Law
- Law
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4 January 2008New ‘divorce’ rights for Australian gay couples + Gay and de facto couples in Australia who break up are set to win the same property rights as married couples.Unmarried couples will be able to settle their differences in Family Court thanks to Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls, who won Commonwealth and state backing for the federal law to be changed.Previously these couples were obliged to split their assets in state courts, which were more costly, more complicated and took longer than the Family Court. -
3 January 2008Sperm donor child support case under review + A man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple and was subsequently made to pay child support has revealed that his case is being reviewed by the Child Support Agency.Andy Bathie, a 37-year-old fireman from London, provided sperm to civil partners Sharon and Terri Arnold.As this was a private arrangement not organised through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), he is legally the father. -
3 January 2008Straight bouncer wins damages from gay club 1 A heterosexual woman has been awarded more than £6,000 in damages from Bournemouth's largest gay nightclub.Sharon Legg, a 33-year-old mum of four, took her case to an employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal after being sacked without warning."I made this complaint for gay people, straight people, anyone who has ever been harassed.
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2 January 2008Police chief’s drugs stance attacked by MP 1 Labour MP Chris Bryant has attacked as "dangerous" views expressed by North Wales Police chief constable Richard Brunstrom that ecstasy is safer than tobacco, alcohol and aspirin.Mr Brunstrom told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the scare mongering around ecstasy was not borne out by fact."If you look at the government's own research you will find that ecstasy by comparison to many other substances, legal and illegal, is a comparatively safe substance," he said. -
1 January 2008“Murder squad” make arrest in connection with Kevin Greening’s death 2 Police from the Specialist Crime Directorate, dubbed by some the "murder squad" have arrested a man in connection with the death of the gay radio DJ Kevin Greening.The unamed man in his 50s was arrested at the address that Greening's body was found on Saturday evening. -
31 December 2007Gay man’s killer to be sentenced + A 42-year-old man who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the managing director of a research consultancy specialising in gay and lesbian issues will be sentenced next week.Tony Hoare, 49, was attacked in September as he walked his two Jack Russell dogs in Charlton Park, south east London.He was found unconscious and died shortly after being taken to hospital.
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31 December 2007California gay groups fight for protection at school + Two gay rights groups are seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by anti-gay organisations that would prevent enforcement of California statutes protecting students from discrimination, harassment and bullying in publicly-funded schools.Equality California and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network filed a motion to intervene in federal district court in San Diego to defend the California statutes that prohibit discrimination and harassment in publicly-funded schools, including the newly-enacted Student Civil Rights Act (SB 777). -
28 December 2007Uruguay’s President grants legal rights for gay couples 2 Uruguay has become the first Latin American country to to recognise same-sex civil unions after President Tabare Vazquez signed the law that had been passed earlier this month.The law grants cohabiting couples who have lived together for more than five years the same rights as straight married couples. -
28 December 2007Legal drug that turns into GHB on rise in gay club scene + The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs may recommend reclassifying gamma butyrlactone (GBL) to a class-C drug after a rise in use in the club scene.Unlike, gamma hydroxybutyrate, (GHB), which is illegal, GBL is perfectly legal and turns into GHB once in the blood stream. -
21 December 2007Court demands end to Nepal’s gay discrimination + Gay rights campaigners in the Himalayan nation of Nepal have spoken of their delight at a ruling by the Supreme Court legitimising gay rights.The court, hearing a petition from four activists, has ordered that the government not just overturn discriminatory laws but pass new ones protecting the rights of gay people.The harassment that lesbian, gay and trans people face in the country often comes at the hands of Maoist rebels. -
21 December 200717% of Florida LGB couples are raising children + Opponents of same-sex marriage in one of America's most populous states are confident they have gathered the more than 600,000 signatures needed to get a question on the November 2008 ballot calling for a ban on same-sex marriage.Florida4Marriage.org, a coalition of groups, has been trying to get the question on the ballot for three years.The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law has released a new research study providing demographic and economic information for the almost 55,000 same-sex couples in Florida. -
18 December 2007California court decision on same-sex marriage attracts interest + Still waiting for the California Supreme Court to declare whether or not marriage between people of the same sex is legal?You may want to get comfortable, because recent comments from Chief Justice Ronald George suggest it could take a while.George told the San Jose Mercury News earlier this week that the case currently before the court has attracted more "friend of the court" briefs than any other case in recent memory. -
13 December 2007Morocco pressured to drop gay convictions 2 The criminal verdicts in Morocco against six men sentenced to prison for homosexual conduct should be set aside and the men released, human rights activists said today.The court of first instance in Ksar el-Kbir, a small city about 120km south of Tangiers, convicted the men on December 10th of violating article 489 of Morocco's penal code.It criminalises "lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex." -
13 December 2007Spain recognises UK civil partnerships 172 A gay couple who took on the British and Spanish governments over the recognition of their civil partnership have won a major victory.Paul and Martin Ward signed the civil partnership register in Devon on Valentine's Day this year, having been advised that it would be recognised in Spain, where Paul lives.However, when the couple returned to Spain to live, they found out from the British Consul in Malaga that their civil partnership was not recognised in Spain. -
12 December 2007US court told prom dress ban was unconstitutional 1 Papers filed today in the Northern District Court of Indiana by an LGBT civil rights organisation argue that a high school violated a male pupil's rights under the First Amendment of the US constitution by barring him from his prom for wearing a dress.K.K. -
12 December 2007Men sentenced for Dubai rape of 15-year-old boy 1 Two men have been sentenced by a Dubai court to fifteen years in prison for raping a 15-year-old Western boy.One of the men is HIV positive. -
11 December 2007Gay club refuses entry to straight woman + A Dublin promoter has apologised and made a donation to charity after a woman was turned away from a gay night because she is heterosexual.Vera Donovan was "shocked and humiliated" at her treatment at Sin nightclub in the city's Temple Bar area, the Irish Independent reports.Eddie McGuinness, the promoter of the weekly Sin night, told the paper he has donated 200 euros (£143) to a charity of Ms Donovan's choice, the Dublin AIDS Alliance. -
10 December 2007Israel must recognise same-sex adoptive couples 1 The Interior Ministry of Israel was ordered by the country's Supreme Court yesterday to register overseas adoptions by same-sex parents.An American-Israeli lesbian couple who weren't registered as dual mothers of their son despite a Court's ruling took their case to the Supreme Court.Nicole and Ruti Berner Kadish's case was heard before a panel of nine High Court judges. -
8 December 2007Lesbian couple can not divorce in home state + A lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts are unable to get divorced in their home state of Rhode Island, the state's Supreme Court ruled yesterday.The three-to-two decision ruled that the state's family court does not have the ability to grant a divorce to gay couples as the state defines marriage as between a man and a woman. -
7 December 2007HIV+ navy priest gets two years for sex crimes 5 A Catholic Navy chaplain was sentenced to two years in jail on Thursday for forcible sodomy and failing to tell his sex partner that he was HIV positive.John Thomas Matthew Lee, a priest since 1993 and a military chaplain since 1996, decided to plead guilty before a military court at Marine Corps base Quantico in Virginia.The plea agreement, which included informing the authorities about every sex partner he ever had, meant that ten of the initial twelve-year sentence was suspended.
