Law
- Law
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17 October 2006Geeling murder shows ‘school homophobia’ 7 PinkNews ExclusiveA gay school equality group has accused the media of pandering to homophobia over the reporting of the murder of 11-year-old Joe Geeling.Sue Sanders, co-chair of Schools Out, who campaign for LGBT equality in education, said this case shows the problems of homophobia between schoolchildren.Michael Hamer was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for the murder of Joe Geeling in a case which appears to centre around a letter luring the boy to the killer's home. -
16 October 2006Hong Kong lowers gay age of consent 1 The Hong Kong government has agreed to lower the gay age of consent from 21 to 16.It comes after three judges at the Court of Appeal unanimously agreed last month that laws allowing a higher age of consent for homosexuals than for heterosexuals and lesbians were discriminatory and unconstitutional. -
13 October 2006Activists push for conscience clause in gay equality law 12 Religious leaders, academics and legal advisors have joined together to urge the government to protect freedom of conscience in the upcoming Sexual Orientation Regulations in the new Equality Act.The law, due next April, protects gays and lesbians from discrimination in the provision of goods and services, but critics have warned that the proposals infringe on religious beliefs. -
13 October 2006Judge considering lesbian marriage rights + The High Court in Dublin has reserved judgement today on a decision regarding whether a lesbian couple who married in Canada should have their rights recognised in Ireland.Over the last fortnight the court has heard arguments from Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan claiming discriminating against homosexuality can lead to clinical depression and that the current concept of marriage is outdated. -
13 October 2006Three men charged with hate crimes after gay attack + Three young men were charged with vicious hate crimes yesterday after they confessed to luring a gay man to a parking lot to rob him —and then chasing him into traffic on the Belt Parkway.John Fox, 19; Ilya Shurov, 20, and Gary Timmins, 16, were charged with assault and robbery—all as hate crimes—in Sunday's attack on Michael Sandy, a gay man from Brooklyn who was clinging to life last night, police said. -
13 October 2006Gay clubbing drug reclassified 5 The Government has moved to reclassify the highly-addictive popular gay clubbing drug crystal meth.An order was tabled in both Houses of Parliament yesterday to reclassify crystal methylamphetamine from Class B to Class A, following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) earlier this year. -
13 October 2006Northern Cyprus decriminalises homosexuality 1 Northern Cyprus is set to decriminalise homosexuality, bringing it in line with European Union (EU) laws and human rights in the rest of the country.Current laws in the Turkish Cypriot controlled part of the country regard homosexuality as "a crime against nature," but all is about to change after analysts said it is vital to make the change to bring the country into modern society. -
12 October 2006Killer sentenced to life for gay murder 2 A homophobic killer has been jailed for life after hacking a gay man to death with a meat cleaver.Clive Wood was found guilty by Stafford Crown Court of murder yesterday.Wood met his victim Francis Ryan at his flat in July last year and hit him round the head with a meat cleaver around 30 times, the jury heard. -
12 October 2006Foster’s con is bad news for Fijian gays and lesbians 1 Andrew M. -
12 October 2006Gay banker appeals HSBC judgement 4 A gay former senior banker has won the right to appeal an employment tribunal judgement that he was not sacked by HSBC because of his sexuality.Peter Lewis, who earned in the region of 1 million a year, was seeking 5 million in damages from the bank last June in what was seen as one of the biggest gay discrimination cases in the UK. -
12 October 2006Killer nearly sawed off lesbian’s head + A killer who nearly sawed his former lover's head off after she told him she was leaving him for a woman has been found guilty of murder.James Seaton, 46, is expected to be handed a life sentence for the murder of Jacqueline Queen last November.Seaton, from East Finchley, North London, attacked her with a hammer and a 12-inch knife after hearing he was being dumped for a woman, the court heard.
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11 October 2006Yobs jailed for Elton John fan attack 6 Two men who beat up an Elton John fan have been jailed.Henry Peters, 31, and Neil Wattley, 30, had hurled homophobic jibes at Graham Brydon as he walked home in a souvenir T-shirt after a concert by the singer.The pair attacked uncle and nephew Graham and John Brydon shouting "Elton John is f***ing gay" after Peters had spotted the official concert T-shirt Graham Brydon was wearing.
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11 October 2006Clinton backs gay partner benefits 3 New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton looks set to mend her topsy-turvy relationship with the gay community after backing same sex partner rights to insurance benefits.Mrs Clinton, who has previously been criticised for opposing same sex marriage, has put her name down as a sponsor for a bill brought forward by Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. -
10 October 2006Michigan Judge’s nomination halted over gay marriage ceremony + The nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff to the federal bench is on hold because she helped lead a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago, reports the Grand Rapids Press.Senator Sam Brownback, of Kansas, an opponent of gay marriage who has presidential aspirations, said he wants to know whether there was anything illegal or improper about the ceremony in Massachusetts.
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10 October 2006Contradictory gay proposals make Colorado ballot + Two proposals regarding same-sex couples that appear to contradictory to each other have made their way onto Colorado's November ballot.According to Colorado's Vail Daily, Referendum I proposes legalising domestic partnerships, which would confer a variety of rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples while amendment 43 would add a constitutional amendment defining marriage as "one man and one woman." -
10 October 2006Rhode Island lesbians marry out of state + A lesbian couple from Rhode Island who won the right to marry in Massachusetts because laws in their home state do not expressly prohibit same-sex marriage, tied the knot before friends and family in a ceremony held last weekend.After being denied a marriage license in Massachusetts, Wendy Becker and Mary Norton challenged a 1913 state law that prohibits out-of-state residents from marrying if the union would not be permitted in their home state. -
9 October 2006Gay marriage advocates vow to appeal California judgement + Advocates for gay rights in California plan to appeal a state appeals court decision to uphold a ban on same-sex marriage, the latest in a string of recent setbacks for same-sex marriage campaigners.In a 2-to-1 decision last week, a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals overturned a 2005 ruling by a lower court judge in San Francisco that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional.
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6 October 2006California rejects gay marriage + A California appeals court has dealt gay marriage supporters a severe blow after upholding the state's ban on same-sex marriages with a 2-1 vote.This latest defeat, following similar rulings in New York and Washington, supports California's 1977 law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
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6 October 2006Campaigners seek to stop homophobic incitement 1 Gay charity Stonewall has received around 10,000 of donations towards plans for a campaign to stop incitement of anti gay hatred.The lobby group want homophobic incitement to be included in the next Criminal Justice Bill, which would make it illegal for anti gay statements to be made on public platforms such as in musical lyrics or political campaigns. -
6 October 2006Transsexual jailed for assaulting mother + A transsexual has been jailed for 60 days after being convicted of assaulting her 84-year-old mother.Diane Wells, 52, was convicted of misdemeanour assault on her mother last May at Manhattan Criminal Court and is also subject to a civil lawsuit from her siblings who claim she bullied her parent.
