Gandhi Film Banned in India

A film highlighting the struggle for equal rights by India’s ‘untouchables’ has been banned by film censors for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling him gay.  A feature film about the plight of India’s dalits, or ‘untouchable’ caste, has been banned by the country’s Central Board of Film Certification for portraying the country’s independence campaigner Mahatma Ghandi in a bad light, including calling him gay.

Civil Partnerships For Poland

Poland’s ruling centre right party, Platforma Obywatelska (PO), is planning to introduce a law of registered civil partnerships that will be include same-sex couples. The proposed bill, however, is being met with fierce opposition within and outside the party.

After several months of discussion, the PO decided last week to put to the vote a draft bill in both chambers of the Polish parliament, the Sejm and Senate.

Michelle Obama Supports Marriage Equality.

Michelle Obama has spoken out in favour of gay marriage in a new video posted to the internet by the White House.

In the recently released video the First Lady, wife of US President Barack Obama, answered questions put to her by her 1million Twitter followers. 


One of them was 'Please tell us about your family discussions about marriage equality and thank President Obama for his support'.

Michelle Obama answered: "For Barack and me it really comes down to values of fairness and equality that we want to pass down to our girls. These are basic values that kinds learn at a very young age and that we encourage them to apply in all areas of their lives."

She continued: "And in a country were we teach our children that everyone is equal under the law, discriminating against same-sex couples just isn't right.

"So it's as simple as that. We're proud to have your support."

US Democrats back repeal of DOMA!

  Senate Democrats who back gay marriage have decided now is the time to repeal a federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The Democrats may satisfy their gay marriage supporters, but the bill won't get very far.

The repeal could be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but the next stop — the full Senate — could be a long way off. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says she doesn't have the votes for Senate passage, and the bill would have no chance in a House controlled by Republican conservatives.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., defended the timing of the panel's likely vote on the Defense of Marriage Act. "It is never the wrong time to right an injustice," he said.

Feinstein's bill has 31 Senate sponsors, all Democrats. Most Republicans fiercely oppose the repeal.

Ugandan gay activist wins RFK Human Rights Award

A gay rights activist in Uganda, where a bill that would punish gays with prison or death has stirred worldwide outrage, is poised to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington on Thursday.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the former U.S. attorney general, is to be joined by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in presenting the award to Frank Mugisha at a ceremony on Capitol Hill. It is the first time the award is being bestowed on an activist working for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

"It gives me more courage to continue doing the work I'm doing," Mugisha told The Associated Press ahead of the award. "It sends out a message, not only to my country but to other countries that criminalize homosexuality."

The 29-year-old Mugisha leads an underground group whose members routinely shift locations in Uganda for their safety. Uganda, a conservative East African nation, is one of more than 70 nations that have imposed laws against being gay.

Rainbows End

Article first published as Retirement at Rainbows End? on Technorati. 

The sunset is falling on gay and lesbian retirement complex, forgotten victims of recession, from Jason Shaw.

The hopes of spending their twilight years in peaceful tranquility and security are fading faster than a Pacific sunset for many gay couples in Santa Fee, New Mexico, as the all gay and lesbian retirement community RainbowVision filed bankruptcy protection. Proving even the pink dollars are not immune from recession and the economic downturn, writes Jason Shaw.

RainbowVision was supposed to be a wonderful trailblazing open, respectful, secure and high quality retirement community especially for gay and lesbian people.  It opened in a blaze of glory in 2006 and was one of the first retirement communities especially for gays and lesbians. RainbowVision claimed to offer elegancy and security and above all acceptance for gay and lesbian couples, that is hard to find in other, more traditional retirement communities.

Many older gay people, often termed The Stonewall generation, as they are the first ‘out’ openly gay  cluster of senior citizens rushed to sign up and buy into such communities as RainbowVision.  And who can blame them, we all want a peaceful retirement, these folk simply wanted a place where they could spend the rest of their days in dignity, in security, made to feel welcome and where they could be free to be themselves and not herded back into the closet.

Gay American Troops Want Equal Benefits.

Article first published as Gay American Troops Demand Equal Benefits on Technorati.

Jason Shaw

Let us be equal! It's been just over a month since that folly, "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" was repealed, allowing openly gay service men and women to serve in the military. Now a new fight for equality started last week when a group of gay and married military personnel sued the U.S. government for the same benefits as straight military couples, they claim its a matter of justice and national security.

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court claims the government’s Defense of Marriage Act violates their constitutional rights.  It also asks the military to recognize their marriages and provide spousal benefits such as medical coverage along with the right to be buried together in military cemeteries, benefits already enjoyed by straight service personnel

The Defense of Marriage Act means the Pentagon bound by law to ignore same-sex marriages, even though they are currently legal in six states and in Washington, D.C. itself.    “While the repeal of (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) was an important first step in the military’s march for equality, it is time to take the next step and provide equal benefits for equal work,” the lawsuit claims.

PayPal halt four anti-gay sites.

PayPal has suspended the accounts of four anti-gay organizations in response to a campaign from gay activists.

According to the group Allout.org, the websites of the Florida-based Truth in Action Ministries, formerly Coral Ridge Ministries, and Dove World Outreach Center are no longer accepting donations through the payment service.

Coral Ridge Ministries was founded by the late D. James Kennedy, an opponent of gay rights.

Last year, the Dove World Outreach Center vociferously opposed the campaign of Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe.

“Here in Gainesville, they're getting ready to have a runoff election between two candidates and one of them is openly a homo, gay, fag – whatever you want to call him, I don't care,” Pastor Wayne Sapp says in a video. “Bottom line is we cannot afford a homo mayor.”

Gay Military Ban Ends.

After years of debate and months of final preparations, the military can no longer prevent gays from serving openly in its ranks.

Repeal of a 1993 law that allowed gays to serve only so long as they kept their sexual orientation private took effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m

The Army was distributing a business-as-usual statement Tuesday saying simply, "The law is repealed," and reminding soldiers to treat each other fairly.

UK Gay marriage to be considered.

Elaine and Debbie Gaston leave Brighton Town Hall in Sussex after their civil partnership ceremony, one of the first in England and Wales in 2005. Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone is pushing for civil marriages for same-sex couples. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/Press Association Ima

The prospect that gay and lesbian couples will no longer be denied the right to marry has come a step closer with the announcement that an official consultation on reforming the marriage laws will start in the spring.

The Home Office lifted the ban on gay and lesbian civil partnership ceremonies being held in religious places eight months ago but strong opposition from some religious groups had blocked any further reform.

The equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, said that the launch of a formal consultation in March 2012 would allow any necessary changes of legislation to be made this side of the 2015 general election.

Taiwan could lead the way on gay rights.

Last week, a group of university students praised Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen for her stance on gender equality, specifically pointing out for admiration Tsai's promises to protect gay rights. It is of course, election season. Politicians invariably pander to voters by making pledges that are only sometimes carried out. But Tsai may not have ulterior motives. After all, “pandering” to the gay community might not exactly be a vote-getter. Gay people likely make up less than 10 percent of the population and the percentage of local voters with reservations about homosexuality almost certainly outnumber gay voters. Not much is known about its proposals, but the DPP has promised to release a more detailed “white paper” on the subject of the promotion of gay rights before the January presidential election.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Two Proposition 8 hearings loom large on road to equality.

 

Two important hearings that will held in San Francisco over the next nine days could go a long way toward providing equal rights for LGBT Californians.

Then again, the hearings could trigger a devastating setback for gay rights advocates and their allies.

Starting at 9 am PST today, Aug. 29, Chief District Judge James Ware will consider a motion to make public the videotape of the historic three-week trial in January 2010 over the legality of California’s Proposition 8 law. Chief District Judge Vaughn Walker, who has since retired from the bench, ruled on Aug. 4, 2010, that Prop 8 was unconstitutional.

Cairns register to accept same-sex couples

 

A north Queensland council plans to set up a partnership register that will acknowledge gay, lesbian and transgender unions.

Cairns Regional Council have been in discussions with other councils in Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania that already have relationship registers to give people an alternative to traditional marriage.

A loving home, gay or straight, is what a child needs.

 

An ageing Catholic bishop and a noisy gay rights group spoke up for children last week. And each did so in the name of the family.

There has long been one excuse or another for not delivering on political promises to protect children's rights better in the Irish Constitution. "Unless we do it, to my mind all the rest is just talk", said Mary O'Rourke, former chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, at the Merriman Summer School last Thursday.

Gay 5K race gives a vital health lesson

 

 

 

“IT was high heels and hairspray at the starting line for Scotland’s first Gay 5K” starts the Scottish Herald article on a gay fun run that had a serious message. 

Local heroines Miss Bellahouston and Vanity Von Glow added a flash of glamour to the event, which got off the blocks in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow last night in a bid to promote sport and better health to the gay community.

Idea of gay marriage slowly expands for Australians

 

Julia Gillard on stage at the 2010 pre-election forum held at Rooty Hill RSL in western Sydney. Picture: Cameron Richardson Source: The Daily Telegraph

 

Ten days out from the 2010 election, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott fronted a forum of undecided voters at Rooty Hill RSL, in Sydney's west. It was a media circus, to be sure, but it was also mercifully unscripted, perilous for the leaders, and all too rare in our politics.

Survey: Israel's Gay and Lesbian Soldiers Harassed

 

A survey of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) suggests that as many as 40% of its gay and lesbian service members have suffered some form of abuse relating to their sexual orientation.

Gay man marries transsexual woman in Cuba’s first gay wedding!

 

A gay dissident and a transsexual woman married on Saturday in what was said to be a first for Cuba, then draped themselves in the rainbow flag of gay pride and rode through the streets of Havana.

Malaysia's first openly gay pastor says to wed

 

News from KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia.

Tue Aug 16, 2011

Getting married on the upcoming anniversary of Malaysia's independence day on August 31 holds special meaning for the country's first openly gay pastor, who says he is seeking greater tolerance in this Muslim-majority country.

Gay rights falters in liberal Czech Republic?

 

For months, it looked like Prague Pride, the very first LGBT festival hosted here, would barely raise an eyebrow.  Religious resistance in the Czech Republic, where as much as 70 per cent of the population claims to be atheist or agnostic, is close to non-existent.