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@LukeVernon my favourite song ever, and its my alarm on phone. Wakes me up in a good mood!2 weeks ago from Twitter for iPhone
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Or GLASTONBURY even. Not sure where Galstonbury is, but Im sure it doesn't have the worlds biggest festival. Sounds Texan.2 weeks ago from txt
In a restaurant in the middle of the US and the song with the best intro ever came on, Gimme Shelter. Which reminded me, in 3 weeks....2 weeks ago from txt
I shall be seeing one of the greatest live acts of all time, The Rolling Stones, @ THE greatest festival ever, GALSTONBURY! Yes, Im shouting2 weeks ago from txt
Amendments urging for civil registrars to opt out of equal marriage ceremonies withdrawn from bill
In the Upper Chamber she argued against equal marriage, citing procreation, consummation and children as the tenets of traditional marriage . In response, Labour peer Baroness Royall said the bill needed no amendment for protection against compulsion . She added: The Equality Act is a very carefully crafted piece of legislation.
Baroness O Loan agreed to withdraw her proposed Amendment 13 on Wednesday evening. Peers have now moved on to debate plans for humanist weddings as part of the bill. An amendment for humanist weddings was withdrawn in the Commons last month.
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.
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Continue readingRussia: LGBT rights group fined 500,000 rubles under foreign agent law
Russian LGBT film festival Bok o Bok, was last week targeted under the laws, and was fined a substantial amount for allegedly failing to declare foreign funding, which organisers deny having received. Polina A from Russia s Coming Out, human rights group AllOut s partner of two years, said The level of the crackdown against gay and lesbian people in Russia is at a new high. We have seen what All Out members can do to bring the attention of the whole world at critical moments.
Now it s time world leaders pay attention to us or soon there will be no more human rights and equality defenders in Russia. AllOut is running a petition which has gathered over 175,000 signatures so far, which calls for President Vladimir Putin to stop the legal assault on gays and lesbians. Andre Banks, Executive Director of All Out said: This bill is outrageous and incredibly dangerous for millions in Russia both gay and straight This is a dangerous crackdown on free speech.
No one will be safe from the witch hunt that will ensue, not gay people, not straight people, not even foreign businessmen and women traveling to Russia. Russia s human rights organizations do not have enormous budgets, so a 500,000 rouble fine will not be easily absorbed, Joe Mirabella Director of Community Campaigns added. Fines like this could bankrupt organizations like Coming Out St.
Petersburg and other non profits. Earlier in June, the Russian Duma gave final approval to a bill to ban homosexual propaganda to minors, and the media. Similar laws have already been passed regionally in ten different areas of Russia, but this bill would impose the law nationwide.
Sir Elton John is due to perform in Russia in July, and in what could be a similar turn of events which saw Madonna being sued for homosexual propaganda last year, it has been suggested that the famed entertainer s outfits constitute just that.
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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 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 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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Continue readingUK: Injunction halts deportation order of lesbian asylum seeker with just hours to spare
An injunction was granted on Tuesday afternoon. In March, the deportation flight of another female asylum seeker to Uganda was cancelled with just hours to spare. Campaigners have frequently documented alleged cases of UKBA deporting LGBT asylum seekers back to countries where they face homophobic persecution.
The claims have always been denied by UKBA and the Home Office. In response to the government s decision to scrap the UK Border Agency (UKBA), the Liberal Democrats LGBT group warned in March that LGBT and general asylum cases needed to be handled better by officials. In February, S Chelvan, a leading human rights lawyer criticised UKBA officials for subjecting LGBT asylum seekers to inhuman and degrading pressure in order to prove their sexual or gender identity.
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Continue readingGay former police officer accuses the Met of institutional racism and homophobia
Most of the findings were upheld on appeal. One officer talked of gay men taking it up the arse , and the tribunal found that another officer described a man in a photograph as being as gay as a gay in a gay tea shop. The tribunal also found that a Met employee had leaked details about Mr Maxwell to The Sun, which he said endangered his safety.
Mr Maxwell yesterday delivered his documents about the case to the House of Commons. He claims Scotland Yard tried to destroy him and that his experiences showed the force had failed to learn lessons since the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. The Macpherson Report of 1998 concluded that the Met had been institutionally racist in the way it had investigated the death of the 18-year-old.
I should have been what they have been banging on about for the last 20 years, Mr Maxwell told The Independent. I am meant to be the future. I ticked all of those diversity boxes.
Where did they go wrong? Is there still institutional racism and homophobia? Yes, without a doubt.
The 35-year-old joined Greater Manchester Police aged 23, and in October 2008 joined the Met, winning a posting to its elite counter-terrorism command, SO15, stationed at Heathrow Airport. Mr Maxwell first complained in July 2009 about racist and homophobic abuse. He believes that the force tried to discredit and intimidate him into silence, which resulted in him suffering from chronic depression.
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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 readingEqual marriage opponent Lord Dear withdraws bill amendments
A number of cases have been cited. Clearly, the freedoms it set out to offer have not always been available. He added: We have heard of a number of cases in your Lordships House tonight where people have expressed a view and been sued for it.
I do not in that sense move away altogether from the point I am trying to make. There are people out there who are now very concerned about opening their mouths and saying anything at all, for fear of being dubbed homophobic. But Lord Dear was told by Baroness Stowell, the government s spokesperson on Women and Equalities in the Lords that his freedom of speech amendment would be damaging to the bill and he agreed to withdraw it.
She said: The amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Dear, provide an opportunity for me again to make clear what is allowed under the law in terms of belief and expression of belief. I do not accept his argument that the law deals only with conduct and not with freedom of speech, because it explicitly does. People are clearly able to express themselves, to hold religious beliefs and express those beliefs, and to do so freely.
Nothing in the bill restricts anyone s right to express a view on marriage or anything else. Labour s Shadow Equalities Minister in the Lords Baroness Thornton said: Our view is that the equality legislation and freedom of thought, speech and belief protected by that legislation covers these points. I can see why the noble Lord may wish to probe that, and I am sure that the Minister has more than adequate answers to it, but we do not think that the amendments are necessary.
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 told a PinkNews.co.uk reader yesterday: 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.
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. Earlier this month, Lord Dear had tabled a fatal amendment to deny the bill its second reading, but this was defeated with the Lords voting 390 votes to 148 in favour of the bill. Peer will resume debate of the bill tomorrow.
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