European court rules Italy must give same-sex couple legal rights

Italy is currently the only major country in West Europe not to provide same-sex couples with legal rights through marriage or civil unions – and now the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has told them that cannot remain the case.

Seven judges at the Strasbourg court ruled that international law requires legal protection for same-sex couples in all countries across the continent that have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, of which Italy is a member. Twenty-four of the 47 countries signed up currently have civil union or marriage for same-sex couples.

“The Court considered that the legal protection currently available in Italy to same-sex couples… not only failed to provide for the core needs relevant to a couple in a stable committed relationship, but it was also not sufficiently reliable,” the judges said in their ruling.

The ECHR has also demanded that the three gay couples who brought the case to court be paid €5000 each in damages and up to €10,000 jointly to cover the costs and legal expenses.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said of the news: “Today’s ruling affirms that gay people may not be denied the basic human right to form families and requires that all signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights treat their committed relationships with respect and protection under the law.

“It immediately raises the bar in countries that currently provide no legal recognition for same-sex partners, and also brings Europe another big step closer to the freedom to marry continent-wide.

“By talking neighbor to neighbor about who gay people are and why marriage matters, as we did here and our counterparts have done across Europe, from the Netherlands in 2001 to Ireland in May, we will see a critical mass of European states with the freedom to marry and the realization of full equality for hundreds of millions.”

Same-sex couple might not have long to wait for legal equality, however. Just last month, the Lower House of Italy’s parliament passed a motion committing the government to promote the introductions of gay civil unions for the first time. With this latest ruling, that introduction is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

An Italian sports magazine recently divided public opinion in the socially conservative Catholic country after unveiling its latest cover – which depicts two male rugby players kissing.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently defended Germany current registered partnership laws, saying she believes that marriage is between “a man and a woman.”

Six other countries have introduced nationwide marriage equality this this year alone – Finland, Slovenia, Ireland, Greenland, the United States and Mexico.

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