The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, meeting this morning in Paris, again called on European governments to guarantee "legal recognition of same-sex partnerships" and provide for the possibility of "joint parental responsibility" for each partner's children.
The committee had submitted an initial text on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity at the Assembly's last plenary session in January 2010, but, following a debate and at the rapporteur's proposal, the parliamentarians had voted to refer the report back to the committee.
While pointing out that the eradication of homophobia and transphobia "requires political will" in member states, the new document drawn up by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) also asks that legislation and practice guarantee the right of transgender persons to "official documents that reflect their preferred gender role" and the right of access to gender reassignment treatment.
The members of the committee also voiced concerns about violations of the freedom of association and of expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in a number of Council of Europe member states and about "hate speech by certain politicians, religious leaders and other civil society representatives".
The text adopted this morning will be debated at the next plenary session (26-30 April).
