Gay couple mulls going to court over EU rights
  

VIENNA - A homosexual couple may go to the European Court over being prevented from living in Austria, said the homosexual lobbying group Hosi on Monday.

General Secretary Kurt Krickler said the couple, with one German and a US partner, had been married in the Netherlands. However, the marriage was not recognized by the Austrian state.

When the German man decided to move to Austria, his non-EU American partner was refused Austrian residence and working permits. "That's a clear violation of EU law", said Krickler.

He said that any EU citizen settling in another EU country had the right to bring along his or her married partner, even if the partner was a citizen of an outside country.


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Five thousand marchers take to streets


About 5000 protesters left Wellington's Civic Square this morning on a Destiny Church-organised march against proposed legislation giving gay relationships legal recognition.

The number was well below the estimated 10,000 protesters signalled by the church last week.

Two counter-protests organised by Victoria University's UniQ gay group and the Against Conservative Fundamentalism group planned to reach Parliament around the same time as the church group.