Law
- Law
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13 February 2008Lesbians sue in Colorado for right to marry + A lesbian couple are asking a court to rule that an amendment to a US state constitution banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.Kate Burns and Shiela Schroeder argues that the voter-approved amendment is religious in nature.They are due to appear in court this week charged with trespassing. -
12 February 2008South African police to act against homophobic officers + South Africa's Police Inspectorate has promised "decisive action" against officers who ridicule gay people or ignore homophobic hate crimes.Last week human rights groups and gay activists launched the 07-07-07 Campaign.On that day last year two lesbian women, 34 year old Sizakele Sigasa and 23 year old Salome Masooa, were raped, tortured and killed in Meadowlands, Soweto. -
12 February 2008Gay rights leader attacked in Brazil 1 The President of Sao Paulo's Gay Pride Association was hospitalised after he was attacked at their offices yesterday.Alexandre Peixe dos Santos was gagged, hooded and beaten by an unknown number of attackers.The association organises one of the largest gay rights parades in the world. -
11 February 2008Court backs children’s books encouraging gay tolerance + A Massachusetts federal appeals court ruled last week that an elementary school can continue to use children's books that encourage tolerance for gay people.The ACLU welcomed the decision, which rejected the claims of parents who said exposing their children to such books violated their ability to direct the religious training of their children.There has never been a federal case finding a constitutional right of parents to exempt their children from exposure to books used in public schools. -
11 February 2008Israeli attorney general rules gay couples can jointly adopt + The attorney general of Israel ruled on Sunday that gay couples will be allowed to jointly adopt children that are not biologically linked to either partner. -
9 February 2008Homophobia within police force soars 13 Complaints about homophobia within the police force have risen by almost a quarter in the past year according to the Gay Police Association.The association received 350 calls in 2007, 90 more than in 2006. -
9 February 2008Pizza Hut runs out of pizza if you’re gay or transexual, group claims 3 A group of gay men out with their transsexual friends were told that Pizza Hut had run out of Pizza, in order to avoid serving them it has been claimed.The group, some of them wearing high heels asked for a table in a branch of the chain in Church Street, Blackpool. -
8 February 2008Radio 4 presenter cleared of rape 8 BBC Radio 4 presenter Nigel Wrench was today cleared by a court of raping a man that he met at a New Years Eve party.He was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the 26-year-old after inviting him back to his flat in north London after meeting him at a New Years party. -
8 February 2008‘Gay’ executions imminent in Iran, claims Amnesty 18 Human rights pressure group Amnesty International has warned that two men may soon be executed by being thrown off a cliff, an Islamic punishment for homosexual sex.Six men were sentenced by a court in May 2007 of having abducted two young men in the city of Arsanjan, to the east of Shiraz, stealing their property and raping them.Tayyeb Karimi and Yazdan (surname unknown) were sentenced to death by the judge, who stipulated they be thrown from a height. -
8 February 2008Gay couple victims of intimidation campaign 3 In scenes reminiscent of Northern Ireland's sectarian past, a gay couple in the city of Londonderry have spoken out after a gang threatened to burn them out of their home.The couple, one of whom is disabled, have been the victims of an intimidation campaign by locals in the Creggan area of the city.Last month at Derry MP spoke out after an arson attack on the home of a gay couple in his constituency. -
8 February 2008Christian magistrate loses gay adoption appeal 2 A former magistrate who claimed unfair dismissal after he was told he could not pick and choose which adoption cases to rule on has had a second appeal rejected.He announced yesterday that following the decision of the Court of Appeal the issue "will not be debated further."In March 2007 Andrew McClintock's legal action against the Lord Chancellor, claiming that his Bible-influenced opinions should allow him to be excused from approving gay adoptions, was rejected by a Sheffield employment tribunal. -
8 February 2008Bishop must pay £47,000 compensation to gay man 6 An employment tribunal has ruled that the Bishop of Hereford must pay £47,345 in compensation to John Reaney, the gay man who brought a claim of discrimination claim against him.The case was supported and funded by Stonewall.Mr Reaney was interviewed by a panel of eight people for the post of Youth Officer in the Diocese of Hereford in summer 2006. -
7 February 2008Homophobic Islamic cleric to be extradited to US 5 Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri is be extradited to the United States to face terrorist charges, the Home Secretary has announced.In 2006 he was convicted and jailed for seven years by a British court on charges of inciting murder and race hate.His numerous lectures and sermons targeted homosexual vicars, the tourist industry, the Royal Family and women in bikinis. -
7 February 2008“Gay wedding” men released from jail in Senegal 5 A group of men arrested in Senegal on suspicion of homosexuality have been released from prison.Seven arrested last weekend in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, were released yesterday, according to Radio France Internationale.The arrests followed the publication in local magazine Icones photographs of a "marriage ceremony" between two Senegalese men.Sources report that the photographs were sold to the magazine by the photographer for 1,500,000 CFA francs (£1,500). -
7 February 2008Judge reduces hate church compensation payout 1 Westboro Baptist Church must pay $5m (£2.5m) in compensation to a soldier's father who sued them for protesting outside his son's funeral a judge has ruled.At an earlier hearing last October Albert Synder was awarded $10.9m for emotional distress and invasion of privacy.The Kansas church, led by Reverend Fred Phelps, is known for its protests at military funerals where its members attribute America's problems to its liberal stance towards homosexuality. -
6 February 2008Egypt accused of criminalising HIV positive gay men + Four men convicted last month by a court in Cairo of consensual homosexual sex are the victims of state prejudice against people with HIV, according to a leading human rights organisation.A series of arrests began when one man, challenged by police during a street altercation with another man, told officers he is HIV positive.Both were arrested and investigated for homosexual conduct and had to undergo anal examinations that would be used as "proof" they had sex, says Human Rights Watch. -
6 February 2008Alleged rape victim is HIV positive 1 A court at the Old Bailey has been told that a 26-year-old man who accused a BBC Radio 4 reporter of raping him is HIV positive.Nigel Wrench, 47, was open about his status and had made a documentary, Aids and Me about his experiences living with HIV and a later diagnosis of AIDS.He is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting the 26-year-old after inviting him back to his flat in north London after meeting him at a New Years party. -
6 February 2008Abercrombie store accused of displaying “obscene material” 1 An Abercrombie Fitch store in Virginia Beach, Virginia, will soon be decked out as it always has been, with black and white photos of half-naked boys and girls frolicking in fields.That's because the city officials plan to return a pair of promotional photographs, one of which shows a shirtless man wearing jeans that reveal the top of his buttocks and another which shows a topless woman whose hand is covering a portion of her breast, that were taken from the store last weekend after a police officer cited its manager with violating city code. -
5 February 2008Turkish gay group court challenge delayed 5 A group of supporters of a gay rights group threatened with closure have been accused of demonstrating outside a Turkish court.A department of the Istanbul Governor's office responsible for non-governmental organisations alleges that the group, Lambda Istanbul, violates Turkish laws on morality.They claim that Lambda violates both the Penal Code, as an association in violation of "law and morals," and Article 41 of the Turkish constitution, which is concerned with "the peace and welfare of the family." -
5 February 2008Men arrested in Senegal over “gay wedding” photos 5 Gay rights activists have called for a group of men arrested in Senegal on suspicion of homosexuality to be released from prison.In a letter to Senegalese Minister of Justice, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and PAN-Africa ILGA have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of up to 20 gay men.An unknown number have been arrested in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, since Sunday morning.
