News & Opinions
2.1 seconds in Hell
Apr 19th
An MP’s hilarious yet touching speech in New Zealand’s parliament about legislation that legalised same-sex marriage in the country has become an internet hit.
+191Congrats, New Zealand
Apr 17th
One more country joined the club of the fabulous :) Go ahead and watch this touching video.
Found by Dave, thanks :)
+145The Gay Orals
Mar 29th
Meanwhile, America is still discussing if they should stop discriminating people or not.
Video might take a few seconds to load+35Bashed by the Police
Mar 8th
A press photographer caught what a troubling incident of police brutality on Saturday night on camera, as a reveler at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was assaulted by a cop. Read on…
0UK becomes a bit more equal
Feb 8th
After Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Sweden the UK finds itself in a race with France to become the 12th place in the world where marriage equality becomes a nation-wide reality. Channel 4 used the opportunity to air a segment about Britain’s changing attitudes towards gay rights.
Some minor legal inequalities will remain under the proposed marriage equality legislation in the UK though as, the Guardian points out:
Those who draft the parliamentary bills have been unable to define what constitutes consummation of a same-sex union. Consequently there is no provision for divorce on the grounds of non-consummation of a gay marriage.
That problem also means that same-sex couples who wish to divorce will not be able to cite adultery with someone of the same sex – the civil servants similarly struggled to find a definition of adultery between two men or two women. Adultery will, nonetheless, be a permitted grounds for divorce if it follows sexual intercourse between one of the couple and someone of the opposite sex. That, at least, is consistent with existing marriage laws: if a man decides he is gay and leaves his wife for a man, she can divorce him for unreasonable behaviour but not adultery, which is defined as sexual intercourse.
0“Nobody is created gay”
Jan 25th
Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association has attacked President Obama’s inauguration speech in which he referred to the importance of the gay rights movement, and said that it is “ludicrous” for gay people to expect equal rights, because “nobody is created gay.” Read on…
0Young Voices & Bad Grammar
Jan 18th
It’s baffling how there are people still discussing this when it’s so easy to look at the countries already having marriage equality and realising that they do a lot better than the countries that don’t.
+3Mass Protest against Gay Rights in France
Jan 14th
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Paris protest against the country’s upcoming bill which would allow equal marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. Authorities previously estimated that on Sunday evening, 120,000 people took to the streets of Paris to protest, but have now placed the figure closer to 340,000. Organisers of the protest had estimated numbers at 800,000, many protesters coming in to Paris for the event, the BBC reports.
Demonstrators carried placards which read “We don’t want your law, Francois” and “Don’t touch my civil code”. Three big marches were converging on the Champs de Mars, next to the Eiffel Tower. The protest was organised by the centre right opposition, representatives of the Catholic Church, Muslim and Jewish groups.
French president Hollande has pledged to push through the law with his Socialists’ parliamentary majority but a campaign by opponents has dented public support and forced deputies to put off a plan to allow lesbian couples access to artificial insemination.
According to a recent poll by YouGov support for marriage equality is the lowest in France (51%) among the big European countries. Only 38% of French people want same-sex couples to be able to adopt. In Britain 55% support gay marriage and 53% are in favour of gay couples adopting kids. Sweden has the highest approval ratings for gay marriage (80%) and gay adoption (65%) across Europe.
Studies have shown that kids in same-sex families do just as well as their peers in straight families and countries like Sweden or The Netherlands where both gay marriage and adoption are legal since more than a decade are still growing and even doing better than countries without these basic rights in almost all regards.
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