Tag Archives: marriage equality

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Urges YES Vote In Non-Binding Marriage Plebiscite: It’s A Conservative Ideal

The BBC reports: Australian political leaders, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, have come out in support of a campaign for same-sex marriage. More than 20,000 people gathered in Sydney to campaign ahead of a non-binding postal vote on changing Australia’s marriage act. Mr Turnbull made a surprise appearance and speech at the launch of the New South Wales Yes campaign. …

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AUSTRALIA: High Court Rules 7-0 That Non-Binding Postal Survey On Same-Sex Marriage Will Go Forward

ABC News reports: The High Court has ruled 7-0 to dismiss challenges to the Federal Government’s $122 million same-sex marriage postal survey, clearing the way for it to go ahead. The Federal Government welcomed the unanimous High Court ruling, announcing the survey would continue as planned and the final result would be declared by the chief statistician at 11:30am on …

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AUSTRALIA: “Regular Moms” Of Anti-Gay Marriage Ad Exposed As Liars, Crackpots, Ex-Gay Torture Advocates

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: A Melbourne principal has disputed a mother’s claim – aired in an anti same-sex marriage TV ad – that her son was told he could wear a dress to school. Cella White, who has previously appeared in videos attacking the Safe Schools program and whose claims have been heavily promoted by the Australian Christian Lobby, …

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West Virginia County To Pay Settlement And Apologize After Deputy Clerk Called Gay Couple An “Abomination”

CBS News reports: A settlement has been announced in a federal lawsuit against Gilmer County. The case Brookover v. Gilmer County was a result of alleged harassment received by a same-sex couple when going to get their marriage license. According to a news release by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Gilmer County Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen called …

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AUSTRALIA: Christian Hate Group Runs Anti-Marriage Ad Claiming Boys Will Be Forced To Wear Dresses

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: The first television advertisement for a ‘say no to same sex marriage’ campaign has aired on Australian television tonight. The advertisement from the Coalition for Marriage — the key organisation behind the ‘No’ campaign — features Australian mothers who speak out as part of a series aimed at highlighting what they claim are issues that …

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AUSTRALIA: Marriage Plebiscite May Backfire On Right Wing As Millennials Swarm To Vote For Their First Time

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: A last-minute surge has seen a record number of Australians enrolled to vote ahead of the upcoming postal survey on same-sex marriage. The Australian Electoral Commission on Friday released figures it described as “extraordinary” that show 90,000 new voters – mostly the young – had joined the roll since the survey was announced on August …

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AUSTRALIA: “Stop The Fags” Hate Posters Appear In Advance Of Postal Plebiscite On Same-Sex Marriage

The Guardian reports: Materials labeling homosexuality a “curse of death” and claiming 92% of children of gay parents suffer abuse have surfaced in two separate incidents of homophobic campaigns against same-sex marriage. Advocates have condemned the material, which included a poster urging Australians to “stop the fags” in Melbourne and a leaflet printed in English and Mandarin found in Hurstville, …

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CHILE: President To Introduce Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Gay Star News reports: Chile’s president Michelle Bachelet will formally introduce a bill to allow same-sex couples to get married. The measure will be introduced on 28 August. Chilean LGBTI advocacy group the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, has said the marriage and an adoption bill was reached as part of an agreement with Bachelet’s government in 2016. However, …

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AUSTRALIA: Olympic Gold Medalist Ian Thorpe And Partner Issue Video Promoting Marriage Plebiscite

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: Ian Thorpe and his partner Ryan Channing have released a new video urging Australians to vote in next month’s postal plebiscite on whether to legalise gay marriage. The Olympic swimming champ is making a last-ditch effort to get Australians to update their electoral roll details before the list is finalised this Thursday ahead of the …

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NORTHERN IRELAND: Court Upholds Marriage Ban

The Belfast Telegraph reports: A high court judge in Belfast has ruled the ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland is lawful. Mr Justice O’Hara ruled on two separate cases that were heard together due to the similarities of the arguments. Both cases were rejected by the Judge, insisting the ban did not violate the rights of LGBT couples in …

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AUSTRALIA: Rules On Deceptive Materials Won’t Apply To Marriage Plebiscite, LGBT Activists Sue To Stop It

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: Lobbyists on both sides of the marriage equality debate will be free to distribute misleading and deceptive material ahead of the same-sex marriage postal vote, because the usual campaign rules have been discarded. In order to circumvent the Senate, the Turnbull government’s optional marriage survey will be conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, meaning …

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AUSTRALIA: Nonbinding Postal Plebiscite On Marriage To Happen, Former PM Tony Abbott Urges “NO” Vote

UPI reports: Australian citizens will be asked where they stand on potential legalization of same-sex marriage in a non-binding mail-in vote, after lawmakers failed to pass legislation Wednesday to make it a national plebiscite vote issue in November. Canberra’s governing Liberal-National Coalition failed to pass a bill in Parliament that would have secured funding to restore Australia’s compulsory plebiscite on …

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AUSTRALIA: Government To Press For Postal Plebiscite On Marriage After Bid For Conscience Vote Fails

ABC News reports: Federal Liberal MPs have overwhelmingly decided to keep their current policy on same-sex marriage. Only seven Liberals voted to change the policy after a two-hour meeting ended with a show of hands. The seven MPs who voted to change the policy were: Warren Entsch and Trevor Evans (Qld), Tim Wilson and Jason Wood (Vic), John Alexander and …

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AUSTRALIA: Liberal MPs Ready Marriage Equality Bill

Australia’s public broadcaster reports: A private members’ bill, supported by Dean Smith [photo], Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch, Trevor Evans and Tim Wilson, has been circulated ahead of a special party room meeting on the issue in Canberra on Monday afternoon. The legislation would allow two people to marry regardless of their sex or gender. It also would protect all religious …

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NORTHERN IRELAND: Ireland’s Gay Prime Minister Calls For Marriage Equality At Belfast Pride Event

Reuters reports: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar attended a gay rights event on Saturday during his first official visit to Northern Ireland, upsetting some social conservatives in the only region of the United Kingdom where same-sex marriage is still illegal. Varadkar, who became Ireland’s first openly gay leader when he took office in June, joined activists preparing for Northern Ireland’s …

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Liberty Counsel: Don’t Blame Kim Davis Just Because Kentucky Has To Pay $222K For Her Anti-Gay Actions

“If, at the end of the day the state of Kentucky has to pay for attorney’s fees, whose responsibility is that? It’s not Kim Davis, it’s not Rowan Country, it’s not the current legislative body, it’s certainly not Gov. Matt Bevin. It is the former liberal Democratic Gov. Beshear. Had he [provided a religious liberty accommodation to Davis,] this case …

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HAITI: Senate Passes Bill Banning Same-Sex Marriage And Criminalizing “Public Support” For Homosexuality

Agence France-Presse reports: A vote by the Haitian Senate to ban gay marriage as well as “public demonstration of support” for homosexuality reflects the will of the people, the chamber’s president has said. The Senate approved a bill late Tuesday that said “the parties, co-parties and accomplices” of a homosexual marriage can be punished by three years in prison and …

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Cruise Giant Launches Gay Weddings At Sea

Cruise Critic reports: Following a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriages in Bermuda, three Carnival Corp. cruise lines — Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises and Cunard Line — have revealed they are now taking bookings for same-sex marriages at sea. The ruling permits any Bermuda-registered cruise ship offering weddings at sea packages the opportunity to offer same-sex ceremonies. All P&O …

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AUSTRALIA: New Hope For Marriage Equality Bill

Australia’s News Corp outlet reports: Malcolm Turnbull today cleared the way for a Liberal bill legalising same-sex marriage by endorsing the right of back benchers to offer their own legislation. The Prime Minister moved from a strict insistence that Coalition policy was to hold a plebiscite on the Marriage Act change before any legislation entered Parliament. An increasing number of …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Court Orders State To Pay $222,695 In Legal Fees To Gay Couples That Sued Kim Davis

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: A federal judge Friday ordered the state of Kentucky to pay $222,695 in attorneys’ fees to same-sex couples who sued clerk Kim Davis in 2015 when she refused to give them marriage licenses. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered the payments Friday. In a statement, William Sharp, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said: “We …

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