No obligation to legalise gay marriage

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that a state’s refusal to legalise same-sex marriage does not violate Europe’s rights convention, writes Tom Heneghan.

The fact that some European states allow gay marriage does not oblige others to do so, it said.

A 51-year-old Finnish citizen who had a sex-change operation in 2009 to become a woman brought the case when officials refused to recognise her new gender identity because she wanted to remain married to her wife of 18 years. Since same-sex marriage is not legal in Finland, a local court ruled the couple would have to have their relationship turned into a civil union or divorce.

They refused, but the European Court ruled this requirement did not violate the applicant’s protection from discrimination and that states had a legitimate interest in “keeping intact the traditional institution of marriage”.