Today was a good day for gay rights in Germany, Austria and probably Europe

[Tender Branson]

German court strengthens gay adoption rights

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's highest court strengthened gay couples' adoption rights in a ruling Tuesday that the country's justice minister greeted as "a historic step."

The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that one member of a civil partnership should be able to adopt the partner's stepchild or adopted child. Until now, they could only adopt a partner's biological child.

Germany has allowed same-sex couples to register civil partnerships that legally fall short of formal marriage since 2001. Unlike many other European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands and, most recently, France and Britain, it hasn't moved toward allowing full gay marriage.

The court ruled on a challenge to the existing rules from a woman who was denied permission to adopt a Bulgarian girl whom her partner had adopted. It ordered the government to draw up new legislation by June 2014.

It said the German constitutional provision that "marriage and the family shall enjoy the special protection of the state," cannot be used to justify ruling out same-sex partners adopting the other partner's adopted child.

...

In a separate decision Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against neighboring Austria's decision to deny a lesbian woman the right to adopt her longtime partner's son.

The court in Strasbourg, France, found there was no persuasive reason to treat the couple differently from an unmarried heterosexual couple in the boy's adoption.

Under Austrian law, allowing the woman to adopt the boy would have severed his mother's parental rights, based on a 2006 Austrian ruling that the term "parents" was intended to mean two people of different sex.

Tuesday's ruling acknowledged that European law on adoption by same-sex couples is in flux, but found that Austria had discriminated against the couple. It ordered the government to pay more than €38,000 ($50,000) in damages.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/19/germany-gay-adoption-court/1929831/

[Franzl]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

[Benj]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It's what happens when even moderate religious parties are allowed in power. To be fair, it's also reprehensible that the SPD/Green government didn't do anything before 2005, but that was pretty early overall.

[Tender Branson]

LOL, that was fast:

ÖVP yesterday: Gay adoption ? Not with us.

ÖVP today after the European Court of Human Rights ruling: Gay adoption will be modified THIS year, based on the ruling.

http://derstandard.at/1361240482419/Karl-Stiefkind-Adoption-fuer-Homosexuelle-noch-heuer

[MaxQue]

LOL, that was fast:

ÖVP yesterday: Gay adoption ? Not with us.

ÖVP today after the European Court of Human Rights ruling: Gay adoption will be modified THIS year, based on the ruling.

http://derstandard.at/1361240482419/Karl-Stiefkind-Adoption-fuer-Homosexuelle-noch-heuer

There is good sides to blind Europhilia, then.

[minionofmidas]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It's what happens when even moderate religious parties are allowed in power. To be fair, it's also reprehensible that the SPD/Green government didn't do anything before 2005, but that was pretty early overall.

They didn't have the votes in the Bundesrat.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It needs to stop and go the other way Europe. As one with German desent, I'm sadly dismayed with this decision.

[Franzl]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It needs to stop and go the other way Europe. As one with German desent, I'm sadly dismayed with this decision.

Thankfully it's just descent and not citizenship.

[afleitch]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It needs to stop and go the other way Europe. As one with German desent, I'm sadly dismayed with this decision.

Thankfully it's just descent and not citizenship.

And being quite literally a 'descent' too...

[ingemann]

The slow progress on gay rights in the German speaking world is a disgrace.

It needs to stop and go the other way Europe. As one with German desent, I'm sadly dismayed with this decision.

Thankfully it's just descent and not citizenship.

Show some graditude for that the right of return only extend to eastern German descendants.

[Tender Branson]

New poll by Karmasin shows that Austrians back gay/lesbian adoption by a huge 57-35 margin.

http://www.profil.at/articles/1308/560/353278/adoptionsrecht-umfrage-mehrheit-adoptionsrecht-paare

Of course, the Austrian public has long been ahead of the politicians, especially the 3 parties from the Right.

[Tidus]

And additional the conservative CDU of Angela Merkel is sending signals that it is now willing to expand the rights of gay couples and to bring them more in line with the rights of traditional marriages.

The CDU today discusses to align the rights of gay couples and gay-married citizens to heterosexual couples for the cases of child adoption, taxation benefits and so on...

Since all other major parties in Germany are already in favor of gay marriage and equal rights for gays (in fact 'Die Linke', 'SPD', 'Greens' and the 'FDP' are all in favor of equal rights for gays) that now means there is a kind of consensus of all the parties on that issue.

There is also the possibility that these expanded taxation and adoption rights for gays make their way into the german law before the next federal election in September.

Vice Chancellor P. Rösler forecasted that this things will be accomplished and written into german law 'very fast'.

As a conservative and a CDU member myself I can only approve this development.