Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 18:37:17 +0100 (NFT) From: Bj|rn Skolander Subject: Egalite From the Bulletin - April 21 1994 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE A new action group is fighting institutionalized discrimination. Jo Brew reports. Thousands of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals who are putting their time and energy into creating the new Europe are suffering discrimination because of their sexuality, claims Egalite, a new action group representing people working for the major European institutions. "Married couples where one partner is employed by the European Commission get benefits such as bereavement leave, pensions and joint health insurance. Same sex couples are denied these rights," says Egalite president, Susan Jolly, assistant to British Labour MEP Mal Read. Egalite board member Carla Kessels is one such person. Kessels, a translator in the Council of Ministers, joined Egalite to fight discrimination which affects her personally. "My friend is American and living in the States," Kessels explains. "She can't get a work permit here, and if she came over, she'd be completely dependent on me. If I was living in Holland, we could register as a couple and she'd be able to work." Kessels, like many of Egalite's members, is open at work about her sexuality. "I came out last year and haven't had any problems," she says. "I told them I'd met the woman of my life." Illustrating her colleagues acceptance of her lesbianism, Kessels was recently elected staff representative. Nils Koch, who works at the Commission, joined the group for similar reasons. "I live in a couple and I want partnership rights," he explains. "For instance, if I die, why shouldn't my boyfriend get my pension?" He thinks that given that he pays the same social insurance as heterosexual people, he should be entitled to similar benefits. Some of Egalite's 180 members are less confident. "I'm afraid," said one Luxembourg-based woman, who preferred to remain anonymous. "I'm on a list for promotion, along with eighty others. I'm worried that the director general might discriminate against me." Egalite is trying to alleviate such fears. They have five working groups: - support for couples with EU and non-EU partners - HIV and Aids - European policy - EU staff regulations - social activities They are active in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, and membership is open to anyone. The group's biggest triumph so far has been helping to get the Roth report passed by the European Parliament in February. The report, which so outraged the Pope that he issued an 80-page statement damning homosexuality, calls for full equality for lesbians and gays. "Although the Roth report doesn'thave the power of law." says Susan Jolly, "it adds legitimacy to the lesbian and gay cause. In the long run Egalite is going to have an effect on European policy. Changing EU staff regulations would set a precedent - a publicly funded institution recognizing gay partnerships." The pope might be against them, but Bruce Millan is on their side. Last summer, the British Commissioner sent a letter saying he supported the broad aims of the group. Dutch Commissioner Karel Van Miert, too, has welcomed Egalite as "an interesting initiative...that will have an important educational function in its efforts to combat discrimination." The group also has the support of the only openly gay MEP, Herman Verbeek from Holland. When he spoke to the group this March he explained why he felt obliged to be honest about his sexuality. "How can you be homosexual, as an elected representative, and hide it? That way you don't give the 340 million citizens of Europe, many of whom are certainly lesbian and gay, the chance to be represented by a homosexual?" Typed by Bjorn after an article provided by Egalite.