5/06/2006

EU Law Could Force Member States to Recognize Homosexual 'Marriage'

ROCKFORD, Ill., USA, May 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- A European Union law, scheduled to take effect yesterday, could force member states to recognize so-called gay marriages.

The measure orders members (including those which have rejected calls for such unions) to “facilitate” homosexual partners who have “married” in their home countries and wish to travel to or live in another EU nation.

Only the Netherlands, Spain and Brussels currently have homosexual marriage, though Britain, Germany and a number of other states have a form of civil recognition for such arrangements. The measure is believed to be aimed at Poland, Italy and Malta, which adamantly reject homosexual marriage.

World Congress of Families founder Allan Carlson noted that under the new EU law, a same-sex couple “married” in Amsterdam could relocate to Warsaw and force the Polish government to recognize their union.

Said Carlson: “This is an attempt to force sexual utopianism on EU states that adhere to traditional values. With every European state posting negative birth rates, you’d think that EU bureaucrats would be encouraging fecundity, instead of promoting such sterile unions.”

Rocco Buttiglione, a member of Italy’s recent Berlusconi government, charged the EU is advancing a leftist “soft totalitarianism” that seeks “a state religion. It is an atheist, nihilistic religion – but it is a religion that is obligatory for all.”

The International Planning Committee for World Congress of Families IV will meeting in Warsaw May 5- 7. The Warsaw Congress itself will take place May 11- 13, 2006. The preservation of marriage is sure to be among the foremost items on the agenda.

For more information on the World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org.

The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society is an independent, non-profit research and education center that strives to be the leading source of fresh ideas and new strategies for affirmation and defense of the natural family, both nationally and globally. The Howard Center is also the founder and organizer of the World Congress of Families project which unites people of goodwill who recognize that the family is the fundamental unit of society and coordinates the efforts of pro-family groups from more the 60 countries worldwide.