The European court today ruled that a gay man who lost his tenancy when his partner died was the victim of unlawful discrimination. The ruling will have significant consequences for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in 45 countries. All benefits or rights granted by governments to different sex cohabiting
partners will in future have to be granted to same sex cohabiting partners too.

Seven judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg unanimously agreed that Siegmund Karner was the victim of discrimination after he was evicted from his Vienna home after his partner died in 1994. His partner had been the official tenant of the flat where the couple had lived together for five years. The Austrian Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that tenancy protection
for a 'life companion' was only intended to apply to different sex cohabitees.

Kurt Krickler of ILGA-Europe said: "This is a very significant step, particularly for the 32 countries in Europe which grant no rights to
same-sex partners. But the case has even wider implications: The Austrian government argued that this discrimination was necessary to protect "the family". In rejecting this comprehensively, the Court has demolished the
main argument used around the world by the religious right for continued
discrimination against same-sex partners".

Joanne Sawyer of Liberty said: "We are delighted that the Court took this view.It marks a real turning point."

Ben Summerskill of Stonewall said: "This is a major victory which will change the lives of tens of millions of people. We are particularly pleased that it has come in the week of Pride."

In Karner v Austria, the Court ruled that "differences [in treatment] based on sexual orientation require particularly serious reasons by way of justification". The Austrian government justification for Mr Karner's
Treatment was "protection of the family in the traditional sense." The Austrian government, according to the judges, had failed to provide "convincing and weighty reasons" showing that the exclusion of homosexuals was necessary.