May, 2010
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Friday, May 28th, 2010
Two gay rights activists in Zimbabwe have been freed after six days in police custody where it is claimed they were abused and tortured. Ellen Chadehama and Ignatius Mhambi were arrested last week accused of possessing pornographic material and insulting president Robert Mugabe.
Their employer, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (Galz), said the two were assaulted by police while in custody. They were also made to bend their knees into a sitting position with their arms outstretched for long periods and struck with bottles when they weakened and fell, according to their defence attorney, David Hofisi.
Nelson Chamisa, a government minister and spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change, condemned the alleged abuse: “Ill treatment or inhumane handling of any human being for any reason goes against our philosophy. We do not believe harassment is the best way of doing business. It flies in the face of the democratic order.”
Full Story from The Guardian
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: africa, arrested, gay rights, released, tortured, workers, zimbabwe
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Gay Marriage Events Today/Tomorrow (Full Events List & Details: http://www.purpleunions.com/mn/gay-marriage-events-list.html):
–Australia, NSW, Sydney: 05/18-05/29, IDAHO The Exhibition 2010, Kudos Gallery.
–USA, CA, Los Angeles: 05/27, Voter Canvass Training, The Village, 6:30-9:30 PM.
–USA, CA, Sacramento: 05/27, Phonebanking for Equality, Equality CA Office, 6-9 PM.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: events, exhibition, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, meeting, same sex marriage, training
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Each year since Exxon and Mobil merged, a proposal has come before the shareholders to add sexual orientation to the company’s nondiscrimination policy. And the percentage of shareholders voting in favor of the proposal has increased each year – until this one.
Only 22 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders voted in favor of adding the protections during today’s annual meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. Last year 40 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal.
About two dozen LGBT protesters gathered outside the meeting with signs and bullhorns.
Full Story from the Dallas Voice
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Responses »
Tags: exxonmobil, gays, lesbians, lgbt, non-disctimination poliy, shareholders
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
When Mark Shields started his job at the American Red Cross in Madison, Wisconsin, he rolled up his sleeve to give blood. It made sense. Part of his job was encouraging the public to donate and supporting the organization’s lifesaving mission.
Before he could give, he was told that his blood could never be accepted. Because he’s gay. “I was 23 at the time. I was just coming out,” he said. “I was trying to be part of our organization’s mission and feeling like I can’t do this. … I certainly felt put on the spot. It was a bad feeling for a lot of reasons.”
Under Food and Drug Administration rules, men who have had sex – even once – with another man since 1977 are not permitted to give blood. The rule was implemented in 1983, sparked by concerns that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was tainting the blood supply. Screening tests to identify HIV-positive blood had not been developed. The policy was seen as a safety measure.
Full Story from News Gnom.es
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: AIDS, ban, blood donation, blood donors, fda, gay men, HIV, red cross
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Initial votes on a proposal to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy could occur Thursday in the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House. This vote would come a day after the proponents of the plan said they were able to secure the votes needed to get the plan past the important military committee.
A recent CNN poll seemed to suggest that Americans were ready for the change. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday indicated that 78 percent of the public supports allowing openly gay people to serve in the military, with one in five opposed.
Another key Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday endorsed the compromise plan.
Full Story from CNN
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: armed services committee, dadt, don't ask don't tell, repeal, senate, Thursday, vote
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
The Massachusetts attorney general, Martha Coakley, requested that a federal court in Boston yesterday strike down the federal ban on gay marriage, arguing that it interfered with the rights of individual states to define marriage and have those unions recognised by the federal government.
The Assistant Attorney General, Maura Healey, pointed out that historically, states have had the right to define marriage on their own terms and that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) could result in the denial of Medicaid and other benefits to same-sex married couples in the state.
However, Christopher Hall, a lawyer for the US Justice Department, said that the federal government was well within its rights to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits and that his included the law that such benefits would only go to opposite-sex married couples.
Full Story from Pink News
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: ag, attorney general, defense of marriage act, doma, federal court, Gay Marriage, judge, marriage equality, martha coakley, massachusetts, same sex marriage
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
In a 5-3 vote Monday night, the Moorhead City Council said “no” to a domestic partnership registry. Voting against the idea were Luther Stueland, Nancy Otto, Dan Hunt, Brenda Elmer and Mark Hintermeyer.
Voting for an ordinance that had been pushed for by a majority of the Moorhead Human Rights Commission were Diane Wray Williams, Mark Altenburg and Greg Lemke. “It’s a pox on the city of Moorhead if we don’t pass this,” Lemke said prior to the vote, adding that the ordinance would adversely affect no one.
“I don’t see how affirming other people hurts anybody,” Lemke said, adding that if the ordinance failed any sign promoting Moorhead as a welcoming place should be taken down. “It’s not accurate,” said Lemke, who has been open about the fact that he is gay.
Full Story from The Grand Forks Herald
Click here for gay marriage resources in Minnesota.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: domestic partner registry, minnesota, mn, moorhead
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
State officials should be given the names of donors who helped to finance last year’s successful campaign to repeal Maine’s gay-marriage law, according to a preliminary order by a federal magistrate judge.
In a ruling dated Sunday, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III said the National Organization for Marriage, which contributed $1.9 million to the repeal campaign, should give documents relating to donors and fundraising dating back to Jan. 1, 2009, to the Maine Attorney General’s Office. Those names, under Rich’s order, could not be made public but could be shared with state officials.
Rich denied a request for documents dating back to Jan. 1, 2008, saying the gay-marriage campaign was not yet active. For Rich’s order to take effect, a federal district judge must sign off on it. That may not happen for a few more weeks.
Full Story from the Portland Press Herald
Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: donor list, Gay Marriage, judge, maine, marriage equality, national organization for marriage, nom, question 1, ruling, same sex marriage
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
African homophobia does not exist, nor does European homophobia, Asian homophobia or South American homophobia. Acts of homophobia occur in each of these spaces. We must question the idea that homophobia in Africa is unique. And we must understand homophobic acts within their specific local histories as these intersect with broader global histories.
In her recent article on Comment is free, Madeleine Bunting suggests that African homophobia emerges from capitalist-driven religious fundamentalisms, rapid and “chaotic” urbanisation that strains kinship ties, and the emasculation of men due to colonialism and globalisation. These claims are not wrong. They simply lack specificity and can be applied to any space.
How, then, do we account for what appears to be an intensification of homophobia across Africa? Let me offer a tentative answer based on two locations, Kenya and Malawi.
Full Story from The Guardian
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: africa, colonialism, homophobia, kenya, malawi, transgender
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Lawyers from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office are heading to federal court today to challenge the federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Lawyers are expected to deliver oral arguments before US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro in the case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. US Department of Health and Human Services.
The state is mounting a constitutional challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act.. The state argues, among other things, that the law violates the US Constitution by interfering with the state’s authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents. The hearing on the state’s request for summary judgment, before a trial begins, is slated for this afternoon.
Full Story from Boston.com
Click here for gay marriage resources in Massachusetts.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: attorney general, defense of marriage act, doma, federal court, Gay Marriage, lawsuit, ma, marriage equality, martha coakley, massachusetts, same sex marriage
