Showing posts with label same-sex marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label same-sex marriage. Show all posts

Friday, February 16, 2024

Greece Legalizes Same-sex Marriage | DW News

Feb 16, 2024 | Greece has voted to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first Orthodox Christian country to do so. The law change was opposed by the Orthodox church, which claimed it would threaten what it called 'traditional families'. But supporters say the change is long overdue and a significant advance for Greek society. DW spoke to journalist Giorgos Christides.


Related links here.

Griechenland beschließt Ehe für alle: Griechenlands Parlament hat für die Einführung der Ehe für alle gestimmt. Die orthodoxe Kirche und einige Konservative rebellieren. »

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Greece Becomes First Orthodox Christian Country to Legalise Same-sex Marriage

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted for the bill drafted by centre-right government despite church officials’ objections

Greece has become the world’s first Christian Orthodox nation to legalise same-sex marriage after the Athens parliament passed the landmark reform amid scenes of both jubilation and fury in the country.

In a rare display of parliamentary consensus, 176 MPs from across the political spectrum voted in favour of the bill. 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community, many unable to contain their emotion, watched from the galleries above. “We have waited years for this,” said the prominent gay activist Stella Belia of legislation that will not only allow same-sex couples to exchange vows in civil ceremonies but adopt children. “It’s a historic moment. A lot of us weren’t sure it would ever come.”

The vote followed two days of heated debate – and weeks of public rancour – with the reform described by supporters as “bold” and “long overdue” and decried as “antisocial’ and “unchristian” by opponents including the powerful Orthodox church. » | Helena Smith in Athens | Friday, February 16, 2024

La Grèce légalise le mariage et l’adoption pour les couples de même sexe : Porté par le parti de droite au pouvoir, Nouvelle Démocratie, du premier ministre, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, le texte a été approuvé par 176 des 254 députés présents au Parlement à l’issue de deux jours de débat. »

Article connexe ici.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Thailand to Legalize Same-sex Marriage

LGBTQ NATION: The Asian country will be the next to give citizens marriage equality.

Only two Asian countries recognize same-sex marriages, but Thailand will be the next to give citizens marriage equality.

Thailand’s cabinet recently approved a bill that would legalize same-sex weddings. The amendment to the country’s laws will be submitted to the parliament this month. » | Bill Browning | Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

How Same-sex Unions Are Rooted in Indian Tradition

Indian LGBTQ+ activists and couples were hoping for a positive verdict from the Supreme Court | RAHUL BAXI

BBC: On Tuesday, India's Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriage, disappointing millions of LGBTQ+ couples and activists. While these unions may still not have legal sanction in India, they were far from rare even centuries ago, experts say.

When author and activist Ruth Vanita attended and taught at the Delhi University - from the 1970s to 1996 - "same-sex love was almost never mentioned in the academy".

Around the same time, she was active in the women's movement, and found that a "similar silence prevailed then in feminist politics as well, both left-wing and right-wing".

"Many of the leading activists in women's groups were lesbians, but they never mentioned or discussed this in activist forums," Prof Vanita, who now teaches at University of Montana, wrote in a 2004 essay.

Fourteen years later, in a historic decision, India's Supreme Court ruled that gay sex was no longer a criminal offence, overturning a 2013 judgement that upheld a colonial-era law - known as section 377 - under which gay sex was categorised as an "unnatural offence".

While some in India voiced concerns that the repeal of the colonial-era law was driving the country toward the adoption of Western ideals of liberalism, Prof Vanita's argument was that history actually demonstrates the contrary. » | Soutik Biswas, India correspondent | Wednesday, October 18, 2023

India Supreme Court declines to legalise same-sex marriage: India's Supreme Court has declined to legalise same-sex unions, dashing the hopes of millions of LGBTQ+ people seeking marriage equality. »

Sunday, June 04, 2023

Thailand Pride Celebrations Kick Off in Bangkok - BBC News

Jun 4, 2023 | Pride celebrations have begun in Thailand. Thailand is open to LGBTQ+ communities but has never passed the same-sex marriage law. However, the winner of the recent election, the Move Forward party, has said that adopting this law is part of its main agenda.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

India's Top Court Opens Landmark Hearings on Same-sex Marriage | DW News

Apr 18, 2023 | In India, homosexuality is legally permitted, but same-sex unions have not been recognized yet. That could change soon: Beginning April 18, India's Supreme Court will start hearing final arguments to determine whether same-sex marriages should be legalized. Gay couples in the country currently face hurdles when it comes to adoption, inheritance and alimony, among other issues. The disparities of treatment between heterosexual and homosexual couples is also noticeable at many levels. For example, Kanav Sahgal, a writer on LGBTQ issues who works for the think tank Vidhi Center for Legal Policy, explains that hospitals usually require a patient undergoing a procedure to fill in the name of their spouse, mother, father or another person. Currently, he says, gay persons can only fill in their partner's names under "other."

Monday, April 17, 2023

Two Cool Men Tying the Knot: A Hot Kiss on a Cold Day – It’s Raining, But Not in Their Hearts!

Zwei coole Männer, die sich das Ja-Wort geben: Ein heißer Kuss an einem kalten Tag – es regnet, aber nicht in ihren Herzen! / Deux hommes sympas se marient : un baiser brûlant par une journée froide - Il pleut, mais pas dans leurs cœurs !

Many thanks to Petaloso Floral Design on Pinterest for this delightful image.

Friday, January 20, 2023

What’s It Like to Be Gay and a Priest? I Feel Like a Second-class Citizen in the Church of England

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: The church made me answer prurient questions in order to be ordained – and if I were to enter a civil marriage, I’d essentially be sacked

Charlie Bell (right) and his partner. ‘Piotr and I won’t be getting married any time soon. The Church of England doesn’t want us to just yet.’ Photograph: Charlie Bell

In many ways, my partner and I are quite boring and conventional. We may have met through a dating app – very 21st century – but otherwise there’s been nothing particularly scandalous or unusual about how we do things. Quite frankly, most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

Except, of course, for the fact that I’m a priest in the Church of England – and that’s where the problems begin. For while the rest of the country seems able to see the clear and unambiguous good that springs from same-sex relationships, the church continues to drag its heels. For years, in fact, it has told us that there’s nothing good at all about our love for one another – that it’s something to be shunned, embarrassed about, even erased. Our love is, ultimately, a problem.

The poverty of such a view has become increasingly obvious to those within the church and without, but the bishops of the C of E have resolutely refused to say anything at all for years. They - including those bishops who are secretly gay – have been cowed into silence by threats from those who oppose same-sex marriage. A few years ago, in 2017, they finally said something – recognising that the church’s record had hardly been positive towards LGBTQ people but coupled with a firm refusal to do anything about it. And the clergy of the C of E told them to get stuffed. » | Charlie Bell * | Friday, January 20, 2023

* Charlie Bell is an Anglican priest in the diocese of Southwark and a Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge

ALSO READ:

Archbishop will not give new prayer blessing for gay couples: The Archbishop of Canterbury will not use proposed new prayers to bless same-sex couples. »

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Church of England Bishops Refuse to Back Gay Marriage

THE GUARDIAN: Bishops resist change that would allow clergy to marry same-sex couples but propose civil marriages can be blessed in church

The Church of England has rejected demands to allow clergy to conduct same-sex marriages but is proposing that couples who married in a civil ceremony may have their union blessed in church.

The C of E released “historic plans” on Wednesday outlining a proposed way forward after decades of bitter and anguished division over sexuality. The proposal, endorsed by bishops this week, will be put to the C of E’s governing body, the General Synod, next month. » | Harriet Sherwood | Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Friday, January 06, 2023

Gay Couples in India Take Same-sex Marriage to Court | DW News

Jan 6, 2023 | Four years after India's Supreme Court made the historic decision to repeal a law that criminalized same-sex relationships, it has agreed to hear petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Biden Signs Same-Sex Marriage Equality Bill Into Law

The Respect for Marriage Act, which passed Congress with bipartisan support, mandates federal recognition for same-sex and interracial marriages.

Thursday, December 08, 2022

Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights Clears Congress

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The House gave final approval to the measure, with lawmakers from both parties voting in favor. It now heads to President Biden to be signed into law.


The House gave final approval to the Respect for Marriage Act with both sides voting in favor of the legislation, which provides federal recognition for same-sex marriages. | Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday gave final approval to legislation to mandate federal recognition for same-sex marriages, with a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers voting in favor of the measure in the waning days of the Democratic-led Congress.

With a vote of 258-169, the landmark legislation cleared Congress, sending it to President Biden to be signed into law and capping an improbable path for a measure that only months ago appeared to have little chance at enactment.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the tally triumphantly, banging the gavel repeatedly as if to applaud as members of the House cheered.

It was the second time in five months that the House had taken up the Respect for Marriage Act. Last summer, 47 House Republicans joined Democrats in support of the legislation, a level of G.O.P. enthusiasm for same-sex marriage rights that surprised and delighted its supporters. That set off an intensive effort among a bipartisan group of proponents in the Senate — boosted quietly by a coalition of influential Republican donors and operatives, some of them gay — to find the 10 Republican votes necessary in that chamber to move it forward. » | Annie Karni | Thursday, December 8, 2022

Aux Etats-Unis, le Congrès adopte une loi protégeant le mariage homosexuel : Le texte voté jeudi interdit aux agents d’état civil, quel que soit l’Etat, de discriminer les couples « en raison de leur sexe, race, ethnicité ou origine ». »

US-Kongress stimmt für Gesetz zum Schutz gleichgeschlechtlicher Ehen: Das Gesetz verpflichtet die Bundesstaaten zur Anerkennung aller Ehen, die andernorts legal geschlossen wurden. Gegenstimmen kamen ausschließlich von Seiten der Republikaner. »

Tuesday, December 06, 2022

Bermuda Becomes First Country in rhe World to Repeal Same-sex Marriage | TIME

Feb 8, 2018 | Legislation replacing same-sex marriage with domestic partnerships in Bermuda was signed into law by the governor Wednesday as critics called it an unprecedented rollback of civil rights in the British island territory.


Ban on Same-sex Marriage in Bermuda Upheld. Click here.

Monday, December 05, 2022

Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A web designer in Colorado wants to limit her wedding-related services to celebrations of heterosexual unions because of her religious beliefs, but a state law prohibits discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public.

Andrew Harnik

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed prepared on Monday to rule that a graphic designer in Colorado has a First Amendment right to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings based on her Christian faith despite a state law that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.

But several justices leaning in that direction appeared to be searching for limiting principles so as not to upend all sorts of anti-discrimination laws.

They explored the difference between businesses engaged in expression and ones simply selling goods; the difference between a client’s message and that of the designer; the difference between discrimination against gay couples and compelling the creation of messages supporting same-sex marriage; and the difference between discrimination based on race and that based on sexual orientation.

The bottom line, though, seemed to be that the court would not require the designer to create customized websites celebrating same-sex marriage despite the state anti-discrimination law.

The court’s three liberal members expressed deep qualms about the damage a ruling in favor of the designer could do to efforts to combat discrimination. » | Adam Liptak | Monday, December 5, 2022

Darkness is rapidly befalling the Western world! Beware the bigots, the ignoramuses and the demons who pervade the West these days and the ether. They threaten to take us back to a 'New Dark Age' (of which I once wrote many years ago), back to a less enlightened age, to benighted times. – © Mark Alexander

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Senat stimmt für Recht auf gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der „Respect for Marriage Act“ soll das Recht auf gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe gesetzlich verankern. Die Demokraten stehen mit dem Gesetz unter Zeitdruck.

Feiernde tragen bei der New York City Pride Parade im Juni 2018 eine LTBGQ-Flagge entlang der Fifth Avenue. | Bild: AP

Der US-Senat hat für eine gesetzliche Verankerung der Homo-Ehe gestimmt. Für den entsprechenden Gesetzentwurf votierten 61 Senatoren, es gab 36 Gegenstimmen von den oppositionellen Republikanern. Das Gesetz mit dem Namen „Respect for Marriage Act“ – etwa Gesetz für den Respekt der Ehe – muss jetzt noch vom Repräsentantenhaus verabschiedet werden, bevor Präsident Joe Biden es mit seiner Unterschrift in Kraft setzen kann.

Mit der „parteiübergreifenden Verabschiedung des Gesetzes“ werde bald eine „grundlegende Wahrheit“ bekräftigt, erklärte Biden nach der Abstimmung. „Liebe ist Liebe, und Amerikaner sollten das Recht haben, den Menschen zu heiraten, den sie lieben.“ » | Quelle: dpa, AFP | Mittwoch, 30. November 2022

US Senate passes Respect for Marriage Act – but activists say bill is a ‘huge mess’: The United States Senate has passed the Respect for Marriage bill, which aims to provide another step towards protection for same-sex marriage, however, activists have claimed the legislation is a “huge mess”. »

Same-Sex Marriage Bill Passes Senate After Bipartisan Breakthrough: The 61-to-36 vote sends the legislation back to the House, which is expected to approve it and send it to President Biden. »

Tokyo Same-sex Marriage Ruling ‘a Step Forward’, Say Campaigners

THE GUARDIAN: Court rules same-sex marriage ban is constitutional but says lack of legal protection is human rights violation

Marriage equality campaigners outside the Tokyo district court on Wednesday. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

A court in has ruled that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional, but said the lack of legal protection for same-sex couples violated their human rights, a step welcomed by equality campaigners.

Japan is the only G7 nation that does not allow same-sex marriage and its constitution defines marriage as based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”. The conservative ruling party of the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has shown no interest in legalising gay marriage, although polls show a majority of voters support it.

The ruling on Wednesday by the Tokyo district court said that while the ban was constitutional, the absence of a legal system granting same-sex couples recognition as families was an infringement of their human rights. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies | Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Same-sex Marriage Legislation Clears Key US Senate Hurdle with Republican Support

THE GUARDIAN: Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats to advance the bill, which would ensure same-sex unions are enshrined in federal law

Legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages crossed a major Senate hurdle on Wednesday, putting Congress on track to take the historic step of ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law.

Twelve Republicans voted with all Democrats to move forward on the legislation, meaning a final vote could come as soon as this week, or later this month. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said the bill ensuring the unions are legally recognized under the law is a chance for the Senate to “live up to its highest ideals” and protect marriage equality for all people.

“It will make our country a better, fairer place to live,” Schumer said, noting that his own daughter and her wife are expecting a baby next year.

Senate Democrats are quickly moving to pass the bill while the party still controls the House. Republicans are on the verge of winning the House majority and would be unlikely to take up the issue next year. » | Associated press in Washington | Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Mehrheit im Senat für Gesetz für gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe: Die gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe ist in den USA zwar durch eine Entscheidung des Supreme Court legalisiert, das Recht darauf jedoch noch nicht im Gesetz verankert. Das wollen die Demokraten ändern. »

Tuesday, November 08, 2022

The Guardian View on LGBT+ Anglicans: Finally Grounds for Hope?

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: A significant intervention by the bishop of Oxford points the way to overdue reform in the Church of England

For more than a decade, the Church of England has engaged in an agonised, divisive and often poisonous debate about the status of same-sex relationships. As attitudes in the wider national culture have transformed beyond recognition since the 1980s, the country’s established church has gradually become an anomalous outlier, steadfastly refusing to countenance same-sex marriages or the blessing of civil unions. Its doctrine continues to conform to the view that homosexual practice is “incompatible with scripture”.

Responding to the hurt and grief that this has caused LGBT+ members of its congregations – apparently equal in the eyes of God but second-class citizens in their own church – the C of E has, at best, wrung its hands sympathetically. To the deep disquiet of many bishops and much of the laity, the goal of maintaining unity, both at home and in the worldwide Anglican communion, seems to have led to the perpetuation of a derided status quo. » | Editorial | Monday, November 7, 2022

Related articles here and here.

Thursday, November 03, 2022

Bishop of Oxford Says Church Should Marry Gay Couples

The Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft said his own views on same-sex marriage were "slow to change" | DIOCESE OF OXFORD

BBC: The Bishop of Oxford has said Church of England clergy should be able to bless and marry gay couples.

The Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft said he was sorry his views on same-sex marriage were "slow to change" and had "caused genuine hurt, disagreement and pain".

In an essay, he said clergy should also be allowed to marry a same-sex partner if they wished.

By law no Church of England minister can bless or marry gay couples.

He is the most senior cleric in the Church of England to so far speak out in favour of same-sex marriage.

The essay, Together in Love and Faith, sets out the ways Bishop Croft's own views on same-sex relationships have changed over the last decade.

"I need to acknowledge the acute pain and distress of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the Church," he wrote.

"I am sorry that, corporately, we have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters.

"I am sorry that my own views were slow to change and that my actions, and lack of action, have caused genuine hurt, disagreement and pain." » | BBC | Thursday, November 3, 2022

Senior bishops join chorus of calls for Church of England to allow same-sex marriage: Bishops across the country have called for the Church of England to allow same-sex marriage, after the Bishop of Oxford became the highest ranking church official to do so. »

Monday, October 31, 2022

Kevin Rudd Launched a Passionate Defence of Gay Marriage in 2013

Sep 3, 2013 | Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, a devout Christian, stared down a pastor on live television and cited scripture while delivering a stirring defence of gay marriage. …


This is something that all Christians (and people of other faiths and none) should listen to. Well done Kevin Rudd! His reasoning is a joy to listen to. – © Mark Alexander