Tag Archives: same-sex marriage

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

LAWYERS IN UK WARN CHRISTIANS COULD FACE “LAWFUL EXCLUSION” FROM JOBS.

2 Comments


View European Court Human Rights Strasbourg in a larger map

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled concerning three Christians and their rights to express their faith.

The first case involved Nadia Eweida, a British Airways clerk, who won her case to wear a cross at work. Mrs Eweida had faced disciplinary action from British Airways for refusing to stop wearing the cross. Although wearing a cross is not a basic tenant of the Christian faith, the court ruled she had a right to manifest her faith through wearing it.

However the court rejected a similar case from nurse, Shirley Chaplin, on the grounds that wearing a cross was a breach of health and safety regulations.

The ruling means a persons right to manifest their faith can be overridden on grounds of health and safety.

The other two cases brought to the Human Rights Court are of particular concern to Christians and Muslims. They involved Gary McFarlane, a relationships councillor; and Lillian Ladele, a marriage registrar. Mr McFarlane was dismissed after saying he would be unable to provide relationship counselling to same-sex couples on the grounds that it compromised his Christian values.

Miss Ladele was disciplined for asking her employer to be excluded from conducting civil partnerships for same-sex couples on grounds of her faith.

The court in Strasbourg rejected both cases. Paul Lambdin, partner in the employment department at Stevens & Bolton, said, “It appears that those Christians, Muslims and others who disagree with same sex marriage and/or civil partnerships will be excluded from certain jobs.

He added: “These cases demonstrate the difficulty of divorcing a belief from its practice. “The practical effect is that Ms Ladele, Mr McFarlane and others with similar religious convictions may be lawfully excluded from certain jobs.”

Mike Judge, spokesman for The Christian Institute, which supported Miss Ladele, said: “What this case shows is that Christians with traditional beliefs about marriage are at risk of being left out in the cold.

“If the Government steamrollers ahead with its plans to redefine marriage, then hundreds of thousands of people could be thrown out of their jobs unless they agree to endorse gay marriage.”

With the UK government pushing to redefine marriage within the UK, it is likely there will be an increase in cases like those of Mr McFarlane and Miss Ladele.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

MASS PROTEST IN PARIS AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE

1 Comment


View Champ de Mars in a larger map

Yesterday, thousands of protesters as a part of three marches, converged on the Champs de Mars in Paris, France, to show their opposition to the Marriage Equality Bill.  The bill would give the right of marriage and adoption to gay individuals. Extending the rights of same-sex couples was a part of Francois Hollande’s presidential election campaign. Police estimate the number of protesters was around 340,000 while the organizers, the Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition, estimate it was around 800,000.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL TO PERFORM SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

1 Comment


View WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL TO PERFORM SAME-SEX MARRIAGES in a larger map

The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. is to begin performing same-sex marriage ceremonies. The District of Columbia, and the neighbouring state of Maryland, both legalised same-sex marriage last year.

The National Cathedral has a long and illustrious history. Hosting inaugural services and funerals for Presidents. It was also the place Martin Luther King gave his final sermon.

The Cathedral is part of the Episcopalian church. The bishop of Washington DC, the Rt Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, decided in December to allow churches within the diocese to perform same-sex marriages if they wished.

The Dean of the National Cathedral the Very Rev Gary Hall, said he believes allowing same-sex marriages reflects the diversity found in God’s word.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Hall said, “I read the Bible as seriously as fundamentalists do… and my reading of the Bible leads me to want to do this because I think it’s being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be.”

In theory ceremonies could take place immediately, however it is likely the first marriages will take place within the next 6-12 months, due to the schedule of the Cathedral and the church’s requirement that couples take part in their pre-marriage counselling course.

Read More

News

UK GOVERNMENT BEGINS PUSH TO LEGALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, along with other senior members of the Conservative Party have come out in support of same-sex marriage. They are uniting under the slogan “Freedom to Marry”.

The move has angered many within the Conservative party, who hold to a traditional view of marriage. Prime Minister David Cameron would like to legalize gay marriage, and allow marriage ceremonies to take place in churches, but also let churches who do not want to conduct same-sex marriages, the right to refuse.

The UK already allows civil partnerships for gay couples, but the group of 19 senior Tories has said, “We recognise that civil partnerships were an important step forward in giving legal recognition to same sex couples. But civil partnerships are not marriages, which express a particular and universally understood commitment.”

Sources within the coalition say that the government is keen to have a bill voted on before Easter next year. Conservative backbenchers are calling for any such vote to be a free vote.

Read More

Entertainment, FYI

FRENCH DOCUMENTARY ABOUT GAY SENIORS AIRS AS FRANCE DECIDES ON GAY MARRIAGE

Sébastien Lifshitz’s “Les Invisibles” (“The Invidables”) is a documentary about the lives of elderly homosexual and lesbian couples in France. The documentary is released this week at a time France is gripped by the debate about same-sex marriage and gay adoption.

The documentary looks at the lives of gay men and women and how they explored their sexuality through a time that same-sex marriage was not in the public consciousness.

Lifshitz has made name for himself creating gay-themed documentaries. Although he argues “Les Invisables” is not about the national debate in France surrounding same-sex marriage, he agrees his documentary is his contribution to the conversation.

French lawmakers are set to vote on same-sex marriage in a few months time.

Read More of France 24s interview with Sébastien Lifshitz

News

UK SCHOOL TEACHERS COULD FACE SACK FOR NOT PROMOTING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

1 Comment

The UK government is currently seeking to legalise same-sex marriage. It now appears that if the legislation is passed, school teachers who refuse to promote same-sex marriage in schools could face the sack.

The Coalition for Marriage sought legal advice on the further implications of re-defining marriage affecting schools, churches, hospitals, foster carers and public buildings.

The findings of the legal advice concluded schools would be within their rights to sack staff who refuse to use text books or teaching material that promote homosexuality.

Parents who refuse to allow their children to take part in lessons where same-sex marriage is promoted, would find they are unable to do so.

The report also found that the impact of the re-definition of marriage would have far reaching implications, even meaning official forms would need to be rewritten with the terms “husbands” and “wives” replaced with more “neutral” terms.

Read More

News

Is America now a liberal nation?

2 Comments

Across America in different states, the various ballots cast portrayed a picture of the nation as one moving towards a more liberal attitude. Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana. Whilst Maryland and Maine voted in same-sex marriage, the first states to do so by popular vote. Also in Minnesota voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the state. In Florida voters rejected calls to stop publicly funded abortion.

The votes on same-sex marriage could affect cases currently making their way through the Supreme Court, and will encourage gay rights advocates who want Washington to legalize same-sex marriage nation wide.

Has the tide turned away from the traditional conservative views of a generation ago, and can America now be called a liberal nation?

News

Church prayer angers French gay rights groups – France – FRANCE 24

Church prayer angers French gay rights groups – France – FRANCE 24.

The Catholic Church in France will revive an old tradition next week: “Prayer for France” will be read out in churches across the country.

The mobilization of churches to pray across France, is in response to President Francois Hollande’s desire to legilise same-sex marriage and allow gay couples to adopt. Prayer for France will be attacking the governments proposed changes to the law. The church’s plans have angered gay rights groups in France.

The “Prayer for France” used to be an annual event, started by King Louis XIII, but died out after World War II. Louis XIII made August 15th a day for the churches across the country to pray for the good of France.

News

Illinois Attorney General joins in the fight for gay marriage

1 Comment

In a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a ban on same sex marriage Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) has officially sided with the plaintiffs’.  After Cook County refused to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples, a group of couples came together to file a lawsuit against Cook County. Madigan has filed papers joining the lawsuit.

Madigan, as attorney general, is meant to uphold the state law. By denouncing the state’s law it begs to question, who will be arguing on behalf of the law? As in the case of Proposition 8 in California, when Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) opposed the state’s constitution to legalise same-sex marriage (despite a state referendum upholding Proposition 8), are we again seeing one individual using their position to change the definition of marriage for all?

In California the legality of Proposition 8 was upheld, there were those in place who could oppose Jerry Brown’s plan. However, in Illinois there is no credible force to fight for marriage. The state’s legislature is controlled by democrats, who overwhelmingly support same-sex marriage, and the Speaker of the House is Michael Madigan, Lisa Madigan’s father.

The details of the case are taken from MetroWeekly:

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) will be joining Lambda Legal and the ACLU in arguing that Illinois’s civil unions law does not meet the state’s constitutional guarantees of equal protection, raising the question of what the Cook County clerk of courts — the named defendant — will do in its response to the lawsuits.

The move came just two days after Lambda Legal and the ACLU each filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the civil union law.

In a pair of June 1 filings in Darby v. Orr and Lazaro v. Orr, which were reviewed by Metro Weekly, the attorney general’s office has requested to intervene in the cases, which it says is appropriate because state law permits a court to allow the state to intervene when the validity of a state law is at issue. The Attorney General’s Office is not requesting to intervene to defend the laws, however, which is the usual reason for such intervention.

In the requests, Madigan writes, “Petitioner respectfully requests the right to intervene in this case to present the Court with arguments that explain why the challenged statutory provisions do not satisfy the guarantee of equality under the Illinois Constitution.”

On June 25, the Attorney General’s Office will make the request to intervene in Darby, which was brought by Lambda Legal. On June 26, the office will make the intervention request in Lazaro, which was brought by the ACLU.

The move sets up the unusual question of who will be defending the law in the lawsuits. Although the named defendant is Cook County Clerk of Courts David Orr (D) (who is represented in legal challenges by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez (D)), Madigan is the chief legal officer of the state and her view that the state law is unconstitutional is significant.