Members of European Parliament ask Latvian President not to sign constitutional amendment

Brussels, 20th December 2005

Dear President Vike-Freiberga,

We are writing to you to ask you to reject the amendment to Article 110 of the Constitution defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman only, which was adopted on 15 December by the Latvian Parliament. The amendment, initiated by the First Party of Latvia, is clearly motivated by homophobia and a result of the aggressive homophobic campaign following the first LGBT Pride march in Riga last July. In our view it is important to send a strong signal that such actions are unacceptable.

More than half of the EU member states support the recognition of same-sex partners, and subsequently granting them rights and obligations which are secured by marriage for heterosexual couples such as rent, pensions and inheritance. Representatives of the First Party have not hidden the fact that the basic motivation behind this amendment is to keep Latvia from joining the European member states that legally recognise partnerships between persons of the same sex.

The constitutional amendment is legally pointless, since same-sex marriage is already banned in Article 35.2 of the Civil Law, and discriminatory, because it limits rights of a certain group of people instead of extending them. In addition, the amendment risks stimulating further development of intolerance and homophobia in Latvia.

Latvia has joined the European Union and the Council of Europe, thus supporting values such as equality and non-discrimination. We would therefore kindly like to remind you of Latvia's European obligations:

- When joining the Council of Europe, Latvia acceded the European Human Rights Convention, whose Article 12 bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;

- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Convention protects the rights of same-sex partners to family life (the ruling Karner vs. Austria, 2003), thus establishing legal practice which makes clear that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of the Convention

- Article 13 of the founding treaty of the European Communities states one of the fundamental principles of the EU - a ban against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;

- Similarly, Article 21 of the European Union's Charter of Human Rights bans any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;

- Directive 2000/78/EC on equal rights in employment specifies that EU member states must ban all discrimination in the field of employment, including discrimination based on sexual orientation;

- Directive 2004/38/EC recognises same sex partners and awards them the same right that applies to one of the fundamental principles of the EU - free movement within the EU;

For the reasons listed in this letter, we ask you to reject the amendment and remind the members of the Latvian government of its obligations with regard to protection against discrimination as formulated in article 13 of the Treaty on the European Communities.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Cashman

President, European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights

Sophie in 't Veld

Raűl Romeva

Alexander Stubb

Vice Presidents, European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights