|
||||
|
||||
|
Sunday, Mar 21, 2010
|
||||
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
Rex Wockner |
|
.jpg) |
|
| International News | |
| EURO COURT: GAYS MUST HAVE
EQUAL ADOPTION RIGHTS The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled January 22 that Gay people cannot be excluded from access to the adoption process based on their sexual orientation. In a 10-7 decision in the case E.B. v. France, the court found that France's refusal to let a Lesbian apply to adopt violated articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which cover protection from discrimination and respect for private and family life. The court awarded E.B. $14,600 in damages and $21,200 in costs and expenses. E.B., a nursery-school teacher, has been with her female partner, who is a psychologist, since 1990. E.B.'s application for approval as a possible adoptive parent was rejected by local officials in Jura département in 1998 and 1999, and the rejection eventually was upheld by France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, in 2002. Officials cited, in part, the absence of a "paternal referent" in E.B.'s home. The Euro court determined that amounted to anti-Gay discrimination. "This is a significant change in the court's approach towards and interpretation of the rights of LGBT people under the European Convention on Human Rights," said Patricia Prendiville, executive director of the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. "Today the court firmly established a principle that administrative officials cannot discriminate against an individual on the basis of her/his sexual orientation in the process of applying to adopt a child." Rulings by the European Court of Human Rights apply in the 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. A member state's refusal to implement a European Court of Human Rights decision could result in expulsion from the Council of Europe. ARGENTINE COUPLE SEEKS RECOGNITION OF SPANISH MARRIAGE Argentine Gay activists César Cigliutti and Marcelo Suntheim got married in Spain on January 21 and plan to demand that Argentina recognize their marriage. The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires and the province of Río Negro have same-sex civil-union laws, but there is no established mechanism anywhere in the nation for recognizing same-sex marriages from the six countries that allow them. Anyone from the European Union can marry in Spain. Suntheim and Cigliutti were able to tie the knot because Suntheim has dual Argentine and German citizenship. Same-sex marriage also is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Canada has no citizenship or residency requirements for getting married, and foreign same-sex couples often accomplish the deed in a one-day visit. SWEDES SUPPORT FULL SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Seventy-one percent of Swedes favor moving beyond the nation's 14-year-old registered-partnership law and granting Gay couples access to full marriage, a new poll has found. The Sifo poll questioned 1,000 people in mid-January, asking, "Do you think homosexual couples should be able to legally wed and get married or do you think they should not be able to get married?" Parliament is expected to legalize same-sex marriage by early 2009, making Sweden the seventh nation to do so. All political parties support the move except for the Christian Democrats. The party holds only 6.6 percent of seats in Parliament but, in a complicating factor, is a member of the governing coalition. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has nonetheless been "very clear that there will be a government proposal," said Jon Voss, editor of Sweden's leading Gay newspaper, QX. "And the opposition will do whatever they can to take the law to Parliament, and by that create a split between the governing parties," Voss said. KUWAITI CROSS-DRESSERS ARRESTED, ABUSED At least 14 cross-dressers have been arrested under a new Kuwaiti law that criminalizes "imitating the appearance of the opposite sex ... in public." They are being held in a special ward of Tahla Prison, where guards have shaved off the detainees' hair and subjected them to other psychological and physical abuse, Human Rights Watch said January 17. "Transgender people in Kuwait tell Human Rights Watch that they are now afraid to leave their homes - even for work or to meet basic needs - for fear of arrest and ill-treatment," the organization said in a statement. "The wave of arrests in the past month shows exactly why Kuwait should repeal this repressive law," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the group's Middle East division. Article 199 of the Criminal Code, approved by the National Assembly on Dec. 10, states, "[A]ny person committing an indecent act in a public place, or imitating the appearance of a member of the opposite sex, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding one thousand dinars," which is about $3,680. OXFORD STREET LOSES "MOJO," BECOMES "BUTTCRACK" The Gayest street in Sydney, Australia, has "lost its mojo" and become "a buttcrack," The Sydney Morning Herald reported January 18. Oxford Street has become crime-ridden and is dominated by 24-hour beer barns, noisy nightclubs and neon-lit convenience stores, according to an Urban Cultures Ltd. report commissioned by the City of Sydney. The strip "has lost its mojo," the report said. A neighborhood business lobby was less kind, describing the famous Gay ghetto as "a buttcrack between two cheeks," the Morning Herald said. 13-14 PERCENT OF CANADIAN TEENS ACKNOWLEDGE GAY ATTRACTION Fourteen percent of Canadian teenage girls and 13 percent of teenage boys are attracted to people of the same sex, a survey has found. The Ipsos Reid poll results appeared in the January issue of Pediatrics and Child Health. Asked if they were attracted to boys only, 86 percent of girls said yes. Asked if they were attracted to girls only, 87 percent of boys said yes. The data was gathered in online interviews of 1,171 teens aged 14 to 17 and is accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, the pollsters said. With assistance from Bill Kelley |
|
 |
|
| picture - Patricia Prendiville |
|
| Quote/Unquote | |
.jpg) |
|
| by Rex Wockner -
SGN Contributing Writer "I don't think that's a radical view to say we're going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we're going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what's been historic." - Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee when asked by BeliefNet.com on January 17, "Is it your goal to bring the Constitution into strict conformity with the Bible?" "Gov. Mike Huckabee is establishing an unfortunate pattern on the campaign trail - making statements about Gays and Lesbians that demonstrate he's out of touch with the vast majority of Americans. Voters should take a close look at the governor's pattern of ill-informed and extreme statements. Gov. Huckabee should remember it's 2008, not 1968, and he's running for president, not preacher." - Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon in a January 18 statement. "I don't trust either Clinton on Gay issues. Sure, they're better than any Republican on the issues we're confronting. But they know that already. And they'll never take a risk for Gay equality because they assume we have nowhere else to go." - Writer Andrew Sullivan on his blog, January 17. "You'll hear Clinton people try to say, 'Oh, we made such advances [under President Clinton].' We made no advances. We got left with 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and the Defense of Marriage Act. So, were there reasons for that? Yes. However, there's cleanup to do now and we have to move forward and get laws in place." - Former Human Rights Campaign President Elizabeth Birch to the Boston Gay newspaper Bay Windows, January 10. "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' as articulated, as I worked it out with Colin Powell, who was then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meant literally that - that people would be free to live their lives. As long as they didn't go march in Gay rights parades or go to Gay bars in uniform - in uniform - and talk about it on duty, they would be all right. Now, as soon as he [Powell] left, the anti-Gay forces then in the military started using it as an excuse to kick people out." - Former President Bill Clinton on the campaign trail for his wife, January 18. "There were, indeed, some factual inaccuracies in President Clinton's statement about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' ... Military members cannot be out to anyone, at any time, while serving under the law. Statements to friends, family members or anyone else are grounds for dismissal from the armed forces, as they have been since day one. The law, indeed, practically prevents any Gay American, who is out in any way, from serving in the military." - Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, to syndicated Gay press columnist Chris Crain, January 24. "What's a feminist civil-rights supporter to do? This is an embarrassment of riches we have in the Democratic primary. Sure, they all have their limitations, but when was the last time we had some viable, charismatic choices? When didn't you hold your nose to vote for the president. ... We feminists are between a Barack and a hard place. Our fantasy presidential teams are flush." - Tracy Baim, publisher of the Chicago gay newspaper Windy City Times, in a January 16 opinion column. "I think it's wrong for the government to discriminate against people because of that person's sexual orientation. I think that Gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women to make contracts, to have hospital-visiting rights and to join together in marriage, and I don't understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it by Gays and Lesbians. Shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one's partner regardless of sexual orientation? Because if you don't do that, then, to that extent, you're promoting promiscuity and you're promoting all the problems that can result from promiscuity. And the loyalty and love that two people feel for one another when they fall in love ought to be celebrated and encouraged, and shouldn't be prevented by any form of discrimination in the law." - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in a video posted at Current.com, January 17. See tinyurl.com/yrazcf. "God knows it's not easy to live here [in San Francisco]. It's way too expensive; you know traffic is awful; there's a lot of drawbacks to living here. But you're so heavily rewarded by your surroundings in terms of both people and scenery - and people who are scenery!" - Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin to The Out Traveler, spring 2008 issue. "[Newspaper columnist] Herb Caen used to cringe over the years at the term 'Frisco,' but the only one that really bothers me is 'San Fran.' It's the term that visiting flight attendants use. It's not really a term of affection for locals. It's increased in popularity in recent years, but I cringe when I hear 'San Fran.' It's just a bug up my ass." - Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin to The Out Traveler, spring 2008 issue. "[The worst part is] the boredom. You're outside 24/7 in the mud with absolutely nothing to do except talk to people. So, yeah, there were times when I lost my mind." - Todd Herzog, openly Gay winner of the most-recent season of TV's Survivor, to Chicago's Windy City Times, January 9. "I think the majority of the American public cares less about it than reporters like you do." - Singer Clay Aiken when asked by Time Out New York on January 17, "What do you make of people nagging you about the Gay thing?" "It's really sad if people see me like that. Just because somebody has kinky tastes doesn't mean that they're seedy. People who know me and love me would never call me that." - Boy George to London's Daily Mail, January 18. George recently was charged with falsely imprisoning a male escort by chaining him to the wall of his flat. "I wanted 2007 to end, with a line drawn firmly under it, and move on. The last couple of years were shit. I mean, I got arrested twice. I'll be 47 in June. I've had enough. It affects everything in your life. I don't ever want to see a policeman again. I have a New Year's resolution. I'm going to try hard to become a shrinking violet." - Boy George to London's Daily Mail, January 18. "I open my mouth and bitchy things come out. I'm really trying to curb that. It doesn't make me look good. I was reading some things I'd said and I sounded horrible." - Boy George to London's Daily Mail, January 18. With assistance from Bill Kelley picture: Armistead Maupin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 post your own information onthe Seattle Gay Blog |
 |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2007