World
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20 September 2006US big banks recognised for LGBT achievements + JPMorgan Chase and PriceWaterhouseCoopers both received a prestigious 'Outie' Award last week from Out Equal Workplace Advocates for advancing a safe and equitable workplace for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) professionals.This year's Out and Equal Workplace Awards were presented during the 16th Annual Out Equal Workplace Summit, where a record-setting 1,723 attendees gathered to share best practices on how to achieve workplace equality for LGBT employees. -
20 September 2006Fears over anti gay pact. 57 Anglican bishops from developing countries are expected to agree on a pact this week condemning the ordination of gay clergy, according to Nigeria's Archbishop.The church of Nigeria's standing committee led by Peter Akinola in a message to the country said: ''The Church affirms our commitment to the total rejection of the evil of homosexuality which is a perversion of human dignity''. -
19 September 2006Moscow Gay Pride Ban goes to European Court + An appeals court in Moscow upholds a lower court ruling today, stating that banning May's gay pride parade was not illegal.However, Dmitry Bartenev, a lawyer representing the groups, told the Russian news agency Novosti, "We intend to appeal shortly with the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg to vindicate our rights, and also to lodge a complaint with the presidium of the Moscow City Court. -
19 September 2006US companies battle to become LGBT friendly + A record number of the largest US companies are increasingly competing to expand benefits and protections for their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).The HRC's Corporate Equality Index covers 446 companies and shows an unprecedented 138 major US organisations earned the top rating of 100 percent, an increase of 37 in one year and a tenfold growth in four years. -
19 September 2006Jerusalem gets gay pride march amid “holy war” threat 23 After months of struggles and a High Court petition, an agreement has been reached to allow a gay pride parade to be held in Jerusalem on November 10, prompting ultra orthodox groups to threaten "holy war."According to YNet News, the Jerusalem police, State Prosecution, the Jerusalem Municipality and gay rights groups reached an agreement on the issue yesterday during a three-hour talk in a Jerusalem compound. -
19 September 2006Gay father gains custody of his ‘neglected’ sons + A gay doctor in South Africa has been in court trying to obtain custody of his two sons so that they could live with him and his gay partner.The doctor, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, has been granted temporary custody of his children by the Johannesburg High Court last week. -
19 September 2006Teen Pleads Guilty to San Diego Gay Pride Attacks + A 15-year old suspect pleaded guilty yesterday to attacking several men leaving San Diego's gay pride Festival on July 29th.According to prosecutor Oscar Garcia, the 15-year old and two other men targeted six victims leaving the gay pride festival, attacking them with knives and baseball bats.
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19 September 2006Calls for UN to end homophobic persecution. + Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has called on the United Nations (UN) to initiate a global campaign to end the criminalisation of same sex relationships.The proposal comes on the day that world leaders descended upon New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly, and coincides with the warning by UN General Secretary Kofi Annan that ''if current patterns of alienation and violence persist much longer, there is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the midst of a full-scale civil war." -
19 September 2006South African Christians march against gay marriage 10 Thousands of Christians marched through South African cities last weekend protesting a bill that would make the nation the first on the continent to legalise gay marriage.The protests, spearheaded by the conservative African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), came before a parliamentary committee holds hearings on a bill today that would accord same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual ones. -
19 September 2006Poland’s president says his views on gays are misunderstood 2 Staunch Roman Catholic Polish President Lech Kaczynski says his views on issues such as gay people are misunderstood.Kaczynski, of the social conservative Law and Justice Party, made pledges upon taking office in December including making sure that Poland's traditional Roman Catholic values were not overwhelmed by the general European liberal viewpoint. -
19 September 2006Pressure to cancel US Buju Banton gig 7 LGBT campaigners have again demanded the cancellation of a concert due to be held this Wednesday at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado.Activists say the Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton hasn't repudiated a 1992 song that calls for violence against gays and lesbians, reports Rocky Mountain News. -
19 September 2006San Diego Gay Pride attackers in court + The six men accused of attacking six men leaving San Diego's Gay Pride festival in July may be agreeing to plea bargains in court today, their prosecutors and lawyers said yesterday.The case yesterday was to be presented to a San Diego Superior Court judge to decide whether there is enough evidence against them for a trial.
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19 September 2006Secret gay sex in the city + Nearly one in ten straight New Yorkers are having same sex relations, according to New York city health officials.The survey was carried out in 2003 with the results published in today's Annals of Internal Medicine. -
18 September 2006Berlin’s gay mayor re-elected while Nazis rise in North + Last weekend's regional elections in Germany provided both positive and negative results for the country's Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.Berlin's gay mayor the Social Democrat Klaus Wowereit, has been re-elected with 31.5% of the vote, but worryingly there also occurred a resurgence of Neo Nazi voting in the north of the country. -
18 September 2006Indian academics condemn anti-gay law. + More than 100 leading figures of literature, film and academia in India rallied this weekend against a colonial-era law which makes homosexuality a criminal offence.Included in amongst the 100 influential signatories were the Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, and the Booker prizewinner Arundhati Roy. -
18 September 2006Schwarzenegger accused of acting inconsistently with gay rights legislation + Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger is being accused of acting inconsistently when legislating gay rights.Equality California, the gay rights group, hailed the passage of 14 bills in 2005-06, as "breaking the record for the most lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights bills ever passed by a state legislature in our nation's history." -
18 September 2006Military gay policy opposition grows + As LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) advocacy groups increase their efforts to garner support against the federal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members, the list of Members of Congress in favour of a repeal continues to grow.This week, US Representative.
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18 September 2006Virginia’s gay community opposes proposed gay marriage amendment + The gay community made for a colourful group, hard to miss as they marched the near-empty streets of downtown Roanoke, Virginia on Sunday morning.Armed with bundles of rainbow-coloured balloons and homemade banners -- "love makes a family," and "Virginia is for lovers, some restrictions apply" -- Virginia's gay community chanted, "Vote 'no,' Virginia! Vote 'no,' Virginia!"
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14 September 2006Canada considers gay marriage debate 1 Canada's conservative government could introduce legislative changes to enhance protections for those who oppose same-sex marriage on religious or moral grounds if Members of Parliament don't pass a motion to re-open the contentious debate.According to The Calgary Sun, the motion, which stems from an election pledge by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is expected to give MPs a clear-cut question on whether or not Parliament should revisit the issue—not poll the moral stand of each MP on gay marriage. -
14 September 2006Historic gay rights activist dies 1 Tyron Garner, one of two men whose 1998 arrests led to a US Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on sodomy, has died, according to a spokesman for the legal firm that represented him.According to the Associated Press, Garner died early on Monday at a Houston hospital.
