LGBT // Current

featured 07.02.09

Indian court decriminalises gay sex

An Indian court has ruled for the first time that consensual gay sex is not a crime, signalling an historic breakthrough for the... more

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Mass. Sues Feds Over Definition of Marriage

Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, sued the U.S. government Wednesday over a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The 1996 law denies federal recognition of gay marriage and gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, argues the act "constitutes an overreaching and discriminatory federal law."

Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the section of the law that creates a federal definition of marriage as limited to a union between one man and one woman.

Before the law was passed, Coakley said, the federal government recognized that defining marital status was the "exclusive prerogative of the states." Now, because of the U.S. law's definition of marriage, same-sex couples are denied access to benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including federal income tax credits, employment benefits, retirement benefits, health insurance coverage and Social Security payments.

"In enacting DOMA, Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people," the lawsuit states. The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted when it appeared Hawaii would soon legalize same-sex marriages and opponents worried that other states would be forced to recognize them. It defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and defines "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

President Barack Obama has pledged to work to repeal the law, although gay rights activists criticized the administration last month after Justice Department lawyers defended it in a court brief. White House aides said they were doing their jobs to support a law that is on the books.

Besides Massachusetts, five other states — Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Iowa — have legalized gay marriage.

This is the second lawsuit filed in Massachusetts challenging the law.

In March, the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders claimed the law discriminates against gay couples and is unconstitutional because it denies them access to federal benefits that other married couples receive, such as health insurance and pensions.Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, sued the U.S. government Wednesday over a federal law that defines... more

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What's it like to be Gay? (London)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in London handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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If you could come out again, what would you do differently? (London)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in London handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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Don't Ask, Don't Care

Even before the US secretary of defence, Robert Gates, announced that he wanted to make the law dealing with gays in the military... more

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What's the best thing about being Gay? (London)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in London handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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What's the gayest thing you've ever done? (London)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in London handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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4 days ago

India legalises sex between men

That is really smart! If I am right the new law only applies to New Delhi the capital. According to the article a ruling last... more

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What's it like to be Gay? (Dublin)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in Dublin handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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What's the gayest thing you've ever done? (Dublin)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in Dublin handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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If you could come out again, what would you do differently? (Dublin)

Last weekend, you might have seen us hanging out at some of the Pride events in Dublin handing out postcards with questions on the... more

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Gays in the Military: Does a Sailor's Murder Signal Deeper Problems?

Even as Pentagon lawyers begin trying to ease the "Don't ask, don't tell" prohibition on gays serving openly in the U.S. military, the murder last week of an apparently gay sailor at California's Camp Pendleton has raised new questions over the readiness of the armed forces to accept openly homosexual personnel. Seaman August Provost of Houston was shot and killed while standing nighttime guard at his base on June 30. His body was found at about 3 a.m. after his guard shack had been torched, apparently to destroy evidence surrounding his slaying, according to Navy officials. Provost was gay, according to his family, gay activists and his MySpace page, and had reportedly "come out" to some of his Navy colleagues. Two California Democratic members of Congress, Susan Davis and Bob Filner, have asked the military to investigate whether Provost's sexual orientation was the reason for his murder. Local gay activists have also asked for such a probe, and are planning a candlelight vigil outside Camp Pendleton's gates this Friday, several hours after memorial services for Provost are to be held in Texas. The Navy has said there is no indication that the 28-year-old sailor was the target of a hate crime, but officials also decline to specify a suspected motive. "As it stands right now, we have no indication that there is any tie to what may or may not have been his sexuality," a senior Navy officer in San Diego said Monday afternoon. This officer expressed frustration with blog and media reports saying Provost had been brutalized — in addition to being shot. "He did suffer gunshot wounds, and there was a fire in a pretty clear attempt to destroy evidence," he said. "But he was not bound, he was not gagged and he was not mutilated." At least two suspects — both sailors — have been questioned. One remains in custody and is expected to be charged.

Navy officials admit that they hope there is no link between Provost's killing and his sexual orientation, because his death comes at a delicate time for the Obama Administration on the issue of gays in the military. Following President Clinton's bumbled 1993 effort to force the military to accept openly gay personnel in its ranks, Congress — abetted by the military — passed legislation making "Don't ask, don't tell" the law. Prior to the Clinton Administration, the ban on gays serving had simply been a presidential directive that could be unilaterally reversed by the White House. But now that it has been written into law, it will take a majority of both houses of Congress to lift the ban. The Obama Administration has asked the military for its advice on how best to do that, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that he has told Obama to make the change "in a measured way." Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week his staff is seeking ways that the law can be applied "in a more humane way."
Indeed, Provost's murder comes almost 10 years to the day that Army Private First Class Barry Winchell was killed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after he was suspected of being gay. Gay activists argued at the time that an antigay climate at Fort Campbell played a role in Winchell's July 6, 1999, murder; the soldier convicted of his killing was sentenced to life in prison.

The Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a think tank that studies gender and sexual issues in the military, issued a legal memo on Monday detailing just what Gates could do to reduce the impact of "Don't ask, don't tell" on military personnel. (According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which opposes the ban, a total of 284 military personnel have been kicked from the ranks since President Obama came into office promising to end it.) Among other options, Gates could order the retention of all service members targeted under the law for a limited period of time by citing the nation's security needs.Even as Pentagon lawyers begin trying to ease the "Don't ask, don't tell" prohibition on gays serving openly... more