Courts & Tribunals

On 07 October 1997, the European Commission on Human Rights said that Britain's unequal age of consent violates European law and referred a case brought by gay-youth activist Euan Sutherland to the European Court of Human Rights for a final ruling [R1.2].

The cases of Euan Sutherland and Chris Morris were stayed pending parliamentary consideration of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill [R1.1].

Asylum, Refugees

On 27 October 2011, the European Parliament formally adopted a new set of asylum rules for the European Union. The binding rules now include gender identity as a ground of persecution, which EU Member States must take into account. The binding rules will apply after they are transposed into EU Member States' national law, except for the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark which opted out of the process. Due to access the EU in July 2013, Croatia is also expected to adapt its asylum laws [R1.5].

In April 2011, the European Parliament updated the European Union's system for examining asylum claims last week – and now plans to categorise people fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity as a "special needs" group. The rules will be officially amended once EU national governments examine them and agree to them [R1.4].

In February 2009, the European Commission confirmed that there is "an obligation on Member States to grant refugee status to persons who … are found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, including a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation" [R1.3].

The European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the deportation a person who may be at risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [R1.2].

In September 2001, it was mooted that gay men and lesbians fleeing violence or sexual abuse could be recognised as refugees and granted asylum in the European Union under new proposals from the European Commission [R1.1].

Immigration, Migration

On 10 December 2008, the European Commission adopted a report on the application of Directive 2004/38 on the right of EU citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of and a right of permanent residence after five years in the Member States [R2.5].

On 22 September 2003, under new rules endorsed by ministers, unmarried or same-sex partners of European Union citizens would be able to accompany their partners more easily to travel or live within the 15-nation bloc [R2.4].

The rules need to be endorsed also by the European Parliament to become binding legislation [R2.3].

On 09 April 2003, the European Parliament backed a non-binding resolution giving non-EU nationals the right to bring spouses, parents, registered and unmarried partners, into the EU - irrespective of gender [R2.2].

In January 2000, under the European Convention on Human Rights, to be incorporated into British law in October, surrogate children may granted citizenship as they have the right to a family life with their parents, regardless of the parents' sexuality [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 24 January 2001, Mr. Justice Turner rejected Irishman NM's request that he be allowed to live in London with his Brazilian partner RL "as a family", ruling that the EC laws did not apply in this case since RL was not a citizen of an EC country and had no right to be treated as a family member or spouse [R2.5].

Courts & Tribunals

On 21 December 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Portugal had violated Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention and the rights to "respect for private and family life'' of a divorced father when it stripped him of parental responsibility for his nine-year-old daughter on the grounds he was homosexual and lived with another man

Union

In January 2003, the European Parliament approved a report 277–269 asking the 15 member states to give live-in couples, including homosexuals, the same legal rights that marriages enjoy [R1.4].

In February 1997, the European Parliament adopted draft legislation that guarantees equal treatment to gays and lesbians employed by European Union institutions [R1.3].

Earlier in February 1997, the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee refused to extend equal benefits to gay and lesbian European Union staff who have legal partnerships in their home countries [R1.2].

In February 1994, the European Parliament recommended full equality regarding same sex couples' rights of marriage, including adoption and child education [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 10 May 2011, the EU Court of Justice unanimously ruled in Jürgen Rõmer vs. City of Hamburg that the City likely violated European Law in providing higher pensions to retired married pensioners than to those in a same-sex registered partnership [C2.11], [R2.10].

On 03 March 2011, an Advocate General for the European Court of Justice reportedly issued an opinion to the court in the case Jürgen Rõmer vs. City of Hamburg which stated that same-sex couples must have access to the same employment benefits as married couples in every EU state, regardless of a state's constitutional laws [R2.9].

On 01 April 2008, the EU Court of Justice ruled that European Union nations that recognize same-sex unions as legal marriages must grant surviving partners the same pension rights as those given in traditional marriages [C2.8], [R2.7].

On 06 September 2007, the European Court of Justice set a legal precedent by ruling that 65 year-old Tadao Maruko, a German gay man, is entitled to a payment from his dead partner's pension [R2.6].

On 24 July 2003, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that Siegmund Karner who lost his tenancy when his partner died was the victim of unlawful discrimination [C2.5], [R2.4].

In August 1999, the government of Denmark announced it will support Swede Sven Englund's European Court of Justice case against his employer, the European Council of Ministers, which refuses to give Englund's husband spousal benefits [R2.3].

In January 1999, the European Union's highest court ruled that gay couples cannot be considered families, because homosexual unions are not defined as marriages [C2.2], [R2.1].

Union

On 28 September 2011, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling upon the Commission to ensure sexual orientation and gender identity rights are fully upheld across EU Member States [D1.27], [R1.26].

On 11 May 2011, the Council of Europe unveiled its first social-legal report Living Together Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe on anti-LGBT discrimination in the association's 47 member nations [R1.25], [R1.24].

In April 2010, the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights denounced the newest Cotonou Agreement, which delineates political and trade relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific states. European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs had vowed to include nondiscrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the agreement's revised terms, as demanded by the European Parliament, but he then failed to do so [R1.23].

On 31 March 2010, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, representing the national governments of its 47 member countries, unanimously adopted "historic" recommendations to combat anti-gay discrimination, covering hate crimes and speech, employment, education, health care, housing, asylum, sports, and freedom of association, expression and assembly, among other areas. They also instructed member states to order national human rights bodies to address anti-LGBT discrimination [R1.22].

On 01 December 2009, the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon came into force incorporating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the only international governmental document that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation [R1.21].

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Article 21 states,

"1. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited" [R1.21].

On 10 February 2010, the European Parliament confirmed that candidate countries wishing to join the European Union have to provide genuine protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender minorities [R1.20].

On 02 April 2009, the European Parliament today voted to extend anti-discrimination protections beyond employment to cover goods, facilities and services [R1.19].

In March 2009, the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee approved a report recommending the extension of protection against LGBT discrimination [R1.18].

In September 2008, Members of the European Parliament gave their support to a new EU directive on discrimination in goods and services [R1.17].

On 02 July 2008, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a directive which provides for protection from direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief the areas of social protection, including housing, social security and health care, education and access to and supply of goods and services [R1.16].

In June 2008, the European Commission announced that disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age will be included in a new directive on discrimination [R1.15].

In September 2001, the European Parliament and the European Commission declared that prospective members of the European Union must abolish anti-gay laws before they will be allowed to join [R1.14].

In October 2000, ILGA successfully lobbied for the inclusion of an anti-discrimination directive by the Economic Union [R1.13].

In September 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted overwhelmingly in favour of a sweeping series of recommendations in support of lesbian and gay rights [R1.12].

In March 2000, The European Union's parliament has adopted a resolution urging the 15 EU nations to "guarantee one-parent families, unmarried couples and same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional couples and families, particularly as regards tax law, pecuniary rights and social rights'' [R1.11].

In March 2000, European parliamentarians voted to recommend that sexual orientation be added to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in a move to strengthen anti-discrimination measures in the European Convention on Human Rights [R1.10].

European Union directive number 78/2000/EC deals with discrimination in employment and occupation, requiring national legislation to make provision to the effect that gay men and lesbians who are discriminated against or harassed at the workplace are granted a legal remedy [R1.9].

On 17 December 1998, the European Parliament adopted its report and resolution on respect for human rights in the European Union for the year 1997 [R1.8].

In July 1998, the European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) was astonished to read the decision by ISU (International Skating Union) to put skaters who insist in participating at the Amsterdam Gay Games, on a so-called blacklist for the rest of their life, contrary to the spirit of the European Fair Play Declaration as issued by the Council of Europe [R1.7].

On 17 September 1998, the European Parliament adopted with a majority of 110 against 89 votes (6 abstentions) a resolution reaffirming the Parliament's defence of the human rights of gays and lesbians [R1.6].

In July 1997, The European Council approved a treaty that endorses banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. The relevant article reads as follows

"Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Treaty and within the limits of the powers conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation" [R1.5].

Previously:

In October 1996, lobbying was underway for the inclusion of an anti-discrimination clause covering sexual preference in a new revision of the Maastricht Treaty [R1.4].

In October 1996, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights stating, in part: "[A]ll discrimination and/or inequality of treatment must be abolished concerning homosexuals, especially ... differences that persist on the age of consent for homosexuals and discrimination concerning the right to work, and in penal, civil, contractual, social and economic law" [R1.3].

In October 1995, ILGA's Co Secretary Inge Wallaert spoke at a public hearing of the European Parliament to demand that the Parliament recognise the fundamental rights of lesbians and gay men within the European union. She asked the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996 to include sexual orientation within an anti discrimination clause in a new European Treaty [R1.2].

On October 1st, 1981, the Council of Europe recognized and proclaimed for the first time in history to right to sexual autodetermination and called for the end of all forms of discrimination against homosexuals [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 15 January 2013, in its judgment in Eweida and Others v. United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights affirmed that the right to act in accordance with one's religion may be limited in order to protect others from discrimination based on sexual orientation [C2.7], [R2.6].

On 21 October 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Nikolay Alekseyev has been discriminated against as a consequence of the prohibition against holding gay pride marches in Moscow in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and awarded him €17,510 in respect of legal fees and interest 3% interest [R2.5]. In January 2011, Russia lodged an appeal to the court's Grand Chamber [R2.4].

On 29 September 2010, a gay woman forced to pay more child support than if she were in a heterosexual relationship was awarded £2,550 in damages and £15,275 in costs after the European Court of Human Rights ruled there was no justification for the discrimination [R2.3].

On 17 February 1998, the European Court of Justice ruled against a UK lesbian who sued her employers, South West Trains, for the right to equal pay with heterosexuals, including a free travel pass for her partner. The Court rejected a claim that such discrimination was sex discrimination contrary to Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome, which provides for "equal pay ... without discrimination based on sex". The ruling means the end of attempts to establish through the courts that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination [R2.2].

In October 1997, a preliminary European Court of Justice ruling in a British lesbian's dispute with her employer was set to result in Europe-wide protection for gay and lesbian workers and make it unlawful throughout the European Union for employers to treat employees differently because of the gender of their domestic partner [R2.1].

Union

On 13 March 2012, the European Parliament was reported to have adopted a resolution giving gay couples equal transnational succession or inheritance rights. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark opted out of the legislation [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In March 2010, a panel of the European Court of Human Rights held that Polish officials violated Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights when they categorically denied tenant succession rights to same-sex couples but allowed succession rights to unmarried opposite-sex couples, in Kozak v. Poland, no. 13102/02 [R2.2].

In April 2008, the European Court of Human Rights in a 15–2 vote, ruled two elderly British sisters (the Burdens) were not victims of discrimination and the absence of a legally-binding agreement between them, rendered their relationship of co-habitation, despite its long duration, fundamentally different to that of a married or civil partnership couple, disentitling them to an exemption from inheritance tax [R2.1].

Union

On 22 November 2012, the European Commission released a special edition of the Eurobarometer on Discrimination in the EU in 2012 that for the first time included gender identity in the EU wide major survey [D1.7], [R1.6].

On 05 June 2012, for the first time, discrimination on the grounds of sex, gender identity and gender expression are examined in depth in a new report published by the European Commission [D1.5], [R1.4].

On 28 September 2011, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Commission and the World Health Organization to withdraw gender identity disorders from the list of mental and behavioural disorders, and ensure a nonpathologising reclassification in the negotiations on the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) [D1.3], [R1.2].

On 16 June 2010, the European Parliament adopted the Figueiredo report, evaluating the European Union's 2006-2010 Roadmap for equality between women and men and calling for:

• acknowledges discrimination and multiple discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity;
• calls on EU authorities to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations in future work on gender equality;
• stresses that gender reassignment procedures should be made accessible, including through public health insurance schemes; and
• requires that future EU actions in the field of gender equality explicitly cover issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In January 2009, the European Court of Human Rights ruled a 72-year old transsexual be reimbursed after her country's health insurance refused to pay the cost of her gender reassignment treatment [R2.6].

In April 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Lithuania must implement new legislation on gender reassignment or pay damages and that the Court would not re-examine the case of a Lithuanian transsexual who won an order that blocking gender reassignment treatment was a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights [R2.5].

In July 2002, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found unanimously that the United Kingdom was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights articles ("right to private life" and "enjoying the fundamental right to marry") for failing to legally recognise transsexual Christine Goodwin as a woman, despite here having undergone gender reassignment [R2.4].

In August 1999, it was reported that the European Court of Justice had recently ruled that it was unlawful to discriminate against transsexuals [R2.3].

In July 1998, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the (UK) Government had not breached the rights of Kristina Sheffield and Rachel Horsham, both 52, by denying them new birth certificates showing that they were female. The court also upheld, by 18 votes to two, the Government's right to prevent Miss Sheffield and Miss Horsham from marrying men. It ruled that marriage may legitimately be restricted under national laws to a union between a man and a woman "of biological origin" [R2.2].

In June 1996, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (not to be confused with the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg) ruled that an English University, Cornwall College in Redruth, breached the non-discrimination provisions of the European Council's Equal Treatment Directive (1976) when it dismissed a British transsexual, known only as "P", in 1992 [R2.1].

Union

On 11 March 2013, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for criminalisation of homophobic and transphobic hate crime and speech across the European Union [D1.6], [R1.5].

On 12 September 2012, the European Parliament adopted a directive which establishes a set of measures to strengthen victims' rights in the European Union, acknowledging the existence of specific protection needs of victims of crimes committed with a bias or discriminatory motive related to their personal characteristics that include sexual orientation, gender and gender identity or expression [D1.4], [R1.3].

A 24 May 2012 resolution of the European Parliament says European countries, whether or not they are EU member states, and including Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, should ensure that LGBT people are protected from homophobic hate speech and violence, and that same-sex partners enjoy the same respect as the rest of society [D1.2], [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 10 March 2011, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously held that the refusal of the Russian authorities to grant the applicant, an Ouzbek national, a residence permit because he tested positive for HIV, was a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken in conjunction with Article 8 (protection of home and family life) [C1.2] [R1.1].

The ruling created European legal precedent in two ways: It recognised HIV-positive people as a distinct group whose fundamental rights are protected from discrimination, and it elevated HIV-positive people to the status of a "vulnerable group with a history of prejudice and stigmatisation."

Union

In July 1998, the Council of Europe strongly criticised Romania's parliament after it rejected a government proposal to decriminalise gay sex which would have brought it into line with standards throughout Europe [R1.4].

In May 1998, the European Union welcomed proposed changes to Romania's criminal code that would provide equal treatment for homosexuals and heterosexuals in cases of rape and underage sex [R1.3].

In October 1996, following an outcry from European officials, Romania's Chamber of Deputies deleted a section of an already-passed Bill that would have punished private gay sex between adults with up to three years probation. But the chamber has decided to retain a section that will punish gay sex which causes "public scandal" with up to five years in prison and another section that bans gay "propaganda, associations or ... proselytising" under threat of five years in jail [R1.2].

In October 1996, the European Parliament was "shocked" by Romanian proposals to impose tougher sanctions on gay sex. European Union legislators urged Romanian President Ion Iliescu to intervene and prevent the law being changed [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 31 July 2000, The European Court of Human Rights found that man's 1996 conviction was a violation of Article 8 ("right to respect for private and family life") of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered Britain to pay the man US$50,000 in costs and damages for convicting him under legislation that outlaws gay group sex [C2.7], [R2.6].

On 30 November 1999, a British homosexual convicted for sex sessions at his home with several other men put his case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that his right to privacy had been breached [R2.5].

On 19 February 1997, three British gay men who were imprisoned for engaging in consensual sado-masochistic sex in their own homes lost their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights which held that "the state was unquestionably entitled to regulate the infliction of physical harm through the criminal law. The determination of the tolerable level of harm where the victim consented was primarily a matter for the state's authorities" [R2.4].

On 21 October 1996, the European Court of Human Rights heard the case of three British gay men who were convicted and jailed for consensual sadomasochistic sex in 1990 [R2.3].

On 22 April 1993, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Modinos v. Cyprus [C2.2] that gay-male sex bans violate Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [R2.1].

Union

On 24 November 2010, the European Parliament reaffirmed that it "strongly supports plans to enable the mutual recognition of the effects of civil status documents", and "stresses the need to ensure mutual recognition" of such documents by EU countries [R1.3].

In January 2009, the European Parliament voted 401 – 220 in favour of a report which calls for same-sex marriage and civil unions to be recognised across all EU states [R1.2].

On 04 September 2003, in issuing its annual report on human rights issues to the European Union, the European Parliament recommended that gay men and lesbians be allowed to legally marry and adopt children [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In January 2011, the European Court of Human Rights accepted a lawsuit by Irina Fet and Irina Shipitko, a Russian lesbian couple married in Canada, with the Russian Embassy approving their marriage certificate and who have challenged the refusal of the Moscow registry office to register their marriage. It may be several years before their lawsuit is reviewed [R2.5].

On 24 June 2010, in the case of Austrian couple Horst Schalk and Johan Kopf, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is not a violation of human rights [R2.4], [C2.3], [R2.2].

On 25 February 2010, the European Court of Human Rights held a Chamber hearing on the admissibility and merits in the case of Schalk and Kopf v. Austria [R2.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In October 2002, the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Britain to pay € 590,000 compensation to five people who were discharged from the army because they were homosexual, finding that the applicants - four men and a woman - had suffered "a violation of their right to a private life", upheld by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights [R1.10].

In July 2000, the European Court of Human Rights awarded £19,000 compensation for each of four homosexual people who were discharged from the armed forces in the UK [R1.9].

In January 2000, an Edinburgh employment tribunal ruled that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation did not constitute sexual discrimination and rejected former Flight Lieutenant Roderick Macdonald's sex discrimination and sex harassment claim relating to the nature of the investigatory interview, as a lesbian would have been treated in the same way [R1.8].

On 27 September 1999, the European Court ruled that the (UK) Ministry of Defence had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by enforcing the forces' ban on homosexuals and was a breach of their privacy rights [C1.7], [R1.6].

In June 1999, the Council of Europe ordered the Cypriot Defence Ministry to pay damages to a Greek Cypriot homosexual whose rights were violated by the law outlawing homosexuality between consenting male adults that was amended in May 1998 [R1.5].

On 18 May 1999, at the full hearing of the case of Smith v MoD before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the British Government admitted that it was difficult to provide any good reason for maintaining its policy of banning lesbians and gay men from serving in the armed forces [R1.4].

In June 1997, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the British government had a case to answer in the challenge to its military gay ban brought by four homosexuals who were kicked out of the services [R1.3].

In March 1997, the case of Terry Perkins, a gay man who was dismissed from the Navy on grounds of his sexuality in November 1995, was referred to the European Court of Justice for a ruling [R1.2]. High Court Justice Lightman "reluctantly" withdrew the reference after deciding that the European legislation applied only to discrimination against men and women on grounds of gender [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 19 February 2013, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case of X and Others v. Austria (application 19010/07) ruling that the Civil Code discriminates against a partner in a same-sex relationship by making it legally impossible to adopt the biological child of the other partner while permitting second parent adoptions for unmarried heterosexual couples [C1.9], [R1.8].

On 03 October 2012, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights heard the complaint by two women in X. and Others v. Austria, who live in a stable same-sex relationship, about the Austrian courts' refusal to grant one of the partners the right to adopt the son of the other partner without severing the mother's legal ties with the child (second-parent adoption). It is expected that the Court will deliver its judgment in this case in a few months' time [D1.7], [R1.6].

On15 March 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that France did not discriminate against a lesbian who was refused the right to adopt her partner's daughter and become the girl's other legal parent [C1.5], [R1.4].

On 26 February 2002, the European Court of Human Rights ruled authorities in Europe can turn down applications by homosexual men and women to adopt children on the basis of the adult's sexuality, upholding a decision by French authorities to refuse to let Philippe Frette, a single gay man, adopt a child [R1.3].

Previously:

In October 2000, the European Court of Human Rights was expected to find (in 2001) that France breached the human rights of Philippe Frette, a 46-year-old teacher from Paris, who claimed he was denied the opportunity to adopt solely on the basis of his sexuality [R1.2].

On 21 December 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Portugal had violated Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention and the rights to "respect for private and family life'' of a divorced father when it stripped him of parental responsibility for his nine-year-old daughter on the grounds he was homosexual and lived with another man [R1.1].