Gay & Lesbian Issues

Austrian parliament OKs gay civil unions
AP – Thu Dec 10, 4:13 pm ET

VIENNA - Austria's parliament passed legislation Thursday allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, a move hailed by proponents as a historic win for gay rights in the country. Full Story »
Irish judges: Gay sperm donor should see his son
AP – Thu Dec 10, 10:55 am ET

DUBLIN - The Irish Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a gay man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple should be permitted to see his 3-year-old son regularly — in part because Ireland's constitution doesn't recognize the lesbians as a valid family unit. Full Story »
SF Bay schools phase out gay-friendly curriculum
AP – Thu Dec 10, 9:43 am ET

ALAMEDA, Calif. - A San Francisco Bay area school board will use broad lessons against bias to replace a curriculum against bullying gay people that had become a national centerpiece in the opposition to same-sex marriage. Full Story »
New Jersey shelves gay marriage vote: report
AFP – Thu Dec 10, 9:36 am ET

AFP/File

NEW YORK (AFP) - New Jersey's legislature has shelved a vote planned for Thursday on allowing gay marriage in the state, media reports said. Full Story »
NJ Senate president OKs delay in gay marriage vote
AP – Wed Dec 9, 7:36 pm ET

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey's Senate president has agreed to postpone Thursday's scheduled vote on a bill to legalize same-sex marriages, and some senators have acknowledged the bill does not have the votes it needs to pass the Senate. Full Story »
Springsteen backs New Jersey gay marriage
AFP – Wed Dec 9, 7:34 pm ET

AFP/Getty Images/File

NEW YORK (AFP) - Bruce Springsteen rocked the US gay marriage debate, urging legislators in his home state of New Jersey to back single-sex nuptials in a vote scheduled for Thursday. Full Story »
NJ gay marriage vote could shape battles ahead
Reuters – Wed Dec 9, 6:02 pm ET

Reuters

TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - The legalization of same-sex marriage faces a critical test in New Jersey, where advocates on each side of the controversial issue argue will shape the fate of gay-marriage battles across the nation. Full Story »
Bruce Springsteen speaks out for gay marriage
Reuters – Wed Dec 9, 5:37 pm ET

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen has come out in support of gay marriage in his home state of New Jersey, where a marriage equality bill will go to vote this week. The rocker released a statement via his official Web site Wednesday backing the legislation. Full Story »
Death penalty for gays? Uganda debates proposal
AP – Tue Dec 8, 3:36 pm ET

AP

KAMPALA, Uganda - Proposed legislation would impose the death penalty for some gay Ugandans, and their family and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they fail to report them to authorities. Even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals. Full Story »
2nd gay bishop for Episcopal Church, Anglicans
AP – Sun Dec 6, 1:04 pm ET

AP

LOS ANGELES - The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has elected a lesbian as assistant bishop, the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship, which is already deeply fractured over the first. Full Story »
Anglican leader urges restraint on lesbian bishop
Reuters – Sun Dec 6, 12:31 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said on Sunday the election of a lesbian priest as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles' Episcopal Diocese raised very serious questions for the global Anglican church. Full Story »
L.A. Episcopal Diocese elects openly lesbian bishop
Reuters – Sat Dec 5, 10:01 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Los Angeles' Episcopal Diocese elected an openly lesbian priest as assistant bishop on Saturday, a move likely to stoke more tensions in the global Anglican community over the divisive issue of gay clergy. Full Story »
Irish lawmakers open debate on gay rights bill
AP – Thu Dec 3, 3:43 pm ET

DUBLIN - Ireland's lawmakers opened debate Thursday on a bill to grant marriage-style rights to gay couples, a social milestone in a country long observant of Roman Catholic opposition to homosexuality. Full Story »
Gay marriage bill up for vote in NJ next week
AP – Thu Dec 3, 2:56 pm ET

TRENTON, N.J. - A bill to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey will be posted for a vote next week. Full Story »
Gay-marriage opponents welcome NY bill's defeat
AP – Thu Dec 3, 10:11 am ET

AP

ALBANY, N.Y. - A bill that would have allowed same-sex marriage was rejected by New York lawmakers, a bruising outcome for national advocates in a state that was the site of one of the gay rights movement's defining moments four decades ago, and a huge victory for opponents who said it could influence votes elsewhere. Full Story »
New York state lawmakers reject gay marriage bill
AP – Thu Dec 3, 3:06 am ET

AP

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have made their state the sixth to allow gay marriage, stunning advocates who suffered a similar decision by Maine voters just last month. Full Story »
New York state lawmakers vote against gay marriage
Reuters – Wed Dec 2, 6:00 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state lawmakers voted on Wednesday against legalizing gay marriage, dashing gay rights activists' hopes it would become the sixth U.S. state to allow same-sex couples to wed. Full Story »
Witness immunity sought for gay service members
AP – Wed Dec 2, 4:11 pm ET

Gay service members who reveal their sexual orientations during congressional testimony would be immune from forced discharges under a bill introduced Wednesday, as lawmakers prepare to consider repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. Full Story »