Scottish Catholic Observer

It has been reported that the European Court of Human Rights reached the decision in the case of a lesbian couple in a civil partnership in France, who complained they would not be allowed to adopt a child as a couple.

The European Court heard how one of the woman had her application refused to adopt her partner’s child. The couple, Valerie Gas and Nathalie Dubois, had tried to establish marriage rights under anti-discrimination laws but the judges said there had been no discrimination.

“The European Convention on Human Rights does not require member states’ governments to grant same-sex couples access to marriage,” judges in Strasbourg said. “With regard to married couples, the court considers that in view of the social, personal, and legal consequences of marriage, the applicants’ legal situation could not be said to be comparable to that of married couples.”

The ruling has also said, however, that if same-sex couples are allowed to marry, any church that refuses to marry gay couples will be guilty of discrimination.

Neil Addison, a specialist in discrimination law, has said that if same-sex ‘marriage’ is legalised, then the partners to such a marriage will be entitled to the same rights as partners in a heterosexual marriage.

“This means that if same-sex ‘marriage’ is legalised in the UK it will be illegal for the Government to prevent such marriages happening in religious premises,” he said.

The Catholic hierarchies north and south of the border have campaigned vigorously against government proposals to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples and, earlier this week, Muslim and Sikh groups said legalising gay unions was an ‘unnecessary and unhelpful’ step.

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