Marriage Equality: In Europe, a Human Right?

I have shown before how marriage equality has been spreading relentlessly across Europe, but in some cases (as in the UK), this takes the form of strong civil unions rather than full marriage.  There are also a few countries, notable staunchly Catholic Italy and Poland, which are holding out. This could change.

(Dark blue - full marriage; light blue - civil unions; yellow  - legislation in preparation; red - prohibited.)

The European Union has been drawing ever more closely together politically, and in the field of human rights. As some British conservatives have found to their costs, there have been numerous cases where European human rights directives have forced changes in British law.  Now, an Austrian couple have taken their fight for the right to marry to the European Court of human Rights.  On the face of it, the prospects are good.  The court has a good record on LGBT rights, and the parameters are clear: human rights are defined to guarantee both the right to marry, and freedom from discrimination on the grounds of orientation.

"Their European case argues that in refusing them a marriage license, Austria violated articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantee the rights to marry, protect one’s property and not be discriminated against based on sexual orientation."

However, there is a catch.  The couple, Horst Michael Schalk and Johann Franz Kopf, first sought their marriage licence in 2002.  After a succession of unsuccessful appeals in Austria, it reached the European court, where it has taken five years just to get a hearing.  (In the meantime, Austria has already introduced civil unions).  The wheels of justice turn slowly.

From Bay Window:

Euro Court considers same-sex marriage case

The European Court of Human Rights held its first-ever hearing in a same-sex marriage case Feb. 25.

The hearing considered the admissibility and merits of a case from Austria, Schalk and Kopf v. Austria. A decision on those points will be forthcoming.

The court granted permission to Prof. Robert Wintemute to make oral submissions on behalf of four intervening parties: the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association; the Advice on Individual Rights in Europe Center; the International Commission of Jurists; and the Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme.

Horst Michael Schalk and Johann Franz Kopf are a gay couple in Vienna. They were denied a marriage license in 2002 by the Vienna Municipal Office, which said people of the same sex can’t marry.

The couple appealed to Vienna’s regional governor and then the Constitutional Court, losing both times.

Their European case argues that in refusing them a marriage license, Austria violated articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantee the rights to marry, protect one’s property and not be discriminated against based on sexual orientation.

The sometimes notoriously slow ECHR has been sitting on the case for more than five years.

The Berlin Wall Falls-20th Anniversary

For much of my life, the Berlin Wall was part of the world I grew up in.

It was created on August 13, 1961, eight months before I was born. It was strengthened and improved over several decades and symbolized not only the dividing line between West and East Berlin, but between communism and democracy.

It cost 136 East Germans their lives trying to cross it to freedom in West Berlin and billions for the East German government to maintain it and a similar barrier between the two Germanys.

It even became part of my own lexicon. If I had a 'no way in Hades' intention of doing something, I'd say, "That'll happen when the Berlin Wall comes down."

On November 9, 1989 it did.

The pump had been primed by demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany that summer. They were allowed to happen despite a massive police and military presence. Remember the East Germans were the first to congratulate the Chinese government after the violent suppression of the June 4 Tienanmen Square demonstrations in Beijing.

Those demonstrations were fueled by Hungary and Czechoslovakia's August decision to open their border with Austria and allowing East German citizens on vacation there to leave their countries for the West.

At a routine late afternoon news conference, East German Politburo member Gunter Schabowski casually declared that East Germans would be free to travel to the West immediately.

The decision had already been made, but Schabowski got the date it was going to start crossed up. He tried to clarify his comments and said the new rules would take hold at midnight, but events moved faster as the word spread.

Thousands of East Germans surged toward the Wall checkpoints, including future German chancellor Angela Merkel, overwhelming the border guards. With no orders from the top forthcoming, they opened the gates and kicked off the biggest celebration in history.

The Wall fell, and months later East Germany ceased to exist as well.

Hard to believe twenty years have passed since then.

Angela Merkel Reelected German Chancellor

While we were sleeping on this side of the Pond, the Germans were headed to the polls today. The results were the opposite of what happened in the States and Japan.

German voters reelected their popular chancellor Angela Merkel to a second term.

While Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party CDU/CSU lost some support from the 35.2% they garnered in 2005 to 33%, another coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDU) share of the German electorate rose from 9.8% to 14.5%

That means the center-right coalition she put together has a narrow majority over the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the two other major leftist parties which increased their share of the vote. The Greens picked up 12% white the Left grabbed 10% of the German electorate

"My understanding was, and my understanding is, that I want to be the chancellor of all Germans," Merkel told supporters, adding that protecting and creating jobs "will be my highest aim."

This election was also occurring at a critical time for Europe's largest economy, which is like everywhere else on the planet recovering from its deepest recession of the post-war era.

The resulting center-right government she's forming will allow her to pursue more conservative policies such as extending the life of German nuclear plants and renewing the increasingly controversial deployment of German troops to Afghanistan.

The last time a center right government led Germany was when Helmut Kohl was chancellor from 1982-1998.

Her challenger in the vote was Social Democrat (SPD) Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He appeared on television shortly after the first projections came out and conceded that his party had suffered a "bitter defeat", garnering only 22.5% support.

Merkel has ruled for the past four years in a "grand coalition" with the SPD but can now end that partnership and work with the FDP. She has stated that it's a grouping better placed to help nurture Europe's largest economy back to health.

We'll see in four years if Chancellor Merkel is right.