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May 20, 2013
England and Wales gay marriage bill could be delayed up to two years

Tory party in-fighting and an amendment giving straight couples civil partnerships could delay the equal marriage bill until after the next election

Conservative party in-fighting and an amendment giving straight couples civil partnerships could delay the England and Wales equal marriage bill for up to two years.

The bill, which returns to the House of Commons today (20 May), is the subject of fierce debate among members of parliament. It will be voted on after two days of discussion.

Members of parliament, led by Tory Tim Loughton, have tabled an amendment expanding civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples.

May 20, 2013
Gay marriage bill still on track despite fight in UK parliament

British MPs have rejected amendments that would have watered down or delayed gay marriage proposals

Members of Parliament (MPs) have knocked back amendments to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales that would have watered down or possibly delayed or ‘wrecked the bill’.

An amendment by Conservative party gay marriage critic David Burrowes MP to allow marriage registrars to refuse to conduct same-sex weddings was defeated by 340 votes to 150.

May 20, 2013
Poll shows most Britons want gay marriages and straight civil partnership

New YouGov poll shows majority of Britons support same-sex marriages and civil partnerships for straight couples

Most Britons back same-sex marriage legislation with only a third against.

That's the result of a new poll by YouGov.

It indicated ongoing support for the legislation going through the UK Parliament for the change in England and Wales. Separate legislation is being developed in Scotland.

The survey found 54% of Britons support same sex marriage legislation, with 36% opposed. Among Conservatives, more people oppose the measures than support them but the margin is narrow (48% to 45%).

May 20, 2013
Trans people left behind in England and Wales equal marriage bill

Married transgender people will need their husband or wife’s permission before they can have their gender recognized

Imagine: you want to set up a new company but the law requires you to have the written consent of your wife; or you’ve just got pregnant, but you haven’t got a piece of paper with your husband’s signature on it stating he’s OK with that; or you’ve just been involved in a major car accident, sadly without your spouse’s written approval.

May 17, 2013
Same-sex couples win adoption rights for partners' children in Portugal

Portuguese parliament votes for partial adoption law for same-sex couples but stops short of full equality

Portugal’s Parliament has voted in favour of limited gay and lesbian adoption.

The new law will allow those in same-sex couples to adopt their partner’s biological or adopted child.

Ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) supported the bill along with the Socialist Party (SP). It won with 99 votes in favour to 94 against with nine absentees.

Although same-sex marriage has been legal in Portugal since 2010 the new law will not allow same-sex married couples to adopt a child together.

May 9, 2013
Minnesota on way to be 12th gay marriage state with House vote

Minnesota's House of Representatives will vote on gay marriage on Thursday, with Democrats hopeful the bill will pass

Minnesota could become the 12th US state to legalize gay marriage when the House of Representatives vote on the matter on Thursday (9 May).

House speaker Paul Thissen said he believed the bill has the 68 supporting votes needed to pass, even if no Republicans vote for it, as they have indicated.

'We are confident we have the votes to take the bill up this week,' said House majority leader Erin Murphy, MSNBC reports.

April 29, 2013
Northern Ireland narrowly votes against gay marriage

Members of the legislative assembly have voted 53 against, 42 in favor of introducing same-sex marriage

Northern Ireland leaders in the Assembly have narrowly voted against same-sex marriage today (29 April).

Out of the 97 members of the legislative assembly, 42 voted in favor while 53 voted against.

An amendment adding language about protecting religious freedoms in the motion also failed, with 51 voting against and 46 in favor.

The vote followed the Irish Constitution Convention that voted for equal marriage with a 79% majority. 

April 27, 2013
Moscow threatens again to ban gay couples from adopting Russian children

Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeated plans to block Russian children from being adopted by same-sex couples in other countries

Vladimir Putin has reiterated plans to ban foreign gay couples from adopting Russian children.

On Friday (26 April), the Russian president again signalled that he would change adoption agreements with countries where gay marriage was legal.

Putin said: ‘We treat our partners with respect, but we ask that they treat with respect the cultural traditions, the ethic, legal and moral norms of Russia.'

His statement came as a response to a Russian politician who suggested changes to adoption agreements with France, since the country legalized gay marriage.

April 24, 2013
Colombia’s Senate says no to gay marriage

Colombian senators overwhelmingly rejected a marriage equality bill but the country's Constitutional Court may legalize gay marriage by June

The Colombian Senate rejected today (24 April) a marriage equality bill.

A majority of senators 51 opposed the bill while 17 were in favor, a day after they postponed a vote on the issue for a second time.

It seems that an agreement has been reached between Colombia’s two largest parties, the Conservative and the ‘U’, to not allow the bill to become law.

April 23, 2013
Nevada Senate passes gay marriage

Nevada state Senate repealed a ban on gay marriage and passed a marriage equality resolution during which the impassioned debate Senator Kelvin Atkinson came out as a gay man

The Nevada state Senate passed a same-sex marriage resolution, by a vote of 12-9.

The resolution passed today (23 April) repeals the state text defining marriage as between a man and a woman, replacing it with ‘the state shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses, regardless of gender’.

Same-sex marriage was banned in 2002 when voters passed a constitutional amendment, Nevada Question 2.

April 18, 2013
Australian Greens to push for recognition of overseas gay marriages

Senator Sarah-Hanson Young says she will introduce bill to recognize overseas same-sex marriages in Australia when parliament reopens on 14 May

Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said this morning that she will introduce a bill that will allow international same-sex marriages to be legally recognized in Australia.

April 16, 2013
New Zealand set to legalize gay marriage

Parliament is to vote on amending their marriage bill with the majority of ministers in favor

New Zealand is ready to make gay marriage legal with parliament set to vote on the issue tomorrow (17 April).

The proposal to amend the country’s 1955 Marriage Act has been well received, and includes backing from Prime Minister John Key, the Global Post reports.

April 13, 2013
Poll shows increasing support in US for gay marriage

New poll shows slight majority of US respondents favor granting marriage rights to gay couples

According to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 53 percent of US respondents favor allowing gay couples the right to marry.

As reported by the website First Read, this number is two points up from a similar survey conducted in 2012 December. The poll also shows 42 percent are opposed to gay may marriage, also a two point jump. These changes are within the margin of error.

April 9, 2013
Gay couples a step closer to full adoption rights in Australian state of Tasmania

Tasmania’s Lower House has approved a bill giving same-sex couples and unmarried straight couples the right to adopt on the same basis as married heterosexual couples

LGBT rights advocates in the Australian state of Tasmania have welcomed overwhelming support in its Lower House of Parliament for the passage of legislation removing a ban on adoption by same-sex couples, saying it is in the best interests of children.

This afternoon the Tasmanian Lower House voted 18 to 4 to allow same-sex couples to be assessed as potential adoptive parents on the same basis as other couples.

April 3, 2013
The Borgias star Jeremy Irons wonders if gay marriage will lead to legalized incest

"Could a father not marry his son?"

Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons wonders if gay marriage becoming legal would lead to marriages between a father and a son.

Irons insists he doesn't feel strongly about the issue one way or another but says he does have some concerns.

'Could a father not marry his son?' Irons asked during an interview with HuffPost Live.

March 25, 2013
Gay Star News previews blockbuster week at US Supreme Court for gay marriage

Challenges to Prop 8 and DOMA could have historic implications

Although it could be months before the US Supreme Court issues its rulings, this week's hearings on California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) are already historic.

It marks the first time the high court has ever decided to take on gay marriage cases and it does so as multiple polls show support of marriage equality at an all-time high.

March 21, 2013
Pope Francis believes gay civil unions is ‘lesser of two evils’

Before he became Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio supported the idea of civil unions for gay couples in Argentina

Before Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, he once supported the idea of civil unions for gay couples in Argentina.

In 2010, when Argentina was about to legalize marriage equality, Bergoglio argued the Roman Catholic Church should seek a compromise.

He described civil unions as the ‘lesser of two evils’ at a meeting behind closed doors with Argentina’s bishops, according to Sergio Rubin, his authorized biographer.

‘He wagered on a position of greater dialogue with society,’ Rubin said.

March 12, 2013
A ‘Father’ versus a ‘Dad’ on Cambridge Uni’s pro-gay parent study

Our resident gay dad columnist has an imagined conversation with a priest who argues a Cambridge University study was wrong and kids need a mother and father

This month, Cambridge University released a study. It was published by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering. Their conclusion on the basis of the report was ‘Gay fathers, in particular, are extremely committed to parenting’.

March 11, 2013
NZ Anti-gay marriage group says gay couples should not be allowed to adopt

'The two most loving and capable women in the world simply cannot provide a daddy - and two men cannot provide a mum,' Family First NZ says

Anti-gay-marriage lobby group Family First NZ are objecting to same-sex couples being able to adopt children.

The group released a statement today claiming that changes to adoption laws 'are being sneaked in under the radar'.

'Significant changes to adoption laws should not happen without appropriate debate and consideration,' said Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

March 4, 2013
Children of gay parents are thriving, family experts say

British gay couples are being urged to consider fostering or adoption as a new study shows they make great parents

As a new study shows adopted children of same-sex parents are thriving, the UK government is urging more gay couples to adopt.

The report released by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) details the experiences of 130 adoptive families, 49 of which are run by heterosexual couples, 41 by gay men and 40 by lesbian parents.

Carried out by Cambridge University’s Center for Family Research into adoptive parenting, its release today (4 March) coincides with LGBT Adoption and Fostering week.

March 4, 2013
Gay dads and moms could rescue thousands of kids from care

British charity Action for Children marks LGBT fostering and adoption week by calling on community to provide loving homes for abandoned kids

Leading charity Action for Children has said LGBT people could solve a care crisis by adopting or fostering thousands of kids.

The organization is key sponsor of the second annual LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week in the UK, which starts today (4 March) and runs until 10 March.

Action for Children believes LGBT people could be help make up the shortfall of foster carers and adoptive parents across Britain so all kids could be moved out of care and into loving homes.

March 3, 2013
California voters are for gay marriage 2 to 1

Poll shows California voters now support same sex marriage 2 to 1

As the Supreme Court examines Prop 8, it appears California voters now overwhelmingly support gay marriage.

As reported by Talking Points Memo, a survey conducted by Field Poll shows 61 percent of the state's voters approve of same sex marriage, with 32 percent opposed.

February 28, 2013
US Sociological Association tells supreme court gay marriage and parents are ok

The American Sociological Association files supreme court brief in support of gay marriage and LGBT parenting

The American Sociological Association (ASA), joined the challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8 currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ASA filed a friend-of-the-court brief today (28 February) outlining the latest in social science research into same-sex parenting, stating 'children fare just as well' which was a concern raised by opponents of marriage equality.

In a press release posted to the organization’s website, ASA President Cecilia Ridgeway said: 'The results of our review are clear.

February 25, 2013
Kansas supreme court rules in favor of gay adoption

After deliberating over submitted by two women over parenting rights, the supreme court of Kansas passed a landmark ruling in favor of gay adoption

Kansas state supreme court made a landmark ruling that same-sex couples are to be allowed to adopt.

In addition it ruled that when a same-sex couple has a child together, both parents can be fully recognized as parents under Kansas state law.

The court explained that Kansas parentage laws apply equally to women and non-biological parents, and that courts must consider the reality of who a child’s parents are in order to protect the interests of children.

February 19, 2013
Lesbian mom wins Euro court battle to adopt partner's son

The European Court of Human Rights says ban on same-sex second-parent adoption in Austria is 'unconstitutional' and gays have a family life

An Austrian lesbian couple have won a court case which allows one partner to legally become a parent to the other's son.

This comes after an eight year campaign to prove that Austrian law discriminates against gay couples.

The application was submitted in 2005 and was initially turned down because adoption in this case was considered 'legally impossible'. However a second application, submitted in 2007 to the European Court of Human Rights, received more serious appraisal.