NEWS Dutch gay organisations publish marriage manual to counter vatican campaign August 25, 2003 AMSTERDAM - Dutch gay organisations hit back at the Vatican's campaign against same-sex unions on Friday with a guide aimed at gay rights activists around the world that explains how the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriages. The 60-page step-by-step booklet, published in Dutch and English, gives a historic overview of the 16-year lobbying process that eventually led the Dutch government to allow gays and lesbians to tie the knot as of April 1, 2001. It calls on gays all over the world to challenge discriminatory laws and fight for equal rights through the courts. In a sense it is a how-to manual for gays abroad campaigning for the right to same-sex unions says Henk Krol, editor in chief of the Gaykrant gay weekly, who created the booklet together with gay rights organisation COC. "In other countries the struggle is ongoing and this is a kind of course book for others to see what kind of obstacles you could encounter and how to deal with that," he told AFP. In July the Vatican called on Catholics around the world to oppose the legalisation of marriages between same-sex couples, calling it a moral duty. "The Vatican's call is a feeble display, if anything it shows that the legalisation of gay relationships is being considered all over the world," COC spokesman Hans Warmerdam said at the launch of the booklet. "The discussion about same sex marriages is ongoing in every civilised country"," added Krol. Representatives from the embassies of South Africa, Britain, Italy and New Zealand were present for the launch of the booklet on Friday. Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, who was the first registrar to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony in the Netherlands, said much had changed since that day. "The Netherlands took an important step that made it possible for other countries to consider opening up marriage to gays," he said after being presented with a copy of the booklet. The manual is intended to help authorities abroad see how they can change legislation, Cohen added. The booklet will be sent to foreign gay organisations and will be available online through the Gaykrant and COC websites. For gays seeking advice on the possibility of marriage in the Netherlands Krol offers some practical tips in the preface to the booklet. "A foreigner living with a Dutch man or woman can marry. Two foreigners living permanently in the Netherlands also have this possibility," he writes. For Europeans living in the European Union it could be possible to claim access to the Dutch institution of civil marriage through the European courts, the text suggests. Curiously, the manual is called "No gay marriage in the Netherlands". Dutch gay rights organisations insist that gay marriage does not exist here because under Dutch law it is the same civil union as is entered into by heterosexual couples. There is no special arrangement for same sex unions. According to the latest statistics, more than 4,300 same sex couples chose to tie the knot in a civil marriage by 2002. -Sapa-AFP Related story Vatican waging new offensive against same-sex marriage Hong Kong Catholic head says gay protesters "unreasonable" Vatican to call on Catholic politicians to oppose gay marriages Vatican alarmed at growing legal acceptance of same-sex unions Marriage is exclusively for heterosexuals: South African Catholics