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LGBT rights in Belgium
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Much like Le Fontainas, Le Dillens is a place where things are good morning, noon and night. Same-sex adoption was fully legalised in under the same terms and conditions as heterosexual adoption, and lesbian couples can access IVF as well. Protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public and private accommodations were enacted in and on gender identity and expression in Transgender people have been allowed to change their legal gender since , though under certain circumstances which were repealed in Belgium has frequently been referred to as one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world, [2] with recent polls indicating that a majority of Belgians support same-sex marriage and adoption rights.
With the appointment of Petra De Sutter Groen as Minister of Civil Service in , Belgium is one of the first countries in the world to have an openly transgender woman as a government minister. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since when the country was a French possession.
This was briefly increased to 18 for same-sex sexual activity between and by the addition and later repeal of article bis to the Penal Code. It was inserted by an amendment of MP Freddy Terwagne d to the law of 8 April on youth protection. The Senate eventually concurred in June ; article bis was thus repealed by the law of 18 June Belgium became the second country to allow same-sex marriages in after the Netherlands.
Same-sex couples have had the same rights as opposite-sex couples in adopting children since A legal inequality compared to heterosexual couples still existed with regards to children: the husband of the biological mother was automatically legally recognised as the father by article of the Civil Code , but this was not the case in a same-sex couple for the wife of the mother.
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To be recognised as the co-mother, she had to complete an adoption procedure. This accounted for the large majority of adoption cases in Belgium. The Di Rupo Government promised to fix this, and in , as the Netherlands recently passed similar legislation, LGBT organisations pressured the government about their promise.
Subsequently, legislators worked to agree on a solution. The bill received royal assent on 5 May and went into effect on 1 January Generally, adoption law is regulated at the federal level, whereas the adoption procedure is managed by the community governments. Between and , 56 male same-sex couples and two female same-sex couples had domestically adopted a child in the Flemish Community Flanders.
In the same period, 12 children were domestically adopted in the French Community , giving a total of 70 LGBT domestic adoptions in Belgium in that period. The anti-discrimination law of 25 February included discrimination protections on the basis of sex and sexual orientation. On 29 November , the Federal Government approved an expansion of the anti-discrimination law to include gender identity and gender expression. It was approved by the Federal Parliament and received royal assent on 22 May It was the first case in Belgium in which a crime was officially qualified as being motivated by hate on the basis of sexual orientation.
This included 17 physical attacks, 42 public homophobic insults, 17 housing discrimination cases, and 31 online attacks. Between and , there was a yearly average of 31 men and 14 women who officially changed their legal gender, with an increase after the law came into in effect. Plans to amend the law to remove these requirements were announced by the Michel Government in , [20] [21] [22] passed by the Chamber of Representatives and signed by King Philippe in , [23] [24] and took effect on 1 January Currently, it is only possible to change gender on the identity card from male to female or vice versa, but according to the court, persons who are non-binary are excluded from this rule.
The court held that an " X " sex option should be available. The Constitutional Court has asked the Belgian Federal Parliament to work on an arrangement that complies with the ruling, whether through the "creation of one or more additional categories" or the removal of gender from compulsory registration. Their coalition agreement states that "legislation will be amended in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court. The further implications of that will be investigated.
In order to change legal sex, an adult person has to file an application with a statement that their legal sex is not corresponding with their gender identity.
Citadelpark, popular gay cruising park. - Citadel Park
No surgery or other medical or psychological treatment or opinion is required. After filing an application, the applying person will be informed about the legal consequences of a requested change. The applicant has to renew their intent to have their legal sex changed within three months of application and to declare that they are aware of the legal consequences of a change. Minors between 12 and 16 have the possibility to change their first name, but not sex.
Minors aged 16 and 17 have the possibility to apply for a sex change with parental consent and a psychological opinion confirming that their decision has been taken freely and without any outside pressure. According to the National Register, transgender Belgians changed their legal gender under the new law in Many Belgian hospitals, the Ghent University Hospital UZ Gent among them, are known for their specialisation in sex reassignment surgery.
Many French transgender people go there due to a lack of accepting hospitals in France.
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Intersex infants in Belgium may undergo medical interventions to have their sex characteristics altered. Human rights groups increasingly consider these surgeries unnecessary and, they argue, should only be performed if the applicant consents to the operation.
In February , the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended Belgium to ban these surgeries and provide intersex infants and their parents counseling and support. The first intersex organization in Flanders, Intersekse Vlaanderen , was officially registered in August After being confined at home for weeks due to the Corona virus outbreak it was a delight to have a This park was near our hotel, and we decided to walk through it on our way into the centre of town On some evenings I was very lucky to see many other gays in this park. But on other occasions, there was hardly anyone.
Concerning safety, I would say use your common sense. Don't go too late that's when some fool going out in the Overpoortstraat area and running out of money might think that robbing a gay in the park is a financial solution. The presence of a few old men on one of the benches near the lake is good for some social control. Anyhow, an hour in this park is better for your mental health than staring for hours on the screen of your mobile device while searching for unreachable dates.
The Citadel Park is not a safe place to visit. Never try to do it on your own, but alway go in group. I might see like a nice place but dont get fooled. It had quite high criminality. Specially when its dark. After 30 min i was touched and grabbed by 3 different dark guys. Not a safe place IMO. Spending a full week in Ghent allowed me to have a more in depth look at this provincial but dazzling city.
The main park is one of these places I considered worth a study. I was there three times and found the first two evening visits a weird symbiosis of health chasing men and women jogging along the curving paths, groups of students doing their annual initiation rituals throwing eggs, flour and less describable stuff, walking like zombies or imitating the local ducks and last but not least, gay men cruising the museum area and the upper lake.
On both week nights, the weather was lovely and felt like the last days of an indian summer. On my last nightly visit however, temperature had decreased a lot and there was hardly anyone using or enjoying the Citadelpark in the ways I described already. Even worse ;- The serenity was disturbed a bit by a never stopping herd of students with their trolley cases using the park as the most efficient shortcut between the railway station and the Blandijn student quarter.
LGBT rights in Belgium - Wikipedia
But apart from that, the Citadelpark stays the best choice for a healthy green walk. This is a nice park, very close to the station. So combined visit are easy. Also "'t Kuipke" is in the parc which is a facility that is used for sportive events and concert. Skip to main content. Log in to get trip updates and message other travelers.
Citadelpark, popular gay cruising park. Citadel Park. Ghent , Belgium.
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