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The early s saw a major expansion of the Council of Europe membership due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. In , for example, there were 22 member states whereas by this had risen to
To join the Council of Europe, new member-states must undertake certain commitments, including conforming their criminal laws to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). As we recognize from the situation in Northern Ireland described in Dudgeon above, the ECHR right to privacy prohibits the criminalisation of homosexual activity. By the time candidate states from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc applied for membership of the Council of Europe, it was a condition of their accession to decriminalise.
By way of example, the following countries decriminalised at or around the time they joined: Lithuania (joined the Council of Europe in ; decriminalised in ), Estonia (; ), Romania (; ), Serbia (; ), Ukraine (; ), Albania (; ), Latvia (; ), Macedonia FYROM (; ), Moldova (; ), Russia (; ), Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ), Georgia (; ), Armenia (; )
Alfie Bell is, in his heart, a Northern lad. After returning to his hometown of South Shields for the wedding of his childhood best ally, Alfie finds himself deeply interested with an old school-”mate,” Fenimore O’Donaghue, the receiver of a younger-Alfie’s ceaseless bullying. Pansies follows Alfie and Fen as they, individually and collectively, navigate identity, grief, the past, and the ever-shifting dynamics of family, friendship, and relationships in adulthood.
As a preliminary matter, this book hit three of my least favorite technical writing choices: 3rd person limited POV , written dialect (though Hall - as per usual- nails authenticity), and POVs via written letters. None of these choices factor into the review, but are included here only to make the signal that if you are like me and finds these things slightly irksome, please endure. It will be worth it.
There is plenty in Pansies that is so well-done and effortlessly makes you laugh, and injure, and cry with Alfie Bell & Fen (shout out to Greg for also being fantastic). The Do-not-do-it-yourself, Lasagna cooking, Go-Ka
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