Subject: [euroletter] EUROLETTER 78
From: "Steffen Jensen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 01:48:25 +0100 <mailto:[email-masked]>

EURO-LETTER

No. 78					     March 2000

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.steff.suite.dk Fax: +45 4049 5297 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 by sending an empty message to  [email-masked]  and
from no 30 onwards the Euro-Letters are available on the Internet at
http://www.steff.suite.dk/eurolet.htm and at
http://www.france.qrd.org/assocs/ilga/euroletter.html

IN THIS ISSUE
SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION ENDEMIC IN EUROPE CONCLUDES REPORT TO
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS AGAIN FOR RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF LESBIANS AND
GAY MEN
SWEDISH LEGISLATION TO GIVE GAY FOREIGNERS PARTNERSHIP RIGHTS
PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS ON THE THIRD REICH
AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE ON "ANTI-DISCRIMINATION" PACKAGE

Documents relating to ILGA-Europe can be found at ILGA-Europe's homepage
http://www.steff.suite.dk/ilgaeur/

SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION ENDEMIC IN EUROPE CONCLUDES REPORT TO
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
By ILGA-Europe

The most comprehensive report ever published on sexual orientation
discrimination in Europe demonstrates very clearly that discrimination
against lesbian, gay and bisexual persons remains endemic and extremely
serious in Europe.

The report has been prepared by ILGA-Europe as a submission to the Legal
Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe. This Committee is collecting evidence on the situation of
lesbians and gays in Europe, with a view to making recommendations to
national governments and the Council of Europe on combating discrimination.

The report's findings include that:

Homophobic violence is common, even in countries like Sweden which are world
leaders in their support for lesbian and gay rights;
Many states are themselves guilty of oppression and discrimination: for
example, in 3 European countries or territorial entities same-sex
relationships remain criminal, while in a further 19 discriminatory sexual
offences provisions remain on the statute books; moreover, in many countries
the state continues to discriminate in employment, particularly in the Armed
Forces;
In some countries in Europe oppressive attitudes remain so dominant that no
lesbian and gay community of any sort is able to exist, while in many
countries lesbians face even greater isolation and marginalisation than gay
men;
Young lesbians and gays face problems of particular severity: peer pressure
to conform, homophobic bullying, rejection by the family, absence of
relevant sex education, absence of support groups and discriminatory age of
consent laws;

There is much discrimination and harassment at the workplace, but only 9 of
the 41 member states of the Council of Europe provide specific protection;
The absence of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships often gives rise
to hardship and serious practical problems, yet only 7 countries in Europe
provide a significant degree of such recognition.

Three areas of general concern are particularly stressed:

The fact that, for many politicians and religious leaders in Europe it
remains both legitimate and respectable to express homophobic opinions, in
terms that would be wholly unacceptable for any other minority;
The extent to which the expression of these opinions, not infrequently in
extreme and inflammatory terms, underpins and sanctions the other forms of
discrimination, harassment and violence faced by the lesbian, gay and
bisexual community;
The fact that, when it comes to the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual
people, the fundamental principle that "all people are born free and equal
in dignity and rights" (Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights) is
ignored by legislators and opinion formers of all persuasions.

On the positive side, the report documents the world-wide trend in recent
years towards recognising freedom from discrimination on the grounds of
sexual orientation as a fundamental right, and stresses the leading role
played in this development by the Council of Europe.

The report includes an appendix setting out a list of recommendations for
national governments and the Council of Europe to adopt in tackling
homophobic discrimination. Particular importance is attached to the express
inclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination in
the proposed new Protocol No 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights
(see section on the Council of Europe below).

Nico Beger, ILGA-Europe co-representative to the Council of Europe,
commented: "the Parliamentary Assembly has recently taken a very positive
step in recommending that "sexual orientation" be included in the list of
prohibited grounds of discrimination in the new draft Protocol No 12 of the
European Convention.  We are now optimistic that they will come up with
strong recommendations both for national governments and for the Council of
Europe itself in extending the fight against discrimination."

Her co-delegate, Nigel Warner, added: "it is striking that in so many
countries in Europe it is the established churches which are at the centre
of opposition to lesbian and gay rights (including some initiatives by the
Council of Europe). It is anomalous that the leaders of a religion with the
basic tenet "love thy neighbour as thyself" should be so insistent on
denying equal rights to fellow human beings for no better reason than that
they love a person of the same sex; and even more anomalous, that they
should do so in terms which can sometimes be virulent and inflammatory".

The full text of ILGA Europe's submission to the Legal Affairs and Human
Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly can be found at:
http://www.steff.suite.dk/final_report.rtf

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
The Council of Europe's main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights
and the rule of law throughout its member states. Founded in the wake of the
Second World War, it is the continent's most important human rights
organisation, with some 41 member states committed to observing its human
rights standards.  The European Convention on Human Rights is the most
significant of its many human rights treaties. The European Court of Human
Rights settles complaints of violations of this Convention.

The Council of Europe is governed by the Foreign Ministers of its member
states (who together form its decision-making body, the "Committee of
Ministers") and by Representatives from their parliaments (who make up its
"Parliamentary Assembly".) More information on the Council can be obtained
from its website, http://www.coe.fr

The Committee of Ministers is currently considering the adoption of a new
Protocol (Protocol No 12) to the European Convention on Human Rights.  The
purpose of this Protocol is to strengthen the anti-discrimination provisions
of the Convention.  The Parliamentary Assembly recommended in January 2000
that this Protocol should make specific reference to sexual orientation
discrimination in the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination, in view
of its "odious" and "serious" nature. The verbatim report of the Assembly's
opinion and debate can be found at: http://stars.coe.fr/index_e.htm (click
on the "Parliamentary Works", and the "Sitting Documents" or "Reports on
Debates" or  The draft Protocol 12 can be found at
http://www.coe.fr/cm/dec/1999/677bis/42.htm

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS AGAIN FOR RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF LESBIANS AND
GAY MEN

On 16 March, 2000, the European Parliament adopted its report and resolution
on the respect for human rights in the European Union for 1998-99 (EP
document A5-0050/2000). Once more, the EP calls for granting equal rights to
non-married couples, including of the same-sex, as to married couples. The
EP also denounced the continuing social and legal discrimination of gays and
lesbians, expressing special concerns with regard to the continuous age of
consent discrimination in Austria where people still are imprisoned under
the notorious Article 209. The EP calls for the repeal of this article and
the release from prison of all those jailed on the basis of it. It also
calls upon six of the accession countries to repeal their anti-homosexual
penal code provisions (for the full text of the relevant parts of the
resolution, see below).

"ILGA-Europe, who has been lobbying for the appropriate consideration of the
human rights concerns of gays and lesbians in the report and in the
resolution both towards rapporteur Bertel Haarder, the EP Committee on
Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs and before the full
plenary, welcomes the adequate representation of these concerns in the
resolution adopted with great majority", says ILGA-Europe co-chair Kurt
Krickler. "ILGA-Europe is very pleased to see that several of the amendments
we have proposed to the Parliament have been taken on board and been
adopted", adds co-chair Jackie Lewis .

FULL TEXT OF THE EP RESOLUTION - PARTS DEALING WITH SEXUAL ORIENTATION:

The European Parliament,

[under the heading of:] LIFE STYLES AND TYPES OF RELATIONSHIP

56. Calls on Member States to guarantee one-parent families, unmarried
couples and same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional
couples and families, particularly as regards tax law, pecuniary rights and
social rights;

57. Notes with satisfaction that, in a very large number of Member States,
there is growing legal recognition for extramarital cohabitation,
irrespective of gender; calls on the Member States  if they have not
already done so  to amend their legislation recognising registered
partnerships of persons of the same sex and assigning them the same rights
and obligations as exist for registered partnerships between men and women;
calls on those States which have not yet granted legal recognition to amend
their legislation to grant legal recognition of extramarital cohabitation,
irrespective of gender; considers, therefore, that rapid progress should be
made with mutual recognition of the different legally recognised non-marital
modes of cohabitation and legal marriages between persons of the same sex in
the EU;

58. Notes, however, that European citizens continue to suffer discrimination
and disadvantages in their personal and professional life as a result of
their sexual orientation; calls therefore on the Member States and the EU
institutions concerned to remedy such situations urgently;

59. Deplores the fact that some Member States still have a discriminatory
age-of-consent provision for homosexual relations in their criminal codes as
well as other forms of discrimination, in particular within the army,
although various competent human rights bodies and Parliament itself have
condemned these provisions; repeats its demand for such clauses to be
repealed;

60. Notes with satisfaction that the United Kingdom is undertaking to change
the relevant legislation, but notes with deep concern that Austria continues
to apply Article 209 of its Penal Code in persecuting homosexuals; urges
Austria once more to repeal this discriminatory provision, and immediately
to give amnesty to and to release from prison all persons imprisoned because
of this provision;

Human rights situation in the applicant countries

76. Calls on candidate countries to ratify all the Council of Europe
Conventions on human rights and calls on Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary,
Lithuania and Romania to remove from their penal codes all laws which entail
discrimination against lesbians and homosexuals;

77. States that the European Union will reject the accession of any
applicant country which, either in its legislation or in its practice, fails
to guarantee respect for human rights;

SWEDISH LEGISLATION TO GIVE GAY FOREIGNERS PARTNERSHIP RIGHTS
By the Swedish Ministry of Justice
Registering partnerships in Sweden is to be made more widely available to
foreigners. This is proposed in a government bill to the Riksdag.

For a partnership to be registered in Sweden today, there is a requirement
that at least one of the parties is a Swedish citizen resident in Sweden.
This denies two gay foreigners the ability to register their partnership in
Sweden. For example two gay foreigners who have lived in Sweden for a long
time or who were born in Sweden and have lived there all their life are not
able to register their partnership.

The Government now proposes that it should be possible to register a
partnership in Sweden if one of the parties has had habitual residence here
for at least two years. If the partner is a citizen of Sweden, Denmark,
Iceland, the Netherlands or Norway, there is no requirement that habitual
residence should have been for two years, it is sufficient that the partner
has habitual residence in Sweden.

The proposed amendment to the law means that Sweden will be the Nordic
country that goes the farthest regarding possibilities for foreign citizens
to register a partnership.

'The purpose of the amendment is to remove an unnecessary limitation and
make it possible for foreign citizens to enter into partnerships in Sweden,'
the Minister for Justice, Ms Laila Freivalds, says.

The Danish Partnership Act was recently amended so that Swedes in Denmark
can enter into partnerships there and similar amendments are also now being
prepared in Norway and Iceland so that Swedes who live in these countries
will be able to enter into partnerships there.

According to the proposal, the amendment should enter into force on 1 July
2000.

PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS ON THE THIRD REICH
Resolution agreed by the International Colloquium "The Persecution of
Homosexuals in the Third Reich"
on 12/13 February 2000 in Berlin

Immediate Rehabilitation of the Homosexual Victims of the National Socialist
Judicial System

The participants of the International Colloquium "The Persecution of
Homosexuals in the Third Reich" (held in February 2000 in Berlin by the Pink
Triangle Coalition, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights

Commission, and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, related to the German green
party) demand the rapid and complete legal rehabilitation of the homosexual
victims of the Nazi judicial system. We call upon the German federal
government and the German Bundestag to take immediate action in this regard.

In 1935, the national socialists severely tightened the provisions of § 175
of the criminal code, both in defining the "crime" of homosexuality and its
possible punishment. Any type of sexual conduct between men was threatened
with punishment. For some Nazi judges, even "covetous looks" were enough to
constitute the crime. In the years 1935-1945, the Nazi judiciary convicted
over 50,000 people for homosexual "lewdness." To this day, individuals
convicted pursuant to Nazi § 175 have still not received any type of
compensation, nor have they been legally rehabilitated.

In June 1998, the German Bundestag passed a "Law to Annul Unjust Sentences
Imposed During the National Socialist Administration of Criminal Justice."

Two groups were excluded from the wholesale annulment of unjust Nazi
sentences: deserters and homosexuals. This gap in the Nazi Annulment Law
must now finally be closed. The sentences imposed on homosexual victims by
the Nazi judiciary pursuant to §§ 175 and 175a, No. 4, RStGB (Reich Criminal
Code) must likewise be officially set aside in a wholesale manner.

The city of Hamburg and the PDS group in the Bundestag have recently
initiated legislation to this effect in independant initatives. We call upon
the Bundestag, the German government, and the other German states to support
that initiatives and translate it into action. Those who refuse to do this
are perpetuating injustice.

Paragraph 175 retained validity, in its exact 1935 version, in the Federal
Republic of Germany until 1969. As such, even following the end of the Nazi
dictatorship, it has gravely affected perspectives of the lives of
homosexuals. We demand that the German Bundestag apologize for this
injustice and gives collective reparation, e.g. by the restoration of a
Magnus Hirschfeld Institute on Sex Research in Berlin. We demand individual
rehabilitation and compensation for all victims, anyway, if the injustice
was sustained before or after 1945.

Letters of support for these demands:
These are the addresses to send demands to: federal ministry of justice:

An die Bundesministerin der Justiz, Frau Prof. Dr. Herta Daeubler-Gmelin,
Jerusalemer Str. 24 - 28, 11015 Berlin, Germany

German Bundestag (Parliament) comittee on justice (addressed to the
chairman):

An den Vorsitzenden des Rechtsausschusses ,Herrn Prof. Dr. Rupert Scholz,
Deutscher Bundestag, 11011 Berlin,  Germany

We would appriciate to get copies of the letters:
LSVD Projekt Erinnern und Gedenken, Katzbachstr. 5, 10965 Berlin
e-mailto:<[email-masked]> and <guenter [email-masked]>

AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE ON "ANTI-DISCRIMINATION" PACKAGE

Brussels, 13/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Social Affairs Council opened
work by providing its agreement in principle to the "anti-discrimination"
package proposed end-November by the European Commission.

Ministers hope that it will be adopted at the Social Council to be held in
June, thus before the Feira Summit. EUROPE recalls that this package
comprises:

a) a directive banning discrimination in matters of employment due to race,
racial or ethnic origin, religion or convictions, a disablement, age or
sexual orientation;

b) a directive banning discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin in
the field of work, education, access to goods or services, as well a social
protection and cultural activities;

c) a Community action programme (2001-2006) intended to support Member
States and complete the implementation of directives through information and
experience exchange and by the dissemination of good practices in
legislative and non-legislative fields.

Steffen Jensen
E-mail: [email-masked]
http://www.steff.suite.dk
Fax: + 45 4049 5297

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