• English Site
• > Europe

Equal, Except in Marriage

Anti-Discrimination Rule No Guarantee for Europe's Gay Couples

By Mark Beunderman

Gays and lesbians are included in the European Union's new anti-discrimination directive, but one recent same-sex marriage case suggests the rules could bring both gains and setbacks. The sticking point is that family law is still determined by member states.

"I thought it was a joke," said Frédéric Minvielle. Minvielle, 37, a Frenchman living in Amsterdam, when out of the blue he received an e-mail from the principal private secretary of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Through his highest-ranking secretary, Sarkozy stated that he would personally see to it that Minvielle could keep his French nationality. A few months ago, it had seemed certain that Minvielle, born and raised in Brittany, would no longer be allowed to call himself French -- solely because he had married his Dutch husband, Carl Nobelen, in the Netherlands.

Minvielle, who has been living in the Netherlands since 2002, applied successfully for a Dutch passport in 2006 because he "believed in complete integration." He didn't have the slightest suspicion that by doing so he was renouncing his French citizenship.

The French consulate in Amsterdam, however, told him at the end of 2006 that only married people in France can apply for dual nationality. Since gay marriage is not permitted in France, Minvielle does not fall into that category. "I became very angry and emotional," he said. "Being French is a major part of my identity, and that was simply taken away. Pure discrimination."

After a whirlwind of media attention -- Minvielle made it to the front page of the daily Libération in May -- President Sarkozy personally intervened. Within weeks, the Amsterdam resident had his French nationality back. But what would have happened if the French president had been less supportive of gays or less sensitive to media pressure?

Equal Treatment

Gay rights organizations fear that the latest European anti-discrimination directive means that married gay couples or those living under another form of union are not fully protected against discrimination.

Last summer the European Commission presented draft guidelines concerning equal treatment. The guidelines stipulated "equal treatment ... irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation." Currently, legislation is only applicable to the job market and the workplace, but not beyond.

But the new guidelines mean, for instance, that a bank issuing a loan would be forbidden from engaging in anti-gay discrimination. Consequently, gay organizations are "very happy" with the proposed legislation, says Björn van Roozendaal, international policy officer at the Dutch gay rights organization COC.

Nevertheless, COC and the international gay rights umbrella organization ILGA Europe is lobbying for a revision of the text, arguing that it does very little to address issues relating to family law. "There is even a risk that the act is a step backwards," warns Evelyne Paradis of ILGA Europe.

Paradis is "very worried" about a passage which explicitly excludes "national laws on marital or family status and reproductive rights" from the anti-discrimination regulations. The reason is that marriage and family law are not dealt with on a Europe-wide level. "Europe cannot force member states to introduce gay marriage," says Paradis. "The directive is not intended to do that and we accept that."

Special Status

But this is the first time that the special status of marriage and "family status" (which could include unofficial relationships) has been prominently specified in an anti-discrimination directive. And that, Paradis fears, could have negative effects on gays. In Portugal, for example, an unmarried gay couple was refused travel insurance available for unmarried heterosexual couples. "There is a risk that these existing discrimination practices could now be confirmed in law," she says.

Kathalijne Buitenweg, a Dutch member of the European parliament, is working on a report about the directive for publication in January. She would like to recommend deleting the exception for marriage and family altogether. But, for "strategic reasons," she doesn't want to go further than toning it down because countries like Poland worry that the EU anti-discrimination act will force them to recognize gay marriages, partnerships and relationships.

"You have to be realistic," she says. "This is a subject which each member state can veto. Some countries will never accept the directive if this exception is missing."