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Austria: Gay Couple Says Austria Discriminates

Friday, February 26th, 2010

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 notion 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.

Full Story from the Jamaica Observer
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Posted in austria, discrimination, gay couple, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, same sex marriage | No Responses »

FL: County Preparing to Vote on Anti Discrimination Measure for Gays, Lesbians

Friday, January 29th, 2010

A proposal to change Leon County’s charter to add anti-discrimination protection for gays and lesbians moved forward Thursday. The county’s charter-review committee, which voted 10-3 in favor of the proposal, is expected to vote Feb. 11 on whether to move it on to public hearings and a vote by county commissioners. If approved, it would go to voters later this year.

Members of the committee debated whether the protections should take the form of a charter amendment or an ordinance. Some people in the gay community are concerned that if the measure goes to voters, it might not pass.

Ralph Mason, a member of the charter-review committee, proposed the amendment during a previous meeting. But he asked Thursday that it be taken up instead by the county’s human-relations advisory committee, which has been studying the issue.

Full Story from Tallahassee.com
Click here for gay marriage resources in Florida.
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Posted in charter, discrimination, fl, florida, gay, gay rights, lesbian, ordinance, tallahassee, vote | No Responses »

UK: Religious Groups Upset that Equality Legislation May Change Exempted Status

Monday, January 25th, 2010

The government is facing allegations of duplicity over changes to the equality bill after a leaked document showed conflicting statements about the position of churches and other religious organisations.

Churches say the government has assured them the equality bill will preserve their “special status”, which allows them to turn down candidates for jobs as ministers or priests if they are actively homosexual, transsexual or, in the Catholic church, if they are women.

Statements in parliament have also presented the government’s position as preserving the existing law for religious organisations. “[The equality bill] will not change the existing legal position regarding churches and employment,” the leader of the House of Lords, Lady Royall, told peers recently.

But the Guardian has learned the government told the European commission it would toughen the law on religious organisations, making it harder for them to avoid equal treatment laws. A “reasoned opinion”, kept secret by the government, threatened the UK with legal action unless the grounds on which religious groups could discriminate were narrowed.

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 catholic, churches, discrimination, england, equality bill, gay, lesbian, special status, uk, united kingdom, women | No Responses »

UT: Salt Lake County to Consider LGBT Housing, Employment Protections

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

The state’s most populous county is poised to follow the capital city next week in passing new protections for gay and transgender residents. The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday will consider a pair of statutes that offer protections against discrimination based on sexual preference and gender identity in the areas of housing and employment.

While the county has had more general anti-discrimination laws on the books for decades, the new proposals extend them and were adapted from two ordinances unanimously adopted by the Salt Lake City Council last month. On Friday, Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch praised the city for passing the new laws and opening doors with the decision.

“I totally salute the efforts of Salt Lake City and the hard work they’ve done,” he said. “It’s clearly paved the way for this to be a successful and uncontroversial issue for the county.”

Full Story from Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705350965/Salt-Lake-County-to-consider-anti-bias-proposals.html

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 bisexual, discrimination, employment, gay, housing, lesbian, protections, salt lake county, transgender, ut, utah | No Responses »

CA: Alameda Changes Anti Gay Bullying Lessons Under Pressure from Religious Parents

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

A San Francisco Bay area school board will use broad lessons against bias to replace a curriculum against bullying gay people that had become a national centerpiece in the opposition to same-sex marriage. The vote by the Alameda Board of Education on Tuesday did little to ease tensions in the island city near Oakland. A lawsuit and threats of recalling school board members accompanied debate over the so-called Lesson 9 curriculum adopted in May to prevent anti-gay bullying.

Gay parents in the community wanted their children protected from bullying, while other parents argued that elementary school is too early to talk to students about gay people.

The new anti-bullying lessons approved by the board, at the recommendation of School Superintendent Kirsten Vital, will be supplemented by children’s books that explicitly address six specific forms of bias, including against gays.

Full Story from the AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hRm7ZQzVXwOfReFsukHhUIQCdOzgD9CGGI300

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

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 alameda, anti gay bullying, ca, california, curriculum, discrimination, religion | No Responses »