Florida Agenda

By ROBERT ELIAS DEATON

There are 125 or so brewers in Belgium, a country the size of Maryland. Now, we know this fact because we’ve visited, oh, a good 20 or so of these establishments where the beer and ale samples run freely. It was all very righteous, we assure you, since we were touring Trappist, Cistercian, and Benedictine monasteries when we happened upon the occasional brew. Our favorite was the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren, near Belgium’s border with France, where the monks produce three different beers. Each brand has a different color cap (green, blue and our favorite yellow), which also contains all the prudent information about the brew, since the bottles feature no other labeling. Clever monks.

It is, of course, the same with chocolates. Slightly less ecclesiastical in nature perhaps, but no less enjoyable. We discovered, while touring the capital city of Brussels, that the country annually produces 172,000 tons of chocolate, and nearly a ton of it is given away free on tours of factories and chocolate shops. Of these, we recommend the chocolate-making demos given each Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. at La Maison des Maîtres Chocolatiers Belges (Grand Place 4, 2-888- 6620). How can you not love a country that gives away candy?

Another tasty bit of trivia: Belgium has more castles per square mile than any other place in the world. Of the lot, our favorite is the Royal Palace (Place des Palais, 2-552-2020), the official digs of King Albert II and Queen Paola (though the pair actually live in a chateau on the grounds of the Royal Castle of Laeken). It is just as well, since the royals fling open the doors and allow mere mortals to haunt the halls from July 24 through September 9.

For all the hundreds of palace rooms, you would think that finding a place to stay in Belgium would be a simpler task than it is. The bed-andbreakfasts tend to fill up quickly (having only one or two rooms apiece), and the classier hotels will cost you your first-born child, or some amount that seems as pricey. Fortunately, there’s a nice middle ground in the form of the Royal Windsor Hotel Grand Place (5-7 Rue Duquesnoy, 2-505- 5555) where a chic room will set you back around $115. Royal Windsor Hotel Grand Place is nestled in the heart of Brussels’ city center,within walking distance of the famous Grand Place, Galeries Royales, Sablon Antique Square, plus the Fuse Club (208 Rue Blaes/Blaesstraat).

Once a month, Fuse houses La Demence, one of the largest international gay parties in Europe. You’ll have to hustle to make the next one on August 14, starting at 10 p.m. and running until 11 a.m. the following morning.

Until the last decade or so, Belgians were conservative where gays were concerned. That all changed, of course, in 2003 when Belgium became the second country in Europe to recognize same-sex marriages. It also doesn’t hurt that they have an openly gay Prime Minister, Ello Di Rupo, who was born in 1951, seven years before the Belgian Waffle was showcased at the country’s world’s fair. In order to get the real thing in Belgium, look on the menu for a Brussels Waffle, where you find it as a dessert.

Ironically, the same is true for Belgian Lace, which you’ll find locally listed as Brussels Lace. The heart of the capital’s gay community is in the area around the Grand Place, Rue du Marché au Charbon and Plattesteen. Safe, busy, and they love Americans!

Robert Elias Deaton is a world-traveling epicure who enjoys the finer things in life.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – The European Union’s executive body has called for a national respect for LGBT rights—reflected in laws and public policies—as a requirement for membership eligibility. The European Commission’s “note” cited the 1993 Copenhagen criteria for EU entry, and Article 2 of the European Union Treaty, which both prohibit discrimination against “minorities.”

It also noted that Articles 10 and 19 of the EU Treaty, and Article 21 of the European Charter on Fundamental Rights, expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation.” “Rights of LGBT people thus form an integral part of both the Copenhagen political criteria for accession, and the EU legal framework on combating discrimination.

They are closely monitored by the EU commission, which reports annually on the progress made by enlargement countries with regard to the situation of the LGBT community,” it read.

“Accession of a country will not be possible if certain [LGBT] rights are not put into law and into practice,” said Ulrike Lunacek, an openly-gay Austrian Member of the European Parliament (MEP).

“Non-discrimination in the field of employment, for instance, has become part of ” EU law, she added.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – President Obama’s announcement last week that his “evolving” views on same sex marriage had led him to support full marriage rights for all Americans has placed the topic squarely in the forefront of political topics in this presidential election year. However, his personal endorsement aside, it has no weight of law behind it (unlike, for instance, an Executive Order signed by the Commander-in-Chief). At present, ten countries have expanded their laws over the past dozen years to include same sex marriage:

The Netherlands (2000): The Low Countries made history at the dawn of the new millennium by becoming the first nation to pass marriage equality. At the time, 62 percent of the Dutch population supported it, and over 2,400 gay couples took advantage of the new law within 9 months of its passage.

Belgium (2003): LGBT rights had support in both Belgium’s Frenchspeaking south and Flemish-speaking north, and the Belgian parliament extended tax and inheritance benefits to gay couples three full years before they permitted same-sex partners to adopt children.

Spain (2005): Although the Roman Catholic Church mounted strong opposition to its passage, Spanish lawmakers legalized same sex marriage by adding a single line to existing matrimonial statutes: “Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or of different sexes.

Canada (2005): Court rulings had made gay marriage legal in nine of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories by the time Members of Parliament passed the national law. Although Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper had promised to upend the apple cart when he became prime minister in 2006, the law remains in effect.

South Africa (2006): The first and so far sole African nation to codify marriage equality. The measure was passed by lawmakers after a 2005 decision by the nation’s Constitutional Court, which ruled that the nation’s constitution— which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation—guarantees marriage rights to same sex couples. The law, however, allows civil officials and members of the clergy to refuse to perform gay marriage ceremonies for reasons of conscience.

Norway (2008): The country with the world’s highest human development index ranking (which measures a nation’s comparative quality of life, including life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living) gives same sex couples the right to marry and adopt children, among other things. Clergy have the right—but are not required—to perform same-sex marriages.

Sweden (2009): In the 1990s, Sweden became one of the world’s first countries to permit “partnership” rights to same sex couples. Three years ago, lawmakers passed—in a landslide 226 to 22 vote, full marriage equality, with 70 percent of Swedes supporting passage. After its approval, the Lutheran Church of Sweden decided to allow its priests to officiate at gay marriages unless they abstain for reasons of conscience (in which case another priest will perform the ceremony).

Portugal (2010): Portugal’s Socialist parliament passed legislation permitting gay marriages, over the stiff objections of President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, a member of the Iberian nation’s conservative Social Democratic Party. “I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate,” the Portuguese head of state offered resignedly when he signed the law.

Iceland (2010): Iceland passed marriage equality (unanimously, in a 40 to 0 vote) a year after electing the world’s first openly gay head of government, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, who became one of the first citizens to wed under the measure, marrying her civil partner of nearly a quarter century, Jónína Leósdóttir.

Argentina (2010): The first Latin American country to pass gay marriage (see previous article), in spite of strong Roman Catholic opposition. At the time, Mexico City, which became the first Latin American metropolitan area to legalize same sex marriage the previous year, offered an allexpenses- paid trip for the first same sex Argentine couple who wed.