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Loading ...Hungarian gays win partnership rights
05.12.2009 4:25pm EDT
(Budapest) Same-sex couples in Hungary will be able to register their relationships in a new domestic partner registry beginning July 1.
The legislation was signed into law by President Laszlo Solyom after winning passage in Parliament.Under the law partners must be over 18, live together and be financially interdependent. It will allow gay and lesbian couples to recognize partners as next of kin, provide for joint tax filing, allow partners to make decisions in health care, and assure inheritance, social security and pension rights.
It will not, however, allow same-sex couples to adopt or undergo fertility treatments, nor will it allow couples to share a common surname.
Last December, Hungary’s Constitutional Court overturned a similar law because it also would have allowed unmarried opposite-sex couples to register. The court in its ruling said the law would diminish the importance of marriage.
The ruling, however, said that a law allowing domestic partnerships for gay couples would not be unconstitutional – as long as it applied only to same-sex couples.
Gays and lesbians have had a difficult time in winning legal rights in Hungary.
Last year more than a dozen people were arrested during a disturbance by ultra-nationalists during Budapest’s pride march. Charges against all but four of the protestors who refused to obey a police order to disperse were dismissed. The judge hearing the case ruled that pelting marchers with eggs in a gay pride parade was protected free speech.
Police initially refused to grant gay pride organizers a parade permit but allowed a far right group permission to stage a counter protest.
In the days leading up to the parade two gay businesses in the city were firebombed.
The new Hungarian statute is not about domestic partnership, it is about civil union (or registered partnership), which will be created by the parties’ personal declaration before the state registrar. Thus civil unions will be formed in exactly the same way as marriages are formed.
It is true that the partners will have to be over 18, but there is no requirement that they have to live together or be financially interdependent. These are requirements for the recognition of a domestic partnership, which is not registered.
The above article mixes up the description of the already existing institution of domestic partnership with the description of the new institution of civil unions.
The new Hungarian statute is not about domestic partnership, it is about civil union (or registered partnership), which will be created by the parties’ personal declaration before the state registrar. Thus civil unions will be formed in exactly the same way as marriages are formed.
It is true that the partners will have to be over 18, but there is no requirement that they have to live together or be financially interdependent. These are requirements for the recognition of a domestic partnership, which is not registered.
The above article mixes up the description of the already existing institution of domestic partnership with the description of the new institution of civil unions.
PS. Congratulations to Iowa, Vermont and Maine! And hopefully also to NH!
Additional clarification:
Both different and same sex couples can live in a domestic partnership (unregistered cohabitation), whilst the civil union (registered partnership) will be available only for same sex couples.
Actually it is nice to have the new Hungarian legislation (although marriage would be better), taking into account that our Western neighbour, Austria only plans to introduce a bill on registered partnerships (civil unions) to the Austrian Parliament in late 2009.
Plus, Austria opened up the institution of domestic partnership (unregistered cohabitation) to gay couples only in 2003, under the pressure of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights, whereas Hungary did that in 1996 on the basis of the ruling of the Hungarian Constitutional Court.
Of course on the other hand the gay pride (march) is a peaceful and enjoyable event in Vienna. (Actually the neonazis started to attack the pride only 2 yrs ago in Budapest, until then only a handful of allegedly Christian demonstrators protested.)
So (formal) legal recognition is now better in Hungary, but social recognition is far better in Austria.
One last point: It is worth to mention that the Hungarian Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued several official statements against the introduction of civil unions for gay couples, but never found the time to issue a single statement condemning the neonazi party. (Well, to be precise, this party would not accept the label “neonazi”, they are merely extreme right radical etc.)
Fookin’ catholics ARE neonazis!!
The second ex-communist eastern European country, after the Chech republic, to recognize same sex relationships.
This is an unstoppable movement worldwide. If only every gay and str8 supporter of liberty and justice for gay people would PULLESE get involved.
And one way would be to contribute to EqualityMaine.org, where we can expect a referendum on the existing gay marriage bill, later this year.
Well, it may not be marriage, but it’s still a whole lot more than I have in Penna. Congratulations and good luck.
Shawn – Catholics are not neo-nazis, and I’ve learned that there are many priests etc in the church who support equality for gay people.
But the pope, who grew up in Nazi Germany did learn one thing from Hitler. Absolute control, and the demand for absolute obediance.
All the good priests etc who support equality for gay people are driven into a closet of terrorism, for their lifes work will end if they dare challenge Il Papa. Il in Italian means ‘the’ if I am correct.
It is also an interesting pun, for he really is “Ill Papa”.
I wish we had this in Italy!
@Rocco–Much more likely in Italy when that crook Berlusconi is finally expelled from the government. He’s Italy’s George W Bush.
@Katie Murphy
well, actually the third post-communist/socialist country in cenral/eastern europe. beside the Czech Rep, Slovenia also introduced registered partnership in 2005/2006, although it seems that both the Czech and the Slovenian version of reg. partnership (civil union) offers much less in terms of rights&obligations.
Eg according to the ILGA Europe website the Slovenian reg partnership act “does not grant any rights in the area of social security (social and health insurance, pension rights and so on), or provide partners with the status of a next-of-kin to one another”. Interestingly, in Hungary even non-registered domestic partners (whether of the same or opposite sex) have social security rights, eg the surviving partner is entitled to a widower’s (widow’s) pension.
@Rocco and Drewski: True, but I think the Prodi gov’t was also not much better with all the proposals to introduce some form of a domestic partnership giving rights to couples after 9 or so yrs of cohabitation. But I have just read on wikipedia that Italy’s constitutional court will have to rule on gay marriage after a Venice court sent a case to the const. court in late April 2009.
The problem in Italy is – aside from the gerontocracy of being ruled only by men minimum age 80 – is that it is ruled by another, smaller state within its borders whose infallible leader appointed by God is not elected and who calls the shots whether the left or the right is in power
Maybe Hungary is majority Catholic but it’s not a theocracy
@Rocco: Yes, I checked the website of the Italian Constitutional Court and they do seem to be exclusively men over 80 with one exception: a woman over 80. So I guess nothing can be expected from this Court. But the reasoning of the Venice court (Tribunale di Venezia) is quite impressive and very clear.
http://static.ilsole24ore.com/G/GuidaDiritto/binary/10507117.13/10507117.pdf
Should the Corte costituzionale – by some miracle – rule in favour of gay marriage, Italy would become the first European country to introduce marriage equality by way of a judicial decision.
Hungarian: perhaps in response to this case, the parliament is proposing an amendment to the Italian constitution to ban gay marriage. So we will be like Latvia. The best thing you can do for gay rights in Italy is to pack your suitcases while the Schengen treaty is still valid for Italy, and make it to a free country like Spain
And yes, Hungary is not a theocracy, thank G-d, but we would also need a Zapatero to strengthen the state/church divide. Spain is lucky to have such a Prime Minister.
Unfortunately, the Socialist-Liberal (!) gov’t of Hungary condcluded an agreement (a “concordato”) with the Vatican in 1997 which entitles the Catholic church to loads of money year by year. As a reparation for the nationalizing of their huge pre-WWII estates by the Communist state after WWII.
I’m really quite scared. Nothing had been reported in English about this. If anybody reads Italian here are some links:
http://www.italiaoggi.it/giornali/dettaglio_giornali.asp?preview=false&accessMode=FA&id=1604307&codiciTestate=1
http://www.gay-forum.it/forum/index.php?topic=16469.0
Vile whoring b*stards