There’s no right to same-sex marriage –World court

BY C-NEWS BUREAU CHIEF
The World Court of Human Rights, composed of 47 judges from the Council of Europe member countries, has unanimously stated that there is no right to same-sex marriage. This significant statement, published by the Plenary Court of Strasbourg, the world’s foremost human rights court, has surprisingly received limited attention in the media.
The judgment, supported by all 47 justices, was grounded in a wide range of philosophical, anthropological, scientific, and legal considerations. It drew upon the natural order, common sense, scientific reports, and positive law. Specifically, the ruling referred to Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights, along with relevant treaty resolutions such as Articles 17 of the P San José Act and 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In these historic resolutions, the Court concluded that the concept of family encompasses not only the traditional understanding of marriage as the union between a man and a woman but also emphasized that governments are not obliged to extend marriage to same-sex couples. The Court also highlighted that there is no discrimination since states have the freedom to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples based on their own discretion.
It is important to note that this ruling carries significant weight, given the authority and expertise of the World Court of Human Rights. However, despite its importance, the statement has received limited attention in the public sphere.
The judgement has spilled into public view after Uganda was widely condemned internationally for passing what some world leaders called one of the world’s strictest anti-LGBTQ+ law last month.
Despite four amendments, the bill retained most of the harshest measures of the legislation adopted in March. Those include the death penalty for certain same-sex acts and a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality, which activists say could criminalise any advocacy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer citizens.