‘Hate crime’ at Danish gay games
A Dane has been charged with committing a hate crime for allegedly throwing fireworks at athletes during a gay sporting event in Copenhagen.
He is accused of throwing fireworks into the Oesterbro stadium where the World Outgames running competitions were being held.
One US athlete suffered a light injury to his hand.
The attack marks the second suspected hate crime at the Outgames after three men were assaulted in the street.
In the stadium incident, the alleged perpetrator was apprehended by runners from the Sparta Athletes club as he attempted to escape.
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Saddam’s rule ‘better’ for gay Iraqis
Investigating reports of the murder and torture of gay men in Iraq, Ashley Byrne found that some gays found Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship preferable to the threat of violence they face today.Some readers will find parts of his report disturbing.
There has been so much news of death and destruction from Iraq that the position of sexual minorities is rarely touched on in the mainstream media.
But stories of torture and murder of gay Iraqis, particularly men, have been emerging in the gay press for several years
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In UK RC Church rejects gay parents claims
The Roman Catholic Church has reacted angrily to comments endorsing gay parenthood from a charity with strong links to the Church.
Terry Prendergast of Marriage Care, which is partly funded by the Church, said there was no evidence children were harmed by having same-sex parents.
But the organisation representing Catholic bishops said children need parental role models of both genders.
It said Mr Prendergast, a former priest who has since married, was wrong.
Mr Prendergast made his comments to a gathering of gay Roman Catholics in Leicester.
He told the audience at the Quest conference that same-sex families, along with single and cohabiting parents, suffered discrimination and denigration because they fell short of the Vatican’s definition of what constituted a real family.
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 The views expressed by Terry Prendergast about the definition of family and marriage are clearly not a reflection of the Church’s teaching, nor those of the Bishops’ Conference  Catholic Bishops’ Conference
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Instead, he said, they should be held up as role models and an advert for Catholicism.
Mr Prendergast also claimed that there was no evidence to show that children of same-sex parents suffered in any way, and that the elements that made for successful child-rearing were stable relationships.
But the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has insisted that Mr Prendergast is wrong.
In a statement, the organisation acknowledged that although it was difficult to define what a family was, the Church still believed that stability for children came from having parents of opposite genders who could provide different role models.
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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.”
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Minister in Tory homophobia claim BBC News
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has said “a deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches”.
Mr Bradshaw, one of three gay men currently in the cabinet, made the comments as a new poll suggested more gay people were turning to the Tories.
Chris Bryant, another gay minister, said: “If gays vote Tory they will rue the day very soon.”
But Tory frontbencher Alan Duncan said the two men’s comments showed Labour was “actually the nasty party”.
Being seen to be more “gay friendly” has been a key part of David Cameron’s mission to decontaminate the Conservative Party brand and make it more acceptable to young, socially liberal voters.
See Minister in Tory homophobia claim BBC News
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Gay row minister to be inducted in Scotland
The gay minister whose appointment sparked a furious debate in the Church of Scotland is set to be formally inducted in Aberdeen.
The Reverend Scott Rennie will be introduced to his congregation at a service at Queen’s Cross Church.
Hundreds of ministers and thousands of Church of Scotland members signed an online petition opposing the move.
After arriving in Aberdeen, Mr Rennie said he was looking forward to serving God in the city.
The issue had gone to the General Assembly which narrowly voted in favour.
But there has been a two-year ban on the ordination of gay ministers and a special commission is considering the issue.
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Gay row minister to be inducted
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LA gay pride parade darkened by US stance on marriage
The mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco joined gay rights groups Sunday in raising concerns about the Obama administration’s defense of a federal law restricting same-sex marriage.
“I think it’s a big mistake,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said shortly before he and his Los Angeles counterpart, Antonio Villaraigosa, kicked off the annual L.A. Pride parade in West Hollywood. The mayors, potential rivals in next year’s Democratic primary for governor, were each careful to avoid direct criticism of President Obama.
But their mutual disapproval of a Justice Department brief filed Thursday in support of the Defense of Marriage Act comes amid growing discontent with Obama among gay rights groups.
The battle over same-sex marriage added a serious note to the West Hollywood celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village that launched the modern gay rights movement.
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mayor makes Gay Pride U-turn BBC News
A newly-elected mayor who threatened to cut funding to a South Yorkshire town’s Gay Pride festival has said the money will now go to the event.
Peter Davies, of the English Democrats, previously argued that public money should not be spent on the annual event in Doncaster.
But he has now said the council will honour the £3,000 commitment it made to the event before he was elected.
The decision was welcomed by the Doncaster Gay Pride Committee.
In a statement issued through Doncaster Council, Mr Davies said: “The Gay Pride event has been planned for some time and the funding already committed.
“In the circumstances, I believe I should honour this commitment and the event will go ahead.
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Gay Israelis prepare for their big day
There is an old joke around these parts. Question: Other than Jerusalem, what do ultra-religious Jews, Muslims and Christians love? Answer: They love to hate homosexuals.
But travel the 60km (40 miles) from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and you enter a world apart. Major streets are decked with the multi-coloured Gay Pride banner.
In this centenary year of the city, this is now Gay Pride month. On Friday, in Meir Dizengoff park, tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual Gay Pride parade which will end, this year, with a twist.
Four couples will take part in what is being called Israel’s first, public, gay wedding ceremony.
Tal Dekel and Itay Gourevitch, are sitting, wedged happily next to each other, on a park bench. Tal is a fashion designer, Itay a website editor. Both are 33. They have been together for eight years, since the night they met in a club.
Two weeks ago, they decided to get married. “It’s a chance to have our own rights: to have a quiet corner with our family, just like everyone else,” says Tal.
Itay says that things have improved for gay and lesbian Israelis. He can now, at least in Tel Aviv, walk down the street, arm in arm with his partner. “Fifteen years ago, I would have been beaten up.”
But there is still discrimination, he says. “As a gay couple, we can’t get a loan to buy a house together. We don’t have the right to adopt a child: we’d have to go abroad to do that. But we have all the obligations: we have to pay all the taxes.”
See Gay Israelis prepare for their big day BBC News
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China bans parts of gay festival
The organisers of China’s first Gay Pride Festival have been told to cancel two of their sessions.
The news came on the very day a state-run newspaper described the Shanghai festival as of “profound significance”.
Officials have warned the owners of two venues planning to hold a play and a film screening they would face “severe consequences” if they went ahead.
Homosexuality was illegal in China until 1997, and officials described it as a mental illness until 2001. See China bans parts of gay festival
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