europe gay adoption ruling advances

ruling that a lesbian woman can embark on the process of adopting a

child means European states should ensure equality in the right to

found a family, Human Rights Watch said today.

The court, ruling on January 22, 2008 in the case of E.B. v. France,

held by 10 votes to seven that the French authorities' refusal of a

lesbian's application to obtain authorization to adopt a child on the

grounds of her sexual orientation was unlawful. The court said France

had violated Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) and Article 8

(right to respect for private and family life) of the European

Convention on Human Rights.

"This groundbreaking ruling means governments can't use sexual

orientation to stop someone from adopting a child," said Scott Long,

director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Program at

Human Rights Watch. "Adoption decisions should be based on the best

interests of the child, uncontaminated by prejudice."

The court is the oversight mechanism for the European Convention and

its decisions are binding across the 47 members of the Council of

Europe (CoE) who have ratified the convention.

The decision marks a turning point in the court's jurisprudence on

family rights. In a previous 2002 case, Frett� v. France, the European

Court of Human Rights had ruled, four votes to three, that preventing

a gay man from applying to adopt a child because of his sexual

orientation did not violate the convention.

The plaintiff in the present case, E.B., is a 45-year-old nursery

school teacher who has lived with a woman psychologist, R., since

1990. In February 1998, E.B. applied to the Jura Social Services

Department to adopt a child, informing them about her sexual

orientation and her relationship with R. The adoption board

recommended rejecting the application in November 1998. In March 1999,

the president of the council of the Jura Social Services Department

refused the petition, affirming the board's decision. On June 5, 2002,

the national Conseil d'Etat confirmed this decision. French law

specifically permits single people to apply to adopt children.

However, the rejections cited the absence of a "paternal referent" in

the applicant's home.

In its decision, the court found that, having expressly extended the

"right to apply for authorization to adopt" to single parents, France

"could not then take discriminatory measures in applying it." It found

that the terms of the rejections constituted implicit discrimination

based on sexual orientation. The court has thus established a

precedent that adoption procedures must offer fair treatment not only

to single parents, but to lesbian and gay potential parents.

While many European states - from Spain to Hungary - have opened

either full civil marriage or some form of civil-union status to

same-sex partners, some restrict lesbians and gays from adopting

children either individually or as couples. States including Iceland,

the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom allow same-sex

couples to adopt children jointly. Denmark, Germany, and Norway permit

one lesbian or gay partner to adopt the other's children. Among

others, Portugal and Italy keep gays and lesbians from adopting.

The current decision ensures that governments that allow for single

parent adoption will no longer be able to exclude people from applying

for adoption based solely on their sexual orientation.

"Sexual orientation should not be a factor in determining the best

interest of the child," said Long. "Prejudice should never interfere

with giving children the care and love they deserve."