WILLEMSTAD — "A true milestone", finds Foko-Chairman Mario Kleinmoedig. In this, he refers to a motion that had been adopted by the Lower Chamber requesting the Dutch government to support contracting a civil marriage with people of the same sex on Aruba and in the future lands Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Even though the adjusted motion is less radical than the actual motion, which had demanded that the gay marriage would be implemented on the BES-Islands per 10-10-’10, the gay movement views this as ‘a substantial boost’.
Now the Chamber wants to know from the government when the civil gay marriage will be thrown open for persons of the same sex. If there is no clarity as to when this will actually occur, then Foko already announces a lawsuit to engineer the civil marriage for people of the same sex on the BES-Islands. Kleinmoedig: "We all know that this concerns sensitivities, but the BES will be falling within the Dutch government soon."
Regarding the situation for the other Kingdom territories, Foko will present the governments with suggestions in cooperation with the Aruban group, and will report such to the Lower Chamber as well. "We do not wish to enforce the gay marriage on the society. Other alternatives are also possible." In first instance, the gay movement aims for the juridical institute, the economical contract. However, this registration is considered an intermediate stage for the throwing open of the civil marriage for homos and lesbians.
‘Motion is political blackmail’
Until now, the politics has not been favorably disposed towards the introduction of the gay marriage or possible alternatives.
Minister Omayra Leeflang (PAR) had written on her Facebook-page yesterday: "Now they want to force this through politics. That is not possible. We are self-governing in the Antilles and make our own legislation; Curaçao and St. Maarten will become self-governing lands and the Netherlands cannot enforce legislation there either".
MAN States-member Jean Francisca is not pleased with the adopted motion in the Dutch Lower Chamber either. From the Netherlands, Francisca had talked about political blackmail this morning. He had made these statements during the treatment of the Land Regulation Transitional Arrangement Decentralization Netherlands Antilles in the Central Committee of the States. The latter regulates the transfer of the Land to the island territories Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Francisca criticized the motion mentioning a term on which the law should be submitted (in the new motion, the Chamber wants to know within which term the civil marriage will be thrown open for persons of the same sex on the BES-Islands, red.). The States-member wants to know what the consequences will be if this term is not met.
Francisca stated that he also wanted to know from the government whether this motion would have any consequences for the dismantlement process of the Antilles.
The Lower Chamber adopted the adjusted motion from Ineke van Gent (GroenLinks) and Johan Remkes (VVD) yesterday on the gay marriage, which had been adjourned last week. The Chamber now wants the Dutch government to support the contracting of a civil marriage of persons with the same sex on Aruba and in the future lands Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The Chamber also wants to know from the government when the civil marriage will be thrown open for persons of the same sex on the BES-Islands.
John Leerdam (PvdA) had also co-signed this new motion. In the original motion introduced by Van Gent and Remkes and advised against by State Secretary Ank Bijleveld-Schouten (CDA), the government had been requested to ensure that persons of the same sex could lawfully marry anywhere within the Kingdom of the Netherlands per 10-10-2010 at the latest, which is the commencement date of the new political changes.