Could the future Belgian Queen Elisabeth wed a woman?

The question if the crown princess would be able to wed a woman suddenly popped up in the Netherlands because of the approaching 18^th anniversary of crown princess Amelia. But what about Belgium?

 The simple answer is yes, our crown princess would be able to marry a woman. All because the constitution includes the right of equal marriage, which applies to royals as well. The only people who would be able to oppose this marriage would be the United Chambers. “This is a political matter, not a legal one after all”, says Hendrik Vuye, Constitution Specialist.

 But the real problem people are discussing is “What if princess Elizabeth and her partner get children?”. Dutch PM Mark Rutte spoke of a ‘fundamental tension’ between the modern rights of families and the ‘closed system of hereditary monarchy’.

 Even the Belgian constitution opposes. The succession is a matter of ‘natural and constitutional offspring’ according to the ‘first birthright’. The term ‘natural’ would sadly enough exclude the help of a sperm donor or adoption. The constitution suggests that it should be a descent within marriage, via a blood bond. “In this case we could speak of discrimination, which goes against the European Treaty of Human Rights. That’s going to be an interesting case”, adds Vuye.

But the constitution could be interpreted ‘creatively’. The United Chambers have the last word. It all revolves around the fact that the child should meet the requirements to take the throne. “It’s a political matter, not a legal one”, Vuye repeats. This should be reason enough to update Article 85 - about succession of the throne - to fit more into the 21^st century according to Vuye.

 Selina Vanhoutte, Atheneum Athena Ostend

 

A VRT journalist files a complaint for homophobic assault in Brussels

 

An investigation is underway.

Lhe VRT journalist Riadh Bahri lodged a complaint for homophobic assault and theft with violence on Friday morning in the Anneessens district, in central Brussels, said Brussels-Ixelles police spokesperson Ilse Van de keere. An investigation is underway.

 

The journalist responded in the street to a person asking for directions to go to the Gare du Nord. He was then slapped and kicked and had his gold chain ripped off and stolen. He was also called a “dirty queer”, according to his statements on Twitter.

The police have started a neighborhood investigation and are trying to hear possible witnesses. Images from surveillance cameras will also be used.

People who are victims of homophobic attacks will not always file a complaint, comments the police spokesperson. “They can of course come to one of our police stations, but they can also do so online via the police-on-web site. We also have a point of contact on our site, ”she recalls.

First Trans Awareness Week- IES La Rosaleda

Assigned sex is a label that we are given at birth based on medical factors, including our hormones, chromosomes, and genitals. Sometimes, our genetically assigned sex does not line up with our own perception or our feelings regarding our gender. Researches show that a person, who feels like that, has suffered, at least on time, bullying and social exclusion. LGTB at School Erasmus+ project contributes to decrease the number of bullying and social exclusion cases, aiming to open a dialogue in the participants schools in order to remove taboos related to gender.

According to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights 2019 Report, based on a survey about LGBTI people in the EU, the school still is far from a safe place for LGBTI students. The 45% of the survey participants felt discriminated against at school. In the same framework, it is important to highlight that 69% of them were Trans. As reported by the Spanish NGO Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals(FLGTB), Transphobia appears in classrooms in 58% of the cases (Report 2019: Young Trans in the Education system).This shows a need for policy measures targeting children and young people belonging to this group.

In this context, the LGTB at School project organized the first Transgender Awareness week, which took place in the highschool IES La Rosaleda from 22nd to 25th March 2020. Our goal was to raise awareness and give information to the whole school community in order to create a Trans friendly and inclusive school environment. The event started with a guided visit of a Trans Photography Exhibition. It was a small sample of 20 photos of different Trans people. We chose those people between more than 100, our criteria was academic and work performance in order to break stereotypes such as cross-dressers, drag queens and drag kings.

The second day of the event was dedicated to dismantling myths on the reality of trans people and the new Spanish Trans Law. We had the honor to count with the NGO CHRYSALLIS Andalucía. Its president, María José Márquez and Serena Gil, a young Trans, analysed the current situation, obstacles and problems that a Trans person can face and opened a debate about the new Spanish Trans Law.

Then, on the third day, we watched the movie 3 Generations, which is about a New York teen (Elle Fanning), who prepares to transition from female to male. A very interesting debate followed the movie. We closed our event playing our Diversity Trivial. An extra mark in Philosophy subject was given to the students, who were members of the winning team.

This event identified a great lack of information on transsexuality in schools and visibilized stories of Trans people who have suffered systematic stigmatization. Luckily, the majority of the students and professors embraced our initiative and they actively participated in it.

This event inaugurated a new era for our school, giving the opportunity to understand that the Trans youth need the same things as cis youth, that is: love, respect, support and enjoy the same rights and obligations as the rest of the students, neither more nor less!

Belgium hit by homophobic murder (by Victor Boey, Atheneum Athena, Ostend)

In the night from Friday the 5th of March to Saturday  the 6th there’s been a murder on an openly gay man. He was lured to a place where he then got killed by three young boy’s. The suspects are 16-17 years old and are already known for some homophobic activities. More investigation needs to point out if the motive is because they are homophobic or not.

“One true thing is that homophobic thought more frequently appears with teenagers and young adults,” says Professor Alex Dewaele, psychologist at the University of Ghent. A similarity that is common among young people who show homophobia is that they come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Homophobic thoughts can also be linked to some extreme religious thoughts.

Because this hit hard in Belgium, there are all kinds of organizations and famous people who have expressed grief and say that this is unacceptable behavior. Due to this brutal event, the city of Ostend has hung an LGBTIQ flag on top of the town hall (cfr. photo above). Unfortunately, it has to be at half-mast due to the incident last weekend. 

Victor Boey, [10.03.21 20:38]