NIS
News Bulletin
Marriage Registrars
Must
Perform Same-Sex
Marriages
From nisnews.nl on
the Web, April 16, 2008
THE HAGUE -- Marriage
registrars who refuse to perform same-sex marriages must also be denied from
performing marriages between men and women, the Equal Treatment Commission (CGB)
ruled yesterday.
In October 2007, the municipality of Langedijk placed an ad for two marriage
registrars. The municipality demanded that applicants be prepared to
conduct both heterosexual and same-sex marriages.
The CGB judged yesterday that municipalities may indeed make this requirement.
A local authority is "not violating the equal treatment law if it refuses to
appoint a marriage registrar who does not wish to marry persons of the same sex
on grounds of religion".
CGB simultaneously released a new guideline. This instructs municipalities
and other interested parties how to act in similar cases.
The CGB is an advisory court. Its rulings can be used in real court cases.
The courts usually uphold CGB verdicts.
Christian government party ChristenUnie declared it was disappointed about this
"unnecessarily harsh approach", according to MP Anker. "This ruling does
not help us further in the search for a careful balance between groups in
society with differing beliefs" about gay marriage.
ChristenUnie will request the cabinet for a response on the statement. The
Christian democrats (CDA) also indicated they were unhappy with the verdict.
CGB also passed judgement yesterday on a case concerning the personnel policy of
feminist magazine Opzij. The magazine may not exclude men from editorial
positions, according to CGB. By exclusively reserving the position of
editor for women, Opzij is making a forbidden distinction on grounds of gender.
|
