BRUSSELS, June 25, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The Belgian cabinet has approved a bill Friday legalizing homosexual marriage which is to be presented to parliament in the coming weeks. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s government released a statement saying, “Mentalities have evolved, there is no longer any reason not to open marriage to people of the same sex . The starting point of this bill is equality of treatment in marriage for homosexual and heterosexual couples.”
Ananova reports that the Belgian Bill will only permit homosexuals whose countries recognize homosexual marriages to wed.
Meanwhile in Holland, which legalized homosexual marriages in April, a Dutch civil servant who refused to officiate such marriages was threatened with termination by the Leuwaarden city council. Ananova reports that Nynke Eringa-Boomgaardt can only save her part-time job if she signs a contract agreeing to wed same-sex couples at city hall. “This is about the battle between equality and my right to have conscientious objections,” Eringa-Boomgaardt said.
For more see the Ananova coverage at: https://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_335783.html https://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_337002.html