Law
- Law
-
29 August 2007Transexual loses birth certificate court appeal + An Australian transsexual has lost a Federal Court appeal to have her birth certificate changed to alter her sex from male to female.The woman, referred to as AB, completed her surgery to become female in April 2002.AB, from Victoria, appealed to state's Federal Court in July 2005 to have her birth certificate changed from male to female. -
28 August 2007Project tackles LGBT domestic abuse in Scotland 1 On Thursday a pilot project which aims to tackle the problem of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people facing domestic abuse in Scotland will be launched.The Scottish government is funding the project as part of its national strategy on domestic abuse.There are at least 500,000 LGBT people living in Scotland. -
28 August 2007Venice offers home to Iranian lesbian facing deportation 12 The city of Venice has supported the decision of the Italian government to offer asylum to a lesbian due to be deported back to Iran today.Pegah Emambakhsh is currently being detained by British officials. -
28 August 2007AIDS fundraiser claims he was sacked for not being gay + In a major twist to a discrimination case, former executive director of AIDS/LifeCycle charity filed suit in a Los Angeles courthouse against two nonprofit organisations alleging that he was fired from his position because he was not gay.The L.A. -
27 August 2007Vermont takes first steps toward marriage equality + The Vermont, United States, Legislature may soon take up the issue of 'gay marriage', if the formation of a recent commission is any indication.According to Associated Press reports, the ten-member commission was formed to decide whether the state should consider allowing same-sex couples to marry (civil unions were legalized in 2000). -
24 August 2007US tax authorities in court over trans rebate 3 Lawyers for a woman who is claiming that her gender reassignment surgery should be written off for tax purposes as a legitimate medical expense have questioned the credibility of a government witness.The US Internal Revenue Service contend that such surgery is not "essential" and therefore cannot be tax-free.Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, a 63-year-old former sailor, is having her case heard in Boston. -
24 August 2007Analysis: US gay men and the fight for same-sex marriage 6 The proportion of American gay men calling for the right to marry their partners in a church is as low as 36 per cent, Community Marketing Inc.'s Gay Consumer Index has revealed.The study, which interviewed 12,044 gay men across America, claims to be the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. -
23 August 2007Persecution claims fail to halt deportation + The Canadian Border Services Agency has refused to back down in the face of claims its deportation of a young Mexican man will condemn him to persecution and violence.Leonardo Zuniga, 25, arrived in Canada in 2004, filing an unsuccessful refugee claim that was appealed.Since then he has been a model citizen, volunteering with various Toronto social agencies and picking up an award for photography and queer activism. -
22 August 2007Legal challenge to pink prison uniforms + The American state of South Carolina's prisons director has defended a two-year-old policy of making detainees who perform sex acts in front of prison officers wear pink.An inmate has brought a lawsuit, claiming the colour pink puts prisoners in danger.The punishment is designed to protect female prison staff from sexual behaviour. -
22 August 2007Nigeria ‘gay wedding’ accused will not face death penalty 21 A group of men arrested at a hotel in northern Nigeria and initially accused of sodomy have appeared in court charged with "indecent dressing" and vagrancy.18 men were charged and five were bailed, causing disturbances by Muslim youths on the streets of the city of Bauchi.The men, who were detained by police earlier this month, come from different parts of Nigeria and were allegedly dressed in women's clothes.
-
22 August 2007Gay groups challenge California gay marriage ban + In briefs filed last week with the California Supreme Court, a coalition of gay groups contend that California violates its own constitution by denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry."When two people fall in love and decide to get married, they are saying to the world, 'this is my family; this is my dream for the future,'" Tamara Lange, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a release.The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Centre for Lesbian Rights and Lambda Legal filed the briefs.
-
21 August 2007Iranian lesbian deportation delayed 57 An Iranian lesbian who has been denied refuge by the British government is due to be deported to Tehran this month, where she faces almost certain death.Pegah Emambakhsh is currently being detained by British officials.If she does return to Iran on 28th August as planned, her sexual orientation and her past life in Iran may lead to her being executed. -
21 August 2007Chilean court delivers controversial sodomy conviction 2 Gay rights activists in Santiago, northern Chile are outraged by a recent sodomy conviction in a Chilean court, stating that it is evidence of a bias against homosexuals in Chilean law.The Santiago Times reported last week that a panel of judges in Antofagasta, Region II, had found a 47-year-old labourer guilty of sodomising a 17-year-old male.Because the accused had no previous criminal record, the court sentenced him to 41 days in jail - far less than the 541-day jail term prosecutors had recommended.
-
20 August 2007Frisch’s Gaydar millions left to ex-partner + Gary Frisch, the co-founder of Gaydar who fell to his death in February, left an estate worth more than £6.5m.Mr Frisch, originally from South Africa, established Gaydar with his business partner and then-boyfriend Henry Badenhorst in 1999. -
20 August 2007Major law firm settles orientation discrimination case + One of the best-known names in the 'magic circle' of law firms has settled a claim of sexual orientation discrimination.A former partner at Clifford Chance made his claim in November. -
20 August 2007New Jersey voters want gay marriage 1 A new poll suggests residents of New Jersey overwhelmingly favour allowing gay couples to marry.According to the Zogby poll, released late week, 63% of New Jersey voters would not be upset if the state's Legislature upgraded its recently enacted civil unions law to allow for full marriage equality for same-sex couples.Just 31% of those surveyed said they would be upset by such a change.
-
16 August 2007Iranian teenagers spared death penalty for gay abuse 1 A court in Tehran has spared two teenagers found guilty of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy from hanging.US gay rights activist Michael Petrelis reports that the the judges of Branch 74 of Tehran province's general criminal court ruled that the teenagers, Ahad and Milad, had not reached mental maturity and instead sentenced them to ten years in prison.In front of the five judges, the teenagers first admitted that they lured the boy into a house.
-
16 August 2007Brazilian football’s gay rumours land judge in trouble + Football is for real men, not gays.That was the stance Brazilian judge Manoel Maximiniano Junqueira Filho decided to take when making a ruling in a defamation case appearing before his bench.That may be his sentiments, but the law doesn't call for that sort of ruling and now the judge could face legal actions himself.The case was brought earlier this month by Richarlyson Barbosa Felisbino, a San Paulo player. -
14 August 2007Birmingham HIV+ rapist imprisoned + A judge at Birmingham Crown Court has given two men convicted of robbing and then raping their male victim indeterminate sentences.Daniel Myers, 20, of Barry Jackson Tower in Aston, was found guilty alongside Nikos Johnson, 26, of Rawling Street, Ladywood, of one charge of robbery and two of rape.The Birmingham Post reported that during the trial Myers revealed under cross-examination that he is HIV+. -
13 August 2007Catholic church cannot sack gay headteacher 2 Legal advice given to the Roman Catholic Church has made it clear that they cannot dismiss a primary school headteacher who has entered into a civil partnership.The Daily Telegraph reports that Charles Coyne, headteacher of a church school in Liverpool, last year was legally partnered with a fellow teacher at a nearby school.Some parishoners in the local area have reacted badly, and wanted action taken against him.
