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Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Tory Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney should be ashamed of himself for editing out references to gay and lesbian rights in a government manual, critics say. Kenney, who represents a riding in Calgary, last June ordered references to historical achievements in gay rights edited from a manual for immigrants applying for citizenship, according to news reports from Ottawa.
A senior bureaucrat made a last-ditch effort to have the references reinserted into the new manual before it went to press in November, but Kenney refused to budge. The news report said Kenney ensured that two paragraphs from an earlier draft were not included in the new 63-page manual, which replaces a 1995 edition of the manual.
According to the Canadian Press, the draft included this paragraph under a section titled Towards a Modern Canada: “Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969 and more recently, civil marriage rights to same-sex couples was legalized nationwide in 2005.” Under the section on citizenship rights, the earlier draft said: “Equality Rights — Canadians are protected against discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or age.”
Full Story from The Province
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in canada, conservative, gay, Gay Marriage, homosexual, immigration manual, marriage equality, same sex marriage, Tory | No Responses »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
I noticed them mostly at night. In some corners of the narrow streets of Damascus’ old town, in parks or nightclubs, my attention was drawn to groups of men who looked, dressed and talked differently. Homosexuality in Syria’s capital is becoming more and more visible, despite the fact that it remains a taboo issue.
But my primary interest was not to write a sensational piece about a poorly understood social group in my part of the world. I wanted to show the courage of a group of people who were ready to defy strict social norms and discriminatory laws to assert their right to be different.
It was far from being a straightforward story, however. Between conceiving the idea of my article on homosexuality and actually writing it, I vacillated between excitement and hesitation. I even thought of abandoning the story altogether because I sometimes felt that I wouldn’t be able to enter the world of homosexuality. I was also faced with the difficulty of finding gay men and women who would speak openly to a journalist about their sexuality and their everyday problems.
Full Story from the Global Arab Network
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in arab, gay, homosexuality, muslim, syria | No Responses »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Gordon D. Fox was elected the state’s first openly gay House Speaker on Thursday, the Providence Journal reported. Fox was widely considered the front-runner in a three man race that included Representative Gregory Schadone, a Democrat from North Providence, and Robert Watson, a Republican from East Greenwich. Fox received the support of nearly three-quarters of the chamber’s members.
In an interview with the paper last fall, Fox, who came out publicly in 2004, said he is “in a long-term relationship, but not officially married,” and when he does marry, he would like to do it in his home state. Fox’s ascension is likely to help make that a reality.
Rhode Island is the only New England state that has not legalized gay marriage. Last year, Maine lawmakers approved a gay marriage bill, but opponents successfully repealed the law after a difficult fight that drew national attention to the state.
Full Story from On Top Magazine
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in gay, Gay Marriage, Gordon D. Fox, house speaker, marriage equality, rhode island, ri, same sex marriage | No Responses »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
What’s that adage about spin – say it long enough, hard enough, loud enough and eventually it will take on the cloak of truth? Well, the latest missive from National Organization Executive Director Brian Brown reads more like a fairy tale – showing that this Emperor has no clothes.
Brown’s email to supporters was in response a San Francisco Chronicle column published Sunday ostensibly “outing” Judge Vaugn Walker – who was not in the closet. That bit of “news” was not really new – which blogger Michael Petrelis pointed out with a Cheshire cat grin since he was the one who first raised the issue publicly in July. Queerty picked it up as a stand-alone story, while other bloggers and reporters referenced it in passing or didn’t feel it was relevant to Walker’s ability to try the case. After all, if Walker’s sexual orientation is an issue in him deciding an LGBT-related case, well then, what about a straight judge who’s been divorced judging a case involving marital relations? Indeed, US Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas would have to recuse himself from any case involving gender equality or sexual harassment.
Here’s Brown’s email so I’m not accused of taking anything out of context- after which I’ll have some fun with facts.
Full Story from the Huffington Post
Click here for gay marriage resources in California.
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Posted in federal trial, gay, Gay Marriage, judge vaugn walker, marriage equality, national organization for marriage, nom, prop 8, proposition 8, same sex marriage | No Responses »
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay. Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise – or advertise – his orientation.
They also don’t believe it will influence how he rules on the case he’s now hearing – whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians.
“There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view,” said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8. As evidence, she cites the judge’s conservative – albeit libertarian – reputation, and says, “There wasn’t anyone who thought (overturning Prop. 
was a cakewalk given his sexual orientation.”
Full Story from SFGate
Click here for gay marriage resources in California.
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Posted in gay, Gay Marriage, Judge walker, lawsuit, marriage equality, prop 8, proposition 8 trial, same sex marriage | No Responses »
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 »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
The comprehensive state-by-state report provides a complete summary of all the state legislation introduced and passed in 2009 that affected lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families. The report indicates that despite disappointments in 2009, it was a banner year for positive legislation affecting the LGBT community, with as many positive bills passed this past year as in 2007 and 2008 combined. The report also details expectations for 2010.
Download the Report from HRC Here
Click here for gay marriage resources.
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Posted in 2009, bisexual, gay, Gay Marriage, hrc, human rights campaign, legislation, lesbian, marriage equality, report, same sex marriage, transgender | No Responses »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Manvendra Singh Gohil, the openly-gay Indian prince, is set to marry his partner in a ceremony in Nepal, raising hopes that the war-ravaged country will begin to rake in business from gay tourists.
Prince Gohil, who rose to international attention after appearing on Oprah and the BBC publicizing his search for a lover, plans to marry his Nepalese partner Pajwal Miskin in a Hindu ceremony in Kathmandu.
Nepal’s tourism industry ground to a halt after a brutal decade-long civil war that ended in 2006. In 2008, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to enact laws to guarantee the rights of gays and lesbians after bowing to pressure from the Blue Diamond Society, run by parliament member and gay-oriented travel mogul Sunil Babu Pant. The country’s new constitution is currently being drafted and is expected to define marriage as a union between two adult individuals, regardless of gender, and to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Full Story from Just Out
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 gay, Gay Marriage, nepal, partner, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, wedding | No Responses »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Gidi Grunberg at 16 fell in love with a boy at his Orthodox high school near Tel Aviv. Consumed by guilt, he transferred to a high school that was more strictly religious, hopeful that with more rigorous Torah study his attraction to men would pass.
A product of Orthodox institutions, Grunberg eventually came to accept his homosexuality during his years of mandatory service in the Israeli army. But in his private life, he found himself faced with a choice between his sexual identity and his religious community. “I prefer to be true to myself, and to accept myself, than being part of the community and living in a lie,” Grunberg told JTA. “I lost everything. I lost my friends from the yeshiva. I lost the youth movement. There was a lot of things at stake.”
With non-Orthodox religious options still a rarity in Israel, young gays and lesbians like Grunberg who grow up in traditional, highly insular surroundings typically have found that they must choose between their Orthodoxy and their sexual orientation.
Full Story from JTA
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 acceptance, gay, gay men, israel, orthodox religion | No Responses »
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 »
