Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 11:19:22 MET From: "Tobias Wikstr|m" News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics Published by the Swedish Federation for Gay and Lesbian Rights (RFSL) Nr 21/94 (23-29 maj 1994) No. 21/94 (May 23rd-29th, 1994) 1 The proposal of the Standing Committee is ready The Standing Committee on Civil-Law Legislation on May 26th submitted its final proposal. The Standing Committee proposes that a Partnership Act is introduced. The Act is to enter into force on January 1st, 1995. Behind the proposal are the Social Democrats, the Leftists and the Liberals. The Centre Party, the New Democracy Party, the Christian Democrats and the Conservatives voted against the proposal in the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee proposes rejection of the Unisexual Cohabitation Act. The Parliament is to consider the proposal of the Standing Committee on June 7th. The complete proposal of the Standing Committee can be obtained from the RFSL. 2 Commentaries from the press "Registered partnership means a stand for homosexuality, it is usually said. This is wrong. The society does not take an active stand neither in favour nor against any cohabitation form. It refers such decisions to individual people. And in reality, this is what annoys many conservative people. They think that the state should not dictate to people on how they should live, for example by stating that the marriage is the norm. But only for heterosexuals. Homosexuals are to be converted. Therefore the issue on registered partnership is not only a 'special interest' for homosexuals, it is a support for the principle of the independence of the individual that probably most people want to leaven through the society." (G”teborgs-Posten, liberal, May 28th) "It is interesting when there is a political issue with such a clear but still unusual ideological dimension like that on registered partnership for gay men and lesbians. The parties immediately start deployment according to their values. Block politics rule here like in other debates, but the political blocks look different. In the same way as the block border runs left of the Liberal Party in issues of economy, freedom of choice and labour policy, the border runs to the right of the Liberal Party in cases of equal opportunities and the rights of minorities. It is in such areas of politics that the progressive profile of the Liberals is clear, which surely is refreshing for some members and supporters. There are however several exceptions: the status of the homosexuals is certainly not an easy issue for some christian voters." "There is all reason to listen to the demands of the homosexuals in the case of entering into legally regulated and societally sanctioned couple relationships. There cannot be any moral arguments raised against this that are not based on a basic reluctance towards homosexuality. As long as marriage as a term is reserved for the relationship between man and woman there should not be any religious obstacles." (the liberal dailies Sala Allehanda, May 28th, Vetlanda-Posten, J”nk”pings-Posten, ™rnsk”ldsviks Allehanda, Sk”vde Nyheter, Skaraborgs L„ns Tidning, Sm†landstidningen, Hallandsposten, May 30th, Nya Ludvika Tidning, Bergslagsposten, May 31st) "Those who want to see a new law as the evidence of the decline of the nation should know better! The fact that such a law, unthinkable according to older thinking, could get a great support not the least because of the second thoughts that the AIDS epidemic has caused. The society tolerates to a great extent what has always existed and according to the state of the nature can be exercised discretely, casual homosexual relationships. On the other hand, steady couple relationships are almost stigmatized. This has undoubtedly made the AIDS catastrophe worse." (Nerikes Allehanda, Liberal, May 27th) "Few phenomena have the ability to annoy such as homosexuality. One can dispute the reasons, but it is apparent that in many groups, homosexuality is perceived as a threat to the traditional nuclear family. Homosexuality must be fighted, otherwise the society will come into a chaos where nobody works for the reproduction of the race any longer. Such notions are most visible within the Christian Democratic Party, but also the Centre and the Conservative Parties oppose the idea of a Registered Partnership Act. The marriage is there for man and woman. Full stop." "The marriage is nowadays only one of several forms of living which the Swedes can choose from. It is a sign that we have got a more open and free society, which we should safeguard. The starting point therefore must be that the state should be neutral to which ways adults - voluntarily - choose to live, in a heterosexual or homosexual way. It is, to say the least, surprising that it is not perceived as something natural for all." (™stg”ta Correspondenten, non-socialist, May 27th) 3 The RFSL presents its report about the Christian Democrats On May 26th, the RFSL presented its report "The Christian Democrats - a threat to gays and lesbians". The report can be obtained from the RFSL. 4 "Questionable special law" This is the editorial of the christian daily Dagen on May 20th: "The democratic Sweden has reason to hold its breath right now. Two key parties, that could be coalition partners after next general election, have decided to force through a Registered Partnership Act. Despite the criticism of the Council on Legislation against the law proposed by the Standing Committee on Civil-Law Legislation, the Standing Committee has decided to carry on. This will not be done without the support from the party organizations. This is an extraordinarily serious decision, that now can be stopped by the Parliament only. Everything has to do with how sensitive individual Social Democrats and Liberals are. There are very strong objections against the proposed legislation. This is a law that will be needed by a very small minority. As far as we can see, there are no examples showing that individual people have been suffering economically by the absence of the law. The Council on Legislation with its very heavy legal expertise has shown the disadvantages of the law. The most prestigious committee, the Standing Committee on Civil-Law Legislation, has never before taken an initiative to draft legislation. But now such an initiative is taken, hastily. In addition, the Registered Partnership Act have been met by strong objections from almost all christianity. It has also been proposed an alternative, that the investigators have failed to elaborate seriously and that the Standing Committee on Civil-Law Legislation hastily ignores. 3 (3) How should we as christians interpret those signals? Hardly in any other way than that the Social Democrats and the Liberal Party would like to see us as voters but that they do not care about what we say in a very important issue for us. Naturally they also ignore many of their own who believe that it is wrong to make gay and lesbian cohabitation legally equal to marriage. That is the real content of the reform. It is felt like an insult, when the parties that normally take the position of the ordinary people and that talk about their popular base does not take the time to listen to the reviewing bodies but rather use a special stipulation to force through a reform, which nobody today can say serves the real interest of the homosexuals. Do they think, that the memory is that short, that it does not mean anything for the support around the ballot boxes? There is a way of stopping the catastrophe, and that is that wise Social Democrats and Liberals in the Parliament really show that they dare to go against collectivism. We have to see evidence that there are many who listen to the christian opinion also in those parties - and not only in election times." 5 The Christian Democrats explain their no to household community Ingvar Svensson, Christian Democratic MP, has now clarified his criticism towards the idea of a Household Community Act (see News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics 17/94). This is what the christian daily Dagen wrote on May 20th: "The Christian Democrats do not support the proposal of the Archbishop and the non-conformist churches about a Household Community Act. This declares Ingvar Svensson, MP, one of the leading ideologists and civil-law experts of the Christian Democrats. - I see no point in such a law. My clear view is that one instead should do away with all thinkable obstacles to writing free agreements between parties, he explains. The Household Community Act has been proposed as a broader and more neutral alternative to a Partnership Act for homosexuals. It should embrace also others who share household, e.g. sisters and brothers, without having any reference to marriage. Many people have perceived this as the position of the Christian Democrats, not the least with reference to the fact that the party's representative in the Partnership Commission had asked for an investigation on how the security systems could be improved for all household communities. But Ingvar Svensson now establishes that there is no such party position. He rejects the proposal about the law recently proposed by the Swedish Church and the non-conformist churches. However, in order to unite the partnership opponents in the Parliament, he can consider asking for an investigation about the need for a Household Community Act. - But my guess is that the result will show that a law is not particularly useful. The groups this is about are very small. It would be strange with special laws and I do not think that a general law covers the needs in question." The periodic publications of RFSL Kom Ut (in Swedish): 6 issues a year. Subscr 150 SEK a year. Fakta fr†n RFSL (in Swedish): Appr. ten fact sheets that are updated regularly. Subscr 200 SEK per ten mailings. News from Swedish gay/lesbian politics (in Swedish and English): 52 issues a year. Subscr 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 subscr of Kom Ut. -- Tobias Wikstr”m RFSL, Box 350, S-101 26 Stockholm, Sweden Telephone +46-8-7360213 Telefax +46-8-304730