The European Court of Human Rights has ruled this week that the French courts did not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation, when it declared a ‘marriage’ between a same-sex couple to be invalid.It also ruled that if a state does not recognise same-sex ‘marriage’, this does not constitute “discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation”.The Chapin and Charpentier v. France case involved a same sex couple, Mr Chapin and Mr Charpentier, who submitted a marriage application to the civil registry department of Bègles municipal council, in May 2004. At the time, same-sex ‘marriage’ was not permitted in France.
