STRASBOURG, France 23, Dec. 99-the European Court of Human Rights overruled a decision made by the Lisbon court of Portugal to prohibit a gay man from carrying out his parental responsibility. 

The Lisbon Court having previously granted Joao Manuel Salgueiro de Silva Mouta custody rights to his nine-year-old child, withdraw its decision after discovering that he was living with another man.

The Lisbon Court said that homosexuality was “an abnormality, and children must not grow up in the shadow of abnormal situations.”

The European court said that the ruling was a gross violation of Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention and that it was made in total disregard to the “respect for private and family life” it upheld.

The court awarded him 2.16 million escudos (approximately AU$ 16,000) for damages at the hands of the Portuguese authorities and for legal costs The Data Lounge reported.   

J.Lam