RIGA, December 18, 2005  –  Gay and lesbian activists have launched an online petition calling on the Latvian president not to sign the constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Last week, the amendment passed its third and final reading in the Latvian Parliament.

And now, activists are asking gays and lesbians worldwide to sign the online petition.

“Today we launched an online petition in Latvian and English to call on the Latvian President not to sign the constitutional amendment and send it back to the parliament for revision,” the activists said in a joint statement issued today.

“According to Article 71 of the Latvian Constitution, the President can, within 10 days from the adoption at the Parliament, not to sign a law adopted by the parliament and send it back for revision.”

The activists take the line that the constitutional amendment is legally pointless, is motivated by homophobia, is discriminatory and is a result of a populist political “game” by the First Party of Latvia.

“Same-sex marriage is already banned in Article 35.2 of the Civil Law,” they point out.

Immediately following the adoption of the amendment by Parliament, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said that the amendment “has a declarative substance” and is not targeted against a possibility of same-sex partnerships.

She said she believed that the constitutional amendment does not limit same-sex relationships since the amendment does not prevent an introduction of a registered partnership institution for same-sex partners, pointing out that ‘marriage’ and ‘partnership’ are two different terms.

President Vike-Freiberga also expressed doubt that the constitutional amendment will strengthen the institution of marriage.

During the debates on the constitutional amendment she did not encourage its adoption and said that the parliamentarians should not to be guided by emotions.

The constitutional amendment was initiated by the First Party of Latvia, whose members have publicly explained that they do not want Latvia ever to become one of those countries which legally recognise relationships between the persons of the same gender.

“The only motivation for the First Party of Latvia has been homophobia,” activists say. “The party uses Latvia's lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals to play hateful and populist games.

“Please help us to persuade our President that this homophobic constitutional amendment is pointless and needs to be stopped now,” the joint statement concludes.

The online petition is available at: http://pret.diskriminaciju.esmu.es and is in both Latvian and English.  Note that only a valid e-mail address can be used.  Once signed, a code will be sent to this e-mail address to validate your signature – and to send your letter to the President of Latvia.

UK:   Timeline Of Gay and Lesbian Marriage, Partnership or Unions Worldwide.  From the Netherlands in 1979 to the UK's new law effective today, all the legislation - strong and weak - that recognises same-sex partnerships to some degree or another.  (UK Gay News, December 5, 2005)

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Block Put on Gay Marriage by Latvian Parliament.  A change in the constitution that will define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and blocks the way for “gay marriage”, became a virtual certainty today when the 100-seat Latvian parliament passed the proposal with a massive majority in the amendment’s second reading. (UK Gay News, December 1, 2005)

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