the Soviet occupation of Latvia and until 1992, paragraph
124.1 made all sexual acts between men a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment. 

Paragraph 124.2 (or now simply 124 - "Pederasty") criminalises sexual acts between men if the act is committed with the use of violence or the  threat of violence, taking advantage of the victim's helplessness or dependent status, and if the sexual act is committed with a person younger than 18 years of age.  At the same time the present Criminal Code's paragraph 122 ("Sexual acts comitted with a person who has not reached the age of 16") provides that it is a criminal offence punishable by up to four years imprisonment to have a sexual
relations with a person younger than 16 years of age.  The
current paragraph 124, which establishes 18 years as the minimum
permitted age for sexual acts between consenting men,  therefore
discriminates against homosexual men as compared to
heterosexuals and homosexual women.  A salient feature of the
Latvian Criminal Code, as it clear from paragraphs 122 and 124,
is that consenting sexual acts either between a women and a man
or between women do not constitute a criminal offence if both
parties to the acts are under 16.  The same can be concluded
regarding consenting sexual acts between men if both parties are
under 16 or between 16 and 18.

The higher age of consent for gay men is not the only legal
disadvantage suffered by homosexuals in Latvia.  

Among other legal provisions which directly discriminate against
homosexuals is paragraph 35.2 of the Latvian  Civil Law.  Under
this paragraph same-sex marriages are prohibited.  The paragraph
was introduced by the Latvian Parliament in the early 1990s when
the Civil Law from the 1930s (the first period of Latvian
independence) was re-adopted.  As a result of this provision
same-sex couples are not entitled to any of the rights which
opposite-sex couples are granted automatically after marriage. 
Common-law cohabitation, whether between persons of different
sexes or the same sex, is not legally recognised in Latvia. 
Thus lesbian and gay couples have no opportunity to regulate
legally their relationships, property, finance, to name but a 
few.   

The possibility of challenging the constitutionality of
paragraph 35.2 of the Civil Law as discriminating on the basis
of the gender of the partners in same-sex couples, and allowing
to marry only couples in which the partners are of different
sexes is very limited.  Firstly, the Satversme (Latvian
Constitution) does not contain any provisions regarding basic
rights.  Although in 1991 the Latvian Parliament adopted a
so-called constitutional law "On the Rights and Duties of
Citizens and Men" which contains a prohibition of discrimination
on grounds of gender, the Latvian legal system does not
recognise laws of this category as constitutional.  This legal
problem will hopefully be resolved by the incorporation of a
list of basic rights into the Satversme, which is being
discussed in Latvia at the moment and is expected after the
parliamentary elections later this year.  The second problem is
that citizens of Latvia do not have a right of petition to the
recently established Constitutional Court.  Only a limited
number of state organs can initiate procedures before the
Constitutional Court.

Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is not
illegal in Latvia.  The abovementioned constitutional law "On
the Right and Duties of Citizens and Men" does not guarantee
protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. 
Nor is such protection provided by paragraph 69 of the Criminal
Code.  According to this paragraph, any discrimination on the
basis of race or ethnic origin is a criminal offence.

The Homosexuality Information Centre in Riga is planning to
complete a project later this spring which will examine the
legal disadvantages lesbians and gay men face in Latvia, and
will offer suggestions on legal reform with the goal of
providing homosexuals with legal equality with the rest of
society.  The same project will provide information on the legal
situation of homosexuals in different countries in Europe and
worldwide.   The project will examine the activities regarding
lesbian and gay equality of such organisations as the Council of
Europe, the European Union and the United Nations.  The Latvian
State Human Rights Bureau is extremely interested in and
supports our project.  After the project is completed, the two
organisations are planning a campaign aimed at Latvian State
institutions, MPs, and other officials and politicians, to lobby
for legislative reform.

We would therefore greatly appreciate any information regarding
lesbian and gay rights in other countries.  If you want to know
more about the project or share your information, please contact
Juris Lavrikovs on [email-masked].

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 18:11:41 +0100 (MET)
Subject: EuroLetter 57 - part 2

Unfortunately the last article in EuroLetter 57 was skipped in the mail from 
yesterday. It follows below.

Furthermoer we can inform you that French summaris are avaiable on the French 
FGRD-server at this address:

http://www.france.qrd.org/fqrd/assocs/ilga/euroletter/55-abs.fr.html

New book:
SEXUALITY, YOUTH PROTECTION & HUMAN RIGHTS 

Helmut Graupner, president of the Austrian l/g rights
organisation Rechtskomitee LAMBDA  and co-chairperson of the
Austrian Society for Sex Research, on the International Human
Rights Day (10.12.97) presented his book ,Sexualit„t,
Jugendschutz & Menschenrechte" in the Austrian parliament. The
book is a published version of his doctoral thesis and has been
printed by the Austrian Ministry of Justice whose Commission for
the Revision of the Law on Sexual Offences (appointed in Dec 96)
Graupner is a member.

General principles found in the case law of the European Court
on Human Rights suggest that the European Convention on Human
Rights should be interpreted as providing comprehensive
protection of the right of children and adolescents to sexual
self-determination, namely both the right to effective
protection from (unwanted) sex and abuse and the right to
(wanted) sex.

In his book Graupner examines the extent to which common sexual
offences concerning minors protects this proposed comprehensive
right to sexual self-determination. 

The examination is based upon the findings of natural and social
science as well as an extensive and detailed international
survey of national legal provisions. 

This proposed comprehensive right to sexual self-determination
would oblige legislators to criminalize sexual contacts by and
with sexually immature children. Moreover, general
criminalization of sexual contacts by and with youths under 14
would be permissible. However, age of consent regulations
banning consensual sexual relations by and with adolescents over
the age of 14 would violate this right. Certain offences
targeting "seduction" of minors would be permitted up to age 16,
and the criminalization of misuse of a relationship of authority
would be permitted until full age. Effective screening would
have to be guaranteed to sort out cases which do not require
criminal prosecution. Hetero- and homosexual contacts would have
to be treated equally.

Helmut Graupner (1997): Sexualit„t, Jugendschutz &
Menschenrechte - šber das Recht von Kindern und Jugendlichen auf
sexuelle Selbstbestimmung, 2 Volumes, 1 400 pages, Fft/M, Bern,
Berlin, Paris, Vienna, New York: Peter Lang.

The book can be ordered at:
Peter Lang GmbHEschborner Landstraáe 42-50D-60489
Frankfurt/M.Tel.: +49/69/780705-0 Fax.: +49/69/780705-50
e-mail: [email-masked]

***************************
Steffen Jensen
E-mail: [email-masked] 
http://inet.uni2.dk/~steff
Tel. +45 3324 6435 or +45 2033 0840  Fax: +45 2036 7856