New Zealand has just become the 13th country in the world to legalize gay marriage. The third reading of a marriage equality bill was held in the New Zealand parliament today and was passed by a vote of 77 to 44.

The Bill’s sponsor, Labour MP Louisa Wall, said that “excluding one group from marriage was oppressive and unacceptable” and that “nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander than passing this bill.”

Customs Minister Maurice Williamson said “I give a promise to those people who are opposed to this bill right now… the sun will still rise tomorrow, your teenage daughter will still argue back with you as if she knows everything, your mortgage will not grow, you will not have skin disease or rashes or toads in your bed.”

“So don’t make this into a big deal, this is fantastic for the people if affects but for most of us life will go on.”

The legislative council session was opened to the public, and over 300 people watched the vote live. There were a few opponents of the bill present at the session, many of whom were seen praying during the speeches. They left quietly after the bill was passed.

The first same-sex marriages in New Zealand will be performed in August.

This coming Tuesday, March 26 2013 and this Wednesday, March 27, The Supreme court of the United States will hear arguments in the case of Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, two crucial cases in the fight for LGBT civil rights and marriage equality.
Prop 8 is the California measuring banning same-sex marriage, and DOMA is a law that defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman, and is used to deprive same-sex couples hundreds of civil rights and benefits such as hospital visitations, child custody, immigration law, tax benefits, automatic inheritance and more.

Such is the example of Edith Windsor, the 83 year old plaintiff in the DOMA case, who was made to pay $363,000 in estate taxes upon the death of her partner of almost 50 years. Thea Spyer had left Windsor her shares of the property they had bought together, and because the federal government doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, Windsor was denied the right that straight married couples have to automatic inheritance. “If Thea was Theo,” said Windsor “I would not have had to pay” those taxes. “It’s heartbreaking,” she adds. “It’s just a terrible injustice, and I don’t expect that from my country. I think it’s a mistake that has to get corrected.”United States v. Windsor, will be heard on March 27, 2013.

NPR, The New Yorker, The NY Times have all published inspiring stories about Edith and Thea’s love story, the struggles and triumphs of being gay through the decades, and their eventual marriage, which happened in Canada less than two years before Thea’s death from multiple sclerosis.

The new pope, 76-year old Jorge Mario Bergoglio (who has chosen the name Francis I) was today named as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He’s also the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,200 years and before today had been the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

While Archbishop, Bergoglio sent a missive to monasteries denouncing a bill that had brought marriage equality to Argentina, saying: “Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

Bergoglio has also called allowing gays to adopt a form of child abuse. He once called abortion a “death sentence” for unborn children, and has urged pro-life “messengers” to continue their fight against the “culture of death”.

Just as a quick reminder of what the Catholic Church is most famous for these days; from 1960 to 2010, more than 30,000 people in 25 countries have come forward and accused priests of molestation. It is estimated that at least 1 out of every 15 Roman Catholic priests serving in the United States during the first half of the 20th Century abused minors. Neuro-scientist Sam Harris has described the church as harboring an “army of child rapists”.

In a new interview, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked Obama if he believes gay marriage should be a right under the Constitution.

“Well, I’ve gotta tell you that — in terms of practical politics, what I’ve seen is a healthy debate taking place state by state, and not every state has the exact same attitudes and cultural mores. And I — you know, my thinking was that this is traditionally a state issue and — that it will work itself out,” he said. “On the other hand — what I also believe is that the core principle that people don’t get discriminated against — that’s one of our core values. And it’s in our Constitution.”

Stephanopoulos then asked whether Obama could imagine a circumstance wherein a state’s gay marriage ban could pass constitutional muster.

“Well, I can’t, personally. I cannot,” Obama responded. “That’s part of the reason I said, ultimately, I think that, same-sex couples should be able to marry. That’s my personal position. And, frankly, that’s the position that’s reflected — in the briefs that we filed — in the Supreme Court.”

The full transcript of the interview is available here.

The US State department just unveiled a new website last month, designed especially for LGBT travelers. The site includes advice, a Q&A page, and a country-specific guide to legal protections around the world.

The guide discusses which countries criminalize “consensual same-sex relations” and discuss precautions a family can take when traveling, like carrying documents to verify custody of children.

Some tips from the site include:

Be a responsible tourist. Avoid potentially risky situations, and don’t do anything that you wouldn’t do at home!
Remember that you are subject to the laws and the judicial process of the country you’re visiting.
Avoid excessive physical displays of affection in public, particularly in more conservative countries or regions.
If you intend to frequent Internet chat rooms or other meeting places, it’s wise to find out about the local situation.
Be wary of new-found “friends” – criminals sometimes exploit the generally open and relaxed nature of the LGBT scene.
If you receive unwelcome attention or unwelcome remarks, it’s usually best to ignore them.
Some resorts or LGBT neighborhoods can be quite segregated. Be aware that local residents may not approve of expressions of sexuality
when you are in surrounding areas.
You’re more likely to experience difficulties in rural areas, so exercise discretion.
Some hotels, especially in rural areas, won’t accept bookings from same-sex couples. It’s best to check before you go.

Printed in the NY Times March 5, 2013
by Chris Cottrell

BERLIN — Klaus Born vividly recalls his first brush with the law, which took place along a quiet street in West Berlin in the 1960s, when being gay carried a prison sentence on both sides of the Berlin Wall.

Mr. Born and another man had driven to a dark parking lot and crawled into the back seat. Once they began having sex, they saw bright flashlights and heard brusque voices as they were surrounded. A police car was idling nearby, ready to take them away.

“I was terrified. I had no idea what they were going to do to me,” said Mr. Born, 68, who spent a little over a month in prison after the episode. “ ‘Gay pig,’ they always used to say.”

Klaus Born, in black T-shirt, center, at a Berlin gay bar. He views his conviction in the 1960s as a moral affront and a legal stigma. Photo by Gordon Welters for the NY Times

According to the law, his conviction still stands, which Mr. Born considers a moral affront and a legal stigma that hurts to this day.

Germany’s failure to expunge the arrests of victims of a legal system that kept a Nazi-era ban on homosexuality on the books for decades after World War II is indicative of the slow pace of reforms on gay equality, despite a generally liberal populace.

The country’s foreign minister and the mayor of Berlin are both openly gay, and the Federal Constitutional Court has set multiple precedents to strengthening gay rights under the Basic Law, Germany’s Constitution, most recently by expanding adoption rights for same-sex couples. But the dominant party here, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, long champions of traditional family values, still drag their feet when it comes to gay equality.

When leading members of Ms. Merkel’s party went on the record last month saying they were ready to consider equal tax benefits for gay couples, their comments drew swift criticism from the party’s socially conservative wing.

Yet with a general election approaching in September, Ms. Merkel appears aware that a shift to the left on gay issues, similar to left-of-center stances she has taken on military conscription and the minimum wage, could undercut her opponents’ campaign by giving them one less thing to criticize. So there may yet be a further move before the election to clear the records of gays persecuted in the past.

Men who were forced to wear the pink triangle, the Nazis’ way of identifying homosexuals in concentration camps, received a measure of justice in 2002 when the German government formally apologized and agreed to compensate them. In 2008, Berlin unveiled a memorial for the Holocaust’s gay victims, a tall concrete slab with a TV screen on one side that displays a video loop of two men or two women kissing.

But victims of Germany’s postwar homophobia have received only modest redress. Parliament officially apologized to them in 2000, but roughly 50,000 men persecuted after World War II have yet to have convictions of sodomy stricken from their police records, according to Manfred Bruns, a retired federal prosecutor and an executive board member at the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany.

No one seems to know how many of those people are still alive, or if they would come forward to seek redress. But calls are growing for Germany to clear the records of remaining victims before they die. Volker Beck, a lawmaker with the opposition Greens and a proponent of gay rights, is one of several members of Parliament who are pushing for legislation that would expunge the records and perhaps offer financial compensation.

“For a lot of these men, criminal persecution in the ’50s spelled disaster for their entire civil existence,” he said.

The road to a cleared record is bumpy still. In particular, a 1957 decision from the Constitutional Court declared the homophobic law, better known as Paragraph 175, to be constitutional, solidifying its place in West German law. The law’s scope was limited in 1969, but homosexuality was not formally decriminalized until 1994.

To clear the victims’ records, Parliament would effectively have to overrule that 1957 Constitutional Court finding — an especially contentious move in a country where there is deep respect for judicial authority. There is also debate over whether Parliament has the power to effectively overrule court decisions that were made in a very different era.

“In the 1950s and ’60s West Germany viewed itself as a Christian, Occidental society rather than a pluralistic one,” noted Mr. Bruns.

To date, Germany has expunged the records only of people caught up in the draconian legal systems of Nazism and East German Communism. “There is no mechanism for getting rid of old Constitutional Court decisions,” Mr. Bruns said. “When the court’s view of the law changes, then it simply rules accordingly and old verdicts are paved over.”

An important hearing before a parliamentary committee in May could determine whether a law is passed or even drafted by September.

Mr. Born said he just wants his record cleared before he dies.

Sitting in his ground-floor apartment here, surrounded by souvenirs from decades of travel, Mr. Born flipped through a dusty album until he came to an old photograph of himself clad in black leather from head to toe and beaming at the camera. He treasures his keepsakes from years ago, when his partner, Jürgen, was still alive.

“It’s not about the money. No one cares about that,” Mr. Born said. “These convictions hurt people.”

________________

In 2001 Germany  began recognizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, though LGBT Germans do not have equality despite the fact that roughly 75% of Germans support same-sex marriage. In February of this year, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that gays and lesbians should have the right to adopt children already adopted by their partners and tax benefits for civil unions is currently being debated. Gay rights will be a significant campaign issue in Germany’s parliamentary elections this year.

Carly Rae Jepsen has cancelled her scheduled performance at the National Boy Scouts of America Jamboree, and has publicly stated that the reason is organization’s exclusion of gays.

Jepsen made the following statement this week on Twitter. “I always have and will continue to support the LGBT community on a global level,” she wrote, “… and stay informed on the ever changing landscape in the ongoing battle for gay rights in this country and across the globe.”

The band Train has (almost) followed suit, asking the organization, via the band website, to reconsider its policy rather than immediately pulling out of the show.
“Train strongly opposes any kind of policy that questions the equality of any American citizen,” the statement said. “We have always seen the BSA as a great and noble organization. We look forward to participating in the Jamboree this summer, as long as they make the right decision before then.”

The event usually draws a crowd of more than 45,000 scouts and adults.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Revel & Riot. Make it an LGBT V-day with our LGBT card set!

]]> http://revelandriot.com/happy-valentines-day-92775/feed 0 http://revelandriot.com/french-assembly-moves-forward-on-gay-marriage-bill-21373 http://revelandriot.com/french-assembly-moves-forward-on-gay-marriage-bill-21373#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:56:12 +0000 admin http://revelandriot.com/?p=2986

Gay marriage in France, under Francois Hollande’s presidency, is now closer to becoming legal this week, as the National Assembly approved a draft law. The measure was pushed through the Assembly with a vote of 329 to 229.

Leader of the Socialist MPs in the Assembly, Bruno Le Roux said: “We won’t judge people in terms of their sexual orientation by differentiating any more. It’s one fewer difference to be made, so it really is a great day for equal rights.”

“This law is going to extend to all families the protections guaranteed by the institution of marriage.” Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said ahead of yesterday’s vote.

Opposition to the law is still strong from conservatives in France, whose population is predominantly Catholic. The bill will now head to the senate, which is also dominated by the Socialist party.

Earlier today the British House of Commons passed a bill that legalizes gay marriage. It passed with a large majority of the vote of 400 to 175, as Prime Minister David Cameron (who supports the bill) directed MPs to vote according to their conscience rather than under party orders.

The bill isn’t quite in the clear yet, and is a couple steps from becoming law, although it is believed that it will pass the House of Commons with strong support from Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs. When the bill moves on to the House of Lords, it is thought that it will be less favored, however it can only reject the law once: if the House of Commons passes it again in the next session, the House of Lords cannot reject it again.

The new law proposes legalising same-sex marriage in England and Wales in 2014. It would also allow civil partners to convert their partnerships into marriages. A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times in London last week showed 55% approved of legalising gay marriage, while 36% opposed it.