France was condemned on Tuesday by the European Court of Human Rights for the discrimination against a lesbian nursery school teacher by refusing to allow her to adopt a child.
"It's a victory of equality over fear, prejudice and ignorance," said Caroline Mecary, attorney for the applicant, 45, identified only as E.B..
Mecary said the ruling effectively prohibits France from refusing adoption requests on sexual orientation grounds.
She has been living since 1990 with a woman psychologist and first filed a request to adopt a child with authorities in the eastern Jura region in 1998, mentioning her stable relationship with the psychologist.
In 1998, her adoption application was turned down by the authorities on the grounds the child would suffer from the absence of a paternal figure.
After having been rejected again by France's high court of appeal, she turned to the European rights court in 2002. The French court maintained that the applicant's sexual orientation played no part in the decision.
The European court ruled "the influence of her homosexuality on the assessment of her application had not only been established but had also been a decisive factor" in the failure of her application.
It also granted her 24,500 euros (35,500 U.S. dollars) in damages and court expenses.
Source: Xinhua
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