LOS ANGELES — A US court has blocked same-sex marriages in California until at least December while an appeal of a landmark decision to overturn a state ban is considered.

The decision by the federal court of appeals came hours after gay marriage opponents urged the ban on the unions to be maintained in the West Coast state.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the motion for a stay and scheduled further proceedings on the appeal to take place the week of December 6 in San Francisco.

The ruling halted an anticipated rush of gay marriages after Judge Vaughn Walker last week authorized same-sex weddings to begin again on August 18 in order to permit the court of appeals to consider the issue.

Opponents of gay marriage argued in their appeal that most of the United States and the majority of countries worldwide do not allow gay marriage because the institution of marriage serves a societal interest.

“California, 44 other states, and the vast majority of countries throughout the world continue to draw the line at marriage because it continues to serve a vital societal interest,” the appeal said.

The purpose of marriage is between members of the opposite sex “to channel potentially procreative sexual relationships into enduring, stable unions for the sake of responsibly producing and raising the next generation,” it said.

Some 18,000 gay and lesbian couples tied the knot between May and November 2008 when gay marriage was briefly allowed by the state of California.

Currently only the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the US capital Washington, recognize gay marriage.

Both California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown had filed motions last Friday demanding same-sex marriages be allowed to resume immediately.

Walker had last week found in favor of activists who argued that the California referendum which barred same-sex marriage was discriminatory and therefore violated the US Constitution.

The referendum, known as Proposition 8, was passed by a 52 percent majority in November 2008, only six months after California’s Supreme Court overturned a previous ban on same-sex weddings, sending gays and lesbians flocking to marry.

Legal experts believe the case is almost certain to end up before the US Supreme Court in around two years, once appeals hearings in lower courts have run their course

Shared by Gino Meriano

Judge Vaughn Walker ruled last week that banning gay marriage in the state is unconstitutional but ruled on Thursday that his verdict should apply now, rather than staying the order while gay marriage opponents appeal.

However, the week-long delay means that gay marriage opponents can appeal to a higher court to keep the ban in place.

Judge Walker wrote: “The evidence presented at trial and the position of the representatives of the State of California show that an injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8 is in the public’s interest.

“Accordingly, the court concludes that the public interest counsels against entry of the stay proponents seek.”

If no order to keep the ban is made, gay couples can begin marrying again on Wednesday August 18th.

California legalised marriage for gay couples in 2008 but the voter initiative Proposition 8 struck it down in the same year.

Judge Walker’s verdict comes after a three-week trial in February, which was the first federal trial to examine the issue.

Both Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown had asked the him to lift the stay.

The issue is expected to be contested all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Shared by Gino Meriano @ PinkApproved.com
http://wiki.pinkapproved.com/index.php/News,_Prop_8_ruling_adds_meaning_to_my_marriage

Argentina’s Senate has voted 33-27 to support a bill to legalise gay marriage.

As President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner supports the legislation, she is expected to sign it into law, making Argentina the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage.

The bill will grant gay couples equal rights, including the right to adopt children. It amends marriage laws to refer to the “marrying parties”, rather than men and women.

The protests of religious groups did not dissuade politicians from backing the bill, despite thousands of people demonstrating against it in capital city Buenos Aires yesterday.

The Pope’s number one in the country, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, even claimed it was the work of the devil.

President Kirchner rebutted this, saying that such sentiments “send us back to medieval times and the Inquisition”.

Currently, only a few areas of Argentina recognise civil unions between same-sex couples: Buenos Aires itself, the province of Río Negro in Patagonia, and the city of Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba province.

Worldwide, Argentina is the tenth country to allow gay marriage after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.

Posted by Gino Meriano and bought to you by PinkApproved

Earlier this morning Gino Meriano was interviewed about Civil Partnerships and the possible introduction of religious attachments and buildings to take the act one step further.

Gino commented “This was a great move forward but we must see this from both sides and while the current legislation allows for Civil Partnerships to be held in churches and religious buildings, there is still an opt out clause. The next step is to give them legal rights to sign the documentation making same sex couples ceremonies in a church or religious building, legal”

Over London Pride weekend Liberal Democrat MP and equality minister Lynne Featherstone has said that the government will consult with a range of stakeholders on progressing civil partnerships and gay marriage.

Gino comments “again a great move but why “Gay Marriage” its either “Marriage” or “Equal Marriage” there seems to be a constant move to keeping the LGB and T community boxed and labelled when there is no need. These people including Ms Featherstone need to understand the terms correctly for true equality to happen”

There are interesting times ahead of us and only continued campaigning will see change in legislation for the future generation.

Gino Meriano adds :-

BERLIN — A Berlin court declined to set a precedent by recognizing a gay marriage performed in Canada, ruling Tuesday that the union would only be considered a civil partnership in Germany.

German law defines marriage as exclusively between men and women. It allows civil partnerships between same-sex couples.

Andreas Boettcher, a 37-year-old German event manager, married his Spanish partner, a dancer and choreographer, in Montreal in July 2006. He asked a Berlin administrative court to recognize the relationship as a marriage after local authorities listed him as “single” on his registration card in November, despite his Canadian marriage certificate and a family registry entry from Spain that names him as the husband of his partner.

Boettcher said the couple, who have been together for 17 years, decided to marry in Canada about six months before they took a trip there to participate in a sporting event.

Spain and five other countries in Europe let same-sex couples wed. In the United States, six states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriages.

“The German authorities would have had no problems, had (he) been an Isabel,” said Boettcher, who asked that his husband not be identified.

The German court said a same-sex marriage abroad is to be legally considered a civil partnership in Germany.

Boettcher said he accepted the ruling, although it fell short of his goal.

“I could fight it, but it would take a lot of time and a lot of money,” he said. “At least, I have reached the minimum.”

Germany’s Gay and Lesbian Association sharply criticized authorities forcing Boettcher to take his case to court to get a marriage recognized as a civil union.

Iceland, a socially tolerant island nation of about 320,000 people, became the first country to elect an openly gay head of state in 2009 when Social Democrat Johanna Sigurdardottir became prime minister after being nominated by her party.

“The attitude in Iceland is fairly pragmatic,” said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland. “It (gay marriage) has not been a big issue in national politics — it’s not been controversial.”

The prime minister’s sexual orientation garnered far more interest among foreign media than in Iceland, where the attitude toward homosexuality has grown increasingly relaxed in the past two or three decades, Kristinsson added.

Iceland’s protestant church has yet to decide whether to allow same-sex marriages in church, although the law says “ministers will always be free to perform (gay) marriage ceremonies, but never obliged to.”

The largely protestant countries of northern Europe, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, have all endorsed some form of civil union between same-sex couples, but the issue creates more controversy in Mediterranean Catholic nations.

In the United States, gay marriage remains a fraught political issue, with laws varying widely from state to state. Vermont was the first state to allow same-sex civil unions in 1999, followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut and others.

Gino Meriano, gay rights campaigner for same sex couples comments “Yet again we see change happen in such a positive way, it is an  exciting time and one that cannot be ignored. Legal rights is being opened up to all and one day we will see the world united in accepting the LGB and T community as equal”.

Gino Meriano campaigner for same sex familes comments “Why is the UK apologizing to a so called head of a self declared state. Surely the joke is using UK tax payers money to fund the proliferation of homophobic ideas in public.

Not to mention some of the other out dated and crazy ideas like encouraging unprotected sex and denying the rights of women to choose on abortion.

The writer of the memo should be praised for having the guts to raise this to  Bureaucrat’s  attention.  Surey this yet anther good example of the need to separate church from state”.

(CNN) — The British government has apologized to Pope Benedict XVI for a Foreign Office memo suggesting that he could launch Benedict-brand condoms or bless a gay marriage when he visits the United Kingdom later this year.

Many of the ideas in the document are “clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful,” the Foreign Office said in a statement Sunday.

The writer of the memo “has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgment,” the Foreign Office said.

The Vatican is steadfastly opposed to the use of condoms for any reason and to gay marriage.

The memo also includes suggestions that the pope ordain a female priest or launch an abortion clinic — both of which are forbidden by Roman Catholic doctrine.

The document was leaked to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. The Foreign Office confirmed to CNN that it is genuine.

It contains a number of references to the child abuse scandal sweeping the Catholic Church, such as proposals for the pope to launch a child-abuse hotline and to announce he’s “sacking dodgy bishops.”

Vatican says sex abuse lawsuit lacks merit

The Vatican had little reaction.

“The U.K. government has already clarified the matter and I have nothing to add,” spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

But Jack Valero, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, called the memo a “joke that’s gone out of control.”

“It was somebody trying to be funny in an offensive sort of way,” he said, adding it was “not important” and that “Catholics are used to forgiveness.”

Benedict is making a four-day state visit to England and Scotland in September.

Gino Meriano Gay Rights Campaigner for same sex families comments “This is such a great turning point, from changes in the law back in 2007 to a new draft constitution on gay rights and even gay marriage is being considered. This only demonstrates the real social change that is happening around the globe. No matter what the future holds for this great country, one thing is for sure their stance on fairness and equality is one to be admired and we can only hope this continues”.

The Asian country of Nepal aims to hold gay weddings on Everest as part of its plans to reinvent itself as a gay-friendly tourism destination.

The country, which criminalised homosexuality until 2007, has undergone profound changes in the last few years and its only out gay MP Sunil Babu Pant is spearheading new equality laws.

Tourism minister Sharat Singh Bhandari told The Times: “We’re completely changing this country. It’s a newborn republic — and we want to showcase this change

“We also want to re-establish tourism as a major industry.”

Last October, Mr Bhandari took the unprecedented step of writing a letter to the International Conference On Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Boston.

He wrote: “As the world knows, Nepal is the land of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak and the birth place of Lord Buddha, light of Asia.

“I, therefore, would like to take this opportunity to invite and welcome all the sexual and gender minorities from around the world.”

Tourism bosses in Nepal hope to attract one million tourists a year, up from 400,000 currently. They are already discussing the prospect of holding gay weddings at the base of Everest and giving gay couples the chance to enjoy their honeymoons with tours on elephant-back.

The country is drawing up a new constitution which will enshrine gay rights, while a law allowing gay marriage is being considered.

Nepal was once strongly conservative and gays in the Himalayan kingdom previously suffered persistent persecution from security forces during the absolutist rule of King Gyanendra.

The harassment of lesbian, gay and trans people continued at the hands of Maoist rebels.