Date:          Thu, 9 Mar 1995 15:23:23 CET
Reply-To: mszymczy@urm.gov.pl

Hungary high court gives blessing to gay couples
    By Blaise Szolgyemy
    BUDAPEST, March 8 (Reuter) - Hungary's Constitutional Court
struck down a law barring homosexuals from common-law marriage
on Wednesday, effectively making Hungary the first East European
nation to extend traditional rights to gay couples.
    The court ruled as unconstitutional the definition that
common-law marriages were "those formed between adult men and
women".
    "It is arbitrary and contrary to human dignity...that the
law (on common-law marriages) withholds recognition from couples
living in an economic and emotional union simply because they
are same-sex," the court said in a statement.
    But the court also ruled that formal, civil marriages are
still off-limits to homosexual couples.
    "The constitution protects the institution of (civil)
marriages, and defines it as a union between a man and a woman,"
it said.
    "Despite growing acceptance of homosexuality...(and) changes
in the traditional definition of a family, there is no reason to
change the law on (civil) marriages."
    The court sent the law on common-law marriages, called Ptk
578/G, back to the legislature, saying the law should be changed
or a new legislation should be enacted to extend the common-law
rights to gay couples by March 1, 1996.
    Under Hungarian regulations, common-law marriage gives
virtually all the rights to partners that registered marriages
offer, said a constitutional lawyer close to the case who
requested anonymity.
    Common-law marriages are recognised when a couple live
together permanently and are involved in a sexual relationship,
he said.
    The Constitutional Court wants the legislature to give gays
the same economic rights, such as access to social benefits,
heterosexual couples now enjoy, he said.
    The court might accept a law that bars homosexuals from
adopting children, he added.
    Hungarian homosexual leaders welcomed the decision.
    "I believe that the court's ruling is the first step in a
long road," said Lajos Romsauer, a leader and founder of the
Hungarian homosexual organisation Homeros.
    "The court gave a green light to the parliament and to the
government to change the laws." Homeros was one of the groups
that petitioned the court to give homosexuals the right to marry
in 1993.
    Romsauer said he was not concerned that the Constitutional
Court barred homosexuals from registering their marriage.
    "I don't think it's the name that matters, but the rights,"
he said.
    Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands have
granted same-sex couples similar rights as heterosexuals, he
said.
    In Eastern Europe, where homosexuality was against the law
in many countries until recently, same-sex marriages have not
been allowed, he added.
    International gay groups have criticised former communist
states for intolarance. They said last year Romania kept some 70
people in jail for being homosexual.