World
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20 November 2006Gay penguin book sends parents flapping 3 A children's book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin has some St Louis area parents grumbling about the book's appropriateness for elementary students.Some have suggested And Tango Makes Three be moved from a general shelf in the school library to a restricted area where parental permission is needed in order for students to check out the books, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports. -
20 November 2006Victorian gays welcome local union registry + Victorian human rights group, Civil Union Action! (CUA), has welcomed Melbourne City Council's pledge to set up a relationship registry for same-sex couples, noting that the council acted because the State Government had failed to do so.CUA spokesman John Kloprogge said the council's scheme would provide evidence of a relationship, but could not fix discrimination at the state level. -
20 November 2006Campaigners back transgender rights + Gay activists in the US are today commemorating the International Transgender Day of Remembrance by reflecting on the loss of members of the transgender community due to hate or prejudice."The Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn time to reflect on those who have been murdered because of their gender identity or expression," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Centre for Transgender Equality (NCTE). -
20 November 2006Romney demands gay marriage vote 2 Outgoing Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is getting desperate in his attempt to leave an anti-gay legacy in the state.The Governor has previously called for a new debate on gay marriage laws in Massachusetts in the hope of rescinding the current law which makes it the only state to allow same sex couples to marry. -
17 November 2006More gay men seeking surrogacy 1 More single gay men are becoming fathers, according to surrogacy groups.Many of the single men choosing surrogacy today are gay, according to Gail Taylor, president of Growing Generations, a gay-and-lesbian-owned surrogacy agency in California.Ms Taylor revealed this fact during an interview for the Pioneer Press, a Minnesota newspaper. -
17 November 2006Delaware Court stumped over transgender inmate + Federal court officials in Delaware are trying to figure out where to place an HIV positive transgender inmate sentenced to two years in prison for passing counterfeit checks.The Associated Press reports that 33-year-old Tanya Bowie of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to passing some 300 counterfeit checks and was released.She was later caught passing 50 more bad checks. -
17 November 2006New Jersey approves same sex birth certificate + A lesbian couple in South Jersey won court approval this week to have both of their names listed as parents on their newborn's birth certificate, and the attorney general's office said it will no longer oppose such applications.The decision is one of the first implications of last month's state Supreme Court ruling that gives same-sex couples access to the same rights as married couples, the New York Times reports. -
17 November 2006MEP pushes for anti-gay discrimination laws + Dutch Green MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg has presented a proposal this week for a directive on anti-discrimination including sexual orientation and disability to the European Commission.The proposal is aimed to act as a blueprint for legislation to address unresolved issues concerning the unequal treatment of European citizens. -
17 November 2006Legal group backs gay-straight school club + The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida has filed a lawsuit against the School Board of Okeechobee County after school district administrators unlawfully prevented students who formed the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School (GSA) to meet on high school grounds.School officials denied official recognition to the GSA even though many other extracurricular clubs - including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Key Club, and the Rodeo team - are officially recognised and meet regularly on school grounds. -
17 November 2006Gay people wet the bed, the Pentagon says + Congressman Marty Meehan and the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association sent letters to the US Defence Department this week protesting a recently-revised military instruction which now suggests that homosexuality is a defect.Mr Meehan is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the APA's are professional associations whose members, combined, include more than 185,000 mental health professionals.
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16 November 2006Gay presenter quits “vulgar” Swedish show + A gay TV presenter has quit a Swedish television programme about LGBT lifestyles describing the show as "vulgar and tasteless."Sverker Åström, 90, a former Swedish Ambassador to the UN, has quit the show, entitled Boglobbyn (The Gay Lobby,) after just two episodes.The first broadcast was criticised after a report on cruising was described as shallow. -
16 November 2006Gay campaigners launch California marriage appeal + Lawyers in San Francisco along with Californian gay groups have this week asked the state Supreme Court to decide whether barring same-sex couples from marriage violates the California Constitution.It comes after Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee, South Dakota and Virginia all passed gay marriage bans in a ballot earlier this month. -
16 November 2006Anti-gay Christians ‘out of touch’ + Gay campaigners have criticised the "religious bigotry" of church groups in the US this week after Catholic bishops approved controversial guidelines on the treatment of gays and lesbians while other denominations have vowed to punish those acting too 'gay-friendly.'Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said the actions of several church groups undermines the work being done in some areas of Christianity to welcome gays and lesbians. -
15 November 2006Gay soldiers appeal US military ban 5 Twelve lesbian and gay veterans of the war on terror have filed a brief in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, in Massachusetts, challenging the constitutionality of the federal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service personnel.The case, Cook v Rumsfeld, was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Servicemembers Legal Defence Network (SLDN) and the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. -
15 November 2006Jerusalem gays to continue equality fight 23 Israeli gay campaigners have vowed to continue fighting for equality in Jerusalem after a gay pride rally in the capital city last week.A Hebrew University of Jerusalem stadium hosted 9000 people for a rally last Friday, despite weeks of anti-gay protests and threats of violence from ultra-Orthodox Jews in the area. -
15 November 2006Gay community not alone in fight for health insurance + Health insurance is a hot topic within the US gay and lesbian community these days, especially within the ongoing and progressively improving discussions surrounding domestic partnerships, civil unions and marriage for gay folk.The LGBT community isn't alone in its interest in the topic. -
15 November 2006Gay couple accuses British Airways of homophobia 1 A South African gay couple are demanding 80, 000 rand in damages and an apology from British Airways after claiming they were deliberately stopped from sitting together and alone because of their sexuality.Garrit Brown and Cecil Pickard, boarded a flight from Johannesburg to London in March and were told they could not be guaranteed a seat together and alone in economy class. -
15 November 2006African continent reacts to gay unions 10 The African continent is split after South Africa became the first country in the region to allow gay marriage.Religious leaders and homophobes have expressed disgust at the law, describing it as a sign of the end of the world, while gay groups have described the Civil Unions Act as a sign of progress. -
15 November 2006Gay activists oppose Martinez role + Gay campaigners have reacted angrily to the appointment of Mel Martinez as leader of the Republican Party.The Florida Senator was appointment as head of the Republican National Committee this week, but activists fear this will cause another rift in the relationship between the Republicans and the gay community. -
14 November 2006Africa allows gay weddings 10 The African continent is not known for gay rights, but South Africa has now created a landmark in the region after passing a law allowing same sex marriage.The Civil Unions Bill was passed today by 230 votes to 41, allowing the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnised and registered by either a marriage or civil union."
