Recognition of gay
marriage a global phenomenon
By Paula L.
Ettelbrick, MercuryNews.com from the Web, December 6, 2006
While state after state in the U.S.
closes its doors to the prospect of same-sex marriage, gay relationships have
been gaining acceptance in the rest of the world.
Last month, South Africa joined the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Spain in
opening civil marriage to same-sex couples, allowing them equal economic
benefits, legal rights and social status as families. The law, passed by
an astounding 230-41 vote in Parliament, was in response to an equally notable
unanimous decision last year by the South African Constitutional Court. It
ruled that the post-apartheid constitution ensures the dignity and equality of
all people -- and that includes gay couples wishing to affirm their love and
commitment through civil marriage.
Days afterward, when faced with five Israeli gay couples who had married in
Canada, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government is required to
officially register them as they would any other foreign marriage.
In the United States, only Massachusetts has enacted full marriage for same-sex
couples. Vermont, Connecticut and California have elected to use the less
inflammatory terms "civil union" or "domestic partnership," and New Jersey is
hashing out its terminology. The majority of the states have laws or
constitutional amendments restricting "marriage" to one woman and one man.
Denmark in 1989 became the first nation to legally recognize same-sex
relationships, and Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland swiftly followed.
Much of Europe, including France, Germany, Portugal and Hungary, now recognizes
same-sex partnerships for a range of purposes, including inheritance, property
and social-benefits rights. Countries in formerly communist blocs -- the
Czech Republic and Slovenia -- recognize partnerships, and Croatia has extended
some economic benefits to same-sex couples.
In September, the Senate in Uruguay voted 25-2 to pass a broad partnership law,
positioning that country to be the first Latin American nation to extend legal
rights when the law is passed by the full legislature. New Zealand's and
Australia's domestic-partnership laws allow some of the most important benefits,
such as immigration, inheritance and property rights. The government in
Taiwan suggested a bill allowing same-sex marriage, although nothing has yet
come of it. In Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Switzerland, some economic and
legal rights have been extended by city and regional authorities. Just
last month, Mexico City broke ground as the first government entity in Mexico to
recognize same-sex civil unions.
These developments clearly mean that the number of same-sex couples whose
relationships are legally valid is on the rise. By the end of the decade,
it is possible that hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples will have entered
legal marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships.
When Britain's domestic-partnership registration law went into effect last
December, government ministers predicted that between 11,000 and 22,000 couples
would benefit from the law by 2010. More than 6,500 same-sex couples
registered in the first year.
About 12,000 Canadian, 7,000 Dutch, 2,500 Belgian and 1,300 Spanish same-sex
couples are married.
These unions are having ripple effects around the globe. In Ireland, a gay
couple is asking the government to recognize their Canadian marriage. A
court in the Caribbean country of Aruba ruled that the Dutch marriage of a gay
couple must be registered in Aruba, which is part of the kingdom of the
Netherlands.
How this trend will play out in countries that have not yet recognized same-sex
relationships is up in the air. Will the United States, for instance,
accommodate a major corporation's desire to have one of its top executives from
Canada move here with her legal spouse? Or a diplomat (and his domestic
partner) from New Zealand? Or an American lucky enough to find the man of
his dreams while working in South Africa? Will Sir Elton John's highly
publicized civil union with longtime partner David Furnish be recognized by a
hospital emergency room in Las Vegas or St. Louis or Salt Lake City should one
of them fall ill on a concert tour?
To be sure, the backlash prompted by increased gay visibility, whether through
marriage or other demands for equality, has been fierce. South Africa's
decision has drawn angry responses from religious and community leaders.
Angry crowds in Moscow in May jeered a few dozen gay marchers and demanded that
Russia be cleansed of the evils of homosexuality. Likewise, an
international gay pride event in Jerusalem had to be held in a stadium --
instead of as a parade -- because of threats and lobbying from ultra-Orthodox
Jews and some Muslim and Christian groups.
Gay communities haven't even raised the issue of marriage in Latvia, Uganda and
Honduras -- where police violence and state discrimination are standard
practice. Yet the governments of those countries have gone out of their
way to promote anti-gay hostility by outlawing same-sex marriage.
In Nigeria, a bill awaiting legislative action would impose criminal penalties
for engaging in or performing a marriage ceremony for two men or two women.
In the United States, President Bush consistently has pushed the radical measure
of amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, as has Australia's prime
minister, John Howard.
Despite the backlash, one fact is self-evident. The trend toward
recognizing the dignity and love of two people of the same sex will not
disappear. As barriers to same-sex couples fall, courts, legislatures,
religious denominations and businesses everywhere will need to respond.
As Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero proclaimed when his newly
elected reform government approved same-sex marriage in 2005: "We are not
the first, but I am sure we will not be the last. After us will come many
other countries, driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable forces:
freedom and equality."
PAULA L. ETTELBRICK is the executive director of the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. She wrote this
article for the Los Angeles Times.
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