By Paul Belien
Sunday, January 22, 2006The European Parliament has condemned countries that do not recognize same-sex unions as "homophobic.” It did so last Thursday by approving a (nonbinding) resolution with 468 votes against 149 and 41 abstentions. Catholic groups criticize the EP for meddling in affairs outside the European Union's competence.
Mario Mauro, one of the 149 MEPs opposing the resolution, said that "an ideological document has been approved that has very little to do with the concrete protection of people's fundamental rights.” according to Mauro, a Forza Italia politician who is also vice president of the European Parliament, the resolution, which refers to religious freedom as a "source of discrimination,” is "in open contradiction with treaties and even common sense.”
Riccardo Cascioli, president of the European Center of Studies on Population, Environment and Development, said: "For the umpteenth time a European institution pronounces itself on a topic – such as the family – which is the strict domain of each of the member states. It is obvious that human rights have become a pretext to affirm an ideology that not only has nothing to do with the good of the person, but that is even a source of violence against individuals, communities and peoples.”
Earlier the European Parliament had already called for action against European Union member states, specifically Poland and the Baltic states, that do not uphold rights of homosexuals.
In the United States the judiciary is at the helm in the fight against traditional values, while the legislature tends to defend them. Last Friday a court in Maryland ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional. The judge said that the prohibition of same-sex marriages is a discrimination of gay couples which is based solely on their sexual orientation. She wrote in her ruling that "although traditions and values are important they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory statutory classification.” Though Friday's ruling is an important victory for the gay lobby it does not mean (yet) that Maryland will become a marryland for gays. The Maryland attorney general has voiced plans for an appeal while politicians, including the Maryland governor, have announced that they intend to amend the constitution in order to reserve marriage to a union between one man and one wife. according to the doctrine of the European Parliament, this makes them into "homophobes.”
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