use. Europe ------ General info: Quite a lot has changed in the new Europe. In Eastern Europe, where gays used to be imprisoned or committed to psychiatric hospitals, the new democratic states have realized that homosexuality is not a disease, but merely another life style that there is no reason to fight. The lowest legal age of consent is found in Spain (12) and in Albania, Italy and Iceland (14). In most of the former Yugoslav republics as well as the former Soviet and Soviet-dominated states, homosexual relations are still illegal. This holds for countries such as Lithuania, Ro- mania and Russia, even though there is strong international pressure upon these countries to change their unfair legislation. Although Ireland is a member of the EEC, and the country has been ordered to change her legislation by the european Court of Human Rights, the ban on homosexual activities still has not been removed. The Ukraine is the only one of the former Soviet republics that has passed legislation permitting homosexuality. Despite the generally positive experiences with the Baltic countries, Estonia and Latvia did not change their legislation until this spring (1992). Lithuania still has not changed its legislation, and there are no signs of it happening any time soon. On the contrary, there are reports of persecution, imprisonment and long-term prison sentences or forced treatment in psychiatric hospitals. Lately, a 17-year old boy was sentenced to 4 years of labor camp. In Russia, a lifting of the infamous section 121 of the penal code which bans male homosexuality, has been under way for several years. Given the negative attitude towards gays held by Boris Jeltsin, a change of the legislation seems to hold very long prospects. Country Legal age of consent -------------------------------------------- Albania 14 Belgium 16 Bosnia-Herzegovina illegal Bulgaria 21 Cyprus 16 Denmark 15 Estonia 18 Finland 18 France 15 Greece 15 Holland 16 Belo-Russia illegal Ireland illegal Iceland 14 Isle of Man 21 Italy 14 Croatia 18 Latvia 18 Liechtenstein 18 Lithuania illegal Luxembourg 18 Macedonia illegal Malta 18 Montenegro 18 Norway 16 Poland 15 Portugal 16 Romania illegal Russia illegal Switzerland 16 Serbia illegal Slovenia 16 Spain 12 Great Britain 21 Sweden 15 Czechoslovakia 15 Turkey 18 Germany 16 Ukraine 18 Hungary 18 Austria 18 -- Henrik Storner - storner@olivetti.dk Tech. Support Olivetti Denmark