STRASBOURG, Austria (AFP) - A gay couple accused Austria before Europe's top rights court yesterday of discriminating against homosexuals in adoption and other matters despite a new law allowing same-sex unions.

Horst Michael Schalk and Johann Franz Kopf, 48 and 50 respectively, claim they were denied the right to wed after Vienna authorities declined to marry them in 2002.

Austria's constitutional court also ruled it justified to limit the definition of marriage to the traditional union between woman and man.

The couple, who filed their petition before the European Court of Human Rights in 2004, claim "that the nation of marriage had evolved over time thus having to be understood nowadays as a permanent union encompassing all aspects of life", the Strasbourg-based court said in a statement.

Speaking on behalf of Austria, Brigitte Ohms argued legislation that went into effect in January legalising same-sex unions offered homosexuals a partnership "very similar to marriage".

But the plaintiff's lawyer, Klemens Mayer, said the legislation discriminated against gays in various ways, ranging from not using terms like "family" and "child" to excluding same-sex couples from certain benefits.

The court, established by the Council of Europe, is expected to deliver its verdict in a few months.

Only 76 gay couples in Austria were officially registered in civil unions in January, after the new legislation came into effect. Of the Council of Europe's 47 member states, 21 allow same-sex unions and five have legalised homosexual marriage.

Four others -- Iceland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia -- are currently debating the issue.

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