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A major Japanese court ruled that the current ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.On Tuesday, a Japanese district court ruled that the government’s current policy of prohibiting same-sex marriages violates the country’s constitution. Supporters of LGBTQ rights say this is a step in the right direction toward marriage equality in the country.According to Kyodo News, Judge Osamu Nishimura, of the Nagoya District Court ruled that the current system of marriage in Japan is unconstitutional because it excludes same-sex couples, thereby leaving them with no legal protections when it comes to issues like health care decision-making, child-rearing, and inheritance rights, among other rights and privileges that come with matrimony.This is the second court ruling finding that the government’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, following a similar challenge from the city of Sapporo.However, district courts in Tokyo and Osaka sided against petitioners in two other challenges to the existing marriage law.

On Tuesday, June 20, Estonia’s parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage, making the country the first Baltic state, and the first ex-Soviet state, to legalize same-sex marriage.The vote comes a week after Lauri Hussar, the president of the Riigikogu, Estonia’s unicameral parliament, announced the commitment from the country’s liberal governing coalition to legalize same-sex marriage within a month.The law will take effect on January 1, 2024. It does not need to be ratified by any other governmental body.In a 55-34 vote, the legislature amended the Family Law Act, which encompasses topics such as alimony, custody, and child support, to permit  same-sex couples to wed.

rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent the results of the 2020 election from being certified.The ad flashes through images of several Republican politicians associated with the far right, including U.S. Reps.

CNN. Backers of the bill had previously hoped that it would receive an up-or-down vote prior to November’s elections, with Collins saying she hoped Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wouldn’t intentionally delay a vote on the measure to use as a cudgel against non-supportive senators in the midterms. Schumer had previously been expected to file for cloture on the bill this week, but the five senators lobbying Republicans — Baldwin, Collins, Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — said they had asked him for additional time. The five previously drafted a “consensus amendment” to add to the bill that protects religious liberty and the tax-exempt status of religious institutions, but getting Republicans to sign onto the bill has proven difficult.Due to Senate rules, and near-unanimous support from Democrats for the Respect for Marriage Act, backers need to garner at least 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster, as 60 votes are needed to start, and stop, debate on the legislation before it receives a final up-or-down vote.Collins told Axios that other Republicans have provided their own suggestions with language they’d like to see added to the bill.

push forward with a $433 billion climate change, drug pricing, and tax bill that they have prioritized instead.According to Reuters, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), one of only two LGBTQ senators in the chamber, said she now expects the bill to be brought up after the August recess, which stretches from Aug.

Tasmanian Liberals have named Jeremy Rockliff as the state’s next Premier. Michael Ferguson will be the Deputy Premier.While Rockliff has a record of voting for marriage equality and other pro-LGBTQI laws, Ferguson has been known to have opposed and voted against laws for LGBTQI equality.In November 2015, Tasmania was the third state after New South Wales and Western Australia to pass an in-principle motion in support of same-sex marriages. Rockliff and then Premier Will Hodgman had voted for the Greens-sponsored motion that passed the House 15-9.In a speech in Parliament during the debate on the motion, Rockliff said that he had been a supporter of marriage equality for a few years and welcomed “the opportunity to express my views for the first time publicly, and I’m absolutely unequivocally in favour of same-sex marriage equality.”“I believe very firmly that those who are committed and in a loving relationship should have the ability by law and the eyes of the law in society that if they have chosen a significant other to spend the rest of their lives with then they should be able to get married.

By Dr Luke BeckThe Religious Discrimination Bill plays word games to address hurt feelings rather than provide sensible protections against religious discrimination. In doing so, the bill exposes the culture war within Australia’s biggest religious groups, and runs into constitutional problems.After the marriage equality vote in 2017, then PM Malcolm Turnbull offered conservatives a religious freedom inquiry as a consolation prize.

Melbourne-based gay activists Antony McManus and his husband Ron van Houwelingen are well known for their fight for marriage equality and getting married to each other 19 times over the three decades that they have been together.

Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act of 2021, a piece of legislation that funds emergency shelters and support services for domestic violence survivors.“Nearly everything that plagues our society can be attributed to a failure to follow God’s law and his rules for and definition of marriage and family,” Good said in his speech.Good attacked the bill’s provisions, which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in shelters and support services, and

Associated Press in a rare interview, Youngkin was asked whether his faith shapes his view of same-sex marriage, Youngkin said he feels “called to love everyone.” When pressed about whether that statement was intended to signal support for same-sex marriage, Youngkin responded: “No.”However, Youngkin added that same-sex unions were “legally acceptable” in Virginia, adding: “I, as governor, will support that.”The AP noted that Youngkin often talks about his faith on the campaign trail, often

On Sunday, the Swiss overwhelmingly voted to legalise same-sex marriages, with almost two thirds or 64.1% approving the measure.

Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex marriages, calling it a divine sacrament that the church cannot change.Speaking to reporters last week, Francis was asked if he approves of European countries passing laws recognizing marriage equality, the Associated Press reports.“I have spoken clearly about this, no? Marriage is a sacrament. Marriage is a sacrament,” the Pope replied.

Billie Jean King, second from left, and her long-time girlfriend Ilana Kloss, met the press Sept. 21, 2018, at Dodger Stadium to announce they will be part owners of the team. Mark Walter, left, of Guggeheim Partners who structured the deal, and Stan Kasten, Dodgers’ CEO, right, join King and Kloss. In her upcoming book “All In,” King reveals that she and Kloss were married in 2018, but only three people knew it. Photo: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Vatican’s renewed rejection last February of any church blessing for homosexual couples”.According to the Archbishop, this was an important step towards addressing the marginalisation and discrimination some in the LGBTQI community feel is directed at them from the Catholic Church, without fear of increased persecution.He said the fact that queer people are double marginalised, both within the Catholic community for not being heterosexual, as well as being judged for being Catholic in the LGBTQI

The Federal government is set to bring in a new – its third – draft of the Religious Discrimination Bill later this year, but a growing number of Liberal MPs are voicing their concerns about its impact on marriage equality and LGBTQI+ rights in Australia.The latest to add his voice to the growing chorus in the Coalition against the current draft of the Bill is Wentworth MP Dave Sharma.

surveyed more than 1,000 Americans and found that overall support for gay couples marrying is at a record high, with 70% of adults in favor.

April 13, 2021Coyne’s advocacy work was recognised in 2018, when he was nominated for Activist Of The Year at Brisbane Pride’s annual Queens Ball, describing his role in the campaign as “one of the proudest moments” of his young lifeCoyne also ran as a member of the Queensland Greens in the 2020 elections and was at the time of his death the convener of the Toowoomba and Western Queensland branch of the Queensland Greens.We were very saddened to hear of the death of Thomas Coyne 21 – a bright

See also: Anti-gay Russian group inspired by “Saw” threatens to hunt LGBTQ people in EuropeThe decision by the committee against Finland is the first asylum-related case involving a child who faces risks to his personal and emotional well-being as a result of discrimination stemming from his mothers’ sexual orientation.

Reports that controversial former tennis player Margaret Court will be honoured with Australia’s highest honour – the Companion of the Order of Australia, has invited a fierce backlash from the LGBTQI community and allies. Since her retirement from tennis , Court, has been a minister with the Pentecostal Church. Court preaches at Perth’s Margaret Court Ministries, that she founded, and now uses the title ‘Reverend’.

found similarly in a case out of Arkansas, known as Pavan v. Smith, in which two lesbian couples sued over a state policy prohibiting the non-biological mother from being listed as a parent on the child’s birth certificate.

Anthony Toms, 20The number of same-sex couples getting married in Australia dropped by around 15% in 2019. Around 5,507 same-sex marriages were recorded  in 2019, the second full year since the 2017 Marriage Equality reforms, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.This was down from 6,538 same-sex marriages registered in 2018.

tweeted last week. “He aspires to the highest office in our land & must be guided by the truth God has revealed to us.

Obergefell decision, which legalized marriage equality by striking down all bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. “I have no agenda, and I do want to be clear that that I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference,” Barrett said. “Like racism, I think discrimination is abhorrent.”Later in the day, Barrett was called out for those remarks by Sen.

What is your plan to protect the transgender community, particularly Black and brown trans women, from high levels of violence they face? So far this year, 30 transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals have been killed, the majority of whom were transgender women of color, HRC noted in a news release.

upheld by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.Because the Davis case was not a “clean vehicle” for challenging the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v.

With former Prime Minister Tony Abbott being appointed as the President of the UK Board Of Trade in recent weeks questions have been raised about his suitability for the role, particularly in regards to questions around homophobia.In light of these questions an interesting document from the past has surfaced in Sydney.

Reports have confirmed, that everyone’s favourite ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott is set to become the president of the UK Board Of Trade. According to its website the Board Of Trade, “champions exports, inward investment and outward direct investment to deliver economic growth and prosperity across the whole of the United Kingdom.”It’s a move that will leave many scratching their heads, and no doubt draw the ire of his many enemies back home in Australia, particularly from the LGBTIQ community.

Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized marriage equality, the 38-year-old Walker added: “Just as gay and lesbian Americans ‘cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth, neither can Americans ‘with a deep faith that requires them to do things passing legislative majorities might find unseemly or uncouth.'”Walker, a Trump appointee who was recently confirmed to the U.S.

NBC News, Merritt Corrigan, the deputy White House liaison at USAID, was fired on Monday following months of attacks from LGBTQ advocates and congressional Democrats who found some of her past tweets or public statements offensive and contrary to USAID’s mission.Shortly after, Corrigan unlocked her previously private Twitter account and issued six tweets, blasting USAID, congressional Democrats, and the media.

Lawmakers in the Mexico’s Baja California state on July 16 rejected a bill that would have repealed a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

AFER’s Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, Chad Griffin, sons Elliott and Spencer, Sandy Stier and Kris Perry, LA Feb. 2012 (Photo by Karen Ocamb) 

New Jersey Globe. “I have changed my mind and better understood that that was the wrong vote at the time.”Kean made the comments during a virtual event with Roselle Park Councilman Joseph DeIorio and his husband, former Roselle Park Councilman Thos Shipley, gay Republicans who became the first married gay couple to serve together in public office in 2015.Kean is the presumptive favorite in the Republican primary for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District in central New Jersey.

Rep. Karen Bass with her gay LA deputy Darryn Harris during a visit to In The Meantime Men in South LA. (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Robert Jeffress – Photo: Facebook

Perry Stone

“This is my dream job.”