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Humanist weddings amendment withdrawn from equal marriage bill
It is one of only six nations in the world to allow them. An amendment for humanist weddings was withdrawn hastily in the Commons last month as part of the bill s third reading by MPs. It was after Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned that the amendment would fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as any belief organisation would be able to claim they were being discriminated against if they weren t able to perform marriages.
This evening, Lords whip Baroness Stowell, reiterated the government s caution to the idea, but promised to consult with ministers to see if a way through could be reached.. Last month, Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: The amendment does not open up legal recognition for any new weddings other than humanist ones. Humanist weddings are popular and meaningful and legal recognition for them would be fair, timely, and not at all controversial.
Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert was a supporter of the Commons amendment. Writing for PinkNews.co.uk, the MP said: The prime minister may have to accept that there are likely to be majorities in the House of Commons for opposite sex civil partnerships, humanist weddings as well as equal marriage for gay and lesbian people. He should welcome these changes.
But Conservative MP Sir Tony Baldry said the Humanist weddings plan was not a particularly sensible amendment, whichever side of the argument you re on .
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Continue readingSouth Africa: Gay imam spreads message of empowerment when it comes to homosexuality and Islam
When asked about Islam s view of homosexuality, Mr Hendricksi said: The Koran only speaks about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Koran doesn t use the word homosexuality. It s only a term that was coined in the 18th century, and the Koran was a 7th century book.
The story has been interpreted for years to refer to the atrocities of Sodom and Gomorrah as homosexuality so what I do is I unpack it. One of the principles that we learn when we study the Koran is that you can t quote a verse from the Koran out of context. It has a context, it has a history, there s a real particular purpose.
So, I say, Let s do the same with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. We look at the archaeological findings, we look at what historians say about Sodom and Gomorrah, and once we piece that together we find that the story was really about economic exploitation, inhospitality to guests, rape, molestation, homosexual practices that were related to idolatry. So then I ask in my conclusion, If you look at that and if you look at who you are in terms of your sexual orientation, do you think that story talks about you?
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Continue readingUS: Third GOP Senator comes out in favour of equal marriage
Following shortly afterwards, Senator Mark Kirk also came out in support. I am a life-long Republican because I believe in promoting freedom and limiting the reach of government, Murkowski wrote. When government does act, I believe it should encourage family values.
I support the right of all Americans to marry the person they love and choose because I believe doing so promotes both values: it keeps politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples lives while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another. The president of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading human rights organisation, commended the Alaskan Senator for coming out in support of equal marriage. We hope other fair-minded conservatives like Senator Murkowski stand up and join her, HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement.
Alaska may be nicknamed the Last Frontier, but we ve got to make sure that LGBT Alaskans don t have to wait to find justice. Murkowski previously described her views on equal marriage as evolving . Cindy McCain, the wife of former GOP presidential nominee Senator John McCain, yesterday said she thought there would be a major turn , and that both major parties will support equal marriage by the next US presidential election.
Her husband, Senator McCain said in March that he didn t think he would be following the lead of fellow Republican Senator Rob Portman. Mrs McCain, however, said she thinks that her husband will eventually change his mind on the issue. Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingSouth Australia officially congratulates New Zealand on equal marriage, ahead of introduction of its own bill
The bill carries no legislative force, but that it was intended to send a strong message of solidarity, and comes ahead of the introduction of a bill to legalise equal marriage in the state, in its lower house, on Thursday, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Labor MP Susan Close, will bring the bill to the lower house, with government minister to be given a conscience vote on the issue. Premier Jay Weatherill has indicated he will vote in favour of the measure.
Harley Schumann, said the bill to legalise equal marriage would allow South Australia to achieve what it had congratulated New Zealand on achieving. We look to South Australia leading the way on this important reform should similar legislation continue to fail in the federal parliament, he said. Some have commended the upper house for passing the bill on Wednesday, arguing that it showed cross-party support for measures to legalise equal marriage.
Gay rights campaigners in Australia praised New Zealand after it became the 13th country to legalise equal marriage, back in April. Earlier in June, a Green Party MP in Australia accused the Labor Party of delaying a vote on a private members bill to legalise equal marriage. Following the first same-sex wedding to take place in France, Australian advocates of equal marriage have now begun to call for the recognition of overseas same-sex marriages.
Despite that many in Australia commended New Zealand for its equal marriage bill, Australia s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said she wouldn t be dropping her opposition to marriage equality.
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Continue readingMaltese Prime Minister: A civil unions bill is to be introduced by the end of this year
Dr Muscat said that the consultative council which has been appointed by the government to work in the LGBT sector, would begin to prepare a bill to be debated and approved by parliament by the end of this year. Before being elected in March, Dr Muscat had already promised to allow gay couples to have civil unions, a gender identity law for trans people, and said that he would appoint a minister for civil rights and equality. At the end of August, the Malta Gay Rights Movement expressed disappointment at a bill to regulate cohabiting couples, which had just been launched in the country.
Earlier in 2012, the Maltese parliament did extend its hate crime laws for the first time to protect citizens on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Continue readingMichelle Shocked to return to San Francisco during Pride Week, to clarify her feelings following anti-gay rant
51-year-old Shocked went into a full hate speech said one attendee, Matt Penfield, leaving audience members in disgust. Appearing on Piers Morgan since, Shocked apologised for the rant, but claimed that she was attempting to present the reality of the situation to the audience who were not ready to hear it.
Todd Vogt, president and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, said he, and several other smaller newspapers, had invited Shocked to perform a free concert, in order to clarify her position, after he turned down her request to take out an advert in the paper. He said he did not think the advert would appropriate, and feared that it would express homophobic beliefs. For all the money in the world, we weren t going to take some hate-mongering homophobic ad, he said.
But then she said, no, she really wanted to apologise and clarify what exactly happened at Yoshi s, he continued. So we talked, and we decided the only way we d do this is if you d come to San Francisco, put on a free show, be honest and up front about it. She spoke to her people and decided to do it.
He said the performance was booked for 30 June, but that he was still negotiating with venues, reports CBS. He continued to say he was unsure whether Shocked would turn up for the concert. We think this is a good thing for the city, the LGBT community, and an opportunity for Ms.
Shocked to do a little mea culpa and face up to whatever she thinks, Vogt said. If she s afforded the venue and she still can t explain herself, then people can judge, he said. Shocked has taken to Twitter recently tweeting strong support for Bradley Manning, strongly against censorship , and repeatedly tweeted a picture of herself wearing white dungarees, rainbow tie-dye and a hat with lights on, which she called her world s greatest homophobe costume.
Following her outburst, Shocked said in a statement that she believed her comments were misinterpreted. She said: I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that.
She responded to the cancellation of dates of her tour following a recent show, by turning up at a venue anyway and staging a sit-in.
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Continue readingTory MP John Glen criticises Bishop of Salisbury for voicing support for equal marriage
Sometimes Christians have had to rethink the priorities of the Gospel in the light of experience. For example, before Wilberforce, Christians saw slavery as Biblical and part of the God-given ordering of creation. Similarly in South Africa the Dutch Reformed Church supported Apartheid because it was Biblical and part of the God-given order of creation.
No one now supports either slavery or apartheid. The Biblical texts have not changed; our interpretation has. Bishop Holtam previously opposed marriage rights for same-sex couples, but is now the only Anglican diocesan bishop in the country to publicly favour the reform.
John Glen, MP for Salisbury and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Communities Secretary and equal marriage supporter Eric Pickles voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at second and third reading in the Commons. He has strongly criticised Bishop Holtam s remarks. Many of my constituents were extremely surprised to read of the bishop s views and I felt responsible as their elected Member of Parliament to gently challenge where he was coming from, particularly the lack of regard he had for the authority of scripture as a senior minister in our Church, Mr Glen said to the Salisbury Journal.
I believe the bishop knew very well how his views would be taken in terms of influencing the debate. To give the impression that people opposing same-sex marriage should be compared to those who in previous eras used the Bible to oppose slavery and uphold apartheid was a thoroughly misguided one and one that doesn t sit well with most people s understanding of history. Mr Glen accepted that with both Houses of Parliament having debated the issue thoroughly and large majorities being achieved in favour of equal marriage, he was not on the winning side of the argument.
He said: While I have made my case strongly I now have to have the humility to recognise that I have lost the argument and we will have to move on. But for many across my constituency they remain mystified as to why this was necessary and why it was brought forward at this time, and I fear they will punish my party nationally at the next election. In a letter published by The Telegraph, Mr Salisbury claimed that an increasing number of congregations in Salisbury objected to same-sex marriage not because they object to homosexuals, but because they believe marriage should follow the biblical pattern affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19 .
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Continue readingHumanist weddings and equal marriage pension rights to be debated by peers
Attorney General Dominic Grieve warned that it would fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as any belief organisation would be able to claim they were being discriminated against if they weren t able to perform marriages. Mr Grieve said: I am highlighting that there is a serious defect in the amendment that has been presented to this House, because it would have the consequence which I think is quite obvious when you look at it that because of the discriminatory nature of the favour it gives to humanists, as opposed to other secular organisations, that it would have the consequence of making it incompatible with the ECHR rights. At the moment, anyone taking part in a humanist ceremony in England and Wales must still have their marriage made legal through a register office.
However, Humanist ceremonies have been a fully legal form of marriage in Scotland since 2005. Writing for the Labour Lords website, Baroness Thornton, Labour s Shadow Equalities Minister in the Lords said: I have been a humanist all my life, and it seems very unfair that if either of my children had wished to have been married at a Humanist wedding service they would have to go to Scotland, Sweden, the US or Australia. To be married at home however, they would have had to have a civic ceremony followed by a humanist ceremony, with the spirituality and commitment that marriage ceremonies encompass to make it the most special day.
She added: It strikes me that the Coalition government s red tape challenge and its stated commitments to both competition and equality should lead us to conclude that this area is one where there is an injustice and unfairness in need of a remedy. So I hope today we get a positive response from ministers. And bearing in mind it is 19 years since the last marriage bill, one can t blame Humanists for thinking it unreasonable to have to wait another 19 before this anachronism is addressed.
Pension rights for those in same-sex marriages will also be discussed by peers. In May, Conservative MP Mike Freer criticised the same-sex marriage bill for failing to address pension inequalities and tabled an amendment. The bill in its current form will allow pension providers to discriminate against gay married couples as well as those in civil partnerships, by ensuring they receive far less survivor benefits than their straight counterparts.
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Continue readingLiberace s ex-lover claims he had six year relationship with Michael Jackson
He said: Liberace introduced me and Michael in the late 1970s. It was right around the time Thriller was coming out and Michael and I became lovers. Our relationship went on for six or seven years.
Michael was very generous too. He treated me well. Liberace and I had both undergone plastic surgery around the same time Michael underwent a nose job because he didn t think he was handsome.
We all healed together at the Liberace compound in Palm Springs. Despite being featured in the Steven Soderbergh-directed film, Thorson was only able to see it after he was bailed out of prison by a brothel owner on Sunday, while he awaits sentencing for burglary charges. Matt Damon did a great job playing me.
And he did a great job in bed with Douglas, too, Thorson joked. I needed to see Jason Bourne on top of Gordon Gekko. Despite joking about the cast, Thorson also said he thought that he was being underpaid for the film.
I didn t make much out of the movie. I own a small percentage of the film, but Hollywood is notorious for padding the bill so its shows no profit, he continued. It has been a big success, all these European companies have picked it up.
So for the filmmakers to say they haven t made a dime would be a big mistake especially with my mouth. Oscar winning film director, Steven Soderbergh, previously said that the film was not scheduled to have a theatrical release because film studios turned it down for being too gay, and it struggled to find funding. Matt Damon recently talked about undertaking an intimate romantic scene with Michael Douglas character in the film, and said that he was a wonderful kisser .
He also said that he never denied rumours of being gay because he didn t want to insult some of his friends.
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