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Slovenia legalizes same-sex marriage
Law imposes restrictions
Mon July 24, 2006
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Slovenia legalizes same-sex marriage
Law imposes restrictions
Mon July 24, 2006
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
http://wpherald.com/articles/493/1/Slovenia-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/Law-imposes-restrictions.html
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia--Slovenia has passed a law legalizing same-sex marriages
but put restrictions on the ceremony. The measure allowing gay and lesbian
couples to register their partnership went into effect Sunday, Belgrade's
B92 radio reported Monday. However, Slovenia's gay and lesbian
organizations, while welcoming the move as a concrete step, criticized the
law as "insufficient." The law limits the number of those attending
marriage ceremonies to two partners and a local community registration
official. No friends, relatives or any third person are allowed to attend
the ceremony, which can be held only in a state office. Same-sex partners
must register 30 days in advance, submitting documents proving they are
sane, healthy and unmarried.
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Contra Costa Times, CA, July 24, 2006
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/15110975.htm
Board to debate gay marriage
CONTRA COSTA: Supervisors will discuss resolution that backs unions and opposes ban
By Randy Myers, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors may take up one of the most hot-button political topics this fall as a resolution supporting gay marriage moves slowly toward the board's agenda. Two supervisors -- John Gioia and Mark DeSaulnier -- have said they would support the resolution, which endorses civil marriages and opposes a constitutional amendment to ban it on both the state and federal levels. But the measure will not likely be heard until at least September, when the board returns from its summer break. It will be in the thick of a midterm election season when the issue might figure prominently in races across the country. The resolution already received the endorsement of two county advisory panels, the Contra Costa Commission on Women and the county Human Relations Commission. Nine California counties, including Alameda County, have adopted similar resolutions.
The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors may take up one of the most hot-button political topics this fall as a resolution supporting gay marriage moves slowly toward the board's agenda. Two supervisors -- John Gioia and Mark DeSaulnier -- have said they would support the resolution, which endorses civil marriages and opposes a constitutional amendment to ban it on both the state and federal levels. But the measure will not likely be heard until at least September, when the board returns from its summer break. It will be in the thick of a midterm election season when the issue might figure prominently in races across the country. The resolution already received the endorsement of two county advisory panels, the Contra Costa Commission on Women and the county Human Relations Commission. Nine California counties, including Alameda County, have adopted similar resolutions.
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Gays want street in Rome
25/07/2006
Wanted in Rome
http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/news.php?id_n=2088
The gay community of Rome, represented by the organisation Arcigay, has put forward a request for a gay area near of the Colosseum. The aim is to have a specific space set aside - along the lines of Marais in Paris and Cheuca in Madrid - where the homosexual and lesbian communityies can meet, organise cultural exchanges and promote the gay arts. "Rome is lagging behind other major European capitals in that it has no area set aside for the gay community," says Fabrizio Marrazzo, president of Arcigay. He points out that Paris, London, Manchester, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon, Brussels, Stockholm, Cologne, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal, Sidney and Cape Town all have areas set aside specifically for the gay community.
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McKELLEN'S GAY MILITARY APPOINTMENT
25/07/2006 12:31
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/mckellens%20gay%20military%20appointment_1003491
Openly gay actor SIR IAN MCKELLEN has side-stepped the American armed forces "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals recruits, after being made an honorary lieutenant colonel in the national guard during a recent trip to Atlanta, Georgia.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS actor who has always been very vocal about his sexuality since coming out in the 1980s, was given the title whilst promoting recent movie THE DA VINCI CODE. The 67-year-old hopes the recognition bestowed upon him by the governor of Georgia will encourage more gay men in the military to be open about their sexuality. He tells the New York Daily News, "I was in Atlanta doing press for The Da Vinci Code - and they wanted to honour me. The governor made me a lieutenant colonel. "So the Don't ask, don't tell' rule obviously doesn't apply to me. I have a lovely certificate hanging in my office. So inadvertently, they made me the poster child for having openly gay people in the military."
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072406kids.htm
Teach Preschoolers About Gay Families Educators Say
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 24, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET
(London) Britain's National Union of Teachers has told the government that combating homophobia in schools must begin at the earliest levels. The NUT, the UK's largest teaching union, made the proposal in a reply to a government policy paper that sets out early learning goals. The union said it supported the Department for Education and Skills' Early Years Foundation Stage proposals that recommendteachers be trained to deal with gender stereotyping."There will be parents who are gay or lesbian who will want to
be reassuredthat their children will be safe in the setting," the government paper
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-religion-politics-usa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
July 25, 2006
Religious Left Gears Up to Face Right Counterpart
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:12 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The religious right, which helped re-elect PresidentBush in 2004 by rallying opposition to abortion and gay marriage, is nowfacing a pushback from the religious left. With a faith-based agenda of their own, liberal and progressive clergy from various denominations are lobbying lawmakers, holding rallies and publicizing their positions. They want to end the Iraq war,
ease global warming, combat poverty, raise the minimum wage, revamp immigration laws,and prevent ``immoral'' cuts in federal social programs.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072406ohio.htm
GOP Candidate Compares Gays To Arsonists, Kleptomaniacs
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 24, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET
(Columbus, Ohio) Ohio's largest LGBT civil rights organization is demanding an apology from GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell after he compared gays to criminals in a newspaper interview. Asked by the Columbus Dispatch if homosexuality is a sin and if it can becured Blackwell said: "I think homosexuality is a lifestyle, it's a choice, and that lifestyle can be changed. I think it's a transgression againstGod's law, God's will. The reality is again ... that we make choices all thetime. And, I think you make
good choices and bad choices in terms of lifestyle. Our expectation is that one's genetic makeup might make one more inclined to be an arsonist, or may make one more inclined to be akleptomaniac. Do I think that can be changed? Yes."
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072406mtlAdv.htm
Montreal Set To Welcome Gay World
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 25, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
(Montreal) Montreal this week will host one of the biggest, and possibly most important, international LGBT civil rights conferences
ever held. The International Conference on LGBT Human Rights will be opened by Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights and a former Canadian Supreme Court Justice. The conference is expected to bring together 2000 people from around the world to discuss LGBT human rights - from essential rights to global issues.Conference organizers extended special invitations to 315-people involved inLGBT rights in world hotspots. Their expenses will be covered by a Canadian government grant.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072406hiv.htm
HIV+ Young People Prepare For National 'Get Tested' Campaign
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
July 24 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(State College, Pennsylvania) Half of all new HIV infections occur in youths and this fall a group of young people will tell their peers in 25 states toget tested.The idea is the brainchild of Who's Positive, a national non-profit organization which highlights the reality of living with HIV throughfirst-hand accounts of young adults coping with the disease.Called Operation Get TestedBeginning on Oct. 15, on National Latino HIV Awareness Day, six HIV positiveyouth and five staff will board a 12-person sleeper tour bus to embark on a 48-day trip, ending on Dec. 1 - World AIDS Day.
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http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/07/072406ads.htm
In Wake Of Setbacks LGBT Groups Launch Marriage Ad Campaign
by The Associated Press
July 24, 2006 - 9:00 pm ET
(New York City) Three major gay-rights groups are taking out full-page advertisements starting Tuesday in 50 newspapers nationwide declaring their determination to keep fighting for same-sex marriage rights despite recent court setbacks.The media campaign will cost $250,000; its organizers said it was thelargest-ever purchase of print advertising space by gay rights supporters.
Roberta Sklar of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said the ads would run in papers around the country, from The New York Times to The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to gay weeklies in Houston, Atlanta and San Diego.
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Latvia - Neo-Nazis terrorise Riga Gay Pride rally
Armed guards called in to protect gays and lesbians
Homophobic threats declared a 'state secret' for five years
Peter Tatchell reports from Riga, Latvia - 22 July 2006
"Neo-Nazi, Christian fundamentalist and extreme nationalist
protestersterrorised participants at the Gay Pride rally in the Latvian
capital off Riga last Saturday (22 July 2006). "Private armed guards were
drafted in to provide security, after the Latvian police repeatedly failed
to halt the aggression of the homophobic mob," said gay human rights
campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage! London. Mr Tatchell attended and spoke
at Riga Pride, at the invitation of the organisers, the Latvian LGBT rights
group, Mozaika. He witnessed first-hand what happened there.
[Contact us at rays.list@comcast.net if you woud like the full article]
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Personal story by Laris Grava,
Alliance of LGBT People and their Friends
"Mozaika", co-founder:
Dearest friends:
I am writing this in English since the story needs to be told far and wide.This is the story from my perspective. Everyone else who was there will haveother stories to share.Gaston and I are safe after yesterdayâ?Ts well-organized fascist attacks againstthe lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Riga during Pride.We are shocked by the hatred that manifested itself yesterday, but we arethrilled by the positive energy that we found among so many friends andsupporters.Our organization Mozaika, an alliance of lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgendered persons and their friends, of which Gaston is chairman, organized a series of events from July 19 to July 22 called Friendship Days, includingplanning a Pride march. While the various seminars and other
events weresuccessful and crucially important in raising and discussing the concerns of the LGBT community in Latvia and internationally, the Riga City Councilprohibited the Pride march from taking place on Saturday. The formal reason was security considerations, but it is crystal clear that there was immense pressure from very homophobic and hateful segments of society,
including theLatvian Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church, the Baptists, fundamentalistsects like New Generation and Good Tidings, the Christian fascist politicalparty of Latvia's First Partyâ? (of which the Minister of the Interior is a member), radical organizations like â?oNo Prideâ?, the National Bolsheviks,and the National Force Union.
(Contact us at rays.list@comcast.net if you would like the full article.)
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Slovenia legalizes same-sex marriage
Law imposes restrictions
Mon July 24, 2006
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
http://wpherald.com/articles/493/1/Slovenia-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/Law-imposes-restrictions.html
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia--Slovenia has passed a law legalizing same-sex marriages but put restrictions on the ceremony.The measure allowing gay and lesbian couples to register their partnership went into effect Sunday, Belgrade's B92 radio reported Monday. However, Slovenia's gay and lesbian organizations, while welcoming the move as a concrete step, criticized the
law as "insufficient." The law limits the number of those attending marriage ceremonies to twopartners and a local community registration official. No riends, relativesor any third person are allowed to attend the ceremony, which can be held only in a state office.
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Gay bashers arrested after parade attack
Jul 24, 2006
By TBT staff
The Baltic Times
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/15944/
RIGA - A total of 14 people have been detained for attacks on representatives of sexual minorities in the Latvian capital Riga on Saturday during the gay and lesbian pride festival.National Police spokeswoman Sintija Kajina told the Baltic News Service that
13 of the detainees face administrative charges, while a criminal proceeding will be started against one person who was detained. The charges stem from an attack on gay and lesbian people who attended a service at the Anglican Church in Riga as part of the Friendship Days festival held last week.
