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UK: Marriage Equality Ad Reaches 500K Views

Monday, April 30th, 2012

A short film released to support equal access to marriage for gay people has amassed over half a million views in less than a week.

Directed by award winning film-maker Mike Buonaiuto, the short film shows British forces returning home to their loved ones, with the reunion of one soldier and his partner soon turning into a surprise marriage proposal.

PinkNews.co.uk is among the companies backing the film, which has been on display on the right-hand side of the site since its launch last week.

Full Story from Pink News

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United Kingdom Publishes New Annual Human Rights Report

Monday, April 30th, 2012

By Melanie Nathan, April 30, 2012.

While the United States has yet to publish its annual (2011)  Human Rights Report, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office issued its  392 page report on human rights today and  the LGBT section can be found at page 68 as follows:-

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights

The Government is committed to the promotion and protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people as an integral part of its wider international human rights work.

It is our view that to render consenting same-sex relations illegal is incompatible with international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Despite this, same-sex relations continue to be criminalised in over 70 countries, and discrimination and violence against LGBT people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity continues, including in countries where legislation exists to protect LGBT people.

The UK believes that human rights should apply equally to all, and in this regard we oppose all forms of violence and discrimination against LGBT people. We promote and protect the rights of LGBT people through international institutions including the UN, EU, Council of Europe and the Commonwealth. Through these institutions and through our embassies and high commissions we take action on individual cases where persecution or discrimination has occurred and lobby for changes in discriminatory practices and laws.

READ Article at O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da  CLICK HERE

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Scotland: Competing Campaigns For and Against Marriage Equality

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

Scotland Marriage Equality CampaignsA campaign group opposed to legalising gay marriage is planning to deliver leaflets to almost 300,000 homes ahead of this week’s council elections. Scotland for Marriage said it hoped to leaflet every house in Glasgow at a cost of 15,000 Pounds.

But a separate coalition of faith groups will launch their own campaign on Monday backing a change in the law.

The Scottish government has said it “tends towards the view” that same-sex marriages should be introduced. It is currently considering the responses it received to a public consultation on the issue, and has said faith groups and their celebrants should not be obliged to solemnise the ceremonies.

Full Story from BBC

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UK: Planned Marriage Equality Vote in Jeopardy?

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

United Kingdom: Planned Gay Marriage Vote in Jeopardy?David Cameron is under intense pressure to ditch his gay marriage initiative amid claims that Tory MPs fear they are ‘haemorrhaging’ votes over the issue.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin has privately assured anxious Tory backbenchers that the Prime Minister’s same-sex marriage plan will ‘not come to a vote’.

The MPs say Mr McLoughlin told them the controversial proposal will be ‘kicked into the long grass’. The Chief Whip, a former miner, is one of the most senior Roman Catholics in the Conservative Party.

Full Story from the Daily Mail

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UK: Catholic Church in Hot Water Over Petition Push in Schools

Friday, April 27th, 2012

Catholic Churches and Marriage EqualityA row has erupted over correspondence issued by the Catholic Education Service to nearly 400 Catholic schools in England and Wales which asked them to ‘draw the attention’ of pupils to the Coalition for Marriage’s anti-equality petition, first revealed by PinkNews.co.uk yesterday.

Several organisations believe the action may have violated education and equality laws, suggestions denied by the Catholic body.

The Catholic Education Service is the government liaison agency for the Catholic bishops in England and Wales for the support and promotion of Catholic education.

Full Story from Pink News

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UK: Featherstone Says Churches Won’t Be Sued Under Current Marriage Equality Proposals

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

UK: Lynne Featherstone Says Churches Won't Be Sued Under Current Marriage Equality ProposalsEqualities Minister Lynne Featherstone has pledged there will be ‘no risk of successful legal challenge’ against religious bodies who are unable to marry gay couples as a result of the government’s gay civil marriage proposals.

Ms Featherstone reaffirmed the government’s position while responding to an oral question in the House of Commons from Conservative MP Dominic Raab last week on the proposals to allow gay couples to marry in civil ceremonies and the consultation currently underway.

Mr Raab asked the Liberal Democrat minister: “I personally support the proposal to allow gay marriage in civil ceremonies. “I am concerned, and constituents and local clergy have also expressed the concern, that, by redefining marriage, we may — may — expose churches and other religious institutions to legal challenge and force them to marry gay couples under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010. Will the Minister give a clear assurance that our churches will not end up in the dock in Strasbourg?”

Ms Featherstone said the government would “ensure that there is no risk of successful legal challenge against religious organisations that do not marry same-sex couples.”

Full Story from Pink News

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UK: New Short Film for Marriage Equality

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

A new independent short film produced to support the Coalition for Equal Marriage has been released to encourage support for the Government’s plans to lift the ban on civil marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Directed by award winning film-maker Mike Buonaiuto, the short film shows British forces returning home to their loved ones, with the reunion of one soldier and his partner soon turning into a surprise marriage proposal.

The film aims to tackle opposition with by arguing that if people can serve in British military regardless of sexuality, they should be able celebrate their love and commitment with civil marriage.

Full Story from Pink News

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UK: Anglican Bishop Compares Fighting Marriage Equality to Supporting Slavery

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

United Kingdom: Anglican Bishop Compares Fighting Marriage Equality to Fighting SlaveryAs the British government prepares to advance marriage equality, an Anglican bishop condemned religious leaders on Saturday who speak out against same-sex marriage, comparing their anti-gay rhetoric to the Church’s support of slavery as “God-given” in the 18th century.

“Experience might lead us to be cautious about the certainty with which moral positions are built with Biblical support,” Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, the Bishop of Salisbury, said. “Before Wilberforce, Christians in this country saw slavery as having Biblical support for what was the God-given in the ordering of creation”:

“In South Africa, Apartheid was seen in the same way by the Dutch Reformed Church. “Within the churches, Christians conscientiously disagree about the interpretation and significance of the six Biblical passages referring to homosexuality.” [...]

Full Story from Think Progress

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UK: Tory MP Says Marriage Equality Would Lead to Bigamy and Child Marriages

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

A letter from a Conservative MP to one of his consitutents has leaked, in which he explains why he will vote against plans to allow gay civil marriages in their current proposed form.

In a letter sent to a constituent after they asked him to support the government’s plans to introduce same-sex marriage, Karl McCartney said it would have the effect of “uprooting thousands of years of Christian tradition”.

“You raised concerns that the law, in its current form, discriminated against those in civil partnerships,” he said. “However in my opinion, the LGBT community have exhausted the cause of equal rights and have now picked on an issue which would possibly only affect a few thousand people every year.”

Full Story from the Huffington Post

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UK: How British Island Came to Support Marriage Equality

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Last night, in a small council chamber, on the edge of the land, history was made.

In a full council meeting, to a packed public gallery, Thanet District Councillors decided that they would make a formal response to the Public Consultation on Equal Civil Marriage and that their response would be favourable.

Thanet is technically an island, situated in the farthest corner of east Kent and comprises three towns – Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate – along with small villages. The power within the council is held between Labour, Conservatives and a small number of Independents. It was two of these independents that laid the foundation that changed the course of Thanet’s history last night.

Full Story from Pink News

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