TYROL, Austria – Chretien van der Leest and Edwin Veldt are Dutch citizens living in Tyrol, Austria where they run holiday homes. When the Netherlands legalized marriage for same-sex couples in 2001, the couple married. However in Austria, based on a decree by the Austrian minister of the interior van der Leest and Veldt’s marriage is only recognized as a registered partnership effectively downgrading the recognition to a second-class marriage.
With the support of Rechtskomitee LAMBDA (RKL), Austria’s LGBT civil rights organization, the couple has started a lawsuit for recognition of their same-sex marriage in Austria.
European Union citizenship guarantees the couple the ability to reside in any member-state of the Union and to work there, without having to accept disadvantages.
The couple has taken their case to the Austrian Constitutional Court and to the Administrative Supreme Court, asking these courts to refer their case to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary judgment.
“This married couple is determined to take their case up to the highest European courts,” says Dr. Helmut Graupner, president of Austria’s LGBT civil rights organisation Rechtskomitee LAMBDA (RKL) and counsel for the applicants.
