Sask. appeal court asked whether commissioners can opt out of same-sex marriages
REGINA — The Saskatchewan government wants the province’s highest court to weigh in on proposed legislation that would allow marriage commissioners to not perform same-sex marriages if it is contrary to their religious beliefs.
Justice Minister Don Morgan said Friday that the government is referring legislative options to the Court of Appeal for its opinion on whether the proposals meet the requirements of the Charter of Rights.
“We’ve given the Court of Appeal two suggested options: one that we grandfather the existing marriage commissioners that are reluctant or refusing to perform a same-sex marriage, and the other one would be to create a religious exemption for those and for future marriage commissioners,” he said.
“It would require us to have two pools of marriage commissioners. One that would be willing to perform the same-sex marriage and one that would not.”
Whether officials can refuse to marry same-sex couples is the subject of a lawsuit and a complaint before the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal - both of which are being heard by Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench.
The complaint arose in 2005 when marriage commissioner Orville Nichols, a devout Baptist, told a gay couple he wouldn’t marry them because it went against his religious beliefs.
See Sask. appeal court asked whether commissioners can opt out of same … The Canadian Press
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In UK politics, It’s Gay Gordon versus Camp David
GORDON Brown and David Cameron were last night locked in a bizarre and bitter battle for the GAY vote.
The PM and Conservative leader are desperate to win over the UK’s three million pink voters.
Two Cabinet ministers sprang into action to accuse the Tories of being anti-gay after new figures showed a rise in the number of gays planning to vote Tory.
Openly-gay Ben Bradshaw and Chris Bryant warned homosexuals and lesbians the Tories once persecuted them.
Culture Secretary Mr Bradshaw told the BBC: “A deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches.” And Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said: “If gays vote Tory they will rue the day very soon.”
See It’s Gay Gordon versus Camp David
The Sun
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Human Rights Campaign Statement on Death of San Diego Area Sailor
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, released a statement today in the death of Seaman August Provost, 29, at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA. According to local media reports, the Navy and Marine Corps confirmed that a sailor’s body was found on the base at about 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. A military spokesperson confirmed that there was evidence of foul play in the killing and that the case is a murder investigation. It is also understood a “person of interest” is in custody at Camp Pendleton but has not been charged with a crime. Local activists report the victim may have been targeted because of his sexual orientation.
“Our thoughts are with the Provost family at this time as authorities work to learn what happened in the early morning hours this past Tuesday,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The Human Rights Campaign has confirmed Congresswoman Susan Davis has been in touch with officials at the base and is tracking the investigation. We know that every day members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are targeted for simply being who they are. Furthermore, our gay or lesbian soldiers struggle with the extra burden of not serving openly and honestly based on the discriminatory policy of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ As we monitor the investigation, our community must continue to raise awareness on a law that we know hurts military readiness and national security while putting American soldiers at risk.”
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
See Human Rights Campaign Statement on Death of San Diego Area Sailor
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Council halts plans to put boy with gay foster parents
A council has halted plans to place a ten-year-old Catholic boy in the care of homosexual foster parents against the wishes of his mother.
The case was highlighted last month by The Mail on Sunday, the day before the boy was due to arrive at his new home, a hotel in Brighton run by a middle-aged male couple.
Brighton and Hove Council has now told the mother it is reviewing its decision after her lawyer argued it was obliged to try to place the boy with foster parents of the same faith.
See Council halts plans to put boy with gay foster parents
Daily Mail
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“Gay sex shouldn’t be legalised at any cost’ Sez Indian Pol
RJD chief Lalu Prasad denounced Delhi High Court’s ruling decriminalising gay sex and felt the Centre should appeal against the judgement in the Supreme Court.
“Gay sex should not be legalised at any cost and the Centre should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court. I am dead against legalisation of gay sex and will strongly raise the issue in Parliament. Section 377 of the IPC should not be amended,” Prasad said.
Asked whether homosexuality is still a crime, he said: “Yes, it is a crime… Such obscene acts should not be allowed in our country. The society is adversely affected.”
“Such things which affect the society should not be permitted at all… Government has a greater responsibility towards the society,” Prasad said.
“I don’t want to talk about such rubbish things. These are obscene things which our country and culture do not permit,” he said.
See Gay sex shouldn’t be legalised at any cost: Lalu
Indian Express -
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Gay Loggers for Jesus, Tea Partiers rally in Bozeman Montana
One freedom not taken for granted in Bozeman this Independence Day weekend is freedom of expression. Two very different groups held morning parades down Main Street, beginning with the Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus. Organizers say the group celebrates what’s right about America. Brian Leland, president of the group, said, :”We’re asking folks, shop on your way down Main Street, we have an entire hour to get from here to the courthouse. If you want to stop, get a cup of coffee, please do so.” One logger said, “I think it’s awesome that people could come out here and raise protests and speak their mind and show their affiliation for whatever particular cause they belive in. Another logger noted, “I think the 4th of July is a great day to come out and support the President of the United States, I can’t think of anything more patriotic.” The second parade, the Bozeman Tea Party, brought in a larger crowd and a message far more critical of the status quo.
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Gay veteran’s military dismissal puts spotlight on California congressional race
WASHINGTON - Anthony Woods says he grew up without health insurance, struggled to get an education and fought in Iraq, a war he didn’t believe in.
Then he got kicked out of the military for violating its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy after telling his commanding officer he was gay.
Woods, a 28-year-old graduate of West Point, figures he has the proper anti-establishment credentials to win an open seat in California’s 10th Congressional District. He’s proud of his lack of political experience, saying experienced politicians haven’t done much good in either Sacramento or Washington.
“If we keep sending experienced career politicians to D.C., nothing’s going to change,” Woods said in an interview.
Woods may be a long shot in the race to replace the retiring Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher in the East Bay seat, but his presence assures it will be a high-profile affair. It’s already resulting in national attention.
Woods, a Democrat, is less well-known than his challengers, but his team is banking on the candidate’s compelling life story and his status as an outsider to put him over the top in a splintered field.
See Gay veteran’s military dismissal puts spotlight on California …
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Navy: No evidence sailor’s death was a hate crime
The Navy said today there is no indication the shooting death of a sailor standing guard at Camp Pendleton was “terrorist-related” or a hate crime.
Seaman August Provost, 29, of Houston, was fatally shot while standing guard protecting the landing craft facility on base. His body was found at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Provost, according to his family and gay-activists, was gay. Two members of Congress, Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista) and Susan Davis (D-San Diego), have asked the military to investigate whether Provost was murdered because he is gay.
A sailor dubbed a “person of interest” is in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, although no charges have been filed.
On Thursday, Navy Capt. Matt Brown, director of public affairs for Navy Region Southwest, said Provost, who enlisted in March 2008, was a “rising star in our Navy” who was preparing to deploy soon and was considering advanced education and commissioning.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is “continuing to aggressively pursue all aspects of this case,” Brown said.
See Navy: No evidence sailor’s death was terrorism-related
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Gay sailor’s family blames military after his death
Relatives of a slain sailor are calling the 29-year-old’s death a hate crime.
Rose Roy of Beaumont said her nephew, Navy Seaman August Provost III, had complained a year before about being harassed for being gay.
Roy said she advised Provost to report and document the incidents, but she said the military did little to help.
“He went to the Navy to serve and protect,” she said in an interview with Beaumont’s KFDM News, “he didn’t get protected at all.”
Roy told The Associated Press that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy discouraged her nephew from asking for help.
“That phrase is just stupid because it tells them they have no one to speak to,” she said.
The 29-year-old Houston native was found dead Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Roy said the family was told that Provost was shot three times, had his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged, and body burned.
The family plans to hold funeral services July 10 in Houston.
See Gay sailor’s family blames military after his death
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A Texas gay raid and Stonewall
The Fort Worth police have “some explaining to do,” said Jacquielynn Floyd in The Dallas Morning News. On June 28, officers raided a gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge, sending a patron to intensive care with a head injury. “In what I can only hope is a spectacularly infelicitous coincidence,” it took place on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Raid, the gay-rights movement’s catalyst. The cops’ story—drunk gay men groped them—doesn’t add up.
Well, police chief Jeff Halstead is backing his men and their classic “Gay Panic Defense,” said Dan Savage in The Stranger, which goes: He made a pass at me, so I was justified in beating/killing him. That would still be illegal, but it’s also bunk. “I’ve been in a million gay bars” like the Rainbow Lounge, and “gay men don’t grope police officers when they enter gay bars.”
It is, “obviously, very sad” that one of the Rainbow Lounge patrons is in critical condition, said Rod Dreher in BeliefNet, but come on, the report that “cops who entered a gay bar were set upon by drunk, horny patrons who played grab-ass with them” is “hilarious,” and not at all far-fetched. Gay people, especially drunk gay people, can be “as stupid as the rest of us.”
Except that the hospitalized man was reportedly drinking bottled water, said Jeff Epperly in New England’s Bay Windows. But 40 years after Stonewall, this kind of gay harassment goes on all over the U.S., not just in Texas. The raid at Forth Worth’s Rainbow Lounge “was the work of a police department that wasn’t smart enough to hide its bigotry.” See A Texas gay raid and Stonewall The Week Magazine
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