Tag: "Gay Rights"

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

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, August 10, 2010 • Filed under: World NewsComments (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…

Senate hopeful Sharron Angle: no gay rights, no gay adoptions

LGBTQ Nation • Saturday, August 7, 2010 • Filed under: Nevada, PoliticsComments (2)

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Sharron Angle believes the clergy should be allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit and opposes laws allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children, according to a questionnaire obtained by The Associated Press.

Angle

The document provides a window into Angle’s social and moral views, which would place her among Congress’ most conservative members at a time of ongoing culture wars over gay rights, abortion and the boundaries between religion and government.

Among her positions, outlined in answers to 36 yes-or-no questions, Angle would oppose making sexual orientation a protected minority in civil rights laws.

Read Angle’s complete questionnaire here (PDF).

Angle is the Republican nominee for the United States Senate seat in Nevada held by the current Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.

She supports a federal marriage amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and believes that single-income households are the best way to raise a family.

In a June 2010 radio interview, Angle who opposes abortion including in cases of rape or incest, stated that she had counseled young girls in “very at risk, difficult pregnancies” to consider other alternatives, by which they had been able to make “a lemon situation into lemonade.”

South Bend tables vote on LGBT inclusive workplace discrimination bill

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, July 27, 2010 • Filed under: IndianaComments (0)

The South Bend, Indiana, Common Council has voted to table the human rights ordinance that would have extended employment discrimination protection to its gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender citizens.

About 200 people packed the meeting room Monday night as council members heard more than two hours of public debate about the proposal.

Councilman Oliver Davis, one of the measure’s three sponsors, sought the continuance when it became clear he lacked the five votes needed for a majority on the nine-member council.

Former Gov. Joe Kernan, a former mayor of South Bend, told council members failure to adopt a gay rights bill, ordinance number 30-10, will hurt the city’s image.

“The failure to pass 30-10 sends the message that we as a community are intolerant and we are better than that,” Kernan said.

Hawaii veto fallout: The fight for equal rights in the Aloha state is far from over

Kelvin Lynch • Wednesday, July 7, 2010 • Filed under: Hawaii, Views & VoicesComments (0)

The once-progressive Aloha state seems doomed for Republican takeover, following lame duck Governor Linda Lingle’s veto yesterday of a same-sex civil unions bill passed last month by the state legislature.

Lingle was certain to make the pending veto as agonizing as possible for LGBT couples in the state, who anxiously waited weeks for her to “carefully consider” the bill, then put it on a list of potential vetoes, then slam down the hammer last night.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the state's same-sex civil unions bill

Many were hopeful Lingle would simply ignore the bill, making it become law by default.  But she took a different approach altogether, calling her decision “well-reasoned,” and seizing the opportunity to use typical GOP speak, blaming the mostly Democratic legislature for passing the bill without giving the people of Hawaii a chance to vote on it.  Sorry, Lingle, but in a Republic like the United States, the civil rights of a minority are not a matter for the tyranny of the democratic majority to decide.   That’s what our elected representatives in the legislature are there to prevent, and a true Republican should know better.

Just look at what’s happening right now in California following the disastrous 2008 passage of Proposition 8 – it’s left 18,000 married couples in the state in legal limbo, and is the subject of a landmark federal case, Perry v. Schwarzeneggger, which is expected to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Connecticut School of Law professor John C. Britain wrote a rather compelling article regarding the use of ballot initiatives to decide civil rights.  In it, he notes that “the [Supreme] Court, in a truly Madisonian fashion, guards the interests of the minority against the will of the majority” when considering the use of “direct democracy”, which is espoused by so many conservative Republicans today.

Of course, Lingle’s veto has been applauded by her conservative supporters and counterparts.  Hawaii News Now reports that the two Republican gubernatorial candidates – Lt. Governor James “Duke” Aiona and Honolulu mayor Muffi Hanneman – support Lingle’s decision.  Both agree with Lingle that the people of Hawaii should have the opportunity to vote on the issue.

Abercrombie

However, Democratic candidate Neil Abercrombie, who left Congress to run for Hawaii Governor, issued a statement saying:

“Civil unions respect our diversity, protect people’s privacy, and reinforce our core values of equality and aloha. It will be up to the next governor and legislature to ensure that all people of Hawaii receive equal treatment.”

The ACLU and Lambda Legal are already preparing lawsuits.  Staff attorney Laurie Temple of the ACLU told the AP, “We’re obviously disappointed that Governor Lingle has, once again, used her power to deny the people of Hawaii their civil rights.  Luckily for the people of Hawaii, however, our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation. If the Governor won’t honor her oath to uphold the constitution, the courts will.”

But it’s going to be a long, uphill battle.  The state legislature has already indicated it will not attempt to override Lingle’s veto, and Aiona, the front-runner in the Governor’s race, came to Lingle’s defense, saying, “To put that kind of pressure on one person, especially during an election year, and knowing how this issue is falling, that’s just totally unfair.”

The San Francisco Chronicle is wondering if gay and lesbian (or all) travelers should boycott the state.  But contributor Jeanne Cooper noted, “Recently I wrote about wedding sites and package providers in Hawaii, and all but one of the representatives I interviewed said they welcomed same-sex couples for commitment ceremonies, and would do the same for same-sex marriages, as soon as those became legal (the other made referrals to a specialist in same-sex ceremonies.)”

Would a boycott of Hawaii really help the LGBT couples who live there and are affected by this decision?  Most of them work in the hospitality industry, which depends heavily on tourism.  A boycott would simply cause them to lose their jobs on top of keeping them second-class citizens in the eyes of the state.  They are the ones we should be thinking about, because they have the most at stake in Hawaii’s already-ailing economy and political environment.

Stay tuned for more as this story develops.

Trial begins in gay rights dispute between Boy Scouts and city of Philadelphia

LGBTQ Nation • Monday, June 14, 2010 • Filed under: PennsylvaniaComments (0)

Jury selection got under way Monday in a gay rights case that could settle a long-running dispute between local Boy Scouts and the city of Philadelphia.

At issue is whether the local scouts group, the Cradle of Liberty Council, should be allowed to stay rent-free in its city-owned headquarters, despite the Boy Scouts of America’s national policy banning gays.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says to get free rent, the local Scouts needed to renounce the national Scout organization’s admission policies excluding gays.

The lawsuit filed by the Scouts contends that the mayor’s demand violates their First Amendment rights.

The city has an ordinance saying that groups can’t discriminate based on sexual orientation, and it says the Scouts can rent their space, but can’t get free office space.

The Scouts haves occupied the downtown building since 1928.

As closing arguments near, Judge poses 39 tough questions to Prop 8 litigants

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, June 11, 2010 • Filed under: Proposition 8 TrialComments (0)

The federal judge presiding over a trial on California’s Proposition 8 issued a list this week of 39 wide-ranging questions to be answered in closing arguments in San Francisco next week.

Walker

No broad conclusions can be made from this order as to how Chief Judge Vaughn Walker will ultimately rule. But they do provide a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence presented during the January trial.

The queries posed by Walker cover all sides and angles of the case on topics ranging from voter intent and the role of churches in the 2008 election campaign to the definition and purpose of marriage.

Among the questions, attorneys for the plaintiffs are asked to answer:

“What is the import of evidence showing that marriage has been historically limited to a man and a woman?”

“If the evidence of the involvement of the LDS and Roman Catholic churches and evangelical ministers supports a finding that Proposition 8 was an attempt to enforce private morality, what is the import of that finding?”

On the other side, the judge asked the sponsors of Proposition 8:

“What evidence in the record shows that same-sex marriage is a drastic or far-reaching change to the institution of marriage?”

“Why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination? … What evidence in the record shows that a belief based in morality cannot also be discriminatory?”

Continue reading…

Malawi president pardons gay couple

LGBTQ Nation • Saturday, May 29, 2010 • Filed under: World NewsComments (0)

A gay couple in Malawi sentenced to 14 years hard labor for holding the country’s first same-sex engagement were pardoned Saturday after a meeting between the president and the UN Secretary General.

Monjeza (left) and Chimbalanga

President Bingu wa Mutharika announced his pardon of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to the country’s solicitor general, Anthony Kamanga.

Monjeza, 26, and Chimbalanga, 20, were jailed last week, prompting an international outcry.

Mutharika said he would release the men on “humanitarian grounds only.” Continue reading…

Outed California lawmaker changes course on anti-gay voting record

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, May 28, 2010 • Filed under: CaliforniaComments (2)

A California state lawmaker who was forced to reveal he is gay after a recent arrest for drunken driving spoke out passionately in favor of gay rights during a legislative session Thursday, urging his fellow senators to “rise above discrimination” and support letting gays serve openly in the military.

Ashburn

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, who came out in March after the DUI arrest placed him at a Sacramento gay nightclub, said he was “no longer willing or able to remain silent” on issues that affect sexual orientation and the rights of individuals.

In a remarkably candid interview Thursday, Ashburn called himself a “hypocrite.”

“My practice in my entire political career when it came to gay issues was to prevent any kind of spotlight from being shined my way, because I was in hiding. So casting any kind of vote might, could in some way, lead to my secret being revealed,” he said.

“That was terrifying to me. It was paralyzing. So I cast some votes that have denied gay people of their basic, equal treatment under the law, and I’m not proud of it. I’m not going to do that again.”

Ashburn’s previous voting record revealed he had voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office, including Recognizing Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages, Harvey Milk Day, expanding Anti-Discrimination Laws, and a Senate resolution to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Continue reading…

Lawmakers, gay rights advocates say they have the votes to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

LGBTQ Nation • Wednesday, May 26, 2010 • Filed under: Don't Ask Don't TellComments (0)

Lawmakers and gay-rights activists predicted Wednesday that both the Senate and House will have enough votes to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay service members.

According to The Hill:

Legislation to scrap the ban on openly gay service members in the military is expected to clear a major hurdle Thursday in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The chief backers of repeal, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), another senior member of the panel, would need 15 votes, or a simple majority, to include the legislation in the 2011 defense authorization bill.

According to the latest count by gay-rights activists, who are pressuring panel members to vote for repeal, all Democrats on the committee — except Sen. Jim Webb (Va.) — are expected to support scrapping the ban.

Continue reading…

Malawi gay couple gets 14 years hard labor for violating ‘order of nature’

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, May 21, 2010 • Filed under: World NewsComments (0)

A Malawi gay couple was sentenced Thursday to the maximum 14 years in prison with hard labour, after being convicted of sodomy for holding the country’s first same-sex wedding.

Monjeza (left) and Chimbalanga

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested on December 28 after their symbolic wedding and accused of violating “the order of nature,” and were told by a judge they would also serve 14 years hard labor as a warning to other gay people in the country, the maximum sentence under the penal code.

“I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example,” said magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading…

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