How the European Union Is Working Toward Gay Rights by Scott Stiffer
"In the treaty of Amsterdam, the EU countries pledged not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation," says Human Rights Watch LGBT Advocacy Director Boris O. Dittrich. "Every EU country is obliged to implement an anti-discrimination law." Dittrich is also a Member of Parliament in the Netherlands. As such, he sponsored 1998’s landmark same sex marriage bill in that nation. He notes that all EU policies and directives represent minimum standards that are often exceeded by its more politically liberal and socially enlightened members. This is the case for gay rights, where the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Britain and now Spain have gone beyond the EU’s directives. Still, Dittrich adds, "Several states are known to be homophobic, like Poland and Malta." Some countries, such as Italy, face pressure from the influential Catholic Church each time a progressive issue comes up for a parliamentary vote there.
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