In December 2005, Latvia decided to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. Mozaika, an Alliance of LGBT People and their Friends in Latvia, have been working since then to get the law changed. Last month, the Ombudsman recommended to the Parliament not to introduce same-sex registered partnership. The following is a heartfelt guest post by Linda Freimane, former Chairperson of the Association of LGBT and their friends, Mozaika, who has been involved in consultations.
It took the Latvian Ombudsman Juris Jansons two months to come up with the statement that “the larger part of Latvian society is not ready to accept a same-sex partnership law which in its essence can be compared to marriage”, and therefore to recommend the Parliament not to support the draft partnership law, which Mozaika prepared last year.
The first thought that came to my mind was – how ready is the Ombudsman himself to defend the rights of discriminated groups and individuals in Latvia? Does he really believe that he needs the majority’s support before taking action against injustice? In that case I think that the Ombudsman has misunderstood his job description.
We read the Ombudsman’s letter with growing disappointment. Not only because of his recommendation not to support our draft law, but also because there was nothing in this dry document that would indicate that the Ombudsman at least finds the situation unsatisfactory, or that he suggests that our politicians take some action to change public attitude towards sexual minorities. The Ombudsman recognises a number of important court cases from the European Court of Human Rights, and he states that he is aware of that many European countries are recognizing same sex partnerships or even marriage, but he fails to look at the effects these cases and pieces of legislation have had in other countries. He also fails to mention all the research that has been carried out, which shows that changes in legislation mostly come before a positive change in public attitude – not after.
The Latvian people will not suddenly wake up one morning saying – today I feel ready to accept something new, something that is a strange concept to me. This will only happen when there is a political will in Latvia to give homosexual couples the same rights that heterosexual couples take for granted.
Indeed, the Ombudsman suggests that a number of amendments should be made in different laws, in order to broaden the circle of people who can be considered “next of kin”. For example, this would give same-sex couples (and non-married straight couples) hospital visitation rights, certain tax benefits, the right not to be a witness in a court case against your partner, etc. These are very welcome changes, but they are not enough to make gay and lesbian couples feel accepted and free to live their lives as they choose in Latvia.
Still, these couples have a choice – often they choose to leave. They go to other countries in Europe where they can register their partnerships, and where they can live without being stigmatised or looked upon as “freaks”, “traditional marriage breakers” or “immoral”. In a country with around 2 million inhabitants, a negative demographic curve and a poor economy, every tax-paying individual counts. We simply cannot afford to allow all people who are not entirely heterosexual either choose to leave or lead sorry and depressed lives in the closet.
While politicians speculate about how many votes they would gain or lose by standing up for human rights and equal treatment real people make real decisions about their lives – and, as we say in Latvia, they “vote with their feet”.
This is a fact which Mozaika has tried to explain to our political leaders, including the Ombudsman. So far, as it seems, we have not been too successful, even if we also count our small victories. For example, since the last elections (in September 2011) the most homophobic party is out of the Parliament, and along with it – a number of extremely aggressive MPs. In the election campaign leading up to the September elections same-sex partner rights were mentioned in a few party programmes – for the first time. If any of the amendments, which the Ombudsman suggests, will be adopted, this will be a step in the right direction.
But at this point it feels that more radical actions are needed to force change to occur. For example, we are thinking of using litigation as a way of drawing the media’s attention to the absurd situation many homosexual couples are facing today – including families with children, who do not enjoy the same rights as other children. And we realise that we simply have to step up our advocacy efforts to make sure that Latvia does not find itself among the very last countries in Europe who recognise the obvious – that everyone should have the same rights, no matter how many or few feel “ready” to accept it.
For further information or to send messages of support, contact Mozaika:
