BBC 2 are doing a 4 part series about the British family. It will be presented by Kirsty Young and will explore the changes to the British family over the last 60 years through four key topics: marriage, kids, sex and money.

These will break down into more specific explorations of changes in family set-ups, styles of parenting, our views on marriage and divorce, our experiences of childhood and parenthood, attitudes to sex, sex education and sexuality, role definition, money in relation to power balances and the impact of more women in the workplace.

We hope to demonstrate these changes through the stories of families. I’m currently looking for people who have come out to their family, who went along to some of the first Pride marches, have gone on to have Civil Partnerships and families of their own and are willing to talk about these experiences together with a family member and/or partner to Kirsty.

If your interested in taking part please drop me a line with your name and contact details

Gino Meriano – gino@pinkweddings.biz

Father Hudson’s Society halts case with the Charity Tribunal

One of two Catholic adoption agencies appealing against a Charity Commission decision not to allow them to take steps to exclude gay people from adopting has withdrawn its case from the Charity Tribunal.

Father Hudson’s Society launched a joint appeal before Christmas with Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) after the commission ruled they could not change their charitable objects to take advantage of a clause in new equality legislation that would permit them to discriminate against people with certain sexual orientations (11 December, page 3). The clause says charities can discriminate if explicitly permitted by their governing documents.

The society withdrew its case after a directions hearing on 17 April. Catholic Care’s appeal will proceed to a full hearing on 13 May. Neither charity was willing to comment. The tribunal ruled in March that the charities would have to show the public benefit created by their being permitted to discriminate was sufficient to justify exemption from the new law (Third Sector Online, 16 March).

Several other Catholic agencies have broken formal links with the church to comply with the new law

Gino Meriano gay rights campaigner for same-sex families comments “The Equality Act was put into place to help protect same-sex families including  those seeking to adopt. Society is ever changing and a better understanding of this is paramount, no matter what individual’s beliefs are, the law is the law and an adoption agency should not be allowed to discriminate. Agencies across the UK were given amble time to accommodate this new law or close if they were unable to comply with the Equality Act.  Adoption must always be about the welfare of the child and not furthering religious beliefs. Open discrimination should be stopped without exception and any challenges like this ruled out of court once and for all”.

Pam Frost is the Interim Director of Learning & Development and has worked with Gay Surrey to raise visibility and support for LGB and T issues across the Trust.

Since working in the Trust, Pam has made a commitment to give personal leadership in the area of Equality and Diversity. She says “we are fortunate as a Trust to be working in partnership with a charity called Gay Surrey”.

Under Pam’s leadership, Gay Surrey has helped introduce and deliver Human Rights training to the Trust’s staff and most recently she has started an LGB and T employee network.

Pam lives with her civil partner and her two teenage daughters, who happily accept that they have two mums.

Read the full story here http://www.gaysurrey.org/press.htm

Meet and hear Pam speak at our IDAHO event on the 17th May 2009 – email us your questions for her

Thanks

Gino

Gay Surrey

You know that magical feeling you get when you see two women or two men holding hands in public? Imagine if you could see and feel that every day.

Equal rights and equal respect. It’s in our hands.

A Day In Hand will seek to promote equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bi & Trans (LGBT) people by inspiring and mobilising same-sex couples to publicly hold hands across the globe.

A Day In Hand is asking people to upload photos of public, same-sex hand holding to www.adayinhand.com, register with the site and spread the word. Collectively, the photos will map the public presence of same-sex love across the world. In the UK in particular, the campaign needs stories and photos from all over England, Wales, Scotland & Nth. Ireland.

Celebrities and public figures have been quick to get involved. Brian Paddick (I’m A Celebrity…)appeared in a photoshoot for the project, and activists Cleve Jones (Harvey Milk’s aide) and Peter Tatchell support the campaign. The campaign has also been discussed widely on BBC Radio Live 5 and will have it’s own phone in on Sat eve, 25th April on the Stephen Nolan show.

It heralds a new movement in fighting for LGBT rights: a movement in which anybody, on any day, can contribute to. You don’t have to fight to change the world. Same-sex hand holding (Sshh) is a silent revolution.

A Day In Hand believes that increasing public visibility of LGBT people through hand holding will change the way communities understand same-sex relationships, and LGBT people.

Straight people are encouraged to take part in the project. David Watkins, group founder said,            

“We want straight people to hold hands with someone of their same gender in public, and describe how it made them feel. This is an inclusive event and involving straight people will support a wider understanding of this issue. You don’t have to be gay to object to homophobia and inequality. Hand-holding crosses gender, age, orientation and geographical borders. We want to show that LGBT people are relevant to everyone, and that we live and breathe in all communities.”

Watkins added,

“Hand holding is a simple, liberating gesture that is essential to our communities’ health, visibility, and respect.”

For more information about the campaign and how you can get involved with this revolution, please go to www.adayinhand.com, and read the information contained in the attachment.

A Day In Hand will launch at XXL Club, London Bridge 1-4pm on May 17^th . This will be on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). Launch details to follow.

Brooklands FM is built around music from the last 40 or so years, with local news, features, sport and advertising for local firms. Behind the station is a small team of professionals with backgrounds in radio and other media, the same people who brought you Brooklands FM in 2007.

This community radio based in Weybridge invited me in to do an interview about Gay Surrey, our events and the work we do for the community, their family and friends. The interview will become available in a couple of days for you to hear on http://www.brooklandsfm.co.uk

In the interview I managed to promote the charity, the International Day Against Homophobia, ABAYA nights, Saucy Events, Stophatenow and more, I have been invited in again to cover more issues, our events and more news from the charity.

Taken from Pink News, its seems we as a gay cummunity are in need of curing, check out the story, from a personal point of view why dont these people just leave us alone, Gino

A conference advocating techniques to help ‘cure’ people of homosexuality is to be held in London next weekend.

Held by the Anglican Mainstream Organisation, the event will have “a special focus on how religious professionals and friends/relatives can respond biblically and pastorally to those struggling with unwanted SSA (same-sex attraction)”.

According to the organisation, the conference is “ideal for clergy, rabbis, psychologists, therapists, educators and others concerned about the plethora of sexual issues confronting us in today’s society, including mentoring the sexually broken, the sexualisation of culture, pornography, the Bible and sex, and marriage, the family and sex”.

One guest speaker will be Joseph Nicolosi PhD, of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (Narth).

Nicolosi is an advocate and practictioner of reparative therapy, which claims to help people overcome or reduce unwanted homosexual feelings.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, the therapy works on the assumption that homosexuality is a disease or mental illness that must be treated.

Also appearing at the conference is Jeffrey Satinover, who said in 2005 that sexual orientation is “a fiction”. He added that it is ludicrous to allow civil rights for a group of people whose condition does not exist.

A spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Foundation said: “It is worrying to hear of this conference aimed at promoting such a deplorable and dangerous approach to therapy, and giving a platform to homophobic ideas.

“We encourage people to access Gay Affirmative Therapy, rather than internalise the homophobic beliefs of others.”

The conference is to be held next Friday and Saturday in central London, although the organisers have not yet confirmed a venue.

However, UK Gay News reports it will be held at the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street.

The news comes after research published in the BMC Psychiatry journal showed that a sixth of registered British therapist and psychiatrists have attempted to “cure” patients of homosexuality.

The study led by Michael King of University College London, surveyed 1,400 medical professionals but finds that there is very little evidence that therapy can really help change whether a person is lesbian, gay or bisexual.

“There is very little evidence to show that attempting to treat a person’s homosexual feelings is effective and in fact it can actually be harmful,” said Professor King .

“So it is surprising that a significant minority of practitioners still offer this help to their clients.”

Seventeen per cent of the professionals questioned had attempted to help patients “reduce” gay or lesbian feelings, utilising techniques such as aversion therapy, more commonly used in the 1970s and 1980s.

The therapy involved associating gay imagery with electronic shocks. But just four per cent of therapists and psychiatrists said that they would try to use such treatments if asked by a patient today.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key architect of Republican Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign has urged conservatives to drop their opposition to same-sex marriage.

Steve Schmidt served as Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign manager in 2008.

In a speech Friday to Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay rights group, Steve Schmidt said allowing same-sex marriage is in line with the conservative credo of keeping government out of people’s private lives.

“There is a sound conservative argument to be made for same-sex marriage,” Schmidt, who was McCain’s campaign manager, told the group. “I believe conservatives, more than liberals, insist that rights come with responsibilities. No other exercise of one’s liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage. In a marriage, two people are completely responsible to and for each other.”

He added: “If you are not willing to accept and faithfully discharge those responsibilities, you shouldn’t enter the state of matrimony, and it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference if you’re straight or gay. It is a responsibility like no other, which can and should make marriage an association between two human beings more fulfilling than any other.”

Schmidt told CNN that the GOP must become more open if it wants to reverse a shrinking coalition, especially among younger, more accepting voters.

“People are turned off in large measure by what they see as intolerance coming out of the party,” he said.

Schmidt says he knows his is a minority view. In the presidential campaign, McCain ran against same-sex marriage.

“I don’t honestly expect our party will reverse in the very near term its opposition to same sex marriage. Nor do I yet see support for it from a strong majority of the general public,” Schmidt told the Log Cabin Republicans. “And, I do believe that such a highly charged political question such as this should be settled by the freely expressed will of the people, and not by the courts.”

So what will change Republicans’ mindset?

Read the full story on CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/17/schmidt.log.cabin/index.html

A charity which promotes gay issues in Surrey is to launch an initiative next month to help train teachers in ways to approach and tackle homophobic bullying.

Gino Meriano, who lives in Weybridge, said Gay Surrey had been working on a campaign called Educate Don’t Segregate since last year and hoped Surrey schools would actively show their support.

The launch follows the news that Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan has written to headteachers warning them some school staff and governors were not aware of guidance on how to deal with anti-gay bullying.

In the letter, the Government minister said: “It is important to recognise that homophobic bullying can be deeply damaging to that young person’s confidence and sense of self-worth and it can impact on their ability to realise their full potential and their future life chances.”

The letter also reminded headteachers that, since Section 28 was repealed, there are no barriers to teachers discussing sexual orientation issues in the classroom.

Mr Meriano said: “Recent research found that nine in 10 teachers said pupils experienced homophobic bullying in their schools.

“Yet nine in 10 teachers also said they’ve never received training on how to tackle this problem.

“It also found that more than 150,000 pupils are affected by anti-gay bullying, with boys who work hard, girls who play sport, young people with gay parents and young people who are thought to be gay all suffering from name calling and abuse.

“Nine in 10 secondary school teachers and two in five primary school teachers said pupils experienced homophobic bullying, even if they are not gay.

“Teachers reported that homophobic bullying was the most prevalent form of bullying after bullying because of weight, coming above racism.”

News story from http://www.elmbridgeguardian.co.uk/news/4281603.Gay_Surrey_to_launch_anti_bullying_initiative/

While Gay advocates are launching a national boycott of Jamaica in New York City.  The boycott is taking place in New York’s famous Stonewall Bar – the birthplace of the gay rights movement

Gino Meriano gay rights campaigner comments “I received a message on facebook asking for a different kind of support from our friends over in jamaica, read below”.

…………………………….
(Kingston) Jamaica’s largest LGBT civil rights group is asking American gays to reject a boycott of Jamaica and Jamaican products.

US rights group TruthWinsOut, founded by 365gay columnist Wayne Besen, has called for a boycott of the island and some of its most famous products, to protest several violent homophobic incidents and Jamaica’s refusal to repeal laws against sodomy.

Wednesday, the group will launch a national boycott of Jamaica in New York City at the famed Stonewall Bar – birthplace of the gay rights movement. TruthWinsOut leader Besen said that the bar’s owners and boycott supporters will dump Jamaican liquor – Red Stripe beer and Myers’ Rum – down the sewer.

“We, as the owners of the Stonewall Inn, birthplace of the Gay rights movement, refuse to support, in any way, shape or form, the oppression of any people especially our gay brothers and sisters in Jamaica,” the Stonewall Inn said in its statement.

“We ask all people of all walks of life to send a clear message to the Jamaican people and their government, that as long as they continue to allow and condone violence and hatred toward the Gay community, we will neither buy their products nor support their tourist trade.”

“If you love your gay friends and family members, you won’t visit Jamaica,” said boycott co-organizer Wayne Besen. “If you care about the human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, you won’t buy Jamaican products. We hope that all gay and gay friendly bar owners and restaurateurs across the nation will participate in ‘rum dumps.’ We can no longer subsidize our own slaughter.”

But in Kingston, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays, said the boycott could backfire and result in more violence.

“Because of the possible repercussions of increased homophobic violence against our already besieged community, we feel that a tourist boycott is not the most appropriate response at this time,” J-FLAG said in a statement.

“In our battle to win hearts and minds, we do not wish to be perceived as taking food off the plate of those who are already impoverished. In fact, members of our own community could be disproportionately affected by a worsened economic situation brought about by a tourist ban.”

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has told Parliament his government will not yield to “perhaps the most organized lobby in the world” and will not abolish prison sentences for sodomy.

Golding made the comment during debate on a new sexual offenses law primarily aimed at combating rape and child abuse. Jamaican LGBT rights groups and international human rights organizations had urged the government to include a repeal of the sodomy law in the new act.

Gay sex is punishable by up to seven years in prison under a law which dates back to British colonial rule. Britain has long since abolished the law and has urged its former colonies to do the same.

Jamaica has been described by human rights groups as having the worst record of any country in the New World in its treatment of gays and lesbians.

In January 2008, a group of men approached a house where four males lived in the central Jamaican town of Mandeville, and demanded that they leave the community because they were gay, according to Jamaican human rights activists who spoke with the victims.

Later that evening, a mob returned and surrounded the house. The four men inside called the police when they saw the crowd gathering. The mob started to attack the house, shouting and throwing bottles.

Those in the house called police again and were told that the police were on the way. Approximately half an hour later, 15-20 men broke down the door and began beating and slashing the inhabitants.

Human Rights Watch, quoting local activists said that police did not arrive until a half hour after the mob had broken into the house – 90 minutes after the men first called for help.

One of the victims managed to flee with the mob pursuing. A Jamaican newspaper reported that blood was found at the mouth of a nearby pit, suggesting he had fallen inside or may have been killed nearby.

The police escorted the three other victims away from the scene; two of them were taken to the hospital. One of the men had his left ear severed, his arm broken in two places, and his spine reportedly damaged.

There have been no arrests.

The attack echoes another incident in the same town on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007 when approximately 100 men gathered outside a church where 150 people were attending the funeral of a gay man.

According to mourners, the crowd broke the windows with bottles and shouted, “We want no battyman [gay] funeral here. Leave or else we’re going to kill you. We don’t want no battyman buried here in Mandeville.”

Several mourners inside the church called the police to request protection. After half an hour, three police officers arrived.

Human Rights Watch said that instead of protecting the mourners, police socialized with the mob, laughing along at the situation.

A highway patrol car subsequently arrived, and one of the highway patrol officers reportedly told the churchgoers, “It’s full time this needs to happen. Enough of you guys.”

The highway patrol officers then drove off. The remaining officers at the scene refused to intervene when the mob threatened the mourners with sticks, stones, and batons as they tried to leave the service. Only when several gay men among the mourners took knives from their cars for self-defense did police reportedly take action by firing their guns into the air. Officers stopped gay men from leaving and searched their vehicles, but did not restrain or detain members of the mob, Human Rights Watch said.

More than 30 gay men are believed to have been murdered since 1997 J-FLAG says. In most of the cases the killers have never been brought to trial.

Arrests, however, have been made in several cases which received international attention.

In 2004, Brian Williamson, Jamaica’s leading LGBT civil rights advocate, was brutally murdered. He had been stabbed at least 70 times in the neck. A 25-year-old man is currently serving a life sentence for the murder.

In December 2005, Lenford “Steve” Harvey who ran Jamaica AIDS Support for Life was killed.

Harvey was shot to death on the eve of World AIDS Day. His organization provided support to gay men and sex workers. Four men were arrested almost a year later.

In 2006, the bodies of two women believed to have been in a lesbian relationship were found dumped in a septic pit behind a home they shared. The killers of Candice Williams and Phoebe Myrie have not been caught.

Students at University of the West Indies in Kingston rioted last year as police attempted to protect a gay student and escort him from the campus. The incident began when the student was chased across the campus by another student who claimed the gay man had attempted to proposition him in a washroom.

The same year, a young man plunged to his death off a pier in Kingston after reportedly being chased through the streets by a mob yelling homophobic epithets.

In February 2007, three men in “tight jeans” and wearing what some witnesses described as makeup were cornered by a mob of 2000 in a drugstore. There were yells of “kill them” along with gay slurs and demands the three be sent out “to face justice.” Police had to fire tear gas into the crowd to rescue the three.

Reggae, or Jamaican dancehall music, is blamed for fueling homophobia. Reggae star BujuBanton’s hit song Boom Boom Bye Bye

The worker was suspended for his beliefs on gay marriage and gay clergy

Born-again Christian David Booker, 44, who works as a hostel support worker in Southampton for the non-religious charity Society of St James, told co-worker Fiona Vardy about his beliefs but denied being homophobic.

Soon after the incident on 26th March, Mr Brooker received a suspension notice which was issued to “safeguard both residents and staff” following the “events that happened last night”.

An investigation and a disciplinary hearing have been ordered.

The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) have assigned human rights lawyer Paul Diamond to defend Mr Brooker.

Director of the CLC Andrea Minichello Williams said: “No date has been set for the investigation and disciplinary hearing.

“This case shows that in today’s politically correct, increasingly secularised society, even consenting reasonable discussion on religion between two employees is being twisted by employers to discriminate and silence the Christian voice and freedom of expression.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury, as patron, has confirmed the Church’s teaching on marriage, same-sex relationships and homosexuality and that is in the public domain.

“We are interested to know whether his patronage is now under threat under the charity’s Culture and Diversity Code of Conduct.”

The Society of St James maintain that their decision was based on Mr Brooker’s decision to promote his religious views at work “which contained discriminatory comments regarding a person’s sexual orientation”.

The case follows a number of high-profile suspensions regarding religious views.

Last year, Lillian Ladele, 48, from Finsbury, was threatened with the sack after she told Islington borough council she could not carry out civil partnerships for gay couples due to her Christian beliefs.

An employment tribunal in 2008 had ruled in favour of Ms Ladele but the council successfully appealed the decision at the Employment Appeals Tribunal earlier this month.

Gary McFarlane, a Christian, claimed for wrongful dismissal against counselling service Relate.

He said that he had “overcome” his prejudices against same-sex couples since he began working as a Relate counsellor in 2003, but in subsequent work as a psychsexual therapist, he felt he would be “encouraging sin” when working with gays and lesbians.

A tribunal in January ruled he had not been discriminated againt on the grounds of his religious belief. A claim of unfair dismissal was also rejected.

However, Related addmitted wrongfully dismissing Mr McFarlane as it should have given him notice to leave instead of dismissing him on the grounds of gross misconduct and accepted his claim of wrongful dismissal.

Gino Meriano, Gay rights campaigner and founder of Pink Weddings comments “It seems very simple, we have the Civil partnership Act in place to protect same sex couples when sealing their relationship. We have the Equality Act in place to prevent discrimination in the retail and goods sector.

As long as we all abide by these rules then no one has to suffer.

Over 27,000 couples have signed the Civil Partnership register so why are people hung up on the word marriage as for freedom of speech, this should only be taken in the context its meant and if offensive and goes against the Equality Act then court action should be the next step.

It’s what the law is there for, so if right take action if not then leave well alone

Any doubts, read the Acts and see the latest report on freedom of speech regarding religious groups, no one is stopping them preach the word of God, what they should not do is class us as immoral, second class and not part of society, this is where law steps in – we are all equal under any eyes and no one person, religion or belief has the right to pass judgment on anyone