DISINFO: ECHR demands that Russia legalise same-sex marriage, ignoring Russian constitution
SUMMARY
The European Court of Human Rights has demanded that Russia legalise same-sex marriages. This is despite the fact that the Russian Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In other words, the ECHR has ordered that Russia ignore its own laws and impose Western values on its people.
RESPONSE
The claim advances a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative regarding the alleged attempts by the West to impose its social and political values on Russia.
The ECHR neither demands that Russia legalise same-sex marriage nor ignores Russian legislation in its rationale. In fact, the judgment makes explicit reference to the 2020 constitutional amendments in permitting that the state's protection of traditional marriage is a "weighty and legitimate interest, which may have positive effect in strengthening family unions" (para. 54).
Nonetheless, the Court has found that the Russian government's refusal to grant same-sex couples "other forms of legal acknowledgement" (para. 56) constitutes a violation of Article 8 ("Right to respect private and family life," p. 11) of the European Convention of Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory. It is submitted:
"[W]ithout formal acknowledgment same-sex couples are prevented from accessing housing and financing programmes and from visiting their partners in hospital, [...] deprived of guarantees in criminal proceedings (the right not to witness against the partner), and rights to inherit the property of the deceased partner [...]. That situation creates a conflict between the social reality of the applicants who live in committed relationships based on mutual affection, and the law, which fails to protect the most regular of 'needs' arising in the context of a same-sex couple. That conflict can result in serious daily obstacles for same-sex couples" (para. 51).