Same-sex marriage – praag.org

Cubans show pride in their rainbow nation

More than 1,000 gay, lesbian and transgender Cubans marched through Havana on Saturday, proudly displaying their truest selves for a day in a society where they still endure discrimination.

The Eighth Annual March against Homophobia and Transphobia took on extra meaning this year for about 20 couples who participated in a “Celebration of Love,” symbolically exchanging vows as same-sex marriage remains illegal in Cuba.

Religious figures from Cuba and abroad huddled with couples in a crowded pavilion in a ceremony inspired by the mass wedding of more than 100 couples at the World Pride event in Toronto last June.

“Our family accepts us but society doesn’t,” said Raul Orta, who “married” his partner of 13 years, Yaimel Medina. “If one us is no longer here tomorrow, the other one loses everything. That’s not right.”

The parade, with the beat of conga drums and the waving of rainbow-colored banners, gave gay Cubans and their supporters a rare opportunity to celebrate without fear.

“For eight years we’ve been living a dream we never thought would have been possible,” Orta said of the parade.
For Cubans from the provinces, the open display in Havana was even more liberating.

“In the interior of the country, you couldn’t even dream about an event like this,” said Raiza Marmol, who moved from Camaguey two years ago and exchanged vows with her partner of two years, Yatiana Garcia. “It’s a unique event and surprising for gays who can show their faces without having to hide from anyone.”

Cuba once sent gays to labor camps in the early years after the 1959 revolution, which retired leader later Fidel Castro admitted was wrong.

Cuban gays have made great strides in recent years with help from Mariela Castro, the daughter of current President Raul Castro and niece of Fidel. She is a member of the National Assembly and head of the National Center for Sex Education.

The National Assembly last year approved a labor law that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. But Mariela Castro voted against the law in an extremely rare and possibly unprecedented dissenting vote because the law did not also ban discrimination based on gender identity.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Argentina and Uruguay have legalized same-sex marriage, as has Mexico City, but in Cuba marriage remains a distant goal.

“It’s not important for us to be first. It’s important to get there,” Mariela Castro told reporters.

Source: Reuters

US support for gay marriage hits record high

Support for same-sex marriage in the United States has soared to a record 60 percent, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll released Thursday said.

The poll was conducted a week ahead of historic US Supreme Court hearings on whether the Constitution allows state restrictions on recognizing the legality of same-sex marriage. The country’s highest court is expected to debate the issue April 28.

The court will review cases from four states — Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee — where injunctions on same-sex marriage were overturned by federal courts of appeals.

In March, the Obama administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court stating the White House opinion that it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage.

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed in 1996 by former US President Bill Clinton which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages legalized by states was unconstitutional.

Source: Sputnik News

Daughter of gay parents slams gay marriage

A woman raised by two lesbians has provoked controversy after publicly announcing that she is against gay marriage because she says she missed out on having her father in her life when growing up.

Heather Barwick, a 31-year-old mother-of-four from South Carolina, says her mother left her father when she was 2 or 3 so that she could move in with the woman she loved.

‘Gay community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her same-sex partner back in the ’80s and ’90s,’ writes Barwick for the conservative publication The Federalist.

‘I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think. It’s not because you’re gay. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself.’

Barwick recalls growing up in a very liberal and open-minded suburb surrounded by a ‘tight-knit community of gay and lesbian friends’ and says her mother’s partner ‘treated me as if I was her own daughter’.
She also admits that her biological father ‘wasn’t a great guy,’ and ‘didn’t bother coming around anymore.’

Despite being an advocate for gay marriage in her 20s, Barwick now says she’s had a change of heart.

‘Same-sex marriage and parenting withholds either a mother or father from a child while telling him or her that it doesn’t matter. That it’s all the same. But it’s not,’ she writes.

‘A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My father’s absence created a huge hole in me, and I ached every day.

Speaking to Christian publication World, Barwick said she only found healing for her ‘father wound’ after she began attending church with her future husband.

Barwick said there had been long-term consequences to going up with two mothers.

‘I’m not gay, but the relationship that was modeled before me was a woman loving a woman. So I’ve struggled as an adult figuring out how to be in a relationship with my husband.’

Barwick is also one of six people raised by gay parents who signed a public letter of support this week for designers Dolce & Gabbana following their controversial statements about gay parents.

Source: Daily Mail

Thousands resign from church after same-sex marriage law

Thousands of people have resigned from the Lutheran Church in Finland, after the nation’s parliament approved a same-sex marriage law and the church’s archbishop expressed support for the vote, Finland’s Yle News reported.

By late Saturday, around 7,800 people had officially resigned from the state-supported Lutheran Church via an online service, which was specifically created to ease the registration process.

The resignation frees the individuals from obligatory church membership taxes, which is where the majority of the Lutheran Church’s income comes from. By the end of 2013, some 75 percent of Finns – 4.1 million people – were listed as members of the church.

The media suggested that the main catalyst was a comment made by the Archbishop of Turku and Finland, Kari Mäkinen, in support of the Friday-passed law for same-sex marriages. In a Facebook post, the church leader stated that he “rejoiced” after the vote passed.

“I know how much this day means for rainbow people, their loved ones and many others. I rejoice with my whole heart for them and with them,” Mäkinen said. “We are in the same situation as our neighboring Nordic Churches: our concept of marriage needs a fundamental examination. Speaking for myself, I think it is time for reconsideration.”

Media reported that most of the comments under the resignations express disapproval of the archbishop’s statements.

The Finnish Parliament approved the “gender-neutral” unions by a narrow margin of 105-92 on Friday.

The law gives homosexual marriages in Finland the same rights as heterosexual ones – couples will be allowed to share a surname and adopt children.

Finland became the 12th European nation to allow same-sex marriages.

Chad outlaws homosexuality

Chad looks set to become the 37th country in Africa to outlaw homosexuality after government ministers voted to make same-sex relations a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The decision, yet to be ratified by the country’s president, was condemned by human rights groups as another setback in the struggle for gay rights on the continent. Chad’s penal code is more than half a century old and does not explicitly mention homosexuality.

But section 361 of a draft new code states the punishment for anyone who has sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex is 15 to 20 years in jail and a fine of 50,000-500,000 Central African francs (£60-£600), according to a document seen by Agence France-Presse.

The cabinet claims that the measure is intended to “protect the family and to comply with Chadian society”. It will go before MPs and President Idriss Déby to be rubber-stamped.

The new penal code also abolishes the death penalty, more than a decade after the last execution of prisoners, a move welcomed by activists.

The reform of the penal code had been in preparation for 10 years but the question of homosexuality, while considered immoral, had never been a public issue in Chad.

The development is a reaction against colonial mores in Africa. Some observers believe it has been a response to the increased visibility and assertiveness of gay lifestyles and politics in Africa.

Although US evangelical Christians have been blamed for instigating anti-gay legislation in Uganda, same-sex relations are illegal in 36 of the continent’s 54 countries, according to Amnesty International, and punishable by death in many.

Last month the Gambia passed a bill imposing life imprisonment for “aggravated homosexuality” relating to repeat offenders and people living with HIV/Aids. The Gambia’s president, Yahya Jammeh, has previously told gay men and lesbians to leave the country or risk beheading.

Uganda recently imposed penalties for the “promotion of homosexuality”, including life sentences for various same sex acts. The law was struck down by judges on a technicality but is expected to be reintroduced by MPs.

In January, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law a bill criminalising same-sex “amorous relationships” and membership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights groups.

Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, regularly attacks gay people in speeches and recently said he resented western aid because it depended on conditions such as accepting homosexuality.

Church of Norway rejects same-sex marriage

The Church of Norway on Tuesday rejected a proposal for religious same-sex marriage, even though it had the support of most bishops. Norway was among the first countries in Europe to grant homosexuals full rights, including marriage and adoption in 2009.

In October eight of Norway’s 12 bishops said they favored allowing religious weddings for same-sex couples. But the proposal needed the approval of the synod, the highest decision-making body in the church, which professes the Lutheran Christian faith.

During a national synod, 64 participants voted against and 51 in favor. The delegates will now examine other alternatives such as whether to add a religious blessing to civil ceremonies.

Benestad, a Norwegian priest who has been one of the leading voices against gay marriage, stated emphatically that marriage only describes a relationship between a man and one woman.

“I will be happy if we end up with marriage preserved as a relationship between man and woman,” Benestad said. “There is only one answer, both in the bible and in the history of the church, to the question of what a marriage is.”

Same-sex marriage became legal in Norway on January 1, 2009 when a gender neutral marriage bill was enacted after being passed by the Norwegian legislature in June 2008. Norway became the first Scandinavian country and the sixth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. However, there is no regulation about churches’ obligations in marriages.

In neighboring Sweden, the Lutheran church approved same-sex marriages in 2009. Denmark in 2012 made it mandatory for all churches to offer full religious weddings for same-sex couples, although priests opposed on principle can ask a colleague to take the service their place.

Source: Voice of Russia

The shambles we’re in

by Dan Roodt

The two responses to my letter alerting people to the destructive influence of Marxism and liberalism in South Africa do not really respond to the core of my argument. (See Speak for yourself and Move on, Mr Roodt, change is good.)

Mr. Deon Crafford of Pretoria states that “we are not divided by nationalism anymore, only by economic means”. If that were the case, why are the politicians campaigning in this election not arguing over interest rates, tariffs and trade, or the minutiae of macroeconomic policy? Instead, every party has some kind of ethnic platform, whether it is “taking back the land that whites stole from us” (the EFF) or support for racial quotas in the form of so-called broad-based black economic empowerment (DA and ANC).

During the current Oscar Pistorius trial which has been turned into a mass media event, the state could not even supply a trained interpreter from Afrikaans to English in Pretoria, the epicentre of Afrikaans in South Africa and in the world! This is just another indication of the shambles we find ourselves in, with a system founded on some 1940s melting-pot dream that could only have been invented in Sweden, where everybody has blue eyes and drives a Volvo.

How low do we have to go before people acknowledge that the current system is not working and will never work because it is not suited to a multi-ethnic state? Show me one province in South Africa that does not have a premier from the locally dominant tribe and I will eat my hat. Or just appoint a few Pedis to run Kwazulu-Natal and watch what happens. That is real diversity, not the fantasy-world of beer adverts proclaiming “One nation, one beer.”

The Constitutional Court decides whether there should be same-sex marriage or Afrikaans in schools. Is that democratic? Does anyone think that a referendum on same-sex marriage will get a “yes” vote? Most South Africans have probably more in common with Uganda than with Sweden or New York State.

Mr. Vladimir Putin has become the most popular world leader since Ronald Reagan. He opposes globalism and champions national sovereignty. In a recent speech to the Duma he quoted Nikolai Berdyaev, an early Bolshevik who soon turned to a kind of Christian existentialism and conservatism. The quote was:

“‘The point of conservatism is not that it prevents movement forward and upward, but that it prevents movement backward and downward, into chaotic darkness and a return to a primitive state.”

A haunting statement, given South Africa’s descent into anomic violence, as reflected in the media every day.

A slightly shortened version of this column appeared in the Johannesburg daily Business Day.

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Uganda tabloid ‘names and shames’ gays

The Ugandan tabloid, Red Pepper, has named the country’s 200 top homosexuals, a day after President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a bill toughening penalties for gay people.

The list appeared under the headline: “Exposed”. Western governments have condemned Mr Museveni’s decision to approve the bill, but South Africa would not be drawn into the debate.

Homosexuality is also frowned upon by most South African blacks. The ANC fears that an open debate would upset their voters ahead of the coming elections.

Although same-sex relationships are legal in South Africa, the black majority are against such unions.

The Ugandan bill includes life sentences for gay sex and same-sex marriage, but a clause criminalising those who do not report gay people was removed as well as a proposed sentence of up to 14 years for first-time offenders.

But the passing of the bill has been popularly received in Uganda, where Museveni — in power for 28 years — faces reelection in 2016..

Earlier, government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told Reuters news agency Mr Museveni wanted “to demonstrate Uganda’s independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation”.

Uganda is a deeply conservative society where most people oppose homosexuality.

Homosexual acts were already illegal in Uganda, but the new law bans the promotion of homosexuality and covers lesbians for the first time.

There was applause when Yoweri Museveni spoke out againts gays: “Society can do something about it to discourage the trend”.

Last year the Red Pepper published photographs of retired gay British man Bernard Randall, taken from his stolen laptop, who then arrested and deported last month. The new list also includes some Ugandans still in the closet, the Associated Press news agency reported.

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Mr Museveni’s decision would launch an internal review of US assistance programmes to Uganda.

Uganda receives a reported $400m in annual aid from the US.

Sweden’s Development Assistance Minister Hillevi Engstrom called Mr Museveni’s decision “terrible” and said that direct aid to Uganda, worth about $10.8m, could be withdrawn.

As a result of the new law, the Netherlands has stopped a $9.6m subsidy to Uganda’s judicial system.

Norway and Denmark said they would transfer direct aid – together totalling about $17m – to non-governmental organisations.

Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg, who is visiting Uganda for meetings on trade and economic issues, has met with gay rights activists.

Homophobia is widespread in Uganda, where evangelical Christianity is on the rise.

Museveni earlier this month also signed into law anti-pornography and dress code legislation which outlaws “provocative” clothing.

Russia bans adoptions from same-sex marriage countries

Russia banned adoptions by single people from countries where same-sex marriage is legal.

The new measure comes into law in the middle of a Winter Olympics which gay activists have already tried to derail. The IOC has responded by emphasizing a separation between politics and sports.

The decree, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and posted on the government’s website Thursday, also reiterates a ban on adoptions by same-sex couples who are in unions “recognized as marriages and registered in accordance with the law of a country where such marriages are permitted.”

The measure came as an amendment to a law the Kremlin put in place in July banning same-sex couples from adopting children. That followed by days another law against exposing minors to gay propaganda, or any actions or statements that condone nontraditional relationships.

The latest decree doesn’t affect U.S. citizens because Russia already banned all Americans—regardless of their sexuality or marital status—from adopting Russian children in late 2012. It would apply to single people in other countries, mainly in Europe, where gay marriage has been legalized.

A spokesman for the European Union declined to comment.

Some countries don’t permit gay individuals or couples to adopt, according to the U.S. State Department. And more than a dozen countries don’t allow single people to adopt, according to a 2009 report by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In an interview ahead of the Sochi Games last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said gay people were welcome to attend the Olympics so long as they “leave the children in peace.”

So far, there haven’t been any prominent expressions of support for gay rights by athletes competing in Sochi, who have been told by Olympic officials to keep their political views out of the competitions.

Mr. Putin has increasingly crusaded against Western influence and “genderless and infertile” Western tolerance.