EUROPE: Backlash Against Gay Marriage Widens

Last week, Latvia amended its constitution to limit marriage to between "one man and one woman." Now, this week comes news that the neighboring Baltic nation of Lithuania is making moves to follow Latvia in discriminating against same-sex couples who want to be married. These countries were recently added to the European Union, which generally has been very acceptive of equal rights for LGBT folks (far ahead of the United States). The first country in the world to provide comprehensive rights for same-sex partners (way back in 1989) was Denmark, an EU nation. Currently, EU nations The Netherlands, Spain and Belgium all allow marriage between same-sex couples. In the United States, by contrast, only Massachusetts offers marriage for same-sex couples. Other EU nations like France, Germany, Sweden, Finland and, most recently, the United Kingdom, all offer some nationwide state recognition with rights and responsibility of registered same-sex partnerships. How the EU willl deal with differing views on equal treatment of LGBT individuals by member states will be a crucial indicator of future progress and integration.