Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 04:34 GMT+0200 From: Lewis Taylor Subject: News form Swedish Gay/Lesbian Politics, no 9 1994 News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics Published by the Swedish Federation for Gay and Lesbian Rights (RFSL), P.O.Box 350, S-101 26 STOCKHOLM, Sweden. +46-8-736 02 13. +46-8-30 47 30. No. 9/94 (February 28th-March 6th, 1994) 1 Formal remarks from the National Board for Intercountry Adoption In its formal remarks, the National Board for Intercountry Adoption, supports the proposal of the Partnership Commission that homosexuals should not be given the possibility to adopt children: "Homosexuals are a group that still, in some contexts, is exposed in a way that may negatively influence the child's assimilation to the environment. Children must not be used to improve other people's circumstances, e.g. to make individuals or groups get a better reputation or become more established in the society." 2 Formal remarks from Adoption Center Sweden Adoption Center Sweden has not submitted its formal remarks concerning the report of the Partnership Commission. Adoption Center supports those of the Commission's proposals that concern adoption, i.e. that partners will not be able to adopt children: "Homosexuals is a group in the society today, that is exposed to discrimination and prejudice, which may influence the environment for the children in the family." "Grown-up adopted people have contacted Adoption Center and protested against adoption children being brought to homosexuals. It has occurred that a child has been adopted by a single person, that in reality has been a homosexual cohabitant and this fact has not been clear in the home inquiry, conducted by the social services committee. One example of what the adopted young people have considered difficult during their up-bringing has been exactly their particular situation compared to other friends and being commented upon for having two mummies." 3 University of Lund In its formal remarks, the board of the Faculty of Law at the University of Lund proposes approval of all the proposals of the Partnership Commission: "The board of the faculty particularly wants to express its support for the legislation technique chosen by the Commission, i.e. that through a main clause, the legal consequences between a partnership and marriage are equalized as well as between cohabitants of the same sex with cohabitants of different sexes. The Commission has succeeded in limiting the exceptions from this principle to a minimum and thereby achieved a high degree of desirable equality between heterosexual and homosexual family formations." 4 Amnesty reacts on Romanian draft legislation Amnesty International has written to Adrian Nastase, President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to express its concern over the new draft legislation concerning gay men and lesbians (see News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics 32/93, 38/93, 41/93 and 5/94). According to a press release, Amnesty is "concerned that the amendment of Article 200 in the Draft Law for the Revision of the Penal Code, which has been forwarded for adoption to the Chamber of Deputies, does not fulfill these standards. Paragraph 1 of the article states: 'Sexual relations between persons of the same sex, if they cause public scandal, are punishable by one to five years' imprisonment.' This incorporates a legal standard - public scandal - into the law in force. Amnesty International believes that the breadth of this legal standard could lead to varying and contradictory judicial interpretation. The human rights organization is concerned that 'causing public scandal' could be interpreted to allow the prosecution in Romania of adults solely because of consensual homosexual acts in private, which are not criminal if carried out in similar circumstances by heterosexuals. This would be considered by Amnesty International to be a violation of the non-discrimination principle in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which has been ratified by Romania. The principle guarantees to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." 5 Ads against partnership During the week, a number of dailies, e.g. Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Norrkoepings Tidningar and Bohuslaenningen, have published an ad with the headline "Defend the marriage!" The text of the ad is: "In this way we want to appeal to the Government and Parliament of Sweden not to approve of the weak majority proposal of the Partnership Commission and pass a Partnership act for homosexuals. Marriage between man and woman is one of the most important orders of society. It is necessary in order to build stable families and in order to give the individuals their most important social safety net. The legal regulations that surround the marriage are primarily there to protect a community that gives security for new generations. Therefore it must be recognized by the society as a unique institution that is worth to support more than other ones. Placing marriage in a primary position does not mean that homosexual couples are oppressed or discriminated against. We propose, as well as the four dissidents of the Commission, a review of the current laws and regulations in order to improve the security for those who have chosen to share a household community." In the ad there is a voucher where a person can join the petition. Among the signers are Olof Djurfeldt, editor-in-chief of the Christian daily Dagen, Birgit Karlsson, secretary-general of the Swedish Baptist Church, Gustav Sundstroem, secretary-general of the Oerebro Mission and bishop Hans Vaexby, the Methodist Church. The periodic publications of RFSL Kom Ut (in Swedish): 6 issues a year. Subscription 150 SEK a year. Fakta fraan RFSL (in Swedish): Approximately ten fact sheets that are updated regularly. Subscription 200 SEK per ten mailings. News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics (in Swedish and English): 52 issues a year. Subscription 180 SEK a year or 30 international reply coupons. Hivbladet (in Swedish): 12 issues a year. Free of charge. Membership in the RFSL: 160-250 SEK a year, depending on which local branch is chosen. Includes subscription of Kom Ut.