Mentioned earlier this year, it seems Portugal might soon become the sixth European country to allow same-sex marriage. Back in January, their Parliament passed a gay marriage bill with the support from their left-of-center parties.

And in even better news, this past Thursday, Portugal’s highest court ruled that the proposed law should be enacted! This now leaves only their conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who has the power to ratify or veto, to decide within the next 20 days.

The president’s signature is the final step before their country can be free to have the equal rights they all deserve.

Original posting: http://perezhilton.com/2010-04-09-portugal-might-soon-allow-gay-marriage

Baldwin, brother of Alec, Daniel and Billy, is a born again Christian, with a history of drug and alcohol addiction.

During the interview Baldwin is asked how he’d react if one of his daughters became a lesbian, and the other a stripper.

“Jesus or no Jesus, if my kid started working in a strip club, I’d beat her ass,” he says, in a very un-Christian-like fashion. “Now, the other question is interesting and culturally relevant. I have two or three very dear friends who are homosexual and they know I’m born again and we have an understanding that we’re just not going there…”

The journalist writes: “For the next 20 minutes, we have an intense discussion – argument, really – during which Stephen reveals that he’s all for gay men who, through their faith, reject their homosexuality and get married: ‘To turn away from that lifestyle is astonishing.’ Yes, Stephen, it is. And he’s definitely not for gay marriage.”

When the journalist asks about gay marriage, he says: “I believe that the family unit has fundamentally been the most positive thing for society and I don’t believe that any minority has the right to create changes that impact on the majority. That’s really the only issue for me.”

In the past Baldwin has said that gay marriage is not in line with God’s word, and that homosexuality is not normal and should be kept out of the public education system.

In 2008 Stephen’s brother Alec criticised Stephen’s views in an interview with The Advocate, saying: “Well, in the modern political world, people like that – whether or not I’m related to them – only help us raise money. They want to ban gay marriage because those people are incapable of having a biological family – that’s their only argument. You can ban gay marriage, but if you’re going to make it fair, then you have to ban marriage for everybody else who won’t produce children. But they just single out groups of people that they hate.”

Original Source Text:

www.samesame.com.au

The guy obviously is a smooth politician. He refuses to come out and say he supports the ban on gays serving openly in the military, even though his scorecard from the anti-gay Massachusetts Family Institute says otherwise.

As unsurprised as I am by a Republican not supporting LGBT rights and equality, the thing that worries me most about this type of non-commitment to an issue, is that as so many times, using the the “religious right” as an example, those who take a stand against LGBT equality, don’t do it directly, but rather they tend to blame their homophobia and/or bigotry on a higher power, or in the case of the religious right, God. Anti-gay people tend to blame their dislike of LGBT’s on things outside of their own character.  They don’t want to label themselves as a “bigot” so they rely on outside influences to pardon their intolerance.  In this case, Brown appears to be saving his “reason” to support maintaining the ban on the higher power of military leaders.

In his interview with Walters, he states he’s going to leave the decision of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” up to leaders in the field…almost as though he has a blatant disregard for the fact he serves as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard.

My direct impression is Scott Brown, simply put, is a coward, not wanting to admit his stance against LGBT equality and looking for a “reason” to display his homophobia. There’s not a lot of gray area here, either you believe LGBT deserve the right to serve openly in the military or you don’t. Waiting for others to exhale your intolerance shows a lack of character and integrity. My direct impression is that Scott Brown is no different from any other anti-gay Republican politician, seeking others to blame his homophobia on. I think it’s time for Scott Brown to “man-up” and come on out of the anti-gay closet. He needs to go on record as another Republican who hates the gays. He may become a little more respectable if he’s honest.

Original Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Lynch’s manager has not confirmed if the reports are true, telling Access this week that, “Jane is currently in a relationship and there is no related news to that relationship.”

Lynch, 49, is also known for roles in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Two And A Half Men.

Embry was successfully involved in a high-profile same-sex custody lawsuit in Florida last year, for which she won the National Centre For Lesbian Rights’ Justice Award.

Original Source Text:

http://www.samesame.com.au/news/international

Courtesy of Democrats.org:

Today our nation will commemorate the life and work of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Over 40 years ago, Dr. King’s words inspired Rep. John Lewis to join the civil rights movement — and sparked an amazing journey.

This year, Rep. Lewis has recorded a short message about what Martin Luther King Day means to him — and to all Americans.

Watch Rep Lewis’s message and share it with friends and family.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Passing easily through Parliament thanks to the majority the governing Socialist party and left-of-centre parties have,  the billwill now go to a parliamentary commission before returning to the Parliament for final approval.

Once this has occurred, the legislation will go to the President who can choose to either sign or veto the legislation. If he does the latter then it would return to Parliament who are able to overturn his decision.

Source Text:

www.queeried.com

Best man at his brother’s wedding in Vancouver in the late summer of this year, the bash in Dublin gave Colin, friends and family from their home town a chance to celebrate the couple’s marriage, with the decision to marry abroad being due to the Irish Government’s reluctance to bring in same sex marriages, and instead, like the UK, introduce Civil Partnerships

Speaking at the time of their marriage, Eamon said “We have to get married abroad…It’s absolutely terriblge. We have to go somewhere legal, which narrows it down to about five countries..”Who wants a civil union? It’s just so legal. I want to be able to get married.”

Source Text:

www.queeried.com

From Jason Shaw:

Mexico City has become the first city in Latin America to legalise gay marriage, giving same sex couples a lot more rights, including allowing them to adopt children. The bill was passed the capital’s local ruling assembly by 39 votes to 20 on Monday 21 December, the city’s mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, of the Democratic Revolution party, had been tipped for some time to sign the measure and make it into law.

The bill called for a change of the definition of marriage in the city’s civil code, it’s was defined as the union of a man and a woman, the new wording will be “the free uniting of two people”. This amendment will enable gay couples to adopt, apply for bank loans, inherit wealth, be included in the insurance policies of their partner, all rights that were denied under the cities civil union laws.

“We are so happy,” said campaigning film student,Temistocles Villanueva, outside the city assembly after the law was passed, similar thoughts and sentiment was expressed by gays and lesbians all over the city.

“For centuries, unjust laws banned marriage between blacks and whites or Indians and Europeans. Today, all barriers have disappeared.” Said Victor Romo from the DRP in a statement.

However, Armando Martinez, the president of the College of Catholic Attorneys, complained that politicians had “given Mexicans the most bitter Christmas – They are permitting adoption and in one stroke of the pen have erased the terms mother and father,” he said.

Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital was the very first Latin American city to legalise same sex civil unions for gay and lesbian couples back in 2002. It took a while, but in 2007 four other Argentine cities did the same. Mexico City was the first city in Mexico to introduce a similar civil union for same sex couples in the same year, 2007.

However, many people in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America remain opposed to gay marriage, and the Roman Catholic church has announced its opposition, as has the National Action party, led by the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón.

Mexico City is perhaps one of the most liberal and enlightened of the major Latin American cities, where homosexuality is increasingly accepted in Mexico. The annual gay pride parade attracts tens of thousands of people each year and the city has a vibrant gay scene.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Make it happen!

From 365Gay.com:

Portugal’s Socialist government has drawn up a proposal that would make Portugal the sixth European country to allow gay marriage.

The law is almost certain to pass, as the center-left Socialist government has the support of all left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties oppose the measure.

The proposal changes Portuguese law to remove references to marriage being between two people of different sexes, Cabinet Minister Pedro Silva Pereira told a news conference Thursday, adding the government will send its proposal to lawmakers for a debate, probably in January.

If approved by Parliament, the proposed law goes to Portugal’s conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who can ratify or veto it. A veto can be overturned by Parliament.

If there is no presidential veto, the first gay marriage ceremonies could take place in April – a month before Pope Benedict XVI is due on a four-day official visit.

Gay marriage is currently permitted in five European countries – Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Online Gay Marriage

The number of states where gay marriage is legal will rise to five on January 1st 2010 as New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. This means that there is now one more option for gay and lesbian couples who want to marry out of state, but two Michigan State University professors believe they have come up with an even better option – that states offering same sex marriage should allow couple to obtain a marriage license online, wherever they are based in the country.

Saying that they believe marriage laws need to be more flexible in meeting the needs of both the couple and the state, Adam Candeub, who is working on the theory alongside fellow law professor Mae Kuykendall, said “states should formalize in their laws what they’ve always been doing in smaller degrees in specific areas, which is, allow people outside their states to use their laws”.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com