On the fundamental rights of LGBT-EU citizens and their different treatment in different Member States 

The petitioner points out that homosexual couples are still being treated differently in different Member States and remain at a disadvantage compared with heterosexual couples, notwithstanding the guarantees of equality embodied in the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Despite the protection afforded to marriages and families, same-sex bi-national couples find it harder, for example, to obtain recognition of marriage certificates in another Member State. Member States are also adopting laws effectively invalidating the fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. The petitioner indicates that the German authorities are refusing to recognise his marriage to a Dutch national, which took place in 2011, issue his partner with a passport or grant him the right to vote, unless he renounces certain rights, effectively leaving him stateless. Moreover, unlike a heterosexual man, he is not entitled to seek redress before the courts. The petitioner is accordingly seeking the adoption of a European law containing uniform definitions of concepts such as gender and marriage, coupled with the recognition of LGTB minority rights.