Naerssen, Ax van, ed.
Interdisciplinary Research on Homosexuality in the Netherlands
. New York: Haworth Press, 1987.
Nilsson, Arne. “Creating Their Own Private and Public: The Male Homosexual Life Space in a Nordic City During High Modernity,”
Journal of Homosexuality
35, no. 3–4 (1998).
Noordam, Dirk Jaap. “Sodomy in the Dutch Republic, 1600–1725.” In
The Pursuit of Sodomy: Male Homosexuality in Renaissance and Enlightment Europe
. Edited by Gert Hekma and Gerard Kent. New York: Harrington Park Press, 1989.
Oresko, Robert. “France, Germany, and Scandinavia: Homosexuality and the Court Elites of Early Modem France: Some Problems, Some Suggestions, and an Example,”
Journal of Homosexuality
16, no. 1–2 (1988).
Riksförbundet för homosexuellas, bisexuellas och transpersoners rättigheter (RFSL—The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights)
http://www.rfsl.se
(accessed February 18, 2008).
Rosen, Wilhelm von. “Sodomy in Early Modem Denmark: A Crime without Victims,”
Journal of Homosexuality
16, no. 1–2 (1988).
Van Der Meer, Theo. “Tribades on Trial: Female Same-Sex Offenders in Late Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam,”
Journal of Homosexuality
1, no. 3 (1991).
———. “The Persecutions of Sodomites in Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam: Changing Perceptions of Sodomy,”
Journal of Homosexuality
16, no. 1–2 (1988).
—Adoption; Discrimination; European Law; Europe, Eastern & Central; Marriage; Parenting.
EUROPEAN LAW
For the last twenty years, Europe has been the site of some of the most important and unprecedented legal battles involving the rights of gays and lesbians. Today in many European countries, many legislated anti-discriminatory policies have been implemented, based in part on the recommendations of the Council of Europe (forty-seven countries signed the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights) and resolutions passed by the European Union, as well as judgments passed down from the European Court of Human Rights. Calling for the respect and equality of gay and lesbian rights in various realms of the law, the European judicial order undeniably constitutes one of the most important engines in the fight for gay and lesbian equality and against homophobia.
Passed in 1981, the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment on the case
Dudgeon v. United Kingdom
constituted the first instance of a state found guilty of discriminating against a citizen by reason of his homosexuality. In this particular case, Jeffrey Dudgeon, a shipping clerk and gay activist in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was interrogated by the police about his sexual activities, resulting in Dudgeon filing a complaint with the European Commission of Human Rights. In its judgment, the Court deemed Northern Ireland’s current legislation, in which homosexual acts committed between consenting adults were still illegal, to be a violation of the right of
privacy
as protected by the European Convention. This decision establishing
jurisprudence
on the subject led those European nations with laws at odds with the Convention to begin the process of modifying legislation to be more favorable toward gay and lesbian rights. Since then, both the European Union and the Council of Europe have insisted that countries requesting admittance must abolish any existing discriminatory laws against homosexuals. Further, those states that were already members of the European Union but had retained anti-gay measures were regularly denounced by the European Parliament.
Since the beginning of the 1980s, the influence of European law has extended beyond that of penal law; it also influences both the social perception of homosexuality and the daily lives of gays and lesbians. In this way, a 1979 recommendation was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, asking the Committee of Ministers from various countries to “[sensitize] public opinion on the problems facing the moral and legal protection of homosexuals,” as well as work toward eliminating work-related “and other” discrimination, and institute new measures to ensure the security of gays and lesbians, including “the enjoyment of the same rights and facilities granted to all citizens.” In 1981, the Assembly adopted a text recommending not only the cessation of all activities or research “designed to alter the sexual orientation of adults,” but also to ensure, “no more no less,” the equality of gays and lesbians with regard to issues such as employment, custody, visiting rights, and housing. In 1984, the Parliament of the European Union adopted a resolution on sexual discrimination in the workplace and, in 1986, it asked all member states to apply the principle of non-discrimination based on sexual preference to their respective constitutions.
An important step was taken in 1994 when the European Parliament adopted a resolution on equal rights for gays and lesbians in the European Community. The resolution requested member states to put an end to the criminal punishments as well as to discrimination; it also urged them to fight against homophobic violence and to organize campaigns against all forms of social discrimination aimed at homosexuals. Also, for the first time, an appeal was launched in favor of recognizing the rights of same-sex couples “so that an end can be brought to the interdiction preventing them from marrying or benefiting from equivalent rights,” as well as “the right for gays and lesbians to be parents, to adopt, and to raise children.” Further, in 1999 as part of a judgment criticizing Portugal, the European Court of Human Rights affirmed that the refusal to grant visitation rights to a parent by reason of his or her homosexuality constituted an unjustifiable discrimination with regard to the Convention. Some time later, the same Court criticized the United Kingdom for its policy of excluding homosexuals from the
army
.
European law further entrenched its commitment against discrimination based on of sexual orientation in 1997 with the Amsterdam Treaty, which amended the original agreement establishing the European Union; overall, it provided for a greater emphasis on citizenship and the rights of individuals aiming at more democracy overall within the Union, and was the first international document that explicitly prohibited this kind of discrimination. This step forward was significantly reinforced by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, adopted in December of 2000, whose Article stipulates against “discrimination based on any ground such as … sexual orientation.” Since then, the Council of the European Union adopted a resolution obliging member states to scrupulously ensure equal treatment of gays and lesbians in matters of work and employment.
There have recently been some advances in the European Court of Human Rights when it comes to recognizing the right to marry and the right of same-sex couples to have families. In 2003, the European Parliament recommended that homosexuals be allowed to legally marry and adopt children. It urged the European Union to abolish all forms of discrimination against homosexuals, both legislative and de facto. The Parliament recommended that member states recognize both heterosexual and homosexual non-marital relationships, adopt a broader definition of the family, and confer the same rights on partners in such relationships as to those who are married. However, legislation recognizing and providing equal rights to same-sex couples has reached different stages in EU member states. There have been several cases in which the European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of these advancements. For example, in 2003 in Karner v. Austria, the Court ruled that a homosexual who lost his tenancy when his partner died was a victim of unlawful discrimination, and in 2008 in E.B. v. France, the Court ruled that exclusion of individuals from adopting children based on sexual orientation was discriminatory and in breach of the European Convention. Furthermore, between 2006 and 2007 the European Parliament passed three resolutions addressing the increase of homophobia in Europe, which would see sentences handed down for homophobic offences, and at the same time officially recognizing the International Day Against Homophobia (May 17) in Europe.
—Daniel Borrillo and Thomas Formond
[Original essay updated by Arsenal Pulp Press.]
Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe. “Situation des lesbiennes et des gays dans les Etats membres du Conseil de l’Europe.” Report, document 8755 (June 6, 2000).
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Meyer, Catherine-Anne. “L’Homosexualité dans la jurisprudence de la Cour et de la Commission européenne des droits de l’homme.” In
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Wintemute, Robert. “Libertés et droits fondamentaux des personnes gays, lesbiennes et bisexuelles en Europe.” In
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———. “Strasbourg to the Rescue? Same-Sex Partners and Parents Under the European Convention.” In
Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships
. Edited by Mads Andenaes and Robert Wintemute. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2001.
—Criminalization; Decriminalization; Discrimination; Jurisprudence; Parenting; Privacy.
EX-GAY
The “ex-gay” movement first appeared in the United States during the 1970s, composed of men and women whose homosexuality had been supposedly “cured” and who encouraged other gays and lesbians to follow them on this course. Strongly influenced by religion, in particular the “born again” Christian movement (Christians who have rediscovered the “truth” of the Gospels after a period of atheism or religious indifference), the growth of the ex-gay phenomenon is directly linked to the removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental illnesses in the early 1970s. While this victory for gays and lesbians did put an end (at least symbolically) to a century of social control at the hands of psychiatrists, it also had the undesirable consequence of abandoning a large number of people who wanted to be “cured” of their attraction to people of the same sex. Among them, those who could not reconcile their religious faith with their sexual orientation subsequently organized themselves, sometimes in alliance with their churches, into self-help groups to mutually assist one another in their quest to become heterosexual. Many ex-gay organizations were created in this way, commonly aligned with fundamentalist church communities. Beginning in 1976, most of these organizations came together as part of a larger association known as Exodus (now Exodus International), which provides services for those who seek “freedom from homosexuality.”
The primary activity of ex-gay organizations centers on the concept of “reparative therapy,” which combines religious exercises with psychotherapy. In most cases, the therapeutic practice takes the form of group prayer,
Bible
study, sessions with a “Christian” psychologist, and group discussions. Some groups take their inspiration directly from established techniques used to fight addictions; one obvious example is Homosexuals Anonymous, modeled after the twelve-step program used by groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Another common method of treatment reinforces the traditional negative perception of homosexuality as a type of gender
inversion
, in which groups help lesbians become more feminine, and gay men more masculine, through workshops on such subjects as makeup application, automobile mechanics, and basketball. Finally, the most radical groups have been to known to practice exorcisms or electroshock aversion therapy.
Up until the late 1990s, these groups received rather timid and discreet support from the religious right in America, despite having much in common. This was in part because, although they had “repented” and were trying to become “cured,” the gays and lesbians making up these groups often continued to have relationships with and desire for people of the same sex. Further, it was not long before many “ex-ex-gays” began to speak out, citing not only the failure of such therapy to work, resulting in depression and suicidal feelings and attempts, but also the fact that they had finally come to terms with their sexual orientation and did not need to be “cured.” Indeed, the two male cofounders of Exodus finally abandoned their movement to live together as a couple, subsequently becoming two of the main figures in the fight against ex-gay movements. In this context, it becomes obvious why these groups appear to be rather untrustworthy “allies” in the eyes of the conservative religious movement.
In recent years, however, the situation has changed. The legislative progress achieved in certain cities and counties by new anti-discriminatory laws during the Clinton administration, combined with the appearance of a gay conservative faction within the Republican Party with strong lobbying pull, brought the ex-gay movement closer to forces from the religious right. Together, they put forth the argument that anti-discriminatory laws protecting homosexuals were irrelevant because gays and lesbians could in fact change their sexual orientation. In 1998, this alliance resulted in a national advertising campaign entitled “Truth in Love,” the cost of which ($500,000) was borne by eighteen groups from the religious right; as part of the campaign, full-page advertisements promoting the ex-gay movement appeared in some of the most widely read newspapers in the US, such as
USA Today
, the
Wall Street Journal
, and the
Washington Post
. The first one appeared in the
New York Times
featuring Anne Paulk, a “wife, mother, and former lesbian” who declared, “I am living proof that the Truth can set you free.” Since then, many more campaigns targeted at the general public have appeared, showing that the ex-gay movement has become an integral part of the religious right’s strategy against gays and lesbians.