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Government considers watered down same-sex marriage bill to minimise Tory rebellion
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Tory MP Nadine Dorries: 'The gay marriage bill is taking the sex out of marriage'
89
Government to consider abolishing civil partnerships or opening up to straight couples
68
Philip Hammond: 'No great demand for gay marriage and it's upsetting vast numbers of people'
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Bret Easton Ellis slams GLAAD and says gay basketball player Jason Collins treated like a 'baby panda'
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US Radio host: Gay news websites are covered with porn that is turning teens gay
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London: Gay couple threatened with death in violent late night homophobic assault
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Lib Dem MP Sarah Teather tells Catholic newspaper 'I never went into politics to tackle equal marriage'
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Tory MP David Burrowes: 'I'm not anti-gay; I'm just pro-marriage'
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Christians called to pray at Parliament in opposition to equal marriage bill
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Robert in S. Kensington 838
Eddy 363
Jock S. Trap 286
bobbleobble 259
D.McCabe 242
Rehan 213
rapture 189
Ray123 186
SteveC 173
Midnighter 167
Whilst it is good to see the arrests of anti gay extremists. Also, prior to the pride march being cancelled, it is welcome that police were speaking of protecting LGBT people.
However, Serbia needs to ensure the safety of all of its citizens and facilitate peaceful demonstration.
This is where the ugly face of nationalism meets the just as ugly face of fascism and religious bigotry. They all feed off each other.
It’s a shame when the rule of law cannot be upheld, and peaceful marches cannot take place… But I am just thankful that nobodu got hurt. It sounds like the nutters who have been arrested were going looking for some serious trouble!
It’s hard to believe in this day and age that such prehistoric people are still out there…. but they are!
If the hoodlums who were arrested had links to Obraz or the Movement of 1389, both of which are fully supported by the Orthodox Church, it would have been appropriate to report that as well.
Sounds like being gay in Serbia is similar to being jewish in late 1920s Germany. I imagine the response to Jews having a protest march would have been just as violent in those days.
You have to educate people through more than just marches, otherwise of course the ignorant that have been fed a load of horrific homophobic propaganda that demonises gay people will react violently.
Absolutely.
Now that you mention it, it makes me wonder how the Serbian Jews were treated in the1920′s, 30′s and 40′s…. the gays and the Roma too, and what role the Orthodox Church played in those days.
According to wiki, the Jews have actually been well treated, historically.
“It’s far from the truth that the state has capitulated and that hooligans are more powerful than the state, that’s complete nonsense.”
LOL, totally delusional.
We will see how the state responds by the results of the trials of those arrested. However, the state should respond by bringing in troops to keep the homophobes away from the legal and valid march and to arrest anyone who tries to interfere with their democratic right to assembly peacefully, to march, and to make their political point, just as the homophobes have the same rights up to the point where they try to prevent others from exercising those same rights.
My bet is the arrests are just a ‘front’ to appease the Belgrade LGBT community and lull our fellow friends into a false sense of security…
Yes, a lot of the legislation re gay rights there is just window dressing, and is not actually enforced. It shows that legal changes without education or a move in public opinion don’t help much.
It’s good these arrests have been made, but it’s a pity they couldn’t have been made before, so that the Pride march could go ahead. Basically, even though they have been arrested, the bigots have won.
I suspect these arrests are all part of the Serbian government’s efforts to prove it is sufficiently ‘reformed’ to push forward its candidacy for EU membership (just like its quite recent surrendering of a major ‘alleged criminal’ to the Interantional Criminal Court in The Hague); it is currently classified as a ‘potential candidate country’ and has not yet been granted formal candidate status. I recall that some other eastern European countries paid similar lip-service to EU requirements on the treatment of minorities (whether LGBT or for that matter Roma in a few), but once safely within the EU ‘family’ their odious traditional policies of exclusion and repression have somehow crept back into use again. For example, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, probably Hungary and certainly Romania.
Vassal states of Russia with little or no commitment to human rights, are not sufficiently aligned with western values to be allowed in.
Sadly my earlier comment has been borne out – Serbia is on course to gaining ‘Candidate Country’ status:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15456557,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-eu-2092-rdf
- the Serbians have obviously ‘done enough’ to satisfy the lamentably-low standards set by the European Commission.
6 out of 20,000??? … that’s a start ….
Other reports variously say the demonstrators last year were 6,000 or 10, 000. Certainly 20,000 sounds like an exaggeration.
Its more than none, would like it to be higher – but its better than arresting the LGBT marchers which would have happened long ago in Serbia
See who is behind the anti-gay extremist
http://nomexposed.org/
You don’t say. As the saying goes, follow the money.
Wow, a budget of 10 million dollars to push anti gay propaganda to pu down little old us. No wonder so many gay teens in the US are feeling so bullied they commit suicide.
I hope that this isn’t going to be just a token gesture by the Serbian Authorities to show the global LGBT community that they care. With 20,000 people threatening to disrupt the march there must be more than six ringleaders. Sadly you cannot legislate against hateful thoughts in peoples heads and Serbia has a long road ahead.
Without education of public opinion, any legislation is just unenforced window dressing for the EU.