“Gay Rights” Resolution Postponed in Council of Europe Assembly

By Hilary White

January 27, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has decided to postpone its planned vote on a report that purported to protect homosexuals from discrimination. Due to the large number of opposing amendments, the PACE is expected to reschedule the vote for its next session in April 2010 after examination by a Parliamentary Committee.

Entitled “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Document 12087 faced strong opposition from critics who said it threatens fundamental democratic rights such as the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and conscience and the primacy of the interests of children. Opposition has also said that it would undermine the sovereign interest of states in their right to protect public morality, family and the best interests of the child. 

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), a Christian legal organization, warned parliamentarians in a memorandum that the draft resolution should be amended “in order to maintain the definition of the family and to protect the fundamental right to disagree with the ideology of those promoting gender identity.”

Amendments to the resolution must, the ECLJ said, provide a legal definition of “hate speech,” and “reaffirm that this concept shall never end in a limitation of free speech.” They must also provide definitions of “homophobia” and include a reaffirmation of the fundamental right to freedom of religious opinion, in private and in public, including matters of morality, the group said.