NewsWrap for the week ending April 5, 2014

SUMMARY

All In - A last ditch effort launches at India's High Court to overturn Penal Code Section 377, which outlaws private consensual adult gay sex …

School for Scandal - Uganda police raid a U.S.-funded HIV clinic in Kampala for allegedly "training youths in homosexuality," and many thousands march with President Yoweri Museveni to celebrate passage of the nation's draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Law" …

Escaped the Lash - an Islamic court in northern Nigeria frees two men charged with belonging to a gay rights group …

Homo Promo Demos a Go - the highest court in Russia's Kostroma region rules that bans on peaceful protests of the national law criminalizing "gay propaganda" were illegal, while President Vladimir ("traditional values") Putin divorces his wife of 30 years …

DOMA-Doctored Healthcare - the Obama administration opens Medicare to legally married same-gender couples, no matter what state they live in …

How Many Is That Now? - a U.S. federal judge announces that he'll strike down Ohio's law banning the recognition of same-gender couples legally married in other states …

Devil Made Him Do It - Mississippi's Republican Governor Phil Bryant signs the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" that critics say legalizes bias in the state against LGBT people …

No Vacancy - a Louisiana House committee kills a bill that would have banned anti-LGBT housing discrimination …

Lucky Seven - a U.S. federal judge rules that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects lesbians and gay men from employment discrimination ….

Complete NewsWrap text and this week's podcast to be posted April 8, 2014.

On With ENDA & "Kill Your Darlings”

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid advances the Employment Nondiscrimination Act -- but what will happen in the House? Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel orders non-compliant states to issue IDs to National Guard members for same-gender spousal benefits.

Michael C. Hall and Daniel Radcliffe star in John Krokidas and Austin Bunn's Beat poet murder mystery movie involving Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and the enigmatic Lucien Carr (a preview by Steve Pride).

Plus -- a Rainbow Minute crowns the not-so-closeted King James I and His Favorite (produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns, read by Phil Pollard).

And in NewsWrap: Taiwan takes a look at marriage equality, Vatican vets social questions in  global survey, I.O.C. snubs Russian LGBT activists, ex-Defense Secretary may open the Gates to the Boy Scouts, and more news reported by Christopher Gaal and Michelle-Marie Gilkeson (produced by Wenzel Jones and Steve Pride).

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"Facing Fear"

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Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal's unlikely friendship fights fear and fosters forgiveness in an acclaimed documentary short considered by Entertainment Correspondent Steve Pride.

Plus -- Canadian Artist Steven Walker is remembered in a Rainbow Minute (produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns, read by Heidi Trepanizer).

And in NewsWrap: more moderating words from the newly-minted Pope, U.S. Labor Department pushes spousal benefits for same-gender couples, Oklahoma not OK with National Guard benefits, Russian YouTube video claims gays and lesbians adopt children for rape, and more news reported by Michael LeBeau and Pamela Brooks (produced by Angela Brooks and Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending September 21, 2013

SUMMARY

The Gospel Truth - Pope Francis shakes up Roman Catholics opining during a lengthy interview that the Church has been overly "obsessed" with abortion, contraception and marriage equality …

That's Amore - Italian Parliament kiss-in heralds passage of a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the country's hate crime laws …

Labor of Love - U.S. Department of Labor makes a post-DOMA announcement that same-gender couples are now eligible to participate with their spouses in private employer-provided health care and pension benefits plans organized under federal law …

Both Sides of the Family - bipartisan bill introduced in Congress would extend family benefits to federal gay and lesbian workers and their domestic partners equal to those given ...

Not OK With Them - Oklahoma joins Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana to defy a post-DOMA Pentagon directive to enroll same-gender couples in National Guard benefits programs …

Native American Movement - California's Santa Ysabel Tribe brings the total of Native American tribes that marry lesbian and gay couples to six …

Nothing to See Here - new out writer for DC Comics' "Batwoman" franchise insists that his employer isn't anti-gay by rejecting the story line developed by his predecessors that had the lesbian superhero marrying her longtime gal pal detective Maggie Sawyer …

Fingers Crossed Behind Their Backs - Russia agrees in its generic version of the UN's traditional Olympics Truce that it won't discriminate, but refuses to be more specific …

Sick Young Imaginations - new Russian YouTube video warns that gays and lesbians want to adopt children so they can rape them and "satisfy their sexual desires" …

Soft Drink Gambit - former chess champion and Russian opposition figure Gary Kasparov suggests how things in Sochi could go even better with Coke ….

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Nepal Progresses & Russia Regresses

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Sapphic Nomads Katie Cook and Maggie Young arrive in the Himalaya to meet Nepal's leading gay activist, Sunil Babu Pant, in Kathmandu. Cook and Young are filmmakers searching for LGBT activists all over the world for a documentary. Pant is the founder of the Blue Diamond Society and was the country's first openly gay Member of Parliament.

Lesbian writer Masha Gessen confronts Russia's growing homophobic fascism on MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes.

And in NewsWrap: Jamaica's sodomy repeal debate motivates escalating violence, California lesbian couple wins post-DOMA disabled veteran benefits, marriage equality revolts engulf U.S. localities, worker-unfriendly WalMart romances same-gender partners, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Michael Allan (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending August 31, 2013

SUMMARY

Island Fever - Mob violence against LGBT people rises sharply in Jamaica, fueled by anti-sodomy preachers …

Health and Taxes - the reverberating effects this week of the U.S. Supreme Court's DOMA decision include the Internal Revenue Service announcing that it will treat married same-gender couples the same as their heterosexual peers, and the Health and Human Services Department declaring that same-gender couples will now have access to all the benefits of Medicare that had previously been reserved for heterosexual married couples …

About Face - a federal judge declares a U.S. statute that denies equal benefits to married lesbian and gay veterans unconstitutional …

Tipping Point - marriage equality is now enjoyed in more than half of New Mexico while its Association of Counties asks the state high court to issue a definitive ruling on the issue …

Oh, Grow Up! - Pennsylvania's Governor Tom Corbett compares gay and lesbian couples to 12-year-old children in his legal filing against an official in the state's Montgomery County who's also handing out marriage licenses to same-gender couples …

Thank Goodness for Small Favors - global retail behemoth WalMart extends domestic partner benefits to its 2.2 million employees around the world …

Keep Out of Reach of Children - the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds California's first-in-the-nation law banning so-called "conversion therapy" for minors …

Prisoner of Gender - the attorney for U.S. Army Private Chelsea (nee Bradley) Manning reports that the transgender soldier is doing well as she acclimates to life at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, but that the Army is denying her hormone therapy and other necessary treatment for gender dysphoria …

Justice of the Peace - Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes history as the first U.S. Supreme Court Justice to officiate at the wedding of a same-gender couple ….

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Russia Update & Manning Sentencing

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Moscow-based activist Nikolai Alekseev (via Skype with correspondent Steve Pride) brings us the latest from the frontlines of Russia's crackdown on LGBT people -- is Vladimir Putin playing Russian roulette with the Winter Olympics?

Elizabeth Goitein of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice shares her analysis of what's ahead for the controversial queer whistle-blower, as a U.S. Army judge measures Pvt. Bradley Manning's guilt (an interview with Dorian Merina of Free Speech Radio News).

And in NewsWrap: the new Pope says he won't "judge" gay priests, activists align with LGBT bar owners to "Dump Stoli," U.S. citizens get equal visa rights for their same-gender spouses, marriage equality bells ring in Minnesota and Rhode Island, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Charlie Bauer (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending August 3, 2013

SUMMARY

Gamesmanship - The Russian government ignores global protests and vows no exceptions in enforcement of the recently passed "no promo homo" law at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, but then maybe relents …

Dry Politics - debate among LGBT activists and their allies continues around the world about how to best respond to Russia's escalating war on sexual minorities, but there's a push to "Dump Stoli" (arguably the most popular Russian vodka in the West) that’s growing around the world …

Vodka Veritas - Latvia's leading LGBT rights group Mozaika asks activists to stop their vodka protest actions, claiming that Stoli is made in their country, but the U.S. based Queer Nation disputes that claim with facts …

Judge Not - Pope Francis makes headlines with seemingly positive comments about gay priests, but critics remind LGBT Catholics that the Church still condemns homosexual *acts* as mortal sin …

Truth's Consequences - military court convicts U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning, described as either gay or transgendered, of all but the most serious charge – aiding the enemy – for releasing reams of classified documents to Wikileaks in what's been called the largest breach of national security in American history …

Welcome Home - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confirms (post-DOMA) that visa applications of the married foreign same-gender spouses of U.S. citizens will be treated the same as those from heterosexual spouses …

Wedding Cake-Bakers' Dozen - joining 11 other U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Minnesota and Rhode Island officially begin marrying lesbian and gay couples ….

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NewsWrap for the week ending July 20, 2013

SUMMARY

Crowning Achievement - The Queen's Royal Assent makes England and Wales the 16th and 17th countries in the world to open civil marriage to same-gender couples …

The Money Pit - U.S. House Republicans stop wasting taxpayer money defending DOMA …

Elope with Pride - gay Aussie couple wins a "dream wedding" in New Zealand, and the first kiwi same-gender couple to wed may do so at 30,000 feet …

Unintended Consequences - Alistair Stewart of Britain's Kaleidoscope Trust warns that advances in the West like marriage equality have lead to a "perverse" worsening of LGBT freedoms in the developing world …

Martyrs' Roll Call - Cameroon gay and AIDS activist Eric Lembembe is horrifically tortured to death, while 20-year-old Hashim al-Asimi is shot to death in Yemen for being gay …

We Are Trayvon, Too - key witness in the high-profile Florida trial of George Zimmerman tells CNN that 17-year-old victim Trayvon Martin may have worried that wannabe cop Zimmerman was following him with rape in mind, while 35 American LGBT organizations issue a joint statement calling for a Justice Department probe into the killing because "Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights" …

Numero Uno - singer and gay bar owner Benjamin Medrano is elected mayor in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, a rural northern city of about 230,000, becoming Mexico's first "out" mayor …

Island Hopping - Pink Dot Singapore begets Pink Dot Okinawa ....

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NewsWrap for the week ending July 15, 2013

SUMMARY

Cracking the Wall - A civil court judge in Bogota is set to preside over the first marriage of a same-gender couple in Colombia…

Toothpaste Leaving Tube - three same-gender couples are suing for the right to wed in Costa Rica after lawmakers "accidentally" approved marriage equality legislation on July 1st …

Barn Door Won't Close - riding the wave of the U.S. Supreme Court's DOMA and Prop 8 rulings, lawsuits filed this week push for marriage equality in three more states – Illinois, Pennsylvania and North Carolina – while a legal demand for marriage equality is being planned in Virginia …

Sexual Diversity Yes, Violence No - an estimated 1500 LGBT people and their supporters participate in the 12th annual Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk in India …

One For Our Side - a regional court in Russia declares that the rough arrests of some 60 people trying to rally for LGBT Pride in St. Petersburg on June 29th violated their right to freedom of assembly …

Irrational Motive - Israeli authorities charge an apparent religious fanatic with murder and attempted murder as hate crimes in the 2009 shooting rampage at a weekly youth group meeting at Tel Aviv's LGBT Center that left two dead and 11 injured …

Frightening Conclusion - new research suggests that homophobia may be at least partially rooted in a fear of unwanted same-gender sexual advances …

No Accounting For Taste - global accounting giant Ernst & Young didn't realize that their new "E-Y" brand is the same name as a Spanish magazine catering to gay men that features plenty of young guys posing in their underwear ....

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Don't "Jail the Gays" & "Everything Possible"

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U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has her say about Nigeria's "Jail the Gays" bill in response to Nigerian LGBT activist Davis Mac-Iyalla's questions on the BBC's World Have Your Say program.

JD Doyle discovers everything possible about Fred Small's Everything Possible, from his inspiration for the iconic song to Michael Callen and The Flirtations classic rendition of it -- Small's personal favorite!

LGBT Pride deploys to Kandahar (as reported by the U.S. Defense Department).

Plus: A Great Big World says Everyone Is Gay.

And in NewsWrap: lawsuit bouquets bloom from US Supreme Court DOMA decision, marriage equality slips past Costa Rican lawmakers, Pink Dot targets Singapore's penal code, Brazilian "cure" prescription expires, and more news reported by Jenn Mahoney and Charlie Bauer (produced by Steve Pride and Angela Brooks).

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NewsWrap for the week ending July 6, 2013

SUMMARY

In the Wake of DOMA & Prop 8 - the Pentagon announces that the spouses of married gay and lesbian service members will soon enjoy all the military benefits of their heterosexual peers, deportation proceedings against gay and lesbian foreigners in legal marriages with American same-gender partners end, green cards are going out to foreign spouses in U.S. bi-national same-gender couples, and gay and lesbian Americans can now sponsor their foreign-born same-gender spouses for citizenship, just as their heterosexual peers have been able to do for decades …

Edie, Warrior Princess - successful DOMA plaintiff Edith Windsor awaits a refund -- plus interest -- of the reported $678,000 in estate taxes she had to pay to the IRS and state of New York after her longtime spouse Thea Spyer died …

Wag the Finger, Suck the Thumb - the Supreme Court also rejects the appeal by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer of a lower court ruling overturning a law that had revoked the domestic partner benefits of gay and lesbian state employees, and refuses a request by Nevada's Coalition for the Protection of Marriage to fast-track a so far-unsuccessful challenge to that state's constitutional ban on marriage equality …

Spreading Good News - the ACLU and NCLR file suit in New Mexico arguing that the state's gender-neutral civil marriage laws open the institution to same-gender couples, New Jersey couples press their marriage equality case with the state Supreme Court, and after waiting for the Supreme Court's DOMA decision, a federal judge green-lights a lawsuit challenging Michigan's constitutional marriage ban, while 11 same-gender couples file suit against Arkansas' ban …

Cue Mendelssohn - California lesbian and gay couples flock to city and county courthouses to get marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court's Proposition 8 ruling, and a Delaware state Senator and her longtime spouse are the first to marry when marriage equality legislation there takes effect …

Metidas de Pata - Costa Rican lawmakers "accidentally" approve the legal recognition of same-gender couples …

Rosy Revolution - a record pink-attired crowd of 21,000 lights up Singapore night skies at the annual Pink Dot LGBT rights festival …

Contagious Liberation - Istanbul Pride unexpectedly rides the waves of Turkey's pro-democracy movement …

No Cure for Homophobia - a Brazilian bill to re-classify gays and lesbians as mentally disordered is gone, but not forgotten ....

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.

Prop 8 Down, DOMA Disabled!

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U.S. Supreme Court-ship brings happiness equally after to many -- but far from all!

Our special coverage includes on-scene reports by Free Speech Radio News' Alice Ollstein in Washington, D.C. and Pacifica Radio News' Christopher Martinez in San Francisco, as well as comments by American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony Romero; New York Congressman Jarrold Nadler; Defense of Marriage Act Plaintiff Edith Windsor; victorious Proposition 8 Attorney Ted Olson at the celebratory rally in West Hollywood; San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera; "out" California State Assembly Speaker John Perez; and National Center For Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendall.

Then California Attorney General Kamala Harris marries Prop 8 lesbian plaintiff couple Kris Perry and Sandy Stier in San Francisco, and outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa marries Prop 8 gay plaintiff couple Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo in Los Angeles. (Plus music by the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus.)

And in NewsWrap: Prime Australian politics revive wedding wishes, Russian lawmakers and nationalists agree on homophobia, anti-gay Macedonian mob attacks Pride, Sao Paulo comes out to mock Brazil's "human wrongs" committee, magazine cover captures Bert and Ernie's bliss, and more news reported by Gary Shaw and Natalie Peoples (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending June 29, 2013

SUMMARY

Wedding Planners Field Day - California lesbian and gay couples doubly benefit from the U.S. Supreme Court's two marriage equality rulings on June 26th, as the high court rejects the legal standing of the supporters of the state's marriage equality-banning Proposition 8 to defend it in court – followed in less than 48 hours by the first post-ruling legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples in the state – and in the case of 84-year-old New York widow Edith Windsor rules as unconstitutional a key provision of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, that denies federal recognition to same-gender couples married in states where they're legal ...

Change Partners - newly pro-marriage equality and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd unseats anti-equality Julia Gillard to again take the country's helm in a snap election at the Labor Party caucus ...

Too Late to Discriminate - Australian lawmakers add sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex  status – with worrisome religious exemptions – to the country's Sex Discrimination Act ...

Legislative and Literal Rocks - to no one's surprise, the upper chamber of Russia's parliament approves a bill criminalizing "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations," a ban on the adoption of Russian orphans by foreign same-gender couples, and a three-year prison term for blasphemy, while dozens of outnumbered activists are assaulted by nationalist extremists and then arrested at an unsanctioned LGBT rights rally in St. Petersburg ...

Pride Endures - Macedonia Pride is marred by a mob assault on the building housing the Skopje LGBT Centre, and a mob spewing anti-gay obscenities and throwing objects at the house where a well-known openly gay Macedonian TV star cares for his ailing, elderly mother ...

Contraindications - thousands march to protest and mock a proposed "gay cure" bill in Brazil ...

Poster Boys - Bert and Ernie's Moment of Joy covers The New Yorker to celebrate the demise of Prop 8 and DOMA ....

Read the complete NewsWrap text ... or listen to this week's podcast.

High Court, High Noon

 Listen to the complete show here

Marriage equality champions square off with their opponents before the Supreme Court of the United States! Voices that will ring throughout LGBT history include U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Steven Bryer, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Proposition 8 defense attorney Charles Cooper, opposing counsel Ted Olson, and lead plaintiff Kristen Perry; Defense of Marriage Act defense attorney Paul Clement, opposing counsel Roberta Kaplan, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, and plaintiff Edith Windsor; law professor Kenji Yoshino; and attorney Shannon Minter.

And in NewsWrap: gay U.S. military activist Lt. Dan Choi convicted of a law-breaking White House fence-chaining Don't Ask Don't Tell demonstration, Paris police protect presidential palace from anti-equality protest, Russian activist beaten after his Pride is banned, Brits turn out for Turing, and more news reported by Pamela Brooks and Wenzel Jones (produced by Steve Pride).

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NewsWrap for the week ending March 30, 2013

SUMMARY

Supreme Test - The U.S. Supreme Court hears two historic days of oral arguments on marriage equality cases – the first involving California's Proposition 8, and the second challenging DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act …

Decorated, Damaged, Delinquent - PTSD takes its toll on gay Army hero Lt. Dan Choi as he's convicted of a criminal misdemeanor for chaining himself to the White House fence in a 2010 protest against Don't Ask Don't Tell …

Shields Up - French "family values" types "put the kids in front" as hundreds of thousands march against marriage equality - and police - in Paris …

The Whole World Is Watching - Pride is banned in another Russian city and its organizer is beaten as TV cameras roll …

Poisoned Apple Pie - the "Universal Machine," (ultimately persecuted) gay mathematician Alan Turing's forerunner to the modern computer, is named the greatest British innovation of the 20th century ….

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NewsWrap for the week ending March 2, 2013

SUMMARY

Finn Flop - A marriage equality proposal dies in a Finnish parliamentary committee …

And You're Out - three different bills creating civil partnerships for same-gender couples in Poland each fail to survive a first legislative reading …

Hand in Cookie Jar - the UK's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, "Bigot of the Year" Cardinal Keith O'Brien, resigns amidst charges of sexual improprieties with several male priests, but his replacement is equally bigoted …

Calling the Caterers - marriage equality measures, each with strong religious exemptions, pass committee muster in both British and New Zealand parliaments …

With Friends Like These - an avalanche of "friend of the court" briefs, from political leaders to business and labor leaders and professional associations, meet the filing deadline and urge the U.S. Supreme Court to declare California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional …

It's Legal, Just Shut Up - Russia's Foreign Minister defends his country's proposed bill to ban "homosexual propaganda" …

Just Saying - a court in Balti, the second biggest city in Moldova, reportedly overturns a local "no homo promo" law as an unconstitutional violation of human rights …

It Ain't Necessarily So - Canada's Supreme Court rules that the inflammatory anti-gay fliers of a "cured by religion" street preacher constitute hate speech …

Meet Marryin' Soham - the new Groom Wanted website in India promises gay men "the freedom to express themselves" ….

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NewsWrap for the week ending February 2, 2013

SUMMARY

C'est Bon - France's National Assembly says "absolument!" to a critical marriage equality bill component …

Get Off My Lawn - U.S. Senator John McCain calls inclusion of lesbian and gay bi-national couples in immigration reform discussions "a red herring" …

Accidents Don't Happen - attorneys defending the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's marriage equality-banning Proposition 8 at the Supreme Court each oddly argue that gay and lesbian couples are not entitled to civil marriage because they "don't present a threat of irresponsible procreation" …

Hers To Discover - Ontario's Kathleen Wynne becomes Canada's first female and first "out" premier …

Greener Grass - small Canadian study finds that "out" gay and bisexual men are generally happier than their heterosexual peers …

"Equal Rights" State Doesn't Want Them - Wyoming's state House rejects both marriage equality and domestic partnership proposals …

Repeat Performance - once dead "Don't Say Gay Bill" is resurrected in the Tennessee legislature …

First Bar None - San Francisco's Twin Peaks Tavern scales new heights ….

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NewsWrap for the week ending January 12, 2013

SUMMARY

Parental Permission - Italy's Supreme Court declares that same-gender couples can raise children just as well as heterosexual couples …

First Bias Hit - an appeals court in Serbia becomes the first in the Balkan nation to punish someone for anti-gay discrimination …

Liquor License - the Court of Appeals in Cameroon frees two men after they'd served more than a year of five-year "homosexuality" prison sentences for, among other "offenses," drinking Bailey's Irish Cream …

Reproductive Rights - the Stockholm Administrative Court of Appeals overturns a 1972 law in Sweden that required involuntary sterilization in all gender reassignment surgeries …

Oyez Oyez - the U.S. Supreme Court announces that it will hear oral arguments in the Proposition 8 case on March 26th and on the DOMA case the following day …

If You Don't, You Can - the Church of England says that "out" gay men in celibate civil partnerships can now become bishops …

Faithful Servant, Well Done - the first openly-gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, New Hampshire's Gene Robinson, retires after almost a decade in that post …

Capital Equality Bells - the national seat of the Episcopal Church, the iconic National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., will soon begin hosting the weddings of lesbian & gay couples ….

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NewsWrap for the week ending December 15, 2012

SUMMARY

Equality on the Way - The Uruguay House overwhelmingly passes a marriage equality bill that most believe will be approved in the Senate and signed into law by the president in early 2013 …

Friend or Foe - pressure grows on the Obama administration to file friend of the court briefs supporting marriage equality in the two cases coming before the Supreme Court next year …

Good Money After Bad - the Republican majority in the U.S. House ups the ante to 2 million taxpayer dollars in its legal defense of the equality-banning Defense of Marriage Act …

Dominoes - Western Australia becomes the latest state or territory "Down Under" to have marriage equality on the parliamentary agenda …

Business of Love - honeymooners make tourism phones ring off the hook following the first legal marriage of a gay male couple on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba…

Proud of Prejudice - an avowedly anti-gay Ukrainian political party brags about assaulting and gassing a peaceful LGBT rights demonstration in Kyiv …

Rate Hike for Bed and Bias - a court in Chile fines a motel for sexual orientation-based discrimination in the first such case since the enactment of the country's long-languishing anti-bias law earlier this year …

Curses and Blessings - Uganda's parliament adjourns, possibly until as late as February 2013, without considering the so-called "Kill the Gays Bill," while the nation's homophobic House Speaker Rebecca Kadaga is ironically blessed by anti-LGBT Pope Benedict XVI at a so-called "human rights conference" in Rome ....

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