Law
- Law
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1 February 2008Judge to be investigated over treatment of HIV+ witness 3 The Ontario Judicial Council has received complaints from HIV advocacy groups in Canada after a judge demanded that a witness with the virus wore a mask when giving evidence.The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the HIV and AIDS Legal Clinic are calling for an investigation into Barrie judge Jon-Jo Douglas' conduct on November 23rd last year.When a witness who has Hepatitis C and is HIV-positive took the stand, Judge Douglas told the Crown counsel: "I mean, he speaks within two feet of me with two serious infectious diseases." -
1 February 2008Bail for sauna rape suspect + Police in Manchester have bailed a man arrested on suspicion of rape.Shortly after 2.30am on Tuesday police received reports that a man had been raped at the Basement Complex, a gay sauna on Tariff Street."An investigation was launched and a 31-year-old man from the Miles Platting area was arrested on suspicion of rape on Wednesday 30 January 2008," Greater Manchester Police said in a statement. -
31 January 2008Man arrested on suspicion of sauna rape + Police in Manchester have confirmed they have made an arrest in relation to the alleged rape in a gay sauna in the city centre earlier this week.Shortly after 2.30am on Tuesday police received reports that a man had been raped at the Basement Complex on Tariff Street.An investigation was launched and a 31-year-old man from the Miles Platting area has been arrested on suspicion of rape. -
31 January 2008Gay group faces court challenge in Turkey 1 Efforts by Turkish officials to close one of the country's leading LGBT organisations will resume in court today.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." -
29 January 2008Police investigate alleged rape in gay sauna + Officers from the Greater Manchester police have sealed off an area in the centre of the city around a gay sauna.It is thought their investigations focus on the Basement Sauna on Tariff St.A rape reportedly took place at around 02:00 this morning.Anyone with information has been asked to contact police, who have interviewed the victim of the alleged attack. -
25 January 2008Heath Ledger’s final hours revealed + The facts around Heath Ledger's final hours continue to emerge while friends and family wait for the official cause of his death to be determined.As the details of Ledger's funeral arrangements continue to be worked out, Hollywood and the world mourns for the loss of the talented actor.Media reports spun across the Net since Ledger was found dead on Tuesday have been strewn with inaccuracies and wild speculation. -
24 January 2008Interview: How to achieve workplace equality + Earlier this month gay equality organisation Stonewall published its 2008 Workplace Equality Index, showcasing Britain's top 100 employers for gay people.The top 100 were ranked according to criteria ranging from implementation of effective equality policies to practical demonstration of good practice in recruitment, how they engage with lesbian and gay staff, customers and service users.240 employers entered the 2008 Index. -
23 January 2008Charges considered over teen water polo photos 11 Prosecutors in Orange County, California are investigating whether they can bring any charges against a university employee who took pictures of teenage water polo players and then posted them on gay porn sites.The man, reported to be a police dispatcher at the University of California Irvine, is not under formal investigation.As the photos were taken at public sporting events, he may be protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. -
23 January 2008Prosecutors to review hate crimes procedures 5 The Crown Prosecution Service is to examine the way in which hate crimes are dealt with.CPS Direct, the department responsible for charging suspects out of hours, has initiated a Hate Crime Scrutiny.It will review how CPS Direct advises the police on domestic violence, disability, homophobic, racist and religiously aggravated crime. -
23 January 2008Lawyers win compensation for bereaved gay man + A law firm that specialises in cases involving motorcycles has won a £30,000 settlement for the same-sex partner of a man killed in an accident.White Dalton Motorcycle solicitors successfully argued in court that the Civil Partnership Act meant that David Burke was entitled to a dependency claim and the statutory bereavement claim after the death of his partner.Nick Routh, a partner at White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors, said: "The general elements of the claim were not large."
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23 January 2008Trans truck driver begins legal action against employers 2 A transsexual who claims she was hounded out of her job as a trucker after she began her transition from her former male gender is seeking thousands of pounds in damages from her former employer.Vikki-Marie Gaynor, 37, from Wallasey in Wirral, is bringing a sexual discrimination claim against Exel Europe, part of delivery giant DHL, and recruitment agency Blue Arrow.An employment tribunal in Liverpool is hearing the case.
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22 January 2008Euro Court rules gay couples eligible to adopt 6 The European Court of Human Rights has ruled refusing gay couples the right to adopt a child because of their sexual orientation is discriminatory and in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights.Today the Grand Chamber delivered its judgement on gay adoption in the case of E.B. -
22 January 2008Gay Argentine leaders will fight to have marriage recognised + The leaders of the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina married in Madrid on Monday.The two leaders of the leading gay rights organisation in Argentina have married in Madrid, under the law which allows same-sex couples to marry in Spain. -
22 January 2008European court to rule on gay adoption 6 The European Court of Human Rights will this week rule on whether the French authorities were right to refuse to allow a lesbian couple to adopt a child.The ruling will have an impact on gay adoption laws throughout Europe.A woman identified as EB, a 45-year-old French nursery school teacher, had been living with R, a psychologist, since 1990.
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21 January 2008Teen sports pictures found on gay porn sites 1 Parents and politicians in southern California have condemned sexually explicit gay websites which feature photos of teenage boys playing water polo.An investigation by the Orange County Register discovered photographs of players from eleven high schools in the area, some as young as 14, posted next to naked images of young men on a website registered in London.Players from other California high schools were also found. -
21 January 2008Cuban law may recognise same-sex partners, say officials 2 The Cuban Communist Party is considering granting legal recognition to same-sex unions, as health officials prepare to authorise sex-change operations, the director of the Cenesex sex education centre in Cuba has said.The proposed change to Cuban family law would put members of same-sex unions on a par with heterosexual couples, psychologist Mariela Castro, who is the daughter of acting President Raul Castro and niece of Fidel, told EFE. -
18 January 2008Bar staff convicted of vicious assault 2 The co-owner of the Fridge Bar in Brixton, south London, has been convicted along with members of staff of violent disorder and attempted grievous bodily harm.Bar cashier Victor Reid, 41, from Brixton, doorman Frederick Mallefroy, 43, from Ilford in Essex and bar co-owner Ralph Daley, 45, of Purley, set upon a man in his twenties as he tried to gain entry to the bar in November 2006.The Fridge Bar and adjoining club have in the past hosted many well-known gay events. -
18 January 2008Teletubbies makers pay compensation to “faggot” actor + Ragdoll Limited, who make the Teletubbies have been ordered by an employment tribunal to pay 2000 pounds to an actor who was called a "faggot" by a fellow cast member.However, Issac Blake, 28, from Cardiff lost the majority of his case after being sacked as an actor for the BBC children's programme In the Night Garden. -
17 January 2008Robbers who posed as gay jailed for five years + Two men who pretended they were gay so that they could rob a man they met in a nightclub have been sentenced to five years at Bristol Crown Court.Benjamin Butler, 29, and Matthew Wyatt, 33, duped John Gibbs at the Vibe club in Bristol before going back to his flat where they threatened him with a knife, stole his money and tied him up.The pair then fled, leaving Mr Gibbs imprisoned in his flat.
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17 January 2008Gay airport guard claims sexual harassment + A gay security guard at Heathrow airport was harassed by a female colleague for sex, an employment tribunal heard yesterday.Allwyn Rondeau, 46, who lives in Feltham, Middlesex with his partner of 15 years, told the tribunal how he had rejected 42-year-old Lucy Chilton's persistent advances time and time again because he was gay, but she would not give up.The tribunal heard that on one occasion Miss Chilton "stuck her bum in the air saying 'come on give it to me'", according to The Daily Express.
