European Union a Tangle for Same-Sex Couples

Most of us here in the U.S. know that traveling from state to state as a same-sex couple can mean having our legal relationships with a partner and/or children wink on and off like a traffic light. Turns out that Europe — despite a longer history in some countries of recognizing same-sex relationships — isn't always better.

The EU Observer reported today on Kaisa, a Finnish journalist, and her partner Claire, a French webmaster, who have been together for over a decade. They have a legal French civil union. Their two children are biologically and legally Kaisa's, but Claire has joint custody, which gives her certain rights, like hospital visitation.

Just as in the United States when a non-biological mother cannot do a second-parent adoption, however, Claire would have no right to ever see the children again if Kaisa died or the couple separated. She would also be under no obligation for child support if they separated.

Here's the thing. Claire could adopt the children, but only in Finland, because the kids are Finnish citizens. Finland does not recognize French same-sex unions, however, and will not grant second-parent adoptions to French-registered same-sex parents. They would do so if Claire and Kaisa had registered their union in Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain, though. So much for pan-European standards.

To solve this, the EU Observer says, "Kaisa would have to dissolve her French union; move to Finland for at least six months; register there for tax purposes; register a new civil union under Finnish law; register the adoption; move back to France and obtain French recognition of the Finnish union and adoption package."

Are we Finnished yet?

And while the European Commission told the EU Observer that the EU Treaty clause of freedom of movement and the Charter of Fundamental Rights on non-discrimination "provides for the right of entry and residence for EU citizens and their family members regardless of the issue of recognition of marriages or partnerships," LGBT-rights group ILGA-Europe says it isn't enough to protect these families fully.

There are certainly good reasons for some rights and responsibilities to be managed by separate jurisdictions, whether countries or states. But when laws left to separate jurisdictions result in families having their legal status turned on and off when they do normal things like travel, those laws are shaking one of the fundamental institutions of our society — the family. Both the U.S. government and the European Commission need to understand that — as will, ultimately, all the countries of the world.

Photo credit: Rock Cohen