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Feral
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jun 06, 2007 - 04:10 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
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I cannot help but wonder if the City Comptroller has adjusted his figures to account for the spending that already takes place for for legally meaningless 'commitment ceremonies.' People have been known to invite out-of-town guests to those as well. Even so, the city of New York probably can bank on a substantial flow of money for somewhere between two and three years.

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berto
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jun 15, 2007 - 11:06 PM



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Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
Columbia Gives Gay Couples Same Rights As Marriage

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berto
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jun 15, 2007 - 11:10 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
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Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
Cuba next?

Quote:
CUBA : Se propone legalizar derechos de minorías sexuales
Por Dalia Acosta
LA HABANA - Cuba puede convertirse en el primer país del Caribe en reconocer los derechos patrimoniales y civiles de las parejas de gays y lesbianas si se aprueba una propuesta de reforma al Código de Familia, presentada ante las máximas instancias del gobernante Partido Comunista (PCC).


(Altavista translation:)

Quote:
CUBA: One sets out to legalize rights of sexual minorities By Dalia Acosta Havana - Cuba can become the first country of the Caribbean in recognizing the patrimonial and civil rights of the pairs of gays and lesbians if a proposal of reform to the Code of Family, presented/displayed is approved before the maximum instances of Partido governor Comunista (PCC).

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Feral
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jun 20, 2007 - 04:47 AM



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Not so fast on Colombia.

Quote:
Today, legislators were supposed to meet to hammer out a draft that would reconcile the versions approved earlier this year by the Senate and last week by Congress. It was then supposed to be sent President Alvaro Uribe to be signed into law within days.

Instead, allies of President Uribe from the consevative "La Ú" party, who had recently expressed support for the bill, today turned their back on Uribe and the bill and voted against reconciling both versions which means that the bill is now dead.

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Feral
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jun 22, 2007 - 06:56 PM



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Colombian Gays Protest Derailment of Same-Sex Union Bill

Quote:
A small group of gay and lesbian activists and supporters gathered before Bogota's Congress yesterday after an evangelical lawmaker used a procedural vote to derail a proposed civil union bill that last week had been approved by a vote of 62-43.

The wily move was made when many of the bill's supporters were absent, and the bill was defeated by a vote of 34-29. According to the AP, "The call for individual votes was unusual, and some said unprecedented. Parties usually vote as blocs on the final, reconciled versions of bills in Colombia's legislature. Sen. Armando Benedetti, a sponsor of the bill, vowed to restart the legislative process when Congress reconvenes on July 20, and he criticized [President Alvaro] Uribe (who is a supporter of the bill) for not defending the initiative more forcefully."

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berto
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jul 16, 2007 - 11:25 PM



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Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
The Irish Examiner headlines this story: Full equality for same sex couples - pledge by Ahern

Quote:
The Government will pass laws as soon as possible to allow gay couples to marry, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.

Mr Ahern insisted that the current Coalition was committed to providing full equality to same-sex couples in society.

The Taoiseach was speaking as he reopened the refurbished Outhouse community centre in central Dublin, which has survived two arson attacks.

“This Government is committed to providing a more supportive and secure legal environment for same-sex couples,” he said.

“Taking into account the Options Paper prepared by the Colley Group, and the pending Supreme Court case, we will legislate for Civil Partnerships at the earliest possible date in the lifetime of this Government,” he added.


Excuse me? "Full equality"? "allow gay couples to marry"? Ahern never said the word "marriage", he said "civil partnerships". That's not "full equality". It's separate and unequal, and as far as I'm concerned, it's not acceptable.

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Rain
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jul 18, 2007 - 11:34 AM



Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
Au contraire mon frere...

The politics of New York State are such that the rest of the state will do whatever it can to deny the City of New York the last penny, nickle or dime. As it is, the state had been silently syphoning off federal education funds from the city and redirecting it to (wealthier) areas of the state. A lawsuit was filed years ago, when I was in high school (and on which I'm a plaintiff) to try to recoup that money. Only last year did the state courts finally decide that NYC had been bilked out of hundreds of millions and had to be repayed.

So...no, nobody upstate will be happy if gay marraige will prove a financial boon to the city. It will give them even more reason to try to kill it. And those cretins control the State Senate.
 
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Rain
Post subject:   PostPosted: Jul 18, 2007 - 11:44 AM



Joined: Apr 12, 2007
Posts: 472
Location: NYC
Oh dear...'berto...those online translation bots are notoriously inaccurate. The English version just reads weird.

Quote:

Quote:
CUBA : Se propone legalizar derechos de minorías sexuales
Por Dalia Acosta
LA HABANA - Cuba puede convertirse en el primer país del Caribe en reconocer los derechos patrimoniales y civiles de las parejas de gays y lesbianas si se aprueba una propuesta de reforma al Código de Familia, presentada ante las máximas instancias del gobernante Partido Comunista (PCC).


Cuba: Sexual Minorities Rights legalization proposed

Cuba could become the first country in the caribbean to recognize family and civil rights for gay and lesbian couples if a proposed reform to the Family Code is approved and which has been presented before the [ruling] Communist Party's highest courts.
 
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berto
Post subject:   PostPosted: Aug 25, 2007 - 02:33 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
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Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
Howard's government shelves gay partner legislation till after the next election

Quote:
Any improvements in benefits for same-sex couples appear to be a long way off in Australia following a raucous cabinet meeting this week in Canberra.

Conservatives within Prime Minister John Howard's Liberal government have managed to delay the introduction of a bill to provide limited rights to gay and lesbian couples until after the next federal election.

Cabinet moderates had been pressing to bring in the bill as soon as possible.

In the end the cabinet decided to leave it up to Howard when the bill would be presented to Parliament and just how far the reforms would go.

Putting the issue solely in Howard's hands will mean no possibility of either same-sex marriage or civil unions. The prime minister has consistently said he would not consider either.


As I noted elsewhere, the "Labor" Party is no better on queer issues than Howard's gang. Just like the USA, Australia needs some real alternatives.

Of course, the best long term solution is an independent Queer Nation....

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Feral
Post subject:   PostPosted: Aug 25, 2007 - 08:25 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
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The Australian Green Party manages to talk the talk fairly well, so sensible people in Australia may wish to consider them as a 'real alternative.'

And, but of course, an independent Gay homeland would make quick, almost casual work of so simple an issue as the licensing of marriage. It's not like they would have to ask anyone's permission.

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vanrozenheim
Post subject:   PostPosted: Aug 26, 2007 - 08:45 PM
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Marriage should be a simple matter of notification, received by any religious or governmental authorities. The only reason why governments are insisting on "licensing" marriages is their intention to grant significant privilegies to long-term stable relationships, as opposed to promisquity and casual mating.

"Legal marriage" offers solid benefits in most societies dominated by the three abrahamic religions. Married individuals usually pay lower income taxes, lower to no inheritance taxes, enjoy immigration privilegies and often are the only ones entitled to adopt children (or get professional assistance in making some). Thus it is only prudent that Gays living in such countries shall seek equal access to legal privilegies granted to "legally married" couples.

This does not mean, of course, that marriage is per se an institution worth of granting such extensive special rights, or, more accurately put, of denying those rights to not-married individuals.

There are a couple of genuine special rights which originate from the fact that two or more people are living under the same roof in a common houshold. It is only just that these people can present a joint tax declaration, provided they really have a joint account and the money is actually shared between them. It is also perfectly prudent that these domestic partners can inherit the dwelling where they live together before one of them dies. There is little reason, however, to grant special tax reliefs on large fortunes to persons who were "married" on paper only.

If I were in a position to set up the legislation for the Gay homeland, I would suggest a simple notification procedure. The clerk in the office looks up whether the individuals in question are not already married to someone else, takes the administrative fee and makes a notice in the civil registry. A few additional rights might be granted to them (e.g. the right not to testify against the partner in a criminal suit etc). For anything else, the legislation shall make no difference between married and non-married partners. A single man living with his dependent mother shall be treated no different from a "double-income no kids" married couple - in both cases, the shared income should be submitted to the fiscus for joint taxation.
 
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Feral
Post subject:   PostPosted: Aug 26, 2007 - 11:11 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1754

vanrozenheim wrote:
If I were in a position to set up the legislation for the Gay homeland, I would suggest a simple notification procedure. The clerk in the office looks up whether the individuals in question are not already married to someone else, takes the administrative fee and makes a notice in the civil registry. A few additional rights might be granted to them (e.g. the right not to testify against the partner in a criminal suit etc). For anything else, the legislation shall make no difference between married and non-married partners. A single man living with his dependent mother shall be treated no different from a "double-income no kids" married couple - in both cases, the shared income should be submitted to the fiscus for joint taxation.


There...you see? "Quick, almost casual work." Gay self-determination really is the most effective remedy for a great many issues that might seem controversial.

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berto
Post subject:   PostPosted: Aug 29, 2007 - 02:11 PM



Joined: Sep 06, 2006
Posts: 1195
Location: Valhalla Mountains, British Columbia, Canada
berto wrote:
Anti-gay amendment resurfaces in Maryland

* * * * *

Pair indicted for fraudulent signatures in anti-gay ballot measure

Quote:
Two women have been charged with election fraud in connection with the collection last year of signatures on a referendum to repeal Cincinnati's LGBT rights ordinance.

Following a seven-month investigation indictments were handed down against Lois Mingo, 47 and Precilla Ward, 32. Both women had been hired by Equal Rights Not Special Rights, an organization formed to repeal the ordinance.

But the grand jury did not return indictments against two other people that local LGBT civil rights groups also accused of irregularities, including -- Rep. Tom Brinkman (R).

Citizens To Restore Fairness, a group formed to fight the referendum, and Equality Cincinnati, said they believed the alleged fraud was widespread. In a statement to the media Equality Cincinnati said investigators "ignored the real extent of the changes made while the petitions were in state Rep. Tom Brinkman's control."


Brinkman is back in the news...

Brinkman thwarted in domestic partner benefits challenge

Quote:
The Court of Appeals in Ohio has told a state lawmaker he does not have a right to sue Miami University over the school's decision to provide health benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees.

The ruling upholds a lower court decision throwing out the lawsuit by state Rep. Tom Brinkman (R).

[...]

Brinkman was represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative law group which regularly fights LGBT issues nationwide. The suit argued that Ohio's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage nullifies such benefits from publicly funded institutions.

Miami University gets about ten percent of its income from the state of Ohio. The rest comes from tuition and endowments.

Brinkman has two children who are students at the university.

The suit said that he "desires that his tax dollars and tuition payments be utilized lawfully, and not applied by the University to finance the constitutional violation challenged herein."

Lambda Legal, representing two lesbian professors argued that Brinkman had no standing to sue, because the University pays for its domestic partner benefits with privately donated funds, not with tax dollars or tuition.

"We conclude that Brinkman's status as an Ohio taxpayer does not give him standing to challenge the university's policy of providing health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners of its employees," the Appeals Court said in its ruling Tuesday.

"Lesbian and gay employees and their families' health were at stake and today the court has granted them freedom from being a pawn in politically motivated lawsuits," said Lambda attorney James P. Madigan. "The court has affirmed that Mr. Brinkman's daily life is unaffected when the domestic partners of lesbian and gay university employees have health insurance and he therefore has no standing to bring a lawsuit."

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