Category: World News

Costa Rica high court blocks vote on same-sex civil unions

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, August 10, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

In another international victory for gay rights advocates, Costa Rica’s highest court on Tuesday rejected a Catholic Church-supported national vote on whether the country should grant same-sex couples the right to civil unions in the Central American country.

The vote was scheduled for December 5 and was expected to reject the possibility of granting same-sex couples the same rights as their married counterparts, reports AFP.

The Supreme Court ruled that the rights of minorities could not be determined by a popular vote and that the issue should be decided by the country’s lawmakers.

“Minority rights that are derived from claims against the majority cannot be subject to a referendum process where majorities are needed,” the court said in a statement.

The vote sought to ask Costa Ricans whether the Central American nation should grant same-sex couples some of the rights of married couples, such as in inheritance, health insurance benefits and the right to family visits in case of hospitalization.

Continue reading…

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Mexico supreme court orders gay marriages recognized country wide

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, August 10, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Mexico’s supreme court ruled Tuesday that same-sex marriages in Mexico City must be recognized in all 31 states throughout the country, though the ruling does not mean other states have to allow gay weddings performed within their jurisdiction.

Gay couples celebrate their unions after marrying in Mexico City on March 11 under the new law.

In a 9-2 decision, the court cited an article of the constitution requiring states to recognize legal contracts drawn up elsewhere. The two judges who voted against the measure argued that it would damage the harmony of the federal system.

Last week, the court upheld the landmark law permitting same-sex marriages in Mexico City, and rejected the conservative federal government’s claim that the law is unconstitutional because it threatens the institution of the family.

The Court is scheduled to rule next on whether or not homosexual adoptions are constitutional.

Opponents argue that such adoptions violate the rights of children, enshrined in international treaties of which Mexico is a signatory.

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High court upholds Mexico City same-sex marriage law

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, August 6, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Mexico’s Supreme Court upheld a landmark law this week, permitting same-sex marriages in Mexico City, and rejecting the conservative federal government’s claim that the law is unconstitutional because it threatens the institution of the family.

(Sound familiar?)

The justices’ 8-2 ruling handed a legal victory to hundreds of same-sex couples who have been married in Mexico’s capital since the landmark law took effect March 4. When approved last December, it was the first law in Latin America explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones, including adoption.

Mexico City’s law is an anomaly in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, where the church hierarchy and the ruling center-right National Action Party have vehemently opposed same-sex marriage.

Since the law took effect in March, 320 same-sex couples have married in the Mexican capital.

While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause next week.

Thursday’s ruling was greeted as another victory in the international gay-rights community, coming just one day after a U.S. federal judge struck down Proposition 8, California’s voter approved ban on gay marriage.

Last month, Argentina passed a law allowing gay marriage nationwide, becoming the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage

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First gay couples wed as Argentina gay marriage law takes effect

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, July 30, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Gay couples rushed to tie the knot in Argentina on Friday, two weeks after the country became the first in Latin America to grant them the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples.

Calefato (left), and Navarro

Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, and Jose Luis Navarro, 54, became the first gay couple to marry in Argentina under the new law legalizing same-sex marriages.

The couple, together more than 27 years, married in the province Santiago del Estero in an early morning ceremony where a civil registry official used a pen to cross out “man and woman” on the marriage license and wrote in “contracting parties.” Continue reading…

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Gay priest witch hunt snags three on video in nightclubs

Kelvin Lynch • Friday, July 23, 2010 • Filed under: Religion, World News • Comments (0)

The UK’s Daily Mail is reporting that three Catholic priests were caught on tape having sex in Rome’s gay nightclubs.  The news has reportedly “shocked … the devoutly Catholic country”.

Video still allegedly showing a gay priest having sex in a Roman nightclub

A reporter for Panorama magazine, who works for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (who happens to own all Italian media), had a “gay accomplice” help him scope out Catholic priests in Italian gay bars.

Panorama said, “By day they are regular priests, complete with dog collar, but, at night it’s off with the cassock as they take their place as perfectly integrated members of the Italian capital’s gay scene.”

Well, all except for one, whom the magazine called Carlo, who “willingly put on his cassock to have sex with the reporter’s gay accomplice.” Continue reading…

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Argentina becomes first Latin America country to legalize gay marriage

LGBTQ Nation • Thursday, July 15, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (1)

Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following a 15-hour debate that lasted into the early hours of Thursday morning.

The landmark Senate vote of 33-27 was carried live on Argentina national television.

The law tweaks the legal code which no longer will refer to husband and wife, but rather to “the marrying parties.”

The legislation, passed by the lower house in May, also gives same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals in terms of adoptions, social security and family time.

Argentina became the first country in Latin America to green light to same-sex marriage nationwide. It followed, around the world, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Iceland. Mexico City allows same-sex marriage.

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Spain marks 5th anniversary of legalized same-sex unions

LGBTQ Nation • Monday, July 5, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Emilio Menendez and Carlos Baturin, partnered 30 years, became Spain's first gay couple to wed on July 11, 2005.

Happy 5th birthday to the equality movement in Spain.

This weekend in 2005, Spain passed a law to allow same-sex marriage, making it only the third member of the European Union, after Belgium and the Netherlands, to do so.

Since then, more than 15,000 gay marriages have been performed in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

And no heterosexual marriages were harmed in the process. (In fact, the biggest worry is among citizens in Spain is their economy and unemployment rates, not who is walking down the aisle.)

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Vancouver police arrest 4 in connection with alleged hate crimes

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, July 2, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Vancouver police announced Thursday they have made four arrests in connection to two separate attacks on gay men recently, both incidents of which are being investigated as possible hate crimes.

Constable Jana McGuinness announced the charges against Parminder Singh Bassi and Ravinder Singh Bassi, two brothers from Richmond, BC, who were arrested Wednesday morning and charged with assault causing bodily harm in the June 13 attack on David Holtzman and Peter Regier.

Regier and Holtzman were returning home from a concert and found two men drinking outside their building, one of them urinating near the door.

The two men turned on them, repeatedly calling them “fucking faggots” and “cocksuckers,” according to Holtzman.

Holtzman said he and Regier were attacked without provocation. He received about 50 punches to his head and body and was twice bitten by his attacker.

The Bassi brothers have been released on bail, and are set to appear in court on July 5.

The arrests were announced at the same time as police revealed another “possible hate crime” that occurred Thursday morning in which a 30-year-old man was allegedly punched and beaten by two 21-year-old men.

Alexandre Tchernychev and Aaron Alexander Hahn of Vancouver were arrested in connection with the attack and charged with assault causing bodily harm.

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Iceland’s gay prime minister marries longtime partner

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, June 29, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has married her long-term partner, her office said on Monday, making her the world’s first national leader with a same-sex spouse.

Sigurdardottir

Sigurdardottir, 67, married writer Jonina Leosdottir on Sunday, the day a new law took effect defining marriage as a union between two consenting adults regardless of sex, reports MSNBC.

The two had had a civil union for years and changed this into a marriage under the new law, which was approved by parliament earlier this month.

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Russian police arrest activists for staging unsanctioned gay pride rally

LGBTQ Nation • Sunday, June 27, 2010 • Filed under: World News • Comments (0)

Photo credit: AFP

Russian police on Saturday detained at least five gay rights activists in a public courtyard in St. Petersburg, allegedly for holding an unsanctioned gay pride rally, reports AFP.

Using similar tactics to a gay rights protest in Moscow last month, the protesters tried to outwit the security forces by only revealing the location of the demonstration at the last moment.

Around 30 activists staged the protest in the inner courtyard of the world famous Hermitage Museum — the area where visitors queue for tickets — brandishing slogans in favour of gay rights.

“Equality without compromise”, “homophobia is an illness” and “homophobia — the country’s shame” were among the slogans.

Russia, where homophobia remains rampant and homosexuality became legal only in 1993, forbids gay pride marches.

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