The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    Tiger Woods injured in car accident

  • Security

    White House praises IAEA's censures of Iran

  • Business

    Wall Street tumbles on Dubai fears

  • Local

    Private funeral Friday for Pollin

  • Politics

    Ads add heat to health care debate

  • National

    At Mall of America, it's business as usual

  • World

    Drug lords finding safe haven in Bolivia

Monday, December 8, 2003

Gay 'marriages' tangle European laws

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • Wall Street tumbles on Dubai fears
  • Obama calls service members on holiday
  • Gay marriage vote stalls in N.J., N.Y.
  • Shaq pays for murdered girl's funeral

By

PARIS - If youre married in Holland, are you still married when you move to Austria? Not if its a homosexual union.

More than two years after the Netherlands became the first nation to permit same-sex "marriage," Europe is mired in a confusing tangle of laws complicating legal and family issues for homosexual couples.

"Married" homosexuals in the Netherlands enjoy the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts, including custody of children, inheritance of property and hospital visitation rights should their partners fall ill.

Yet, as they move around within an enlarging European Union which will have 10 more nations after next year many find themselves losing some of those rights, even in member states that recognize same-sex unions.

Homosexual partners in the United States could have to deal with similar confusion if other states follow the example of Massachusetts, where the states highest court recently ruled that homosexual couples have the right to "marry."

"There is a lot of legal uncertainty" in Europe, says Katherina Boele-Woelki, a professor of private international law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, author of a new book on the legal recognition of same-sex "marriages" on the continent.

"All the countries introducing registered partnerships do not care about cross-border situations" she writes. "They do not introduce rules on what would happen to those going abroad or coming from abroad with a different legal status. And thats the problem of private international law."

The Netherlands and Belgium are the only countries in the European Union where same-sex "marriage" is legal. However, about 10 other EU member states recognize same-sex partnerships with varying rights.

France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries allow forms of "registered partnerships," and Britain recently enacted a law enabling homosexual couples to register in "civil partnerships."

However, Miss Boele-Woelki says: "If you compare registered partnerships in the Netherlands, its different from registered partnerships in Germany. In Germany, you have less far-reaching legal consequences. And this causes more and more problems. What will happen to registered partners if they move from Holland to Germany? How would they be recognized?"

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  3. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  4. Grade-schooler unearths fossil at dinosaur park
  5. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
More Top Stories »
  1. D.C. sports icon, Wizards owner Pollin dies
  2. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  3. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
  4. List of W.H. state dinner guests
  5. HOLMES: Behind Obama's overseas allure

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  2. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
  3. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  4. EDITORIAL: The duty of a nation to obey God
  5. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
More Top Stories »
  1. Finance mavens gloomy
  2. Fenty's approval in D.C. divided by race
  3. Grade-schooler unearths fossil at dinosaur park
  4. Drug lords finding safe haven in Bolivia
  5. Global Warmists exposed

Most Commented

  1. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  2. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  3. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  4. EDITORIAL: The global-cooling cover-up
  5. EDITORIAL: The duty of a nation to obey God
More Top Stories »
  1. PRUDEN: Trouble afoot for high priests
  2. Obama taking emissions goal to summit
  3. HOLMES: Behind Obama's overseas allure
  4. 9/11 families sharply split on civilian court trials
  5. Crashers probe may become criminal investigation

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Hall out, Rogers will start

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.