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What does Pride stand for in 2013?
Now, four decades on, we may be able to get married in the near future. So it s right that we celebrate. Our position as LGBT people has been transformed and for the younger generation, the struggles that won our legal rights and widespread social acceptance are just ancient history.
But if a newly engaged lesbian couple decide to honeymoon afterwards in large parts of the world, they had better be careful: not just of anti-LGB laws (like those recently introduced in Russia), but also of violent social condemnation of same-sex relationships. For trans people it is no better, and we still have to commemorate hundreds of transphobic murders every year. Even in Britain, where recent surveys suggest that three quarters of the population accept homosexuality (incidentally, that leaves us behind Spain, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic and France), earlier this year we witnessed the appalling press onslaught on a trans primary school teacher.
The reality is that social change does not take place in a vacuum and while you can separate out LGBT rights from what is going on in the rest of the country for a while, it will catch up with us eventually. Our engaged lesbian couple may decide they want to have a big wedding. They still can t do it in church, of course, even if their local vicar would like to officiate.
Maybe they re secular so a registry office is fine. But what if one partner works in the public sector: she hasn t had a pay rise for three years, and has also agreed to work fewer hours in order to keep the job, which means that life is more difficult each year because inflation hasn t stopped in the meantime. And the other is working in the private sector, but she is on a zero hours contract and doesn t know from week to week how much she will bring home that week.
Makes planning for the costs of the wedding a bit tricky. Of course, they are better off than being one of the two and a half million people without a job at all, or the quarter of young people who ve never had one. LGBT people just like everyone else are living through a prolonged period of government-created austerity that is failing to achieve economic recovery in fact, as many experts now accept, is making it worse.
Meanwhile, the public services that we all need particularly the NHS are suffering. When we marched for our liberation in the 1970s, it was to change society for the better. Making a better society the trade unions are campaigning for a future that works for all of us is a challenge to which the LGBT communities should respond when we celebrate Pride in 2013.
Peter Purton , LGBT policy officer at Britain s Trades Union Congress (TUC).
As with all comment pieces, the views expressed may not necessarily reflect those of PinkNews Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingRussia: Ban on adoption by same-sex couples unanimously passed at second reading
President Vladimir Putin has already indicated his approval of the bill, stating If such a law is passed by the Parliament of the country, I will sign it. Two weeks ago, the Russian Children s Rights Commissioner, Pavel Astakhov, said it is only logical to halt adoptions of Russian children by French couples due to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in France. In the light of France having passed a bill to legalise equal marriage on 18 May, President Putin said he was happy to consider changing agreements to block gay couples from adopting Russian orphans.
On 11 June the Duma voted 436-0 with one abstention to pass a bill imposing a hefty fine for anyone promoting the distorted understanding of social equality of traditional and non-traditional sex relations . The bill has caused outrage among the LGBT community and human rights supporters. Some called for the jailing of one of the bill s sponsors, Yelena Mizulina.
The Moscow Times notes that in a recent television interview, Mrs Mizulina suggested introducing legislation to remove children from same-sex couples.
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Continue readingMBE awarded to gay and lesbian choir leader for services to music
He said: The first thing I thought when I received the letter for the prime minister is what do people wear to these things? I didn t really believe it and I thought it was a joke because it was a very plain letter but then I looked online and found out it was real. I didn t start volunteering because I wanted to win an MBE I did it because I wanted to make a difference and winning it is just a bonus.
Mr Brophy has volunteered for 20 years, and has taken part in events such as the Various Voices Festival in 2009, and the Big Gay Sing in Trafalgar Square, which brought together 65 international choirs as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. He will now attend Buckingham Palace, where he will be presented with a medal and a certificate from the Queen herself or Prince Charles. He said: I m a little apprehensive because this is something that happens to other people and I don t know anyone with an MBE so this is new to me.
This honour validates the work I m doing it s really nice to feel appreciated and by giving me the award it is society s way of saying we value what you do .
This is all very strange to me because when I was born being gay was illegal and now I m getting an MBE so I can t really believe all the changes that have happened in my lifetime.
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Continue readingUS: Illinois equal marriage group pledges $500,000 effort to promote same-sex marriage
Equality Illinois also said that an organisation opposed to equal marriage had pledged $250,000 ( 160,000) to oppose lawmakers, in particular Republicans, who supported equal marriage. Earlier this month, opponents to equal marriage in the US state of Illinois celebrated the fact that the bill to legalise same-sex unions never went to a vote a week ago. The bill s sponsor Greg Harris wept as he announced that, due to a lack of support, the bill would not be voted on.
Mr Harris said he planned to lobby for the bill before the next legislative session in the autumn. Opponents to the bill may be calling victory prematurely however, as Mike Madigan, House Speaker extended the deadline for the bill to August 31, allowing it a new potential lease of life, if its advocates can gather support before then. Lawmakers in the US state of Illinois also wrote an open letter apologising to advocates of equal marriage in the state as the bill failed to be called for a vote, despite passing in the Senate on Valentine s Day.
Nine US states, and Washington DC currently allow equal marriage, and it will become law in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota in the summer. The US state of Maryland in November 2012 became the first state to legalise equal marriage by means of a popular vote back in 2012. The law came into effect on 1 January 2013.
Washington and Maine also legalised equal marriage in referendums in those states on the same day.
The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases surround equal marriage, in the next two weeks, potentially making a groundbreaking ruling for equal marriage in the state of California, and the whole of the US.
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Continue readingUS: Advocates hope to get equal marriage question on 2014 Arizona ballot
The measure would need to get 259,200 valid voter signatures, in order to qualify for the 2014 ballot. This measure will define marriage in Arizona as being a union of two persons. It will ensure the protection of religious freedoms by specifying that religious organizations, religious associations, and religious societies in Arizona will not be required to solemnize or officiate any particular marriage or religious rite of marriage, reads language filed with the Secretary of State in Phoenix on Monday.
A poll released last month found that over half of voters in the US state of Arizona are in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry. The poll found that 55% of Arizonans were in favour of equal marriage, with 35% opposed and 10% were unsure. Nine US states, and Washington DC currently allow equal marriage, and it will become law in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota in the summer.
The US state of Maryland in November 2012 became the first state to legalise equal marriage by means of a popular vote back in 2012. The law came into effect on 1 January 2013. Washington and Maine also legalised equal marriage in referendums in those states on the same day.
On 6 November, voters in Minnesota voted no on Amendment 1, a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being a union solely between a man and a woman.
The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases surround equal marriage, in the next two weeks, potentially making a groundbreaking ruling for equal marriage in the state of California, and the whole of the US.
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Continue readingEuropean Parliament express concerns on lack of gay rights provision in trade treaty
In a resolution adopted last week, the European Parliament gave its legal consent to the amended treaty, but expressed its strongest reservations about parts of the Agreement which do not reflect the position of the European Parliament and the values of the Union . British Labour MEP Michael Cashman, rapporteur for the European Parliament on the subject, said: The article on political dialogue wasn t reworded in accordance with the Parliament s wishes. The ACP side opposed including sexual orientation in the treaty, which is worrying since 38 ACP states still criminalise homosexuality.
The European Commission must now use the next two years before the third revision of the text to make progress on this crucial point. The Parliament has urged all parties to revise the unsatisfactory clauses in the update due in 2015, including the explicit introduction of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation . Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingStudy: US media outlets more likely to feature pro-equal marriage viewpoints
44 % had a mixture of both pro and anti equal marriage viewpoints. For the purpose of the study, a story is classified as primarily in support of or opposition to equal marriage, if views presented for one side outnumbered the opposing side 2-to-1. Other stories were classified as neutral or mixed.
The three major US cable news networks, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, all featured stories which featured significantly more , pro-equal marriage statements than those against. This news media focus on support held true whether the stories were reported news articles or opinion pieces, and was also the case across nearly all media sectors studied, wrote the study s authors. The study found that MSNBC had 30% mixed stories, 64% were primarily in support and 6% primarily opposed to equal marriage.
Fox News had 63% mixed, 29% supporting and 8% opposed, and CNN had 57% mixed, 39% in support and 4% in opposition to equal marriage. The research also looked at postings on Twitter, and found that opinions both for and against equal marriage were closely aligned with public opinion on the issue. The most common argument for same-sex marriage in news stories was that it is a civil rights issue.
Arguments against equal marriage varies, and 18% of those included that it would hurt society. The findings show how same-sex marriage supporters have had a clear message and succeeded in getting that message across all sectors of mainstream media, wrote the authors. Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingLord Dear tells PinkNews reader: I want to improve the equal marriage bill and I m not homophobic
Last week, Lord Dear proposed new amendment to bill concerning traditional marriage . It aims to protect those who believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life to the exclusion of all others. Responding to an email by a PinkNews.co.uk reader, who used the Lobby a Lord site to encourage the peer to support marriage equality, Lord Dear replied: I do not intend to press for a vote on any of my amendments during the forthcoming three days that the bill is considered in committee stage in the House, and I doubt whether any others will.
The amendments that I have seen are neither silly nor spiteful they are honest attempts to try to address matters that a better and deeper considered bill would have considered. In particular, most are intended to provide some protection for those who fear disadvantage if the bill passes into law in its present form. That, as much as anything, is what equality is really about.
Answering claims that the tabling of his amendments amounted to homophobia, and that he should not stand in the way of last month s successful House of Commons third reading of the bill, Lord Dear replied: All members of the Lords are unelected that is to balance the elected element of the Commons with people who can bring a depth of experience to legislation; something not always present in any elected chamber. The role of the Lords is to revise and suggest amendments to the Commons, not to clash with its elected mandate. He added: Your conclusions as to homophobia are unfair, inaccurate and demonstrate, if I may say so, a massive lack of appreciation of most of the elements in play in this issue.
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Continue readingUK: Government to decide on civil partnerships for heterosexuals by winter 2014
In February s second reading Mr Loughton, a former children s minister voted against marriage rights for gay couples, and Ms Leslie and Mr Wilson abstained. Many in Westminster feared the amendment was an attempt to wreck the bill because it could have delayed its passage beyond the 2015 general election. Cross-party support was then reached for the backing of a government amendment to the bill which would allow for a formal review of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has announced the review for England and Wales will begin after the summer recess, subject to Royal Assent of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. It will seek views from stakeholders and the public and will run for approximately twelve weeks. A final decision will be taken by the winter of 2014.
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Continue readingHouse of Lords to resume debate of equal marriage bill
The hereditary peer Lord Hylton s amendment, which calls for the bill to leave out the word marriage and replace it instead with union , will be debated first this afternoon. Former Conservative Party chairman Lord Mawhinney has tabled an amendment urging for heterosexual marriages to be lawfully described as traditional marriage . The amendment is similar to that of Lord Dear s, which aims to protect those who believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life to the exclusion of all others.
Meanwhile, crossbench peer Lord Armstrong has tabled an amendment governing Matrimonial marriages . It states: Lawful marriage between a man and a woman is matrimony; Lawful marriages between a man and a woman are matrimonial marriages. On Monday it was revealed the government will propose that the Public Order Act be amended to protect critics of same-sex marriage.
It would add a clause to the Public Order Act which states that any discussion or criticism of marriage which concerns the sex of the parties to marriage shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred. The government amendment is one of several expected to be confirmed by the Lords whip, Baroness Stowell, later today. Three days have now been allocated for the committee stage of the bill, Monday 17 June, Wednesday 19 June, and Monday 24 June.
Ministers are hoping that the bill will have Royal Assent before summer recess, at the end of July.
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