Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Activists Ask EU To Suspend Funding To Nigeria Over Anti-Gay Marriage Vote

Important note: The following story has been published on several Christianist sites I follow, but I can’t yet find confirmation in the secular press. From the Christianist site One News Now: A division of the European Union that deals with “gay” rights has demanded that all foreign aid to Nigeria be suspended after the government voted not to recognize homosexual …

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Spain: Parents May Not Remove Their Children From Gay Rights Lessons

A Spanish court has ruled that parents will not be allowed to have their children opt out of civics classes that mention gay rights. Parents in Spain who do not want their children to attend civics classes that include lessons on gay rights do not have the right to conscientiously object, a court has ruled. The Roman Catholic church is …

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Kansas Tries Again

Activists in Kansas are trying to get a bill adding sexual orientation and gender identity protections out of committee. “It’s clear that the time has come to extend the same protections from discrimination to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people that so many other Kansans already enjoy,” said Maggie Childs, of Lawrence, board chair of the Kansas Equality Coalition. The …

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Gays Advance Again In Colombia

Yesterday Colombia’s Constitutional Court granted sweeping equal “civil, political, social and economic rights” to gay couples. The high court ordered complete equality in criminal and civil court cases and disciplinary investigations. The latest ruling means that the gay partner can claim pension from the military if his or her same sex partner dies and are allowed to refuse to testify …

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HRC’s “State To State” Report

The Human Rights Campaign has published their “State To State” report, a comprehensive listing of what legislation may be coming regarding LGBT rights in every state in 2009 as well as what happened in 2008. Their summary for the coming year: · Marriage equality: Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont are expected to take up legislation. In addition, Iowa’s …

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Wingnuts Losing It Over White House LGBT Rights Agenda

Matt Staver of the Liberty Counsel appeared on Mike Huckabee’s show to complain about the LGBT rights agenda posted on the White House’s site “just FIVE minutes!!” after Obama was sworn in. Staver uses all the same old tired examples (Ocean Grove pavilion, New Mexico wedding photographer) to predict the stifling of religious dissent. (Via – Good As You)

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New Study: 16% Of Iranian Men Have Had Gay Relationships

Things in Iran aren’t as uptight as Imadinnerjacket wants us to believe. A sociologist at an Iranian university has presented a new study that shows high levels of homosexual experiences among the country’s population. Iran has strict laws against sex outside marriage and other sexual acts such as masturbation. Adultery and same-sex acts are punishable by death. Startling new research …

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PhoboQuotable – Matt Barber

“Well, the high-sheen veneer and ‘cult of personality’ euphoria surrounding Barack Obama looks to be dissolving rather quickly. While millions had hoped for a political ‘messiah,’ it’s rapidly becoming evident that, instead, we’ve stuck ourselves with an extreme leftist ideologue whose brand of ‘change we can believe in’ is, in reality, ‘change we never imagined.’ “For all the talk of …

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White House Site Updated With Lengthy List Of Commitments To LGBT Rights

Within moments of Barack Obama’s swearing in, the official website of the White House was updated with a lengthy list of commitments to LGBT rights. Support for the LGBT Community “While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is …

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Former Civil Rights Commission Chair Mary Frances Berry: Fire Them All

In a NYT op-ed column today, Mary Frances Berry, the chair of the Commission On Civil Rights from 1993-2004, calls for the “abolishing” of the commission she headed for 11 years and its replacement with one that will fully address LGBT rights. To help resolve the issue of gay rights, President-elect Obama should abolish the now moribund Commission on Civil …

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Kalamazoo Repeals Gay Rights

Score another one for the religious right in Kalamazoo, Michigan Six weeks after passing a gay rights law, the Kalamazoo City Commission has voted to rescind it. The commission voted Dec. 1 to make it a civil offense in the city of 7,200 to discriminate in housing, public accommodations or employment based on sexual orientation or being transgender. The American …

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Another Case For ENDA

A Tennessee hotel worker was told to his face last week that he was fired for being gay. And knowing that the state has no employment discrimination law that protects LGBT people, his employer dared him to sue. David Hill is looking for a new job after he said he was fired Tuesday from a former Brentwood Holiday Inn, which …

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Senegal: Eight Years In Prison For HIV/AIDS Activists

Senegal, which recently hosted a major international AIDS conference, has sentenced nine gay men to eight years in prison for “unnatural and indecent acts.” Most of the men are HIV/AIDS activists. The jailing in Senegal of nine gay men for eight years over “indecent conduct and unnatural acts” has been condemned by an international gay rights group. Homosexual acts are …

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ACLU Sues To Overturn AR Adoption Ban

Via press release: The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down a new law that bans any unmarried person who lives with a partner from serving as an adoptive or foster parent in the state of Arkansas. At a press conference at the Arkansas State Capitol this morning, several of the plaintiffs described how Act …

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Historic First: Gay Rights Declaration At United Nations

Delayed by one week, the declaration calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality was read to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. The declaration was supported by 66 nations but not the United States. An unprecedented declaration seeking to decriminalize homosexuality won the support of 66 countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, but opponents criticized it as …

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Moral Majority Co-Founder And Top-Rung Homophobe Paul Weyrich Dies At 66

Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the anti-gay Moral Majority, architect of the Christian Coalition, reputed Dominionist, and ardent opponent of LGBT rights, has died at age 66. Conservative activist Paul Weyrich, who coined the phrase “moral majority” and helped turn social conservatives into a powerful force in the Republican Party, died Thursday. He was 66. Weyrich’s death was announced by the …

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Colin Powell: It’s Time To Rethink DADT

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Moscow’s Mayor To Gay Eurovision Fans: Stay Off The Streets

Gay pride organizers in Moscow remained defiant even after their mayor used a Eurovision ceremony yesterday to warn homosexuals to stay off the streets during the famously loved-by-gays song contest. The Mayor of Moscow has used a Eurovision Song Contest ceremony to warn gay people visiting the city for the event next year that they are not welcome on the …

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Today: UN To Call For Global End To Criminalization Of Homosexuality
(But The United States Won’t Sign On)

In a landmark but nonbinding resolution, today the United Nations will call for the global decriminalization of homosexuality. Eighty-six countries in the world still criminalize gay sex with punishments from years of imprisonment to death. France will bring the resolution to the General Assembly with the backing of the entire European Union, many non-EU European nations, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, …

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Air Force Loses DADT Appeal

The case for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” moved forward yesterday when a federal court refused an appeal from the Air Force. A federal appeals court refused Thursday to reconsider a ruling that raised doubts about the constitutionality of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military, a decision that could give President-elect Barack Obama …

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