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Gay rights activists warn of reintroduction of Section 28 style discrimination in Scotland s schools
Peter Tatchell: The Queen s silence on gay rights excludes and disrespects gay people
She is a patron of hundreds of charities but none of them are gay ones. Never once has she visited or supported a gay charity. In truth, the Commonwealth Charter does not include any specific rejection of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
This was vetoed by the homophobic majority of member states. However, many Commonwealth Secretariat officials interpret the clause opposing discrimination on other grounds as including opposition to anti-gay discrimination. They inserted the catch-all phrase to circumvent the objections of anti-gay nations.
To secure that insertion was a long, tough battle. Since then, Commonwealth progress on LGBT equality has been slow. More than 40 of the 54 Commonwealth countries still criminalise homosexuality, mostly under laws imposed by Britain during the colonial era.
Six of these countries stipulate life imprisonment. Uganda is currently considering legislation that would introduce the death penalty for repeat gay offenders. While I doubt that Elizabeth II is a raging homophobe, she certainly doesn t appear to be gay-friendly.
Not once during her reign has she publicly acknowledged the existence of the LGBT community. While she has spoken approvingly of the UK s many races and faiths, for six decades she has ignored LGBT Britons. If she treated black and Asian Britons in the same way, she d be denounced as a racist.
Why the double standards? Regardless of whether these omissions are a reflection of the Queen s personal views or the result of advice from her courtiers, as monarch she bears ultimate responsibility. Her silence sends a signal of exclusion and disrespect.
Astonishingly, since she became Queen in 1952, the words gay and lesbian have never publicly passed her lips. There is no record of her ever speaking them. Even when she announced government plans for gay law reform in her Queen s Speeches, she did not use the words lesbian or gay.
Apparently, mentioning LGBT people is beneath the dignity of the monarch. The official British Monarchy website, which documents all the Queen s public statements and royal visits, includes no mention of the word gay or of any gay good causes. Type the word gay into the search facility and you get nothing.
The Queen visits lots of charities and welfare organisations. But never in 61 years has she visited a gay charity or welfare agency. She has, for example, ignored deserving gay charities like the Albert Kennedy Trust and Stonewall Housing, which support homeless LGBT youth.
Although she is a patron of many good causes, none of them are gay. When there are major tragedies involving the loss of life, the Queen often visits the site and the victims in hospital. This did not happen when neo-Nazi, David Copeland, bombed the Admiral Duncan gay pub in Soho, London, in 1999, killing three people and wounding 70 others.
At the time, it was the worst terrorist outrage in mainland Britain for many years. To most people s surprise, the Queen did not visit the bombed-out pub or the hospitalised victims. I have contacted the Queen s press office.
I asked them: Has the Queen ever uttered in public the words gay or lesbian? Did she use these words in any of her Queen s Speeches when announcing the government s gay equality laws? Has she ever acknowledged the existence of LGBT people in any public statement?
Has the Queen ever visited a gay charity or welfare agency? Is she the patron of any gay charitable organisation? The Queen s press office did not respond to my requests.
I rest my case. The monarchy is homophobic if not by conscious intent, then certainly by default. As head of state, the Queen is supposed to represent and embrace all British people, not just some.
How much longer will the LGBT community have to wait for royal recognition and acceptance? Peter Tatchell is director of the London-based human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, and coordinator of the Equal Love campaign. The views in this article are his own and not those of PinkNews.co.uk Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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New England Patriots among three teams in front for Sean Smith
The talented but inconsistent 25-year-old corner has three leading candidates at this point in time in the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New Eng ... Continue reading
Oregon: Principal claims he s losing his job for being gay
The Associated Press reports several of the school s parents and students wore pink t-shirts to a meeting of the school board last night in a show of support for Mr Klansnic. His attorney, Judy Snyder, said she and her client are preparing to file a lawsuit against the Gresham Barlow School District for discrimination and retaliation. She alleges that school officials began to treat the principal differently after he revealed his sexuality; he subsequently divorced his wife.
The Gresham Barlow School District said it could not comment on the matter.
Oregon state law protects anyone from discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.
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US: Texas woman charged for beating son with electrical cable for gay sex act
Moore said: My cousin, at the time, he was 18. My son he was 15, and I had walked in the room on my cousin giving oral sex to my son and I started whooping my son, and I m the one who got in trouble as a result of me whooping him. She added: It was just disgusting to me, the way he was looking and my cousin was looking, and my cousin immediately ran out the door.
The police department told me that it was consensual, but they was committing a homosexual act in my house and we are totally against that. So I whooped my son and about three or four months later they came and arrested me for abuse. As well as justifying her actions based on her disgust , Moore said she had beaten her son because she had also been beaten that way as a child.
She added that she did not discriminate, as she would have done the same thing if she had caught her daughter in a similar position. She said: What do you do in a situation like that where I m catching my son having sex? It would be no different than me catching my daughter and she had a boy in the house and me disciplining her for having a boy in the house.
Moore is facing a Class-A misdemeanour assault charge, which has the potential to result in a jail sentence. She remains adamant that she did not act wrongly, and claims that the police officer who charged her had said that, off the record, he would have done the same. This was denied by the Police Department.
Moore said: Even that day when the police officer came out here, he told me out of his own mouth, If it was me and I walked in on my child, he said, parent to parent I probably would have shot him. I probably would have shot both of them. But with the law you can t, you re not allowed to put whoops on him.
He said you can whoop him, but you re not allowed to leave any marks on him. Chief Dan Dennis of the Forest Hill Police Department said that Moore had lied about the officer s comments. He told CBS: Miss Moore s statement of the officer s alleged inappropriate comments are simply untrue.
The conversation was recorded. The officer s conduct was entirely professional. The Forest Hill Police Department does not discriminate against any citizen based on sexual orientation.
The 18 year old cousin could potentially be charged, but Moore has refused to allow police to interview her son. The Police Department said The fact that we couldn t interview the victim hindered us from furthering the case. Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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"Glee" Recap (4.15): Come What May
Under the influence of much wine and even more dance floor canoodling, Quinn and Santana did scissor-type things twice. Also, Kurt said "VapoRape" and Brittany and Santana stared forlornly at each other and Becky the Flower Girl was a modern marvel. Oh, and Brody was a gigolo.
LIMA, OHIO Emma Pillsbury is looking ever so fly in a lady-tuxedo and performing a black-and-white rendition of "You Are All the World to Me" a la Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding . It's edited together like a single take, which is almost as impressive as the fact this show has been able to keep Jayma Mays ' voice a secret for so long. You can bet "I Do" and "Girls (And Boys) On Film" is gonna make her Emmy reel this year.
It's a great performance, but alas, it's only happening inside Will Schuester's head. His very fancy heartbreak dreams inspire him to make this week's theme: MOVIES! Girls vs.
Boys in an '80s movie mash-up skirmish. Winners get leads in Artie 's senior microbudget film, a roman clef titled "Plague of the Noobs." But before they can make the gender-specific magic happen, New Directions decides to go a practice round with Shout! . The song itself Glee 's 500th, in case you missed the Twitter hashtag on the bottom of the screen, or the one million promos leading into this week is fine and fun, but what's wonderful is the balls-to-the-wall choreography, in which Blaine and Brittany lead the glee club through the whole school, hyperspeed grapevining and army crawling and hopping around the cafeteria like they're jacked out of their minds.
Obviously, the best part is Sugar Motta workin' her swerve high atop a library table. (Girl, where you been?) But also notable is the way the whole school joins in on the tomfoolery, singing and cheering and totally forgetting the part where Sue called glee kids "subbasement" way back in the pilot. Since Finn and Artie aren't competing in the Girls vs. Boys movie competition, they take it upon themselves to track down Emma for Will.
It's no Blam! black ops plan, but you can't blame them for lacking Blaine and Sam's collective imaginations, and costume collection. They get themselves a couple of wigs and call Emma's parents in to ask for some help bringing back the faculty adviser of the Stop Ginger Bullying club.
Pretty sure J.K. Rowling already dealt with that problem when she created the Weasleys, guys. But Emma's parents buy into their scheme, even though they're pretty sure Emma is terrible at her job since no one ever applies to college around here until the morning college starts.
They give her the address of Emma's sister's castle, where Emma is hiding away from Will. The only thing '80s-er than mashing up "Batdance" with Howard the Duck is mashing up Top Gun and Risky Business . Blaine, Artie, and Jesus are fighter pilots (Maverick, Iceman, and Goose, respectively) and Sam, Ryder , and Jake are white button-ups and whitey tighties and athletic socks.
Sam is comfortable in this costume because of his stripper days. And Ryder and Jake are comfortable in these costumes because this is how they spend every Sunday together, after church. Obviously, Top Gun is the most homoerotic movie of all time, so that's also correct.
It's a really good performance; Artie's chair even gets used as a jet! Continue reading
US: Parents of Tyler Clementi demand apology from anti-gay group for speech referring to their son s suicide
She was speaking to a group of Catholic students at the university back in February, and encouraged them to encourage gay peers to discourage them from becoming sexually active. That kid Tyler Clementi who killed himself who threw himself off the George Washington Bridge , she said. I mean, there was a much older man in the picture And so I think friendship is what you have to offer.
There are a lot of situations where people are doing something sexual that s probably not the best thing for them and it would be better if they had somebody who d be friends with them without coming on to them or without judging them. Jane and Joseph Clementi called Morse s comments ludicrous , for linking their son s suicide support from LGBT peers. To exploit our late son s name to advance an anti-equality agenda is offensive and wrong, the Clementis said in a statement.
By doing so, National Organization for Marriage proves that not only is there no low they will not sink to, to advance their cruel agenda but that neither they nor Ms Morse have any grip on reality. The very idea that Tyler s tragedy happened because of too much support instead of not enough is ludicrous. Shame on them.
GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as the Clementis called for the apology from NOM. This is among the more reprehensible tactics we ve seen from NOM, GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said in a statement. They re using Tyler s story to pit young people against their own peers.
The case of Tyler s suicide attracted national attention in the US, including comment from President Obama, and prompted anti-bullying measures. Clementi, a Ridgewood native, committed suicide in September 2010 during his freshman year at Rutgers University after his roommate secretly recorded and broadcast his romantic encounter with another man in their dorm room. Roommate Dharun Ravi was convicted last year of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts and served less than a month in jail.
He is now appealing his conviction.
Rutgers University has announced that they will open the Tyler Clementi Centre, which will create programmes to help people transition to college.
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Labour s Stephen Twigg s nose raises questions of its own on Question Time
The Standard reported: He had a boil on his proboscis and he applied cream and plaster all by himself , reporting on the nose plaster he was wearing in the House of Commons. The panel tackles issues such as the Catholic Church, the economy and immigration, however it was Mr Twigg s nose which caused the furore, some viewers saying they couldn t concentrate because of it, others saying they would raise their hand to ask him about it, if they were in the audience. Nonetheless, Andy Dowling took to Twitter and said: Stephen Twigg could be explaining the meaning of life on #bbcqt and I d miss it cos I m distracted by what s goin on on the end of his nose.
One microblogger Kris Milovsorov jokingly said: Stephen Twigg s nose scrapping the bottom of the policy barrel? #bbcqt #WHATISWRONGWITHHISNOSE?! Comedian Michael Moran said: In HD Steven Twigg s nose item is powerfully upsetting. While Keith Mackrell asked: Everyone should be watching question time even if it s just to work out what s on the end of Stephen twigg s nose! #bbcqt #nosemystery .
Benjamin Cohen, founder of PinkNews tweeted the revelation that Mr Twigg had put a plaster on his nose after having a boil. He said: If you re wondering what s on Stephen Twigg s nose, it s a plaster with cream underneath read in@ EveningStandard yesterday # BBCQT . One other user said it wasn t only Mr Twigg s plaster which was distracting her, but host David Dimbleby s tie also.
Alice Woolley, said: I can t concentrate at all because of Stephen Twigg s nose and David Dimbleby s tie. # bbcqt . Stephen Twigg, the first openly gay man to be elected to the UK s House of Commons, last year declared his support for marriage equality in the Out4Marriage campaign. Mr Twigg, the shadow education secretary, was elected as the Labour MP for Enfield Southgate in 1997.
He took his seat in Liverpool West Derby from then defence secretary Michael Portillo, and despite the facial mark, tackled questions from attendees in Dover, last night. During Question Time a parody Twitter account appeared, named @SteveTwiggsnose, and tweeted: Finally! My moment in the sun!
I m famous, I tell you!
Famous! # bbcqt , however the account had tweeted only nine times and had only four followers as of Friday.
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US: Family file lawsuit against school for barring their trans daughter from using girls bathroom
After seeking medical advice they learned Coy had gender dysphoria, and followed the recommendations of doctors who told them she should be allowed to live as a girl. At first this recommendation was also supported by Eagle Elementary, who registered Coy as a female student and allowed her to use the girl s bathrooms while in Kindergarten. However, in December 2012 the school told Coy s parents she would no longer be allowed to use the girls bathrooms and would have to use facilities in the nurses offices, teachers bathrooms, or boys bathrooms instead.
Coy is not sick, she is not an adult, and she is not a boy, her parents responded. They took Coy out of Eagle Elementary for homeschooling and in February lodged an official complaint against the school. Eagle Elementary has rejected calls to mediate over their treatment of Coy, prompting her parents to file a civil rights lawsuit.
If the school separates her from all her classmates to use the bathroom, they are singling her out for mistreatment, and teaching her classmates that it s okay to discriminate. We are saddened that her school will not even come to the table to talk about this issue, they said. The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) have pointed out that Colorado s laws prohibit discrimination against transgender pupils.
They said: We are shocked that her school will not even meet to talk about this so that Coy can quickly return to school. Nothing should be more important to a school than ensuring that students can attend safely and without discrimination. TLDEF Director Michael Silverman added: For many transgender people, discrimination is a daily part of life.
Unfortunately for Coy, it has started very early. The school have said that their decision took into account not only Coy, but other students in the building, their parents and the future impact a boy with male genitals using a girls bathroom would have as Coy grew older . Kathryn Mathis has dismissed the school s response, saying they should not discriminate against Coy based on speculations.
Her body development is none of their business. That is up to her and her doctors in the future, she said. Right now we need to be protecting a 6-year-old, not a middle-schooler or a high-schooler.
The case will now be investigated by the Civil Rights Division (CRD), a regulatory agency in Colorado. The CRD will have 180 days to investigate before making a ruling, which can then be appealed by the party that is ruled against. From there the case will be referred to the courts.
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Canadian Government provides funding to Uganda s embattled LGBT campaigners
The financing from Ottawa is going to help support LGBT rights organisations and has been divided between groups in Uganda and neighbouring Kenya. Some of the funding is going towards establishing emergency procedures should LGBT Ugandans need help fleeing the country if and when the bill passes. A hotline is also being set up for those at risk, and special emergency kits are to be distributed to those who fear for their safety.
Rick Roth, a spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, told the National Post that Canadian officials have conveyed Canada s concerns with the bill to Uganda s Foreign Ministry, and confirmed that Canada is working closely with Ugandan civil society. Last October, Mr Baird criticised the human rights record of Uganda and mentioned the 2011 murder of Ugandan gay rights campaigner David Kato. In response, the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, described Mr Baird as ignorant and arrogant.
Attending an international summit in Quebec, she reportedly said most of her colleagues who had sought visas to come to Canada for the conference were denied entry due to their stance on same-sex marriage. Uganda s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill has sparked sweeping international condemnation, with some Ugandan lawmakers seeking to impose the death penalty for some homosexual acts. It currently sits at number five on the list of bills to come before legislators.
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