ABSTRACT
The European Union1 was created with the primary goal of promoting economic integration and removing barriers to free trade. However, in recent years there has been increasing pressure on the Union to take a more active role in advancing the social conditions of European citizens. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the European Union in the advancement of equality rights for lesbians and gay men. Part I of the paper examines the measures adopted by the institutions of the European Union for the advancement and protection of homosexual rights. Part II describes the domestic laws of the Member States in relation to decriminalization of homosexuality, prohibition of anti-homosexual discrimination in employment, and recognition of same-sex partnerships. Part III outlines the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and demonstrates the connection between those decisions and European Union law. Part IV is a summary of the case law emanating from the European Court of Justice relating to the recognition of equality rights for homosexuals. It will be shown that by analysing homosexual rights under an economic framework, the European Court of Justice has the potential to promote those rights, unfettered by the moral arguments that have traditionally impeded homosexual equality.
The population of the European Union is approximately 365 million people and, by some estimates, this includes 80 million lesbians, gays and bisexuals.2 Thus, the unequal treatment of gay men and lesbians has the potential to limit
