Subject: EuroLetter 58
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 17:12:46 +0100 (MET)

EUROLETTER 58					March 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

A French summary is avaiable at www.france.qrd.org

You can find a link to Euro-Letters at http://www.inet.uni2.dk/~steff
***********************************

In this issue
- LISA GRANT CASE LOST
- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMAL MEETING OF HIGH 
LEVEL OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS ARTICLE 13 OF THE TREATY OF AMSTERDAM
- THIRD SERIES OF MEETINGS BETWEEN EUROPEAN COMMISSION OFFICIALS AND ILGA-EUROPE
- The Belgian Circular on same-sex partnership and immigration
- Latvian official rejects idea of homosexual equality and suggests homosexuals 
keep quiet
- Gay marriage in Slovenia
- FRENCH PARTNERSHIP LAW PLANNED
- AUSTRIA: ADMINISTRATIVE COURT OPENS MARRIAGE FOR TRANSSEXUALS

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

Consolidated versions of the basic treaties of the European Union including 
amendments from the Amsterdam Treaty can be found at this web-site: 
http://ue.eu.int/Amsterdam/en/traiteco/en1.htm

****************************************************
PRESS RELEASE from the Court of Justice
17 February 1998 LISA GRANT case:
DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS NOT COVERED BY THE EQUAL PAY RULES 
OF THE TREATY

The refusal to grant travel concessions for an employee's partner of the same 
sex is not discrimination prohibited by Community law.

The situation may change after the Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force.

Ms Grant is employed by South-West Trains Ltd. That company's contracts of 
employment provide that employees are to enjoy free travel or travel concessions 
on its rail network. Those benefits are extended to an employee's spouse or to 
the partner of opposite sex of an employee if there has been a meaningful 
relationship between these partners for at least two years.

Ms Grant's request for those travel concessions for her female partner was 
refused on the ground that such concessions could be granted only for a spouse 
or for a partner of the opposite sex.

Ms Grant therefore brought proceedings before the Industrial Tribunal, 
Southampton, arguing that the refusal constituted discrimination based on sex, 
contrary to the provisions of Community law on equal pay for men and women. The 
Industrial Tribunal referred questions to the Court concerning the 
interpretation of those provisions: it asked whether the refusal by an employer 
to allow travel concessions for the cohabitee of the same sex with whom an 
employee has a stable relationship constitutes discrimination prohibited by 
Community law, where such concessions are granted to an employee's spouse or to 
the partner of the opposite sex with whom an employee has a stable relationship 
outside marriage.

The Court examined the question in three stages. 
First, it considered whether the limitation of the travel concessions to spouses 
and cohabitees of opposite sex constituted discrimination based directly on the 
sex of the worker. It found that the concessions are refused to a male worker if 
he is living with a person of the same sex, just as they are refused to a female 
worker living with a person of the same sex. The rule could not therefore be 
taken as discrimination based directly on sex, since it applies in the same way 
to female and male workers.

The Court then considered whether Community law requires that stable 
relationships between two persons of the same sex be treated by employers as 
equivalent to marriages or to stable relationships outside marriage between 
persons of opposite sex. The Court noted, firstly, that the Community has not as 
yet adopted rules to that effect and, secondly, that the national laws of the 
Member States contain widely diverging provisions on the point. It also noted 
that the European Commission of Human Rights considers that despite the modern 
evolution of attitudes towards homosexuality, stable homosexual relationships do 
not fall within the scope of the right to respect for family life under the 
European Convention on Human Rights. Consequently, it concluded that, in the 
present state of the law within the Community, stable relationships between 
cohabitees of the same sex are not treated as equivalent to relationships 
between married couples or cohabitees of opposite sex. It is for the legislature 
alone to adopt, if appropriate, measures which may affect that position.

Finally, the Court addressed the question whether, in the light of its case-law 
and certain other international conventions, discrimination based on sexual 
orientation could be treated as discrimination based on sex, which is prohibited 
by Community law. It reached the conclusion that Community law, as it stands at 
present, does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation, such as that 
in point in the case before it.

The Court observed, however, that under the Treaty of Amsterdam the Council will 
be able, on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European 
Parliament, to take measures with a view to eliminating various forms of 
discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation.

For the full text of the judgment, please consult the Internet page 
http://curia.eu.int

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
By Steffen Jensen

The European Parliament adopted 17 February a resolution based on the report on 
Human Rights in Europe 1996. The resolution has a section on Equal rights and 
non-discrimination and the following items are of specific interest to lesbians 
and gay men:  

65. Welcomes the inclusion in Community instruments of non-discrimination 
clauses which provide for a ban on all forms of discrimination;

66. Considers that its above-mentioned resolution of 8 February 1994 on 
homosexuals has led to improvements in many Member States and at Community 
level;

67. Calls on all Member States to recognize equal rights for homosexuals, 
notably through the establishment, where they do not already exist, of civil 
union contracts aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination still suffered 
by homosexuals, in particular as regards tax, inheritance, social rights, etc, 
and, through information and education, to help combat the prejudice to which 
they are subject in society;

68. Calls for the Staff Regulations of officials and other servants of the 
European Communities to be amended without delay so as to guarantee non- married 
partners the same rights as those granted to spouses;

69. Calls once more on the Austrian Government to abrogate its anti- homosexual 
laws, and notably the discriminatory provision regarding the minimum legal age 
for sexual consent;

The full text of the resolution can be found through a link from ILGA-Europe's 
web-site.

INFORMAL MEETING OF HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS ARTICLE 13 OF THE TREATY OF 
AMSTERDAM

The meeting (see details below) is due to take place in Oxford 8-9 April 1998 
and ILGA member groups in the EU member states are requested to contact the 
delegate of their country in order to focus on the need for action in the field 
of discrimination based on sexual orientation, re. e.g. the Grant case. 

As part of the UK Presidency programme, the Department for Education and 
Employment will be hosting an informal meeting of high-level officials to 
discuss options for progress at Community level on Article 13 of the Treaty of 
Amsterdam. The Presidency is working closely on this with the European 
Commission (DG V).

This note sets out the broad purpose and nature of the proposed meetng. It also 
requests that delegations rapidly inform their capitals and identify the most 
appopropriate participant from their Member State.

PURPOSE OF THE MEETING
Article 13 will make a very important advance in the competence of the European 
Union to take action to tackle discrimination in the area of gender, race, 
disability, national origin, religious belief, age and sexual orientation. The 
purpose of the meeting will therefore be to identify the options for: 

type of action at Community level (ranging from legislation to programmes of 
support, dissemination of effective practice and networks of contacts across the 
Union);
the scope of action (ranging from employment to eduction, access to goods and 
services, or more widely still);
possible priorities, in terms of types of discrimination and specific actions.

NATURE OF DISCUSSION
The discussion would be "without commitment" but authoritative and forward 
looking. There will be no formal conclusions, but a record could be produced of 
the key themes and points arising at the meeting (without attribution to a 
particular individual or Member State if that is what participants would 
prefer). The purpose of the report would be to assist the Commission in its 
future deliberations on the ways forward on Article 13, including key contacts 
in the Member States.

DOCUMENTS FOR THE DISCUSSION
The Presidency, working with the Commission, will produce a short list of 
suggested questions for discussion. In addition, each Member State is requested 
to produce a short note (3-4 pages) on their own constitutional and legislative 
provisions, institutions, policies and programmes and other arrangements 
directly relevant to tackling the types of dicrimination identified by Article 
13. These will then be collated and distributed to participants before the 
meeting.

ILGA-EUROPE ACTION PLAN FOLLOW-UP
THIRD SERIES OF MEETINGS BETWEEN EUROPEAN COMMISSION OFFICIALS AND ILGA-EUROPE
by Kurt Krickler

After the first two series of meetings with EU officials in May and December 
1997 (cf. Euro-Letter # 51 and 56), the talks with EU officials continued in 
Brussels on 3 and 4 March 1998. Due to the very positive reply by Commissioner 
Oreja (cf. Euro-Letter # 56 and ILGA-Bulletin 1/98), Directorate General X was 
the main target this time. Kurt Krickler as Co-Chair of the Board met people 
from five different units in DG X and was accompanied in two cases by Égalité 
member Alberto Volpato.

All DG X officials were quite supportive and would encourage ILGA members to 
submit project proposals under the various programmes.
Philippe Cova is in charge of the Raphael programme, and they support, besides 
the cooperation between museums and the restoration of historical sites, 
exhibitions and seminars. Precondition for any project to be funded is that at 
least three member countries are involved. A joint exhibition such as the 
prestigious Berlin show "100 years of gay movement",e.g,. would be eligible for 
funding by DG X. A new call for proposals is due in the period June - September 
1998. Cova also pointed out to the "Community Support for cultural development 
projects", the call for proposals 1998 had a deadline which has already expired 
(1 March) but the programme continues and new calls will be published.

ILGA-Europe was also in telephone contact with Cova's colleague Blanca Sánchez 
Velasco, responsible for European film festivals. Organisers of gay and lesbian 
filmfestivals in Europe should consider to apply for funding from DG X - a new 
call for proposal is due this Spring (probably already in March).

The conversation with Nathalie Labourdette, responsible for among other things 
the new audiovisual media, centered around the issue of the "Green paper on the 
protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual and information services". 
ILGA-Europe pointed out that human dignity must also comprise protection from 
homophobic hatred speech in these new services such as the internet, and that it 
must be avoided that gay and lesbian information be banned from these services 
under the pretext of the protection of minors or morals. It became, however, 
quite clear that the EU is very much building and relying upon self-regulation 
and hot-lines to which people can report illegal or undesired contents of 
providers. ILGA-Europe, therefore, encourage all gay and lesbian users to watch 
out for anti-homosexual propaganda in the new audiovisual services and alert and 
report any incidence. She promised to include ILGA-Europe in the list of 
associations which are regularly consulted on this subject.

Mme Maruja Gutierrez is responsible for publications in DG X. She mentioned that 
80 % of her budget this year is earmarked for information on the single currency 
so that her scope of action is limited. She mentioned that she is preparing 
various leaflets on the Treaty of Amsterdam. The first one has already been 
published, it is a general one but Article 13 has been introduced and "sexual 
orientation" has been mentioned as non-discrimination category. 

The second leaflet is now under preparation. It is specifically on Article 13 
and prejudices which are presented by way of a comic strip. It should be used in 
schools as a starting point for discussing the various forms of discrimination. 
Gutierrez provided a first draft of the comic which in general is quite good. 
Gays are included, lesbians, however, not. 

ILGA-Europe, therefore, sent a fax after having studied the draft and asked for 
including lesbians in one of the comics. ILGA-Europe offered to provide a list 
of lesbian and gay groups in the various EU member states to be appendixed in 
the leaflet in order to allow interested teachers to contact these groups. 
ILGA-Europe has already provided such a list. Such an address list could again 
be included in the third planned leaflet on the Treaty. Gutierrez also agreed to 
add ILGA-Europe to the list of organisations she would consult on her various 
projects. It was discussed that her unit could also do various publications, f. 
inst. a short leaflet on the conclusions and recommendations of the ILGA-Europe 
report in the context of the EU project "Equality for Lesbians and Gay Men - A 
Relevant Issue in the Civil and Social Dialogue" or translations of the report 
in languages others than provided by the project itself. ILGA-Europe also 
presented the Manifesto '98 and asked her to consider to support this activity. 
ILGA-Europe will come back to her about that.

The conversation with Santiago Herrero Villa centered around various programmes 
including "Building Europe Together" which again would be an appropriate 
programme under which ILGA members could submit project proposals. The two main 
targets of the new call for proposals (due to be published in the Official 
Journal around 20 March) are youth and women. Most of the projects funded under 
this programme are seminars dealing with all kinds of issues.

The possibilities of huge programmes such as MEDIA were also discussed; they are 
designed for TV channels and broadcast productions and are probably too 
ambitious for ILGA members.

ILGA-Europe also presented the Manifesto '98 to Herrero and asked him to 
consider to support a campaign (posters, video clips etc.) to promote 
non-discrimination. There seen to be financing possibilities also for a 
conference/meeting in the margin of the ILGA European conference in Linz in 
October 1998. 

The question of a European survey on the state of discrimination vis-à-vis gays 
and lesbians (opinion polls) was also raised and will be addressed by him with 
the responsible person, Ms. Melich. 

The last meeting in DG X was with Jaime Andreu, responsible for sports. He 
mentioned that gay and lesbian sports events in principle would be eligible for 
support by the EU and that, in fact, the Amsterdam Gay Games have applied for 
funding. There is a new policy not to give small sums, any project that does not 
need big funding should be financed on a local or regional basis. The minimum 
support by the EU programmes would be 50,000 ECU. The EURATLON programme will 
launch a new call for proposals in June (deadline end of October). Money would 
not only be available for events such as the Eurogames or Gay Games but also for 
studies or info campaigns (f. inst. AIDS in the sports, anti-violence, 
anti-racism). 

Additionally, Kurt Krickler met with Georges Vlandas of DG XVI as proposed by 
Commissioner Monika Wulf-Mathies. The only programme that may be used for gay 
and lesbian projects would be ECOS-OUVERTURE. However, this seems to be very 
ambitious. It would involve the participation of local or regional authorities. 
One idea could be a cooperation between cities about equal opportunities offices 
for gays and lesbians.

It has been said before: The success of the Action Plan will depend on a large 
extent upon the commitment and creativity of ILGA members and their ability to 
make use of the financial possibilities which exists for funding by the EU. 
ILGA-Europe, therefore, encourages again all member organisations to consider 
submitting projects to the Commission.

More information about various other programmes and contact persons in the EU 
Commission has been published in the ILGA-Bulletin # 1/98 (pp. 5-6) and can be 
found on ILGA-Europe's website.

The Belgian Circular on same-sex partnership and immigration
By Alan Reekie

The Circular Letter issued by the Belgian Minister Vande Lanotte (Flemish 
Socialist party) on 30 September 1997 defines the status of same-sex 
partnerships in which one partner is not a Belgian citizen (Based on the article 
by Chille Deman in "Tels Quels", March 1998)  

As  relatively little information about the Circular Letter issued by the 
Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Vande Lanotte, on 30th September 1997 has so 
far appeared in the French-language media, the following description of its 
provisions may be of interest. 

The Circular Letter, which bears the title: "Circular regarding the granting of 
a residence permit on the basis of co-habitation during a long-lasting 
relationship", is addressed to the mayor of every municipality in Belgium.  
 
In the introduction, the Minister observes that most relationships now begin by 
a period of co-habitation outside marriage, and that the number of "cross-border 
relationships" is increasing. Some people get married as an obligation, rather 
than out of conviction. "Furthermore, it is evident that the homosexual partner 
of a Belgian citizen or of a foreign citizen who is entitled, or has been 
authorised, to live in Belgium cannot at present obtain permission to stay in 
Belgium on the basis of that relationship. (...) Indeed, such discrimination 
against homosexual partners is unacceptable in our society. Consequently, it is 
appropriate to grant residence permits directly to these persons on the basis of 
co-habitation win the context of a long-lasting relationship, provided they 
comply with a certain number of strict conditions that are intended to prevent 
any abuse."

The conditions are as follows:
1. One of the partners must be Belgian, or a citizen of the European Union, or a 
foreigner holding a Belgian residence permit valid for not less than three 
months (asylum-seekers are thus excluded).
2. Neither partner may already be married.
3. Both partners must be not less than 18 years old. 
4. It must be proved that the relationship is long-lasting.
5. The partners must co-habit during the whole time of their relationship.
6. They must have a shared household, in accordance with a binding 'contract for 
living together' prepared by a notary public and signed within six months from 
the date on which a provisional residence permit has been issued. This contract 
must specify that the Belgian citizen (or other person already entitled to live 
in Belgium) is legally responsible, if necessary, for any debts incurred by his 
partner for the first three and a half years of residence. 
7. The partner already living in Belgium must have a stable net income of not 
less than 35,000 BEF (about $US1000) a month.
8. The partner already living in Belgium must sign an indemnity by which he 
commits himself to repay any of the costs that might be incurred by the Belgian 
state or any local social security agency, including those for health care or 
the repatriation of the other partner, during the first three and a half years 
of his presence in Belgium.
9. The person seeking a residence permit for himself under these provisions must 
provide a certificate of good behaviour ("certificat de bonne vie et moeurs").

The procedure
Where the person seeking a residence permit for him/herself under these 
provisions already holds a residence permit (eg as a student) (s)he may apply 
for it in Belgium. Where that person does not already hold a residence permit, 
the application must be made from his/her country of nationality. There is a 
long list of documents that must accompany the application.

The decision
The applicant who satisfies all the conditions initially receives a provisional 
residence permit valid for six months. This can then be renewed for one year at 
a time. After a period of continuous residence for three years six months, the 
provisional permit is replaced by a permanent one for an unlimited duration. It 
should be noted that provisional residence permit- holders are not allowed to 
obtain employment.

This residence permit is not granted where the claimed relationship is a sham, 
and the circular gives a list of grounds for suspicion that this may be the 
case. For example, where one partner engages in prostitution, or where their 
ages are very different. 

Furthermore, the Circular states that "the mayor of the municipality where the 
partners are in fact living should organise an inspection from time to time so 
as to confirm that they are indeed co-habiting." 

The Circular also lists the circumstances in which the provisional residence 
permit should be revoked and the holder ordered to leave Belgian territory. On 
the other hand, it states that the permit may be renewed where there are 
humanitarian grounds for doing so (eg to avoid disrupting the relationship with 
children who have been brought up by the partners).
----
While the discriminatory provisions defined by this Circular certainly represent 
considerable progress compared with the previous complete disregard of same-sex 
partnerships in this context, they also indicate that there is still significant 
prejudice against homosexuality within the Belgian administration. Regardless of 
their sexual orientation, relatively few people would be willing to commit 
themselves to taking full legal responsibility during three and a half years for 
a foreign partner who is forbidden to take employment - and unlikely to be able 
to find it again after such a long period of idleness.  As recognised by the 
Circular itself, many cross-border relationships begin during brief visits 
abroad, and the outright hostility towards - or at best the lack of legal 
recognition of - same-sex partnerships in many parts of the world inevitably 
prevent most of those concerned from satisfying the bureacratic requirement to 
demonstrate an existing long-term relationship. But until the Belgian government 
has enacted legislation providing for the legal recognition of same-sex domestic 
partnerships among its own citizens, it would not be realistic to expect 
anything more positive.

Latvian official rejects idea of homosexual equality and suggests homosexuals 
keep quiet
By Juris-Ludwig Lavrikos

The Latvian lesbian and gay organisation has been working for a number of years 
on legislative amendments which would provide equality and legal protection for 
non-heterosexual citizens. Recently the Latvian State Human Rights Office has 
joined in our efforts and now supports our claims. Moreover, the Office 
organises monthly TV programmes and a series of articles in the press on human  
rights, including those of homosexuals. One such TV programme broadcast on St  
Valentine's Day was about homosexual rights. Representatives of the homosexual  
movement, the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, medical authorities and  
clergy were invited to take part in the discussion. The most reluctant was the 
representative of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, Mr Antons Seiksts, 
who beleives that it is not the right time to deal with the problems of 
homosexuals, since there are many other "more urgent" problems in Latvia to be 
resolved. On another occasion, answering a question put by the weekly newspaper 
"Fokuss": "Are the rights of homosexuals violated in Latvia?", which opened 
Fokuss' weekly discussion on the issue of homosexual rights, Mr Seiksts 
confidently replied "No". He continued: "What is happening today in Latvia in 
this area (homosexual claims for equality) is possible only because of the 
present circumstances of the establishment of a new democracy. Further stirring 
up of the issue of sexual rights will inevitably cause confrontation between 
homosexuals and the rest of society, incomprehension and even a backlash on the 
part of society, which would not be in the interests of sexual minorities. 
Legislative changes are not necessary at this time, since demands to legalise 
same-sex marriage and to allow the adoption of children by same-sex couples are 
absolutely unreasonable, even in the light of human rights."

Gay marriage in Slovenia
By Ales Pecnik

After several attempts by activists to force the government to adopt registrated 
partnership legislation, Slovenian government finally began working on it by 
forming a workgroup. The workgroup consists of six members, one of them is 
representative of Slovenian national gay and lesbian organization Roza klub and 
one of them is representative of gay group Magnus and lesbian group LL.

The group's mission is to prepare a draft of a registrated partnership law. On 
government's request, another draft has already been prepared by the Institute 
for Civil, Comparative and  International Law at the Faculty of Law of the 
University of Maribor. This draft is totally unacceptable by Slovenian gay and 
lesbian movement because there are no legal consequences for registered partners 
except for a piece of paper. Because of this - according to Mr Tone Bricman, 
representative of Roza klub in the workgroup - the draft has no chance of 
receiving sufficient support from the workgroup.

Media has reported widely about the formation of the workgroup, vast majority of 
articles being positive.

Previous attempts for legalization of gay and lesbian marriage in Slovenia 
include:
- A motion from the government's Bureau for Women's Politics to the government, 
which proposed deletion of the part of marriage law which requires the partners 
to be of the opposite genders. The motion was never taken seriously by the 
government.
- A motion from a gay couple and a group of gay and lesbian couples to Slovenian 
Constitutional Court (the highest court in the country) to find the part of the 
marriage law, which requires the partners to be of the opposite genders, 
unconstitutional. The motion was later withdrawn by the proposers because they 
estimated that the court wouldn't find that article unconstitutional.

FRENCH PARTNERSHIP LAW PLANNED
By Rex Wockner

The government of France is planning to change its civil code so cohabiting gay 
couples can sign contracts that give them most of the legal and tax benefits of 
matrimony.

The "common interest pacts" also will be available to heterosexual lovers and 
couples whose relationship is not sexual.
The scheme will not extend rights to adoption or state-funded artificial 
insemination.

Other nations with marriage-like gay-partnership laws include Denmark, 
Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

AUSTRIA: ADMINISTRATIVE COURT OPENS MARRIAGE FOR TRANSSEXUALS
by Helmut Graupner, Rechtskomitee LAMBDA, Vienna

Austria´s Administrative Court in a decision of 30.09.1997 opened marriage for 
transsexuals. According to the ruling a sex change operation effects that the 
person also legally changes its gender and therefore it is allowed to marry 
members of its former (biological) gender. There is no law in Austria regulating 
sex change operations or the legal status of Transgender-Persons.

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