Showing posts with label gay rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay rights. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
MAIL ONLINE: First time Her Majesty has signalled support for gay rights in 61-year reign / Also promotes 'empowerment' of women in drive to boost human rights / Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a 'watershed' moment
The Queen will tomorrow back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and ‘gender equality’ in one of the most controversial acts of her reign.
In a live television broadcast, she will sign a new charter designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexual people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women – a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth.
In her first public appearance since she had hospital treatment for a stomach bug, the Queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter and make a speech explaining her passionate commitment to it.
Insiders say her decision to highlight the event is a ‘watershed’ moment – the first time she has clearly signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign.
The charter, dubbed a ‘21st Century Commonwealth Magna Carta’ declares: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.’
The ‘other grounds’ is intended to refer to sexuality – but specific reference to ‘gays and lesbians’ was omitted in deference to Commonwealth countries with draconian anti-gay laws.
Sources close to the Royal Household said she is aware of the implications of the charter’s implicit support of gay rights and commitment to gender equality.
In her speech, the Queen is expected to stress that the rights must ‘include everyone’ - and this is seen as an implicit nod to the agenda of inclusivity, usually championed by the Left. Read on and comment » | Simon Walters | Saturday, March 09, 2013
Sunday, March 03, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Poland's first democratic-era president said he believed gay people had no right to sit on front benches in parliament
A national committee devoted to fighting hate speech and other crimes in Poland has filed a complaint with prosecutors in Gdansk accusing Lech Walesa of promoting a "propaganda of hate against a sexual minority", after the Nobel peace prize-winner said gay people had no right to a prominent role in politics.
Walesa said in a television interview on Friday that he believed gay people had no right to sit on the front benches in parliament and, if there at all, should sit in the back "or even behind a wall".
"They have to know that they are a minority and adjust to smaller things, and not rise to the greatest heights," he told the private broadcaster TVN during a discussion of gay rights. "A minority should not impose itself on the majority."
Walesa, Poland's first democratic-era president, is a deeply conservative Roman Catholic and a father of eight who has never advocated progressive social views. The democracy he helped create in 1989 from the turmoil of strikes and other protests has, however, been undergoing a profound social transformation in recent years.
A key symbol of the change is a new willingness to tackle gay rights, long a taboo subject. In 2011, voters elected Poland's first openly gay and first transsexual members of parliament. » | Associated Press in Warsaw | Sunday, March 03, 2013
Verwandt »
Thursday, October 18, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Susanne Wilkinson, who refused to let Michael Black and John Morgan stay at her guesthouse, told to pay couple £3,600
The Christian owner of a bed and breakfast has been ordered to pay damages after a court found her refusal to let a gay couple stay in one of her double rooms amounted to direct discrimination and a breach of equality law.
Michael Black and John Morgan brought a civil case against Susanne Wilkinson, who owns the Swiss Bed and Breakfast in Cookham, Berkshire, after they were refused accommodation at the premises in March 2010 despite having made a reservation and paid a deposit.
In a verdict delivered on Thursday by recorder Claire Moulder at Reading county court, Wilkinson was ordered to pay £3,600 in damages to the couple, who said they were shocked and embarrassed and felt "like lepers" after being told they were not welcome at the B&B because their same-sex relationship was against the owner's convictions.
The verdict found that Black and Morgan, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, suffered direct discrimination by being turned away from the guesthouse because they were gay. Moulder said that by refusing the couple access, Wilkinson had "treated them less favourably than she would treat unmarried heterosexual couples in the same circumstances".
In a statement, Wilkinson – whose legal defence was paid for by the Christian Institute, a national charity – said she was giving "serious consideration" to an appeal against the ruling. » | Lizzy Davies | Thursday, October 18, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Scotland to legalise same-sex marriages in church and civil ceremonies: Draft legislation will allow gay and lesbian couples to marry with the same rights as heterosexual couples » | Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent | Wednesday, July 25, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Christianity does not sit in opposition to progressive equality legislation: There is no issue of principle where LGBT and religious rights are counterposed, despite George Carey's assumptions » | Maria Exall | Saturday, April 21, 2012
Saturday, July 07, 2012
While her son is a champion of gay rights, Jane Pitt has thrown her support behind the Republican candidate Mitt Romney, attacking Mr Obama for his liberal views on abortion, same-sex marriage and his links to the firebrand pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Calling on Christian voters to accept Mr Romney – who is a Mormon – Mrs Pitt said she would be happy to [vote] for a "family man with high morals" who shares "Christian conviction" on homosexuality over the likes of Mr Obama.
"Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for Romney's opponent, Barack Hussein Obama – a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage," she wrote in Missouri's Springfield News-Leader. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Friday, July 06, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
The ruling is a victory for gay-rights advocates and the Obama administration, which had refused to defend that part of the 1996 law.
The decision sets the stage for a ruling next year by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law that limits federal recognition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman.
The Boston-based judges stressed their decision did not establish a national right to gay marriage. That issue remains a matter for the states, they said.
But in states such as Massachusetts, where gays and lesbians can legally marry, the federal government cannot deny these couples the right to file a joint federal tax return or to receive a survivor's benefit under the Social Security Act, the appeals court said.
The court's opinion said there are more than 100,000 legally married gay and lesbian couples in the half-dozen states that have legalized same-sex marriages.
Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 to prevent same-sex marriages in one state from being legally recognized by all states. Usually, a couple's marriage in one state is recognized as valid in all states. However, the federal law said no state "shall be required to give effect" to a "relationship between persons of the same sex." Moreover, it said that under federal law, a marriage "means only the legal union between one man and one woman."
The case decided Thursday dealt only with this latter provision involving federal law and benefits. » | David G. Savage | Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Dr Rowan Williams warned that identity had become a “slippery” word and that, while much had been achieved for minority groups, it was time to focus on the common good.
He also attacked a culture of dependence on welfare handouts, which he said was harmful to society, in an address to members of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.
Addressing a group of teenagers during the visit, he also spoke about the possibility that Britain could break apart as Scottish and Welsh nationalism grows in importance.
Dr Williams, who is stepping down as leader of the Anglican Communion later this year, has made a series of outspoken interventions since announcing his resignation.
He signalled last week that he plans to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues which on which he feels passionate. » | John Bingham | Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ugandan gay rights activists have condemned the reintroduction of a bill in parliament that calls for the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.
David Bahati, the MP behind the bill, formally reintroduced the legislation after MPs voted last year to pass it over to the new session after failing to debate it.
Frank Mugisha, the director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, voiced disappointment over the revival of the bill.
"We thought it would come back, but with all the condemnation from local and international human rights groups, we had hoped that Bahati would reconsider it, or that parliament would move to strike it down immediately," Mr Mugisha said.
"It is just bringing everything bad up again, but we remain committed to fighting it and challenging it in all ways possible," he added.
Originally tabled in 2009, the bill calls for "serial offender(s)" to face the death penalty, and proposes jail sentences for family members and landlords who fail to report homosexuals to the authorities. » | Source: AFP | Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Friday, January 06, 2012
ADVOCATE.COM: Santorum Vs. Students on His Slippery-Slope Logic » | Friday, January 06, 2012
Related »
ADVOCATE.COM: Santorum Says He's Barely Mentioned Gay Rights » | Michelle Garcia | Thursday, January 05, 2012
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Mr Mugabe said that homosexuals were "worse than pigs and dogs" and warned those practising in his country: "We will punish you severely."
His comments come as Zimbabweans get ready to vote next year on a new constitution that could offer some legal protection to homosexuals in Zimbabwe. At present, those caught engaging in same-sex relationships face prison terms.
Britain has already cut aid to Malawi by £19 million following the sentencing of two gay men to 14 years hard labour. They were later pardoned.
Mr Cameron raised the idea of linking funding to human rights issues at the end of the Commonwealth summit in October. » | Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg | Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Today, it has been confirmed that Liechtenstein has said yes to gay marriage. This week, in Saudi Arabia women protested in order to be allowed to drive cars!
Very little more needs to be said about the state of development of the Muslim world and the Western world. In Liechtenstein, among many other countries, homosexuals are gaining rights to form lasting unions, with full rights before the law, whilst in a Muslim country such as Saudi Arabia women are still struggling for the right to drive a vehicle! If anything contrasts better the backwardness of the Middle East with the progressiveness of the West, I’d like to hear about it.
© Mark Alexander
Monday, June 06, 2011
When it comes to gay rights, South Africa is something of a paradox. Legally progressive, the country allows gay marriage and, in its Constitution, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay groups flourish — soccer clubs and church organizations included — and middle-class gay men and women live relatively openly.
But in some parts of the country, particularly in rural areas and townships, the progressive laws collide with deeply traditional views of homosexuality as un-African and as an import from the decadent West.
In the South African township of Kwa-Thema, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, a young lesbian woman who dressed like a man and played soccer as well as one was found dead in an alley on Easter morning, having been stabbed with broken glass, battered with bricks and apparently raped with a broken bottle. Two other openly gay women have been murdered in the township since 2008, and some gay men and women report having been raped by attackers who claimed to be teaching them a lesson.
The violence in South Africa is a reminder that the struggle for gay rights is a global one. A gay rights demonstration in Moscow was disrupted last month by counter-protesters, and Russian security forces detained people from both sides of the protest. In Jamaica, homophobic lyrics in dancehall music have been blamed for violent attacks on gay people. » | Monday, June 06, 2011
Friday, December 03, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A raft of new schemes will be aimed at promoting equality for homosexuals, such as recruiting more openly gay candidates to become MPs and making workplaces “gay-friendly”.
The Coalition's Equailty Strategy said many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) people still faced discrimination and even violence.
“Attitudes are changing,” the strategy said. “But the sad reality remains that too many people are victims of discrimination and hate crime in the UK today.”
Ministers are in talks with campaigners and faith leaders over plans to allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnerships in churches, and other places of worship. >>> Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor | Thursday, December 02, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain embraces 'positive action' to abolish workplace discrimination: Employers will be able to reject male job applicants in favour of women who are no better qualified under new laws to promote equality at work. >>> Christopher Hope and Tim Ross | Thursday, December 02, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS: WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is chipping away at his long list of promises to gay voters but has yet to win the enthusiastic backing of the reliably Democratic voting bloc.
The Obama White House has accomplished more than any other on gay rights, yet has drawn sharp criticism from an unexpected constituency: the same gay activists who backed the president's election campaign. Instead of the sweeping change gays and lesbians had sought, a piece-by-piece approach has been the administration's favored strategy, drawing neither serious fire from conservatives nor lavish praise from activists. >>> Philip Elliott, AP | Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
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