Labour MEPs stand up for all forms of families - 2012-02-10

Whenever Michael Cashman calls on fellow MEPs to act on LGBT rights, Michael and his colleagues are told by Slovakian MEP Anna  Záborská that these are "personal" issues that have nothing to do with the EU.

Odd, then, that this week (Tuesday 7th February) Anna Záborská invited all MEPs to a meeting in the European Parliament to "highlight the importance of marriage for the wellbeing of the human person," followed by a film of the Polish Pope Jean Paul Second's play 'The Jeweller's Shop' on the same topic.  Its purpose was to promote "marriage between one man and one woman as benefitting our society on many different levels, from economy to solidarity between the generations."

"All we have ever done as politicians defending the human rights of LGBT people is to work within the field of cross-border civil law, where it can be important, for EU citizens to recognise marriage law and civil partnerships across borders, for example", said Michael Cashman MEP, who co-chairs the European Parliament's LGBT inter-group.

"We have also worked against the discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — including LGBT families and their children - across the EU, as human rights are part of the shared values of Europe.

"In one breath Anna Záborská says our concerns are not relevant to the EU, but in the next breath she is promoting her own very narrow definition of 'the family'.

"This is hypocritical. It seems that what she actually opposes is the right of same sex couples to bring up a happy family.

"And if this is what she really thinks, she should have the courage to stand up and say so, and give elected MEPs from across the EU a chance to debate the issues openly with her.

"Her event could be interpreted as another attempt to discredit other forms of families - single parents, unmarried parents, registered partners, married or unmarried same-sex couples, their children and so on. We, in the Labour Party, support all families", he concluded.

Michael Cashman MEP is current Chair of the NEC of the Labour Party and co-chairs the European Parliament's 'Inter-group' (a cross-party group of like minded MEPs) on LGBT with Austrian Green MEP, Ulrike Lunacek.

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