The Lost Pink Triangles
An exhibition of Nazi persecution of homosexuals goes on display in NYC.
James McDonald
Daily Archives: July 6, 2015
Korea’s first gay married couple launches first challenge to marriage law
Korea’s first gay married couple launches first challenge to marriage law
Korea’s first gay married couple Monday (6 July) has filed a suit against the registry office that refused to register their union – the first legal challenge of its kind in the conservative country.
Film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo, 50, and producer Dave Kim, 31, wed in Seoul in September 2013 at at public ceremony attended by 2,000 people.
They tried to register their marriage at their local registry office in December that year but were told civil law did not recognize same-sex unions. They appealed in May 2014 but their application was rejected again.
Kim Jho is now taking their case to court, accusing the office of denying them their constitutional rights to equal treatment.
‘Today might be an important giant step for not just me and Kim but all LGBTs in the nation,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘I hope the court proves today the first clause of Article 11 in the constitution – which states that all citizens are equal under the law – is effective and not limited to the constitutional meaning.’
An estimated 20,000 people marched in Seoul Pride last week, which was protested by hundreds of hate-filled Christians, some of whom tried to lie in the street to disrupt proceedings.
‘The US Supreme Court decision was the result of a battle that’s been going on since the 1960s,’ Kim Jho told the revelers.
‘I believe it will not take South Korea as long as the US to legalize same-sex marriage.’
The post Korea’s first gay married couple launches first challenge to marriage law appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
Five Reasons Marriage May Not Be Easy In Small-Town America Despite Your New Legal Equality
Five Reasons Marriage May Not Be Easy In Small-Town America Despite Your New Legal Equality
The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality remains cause for celebration, but as the resistance that quickly sprung up shows, not everyplace is going to embrace it. That’s likely to be a particular problem in small town America.
Even in the deep south, major cities have large LGBT communities, with all the political connections that implies. Small town America is another question altogether, despite the stereotype that small-town America values–mom, pop, and a couple of kids–would seem to lend itself to marriage. In fact, it will be much easier in the fast-lane urban environments where family values are a bit more complicated.
While marriage is legal there, here are five reasons why it may not necessarily be easy.
1. You could get fired. This is the most real threat that couples could face. In the majority of states, you have no legal protection in the workplace. If you’re boss finds out you are gay because you got married, you could be fired faster than it takes to say “I do.” (You just know that Catholic dioceses across the nation have ordered someone to scan wedding announcements so that they can identify the next teacher to dismiss.) States that don’t have protections won’t be adding them, as opponents of marriage equality will make a point of stopping anything remotely pro-gay in its tracks. And forget about federal protections. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is going nowhere as long as conservative Republicans control the House.
2. You could lose your home. This is a corollary of getting fired. In many communities you don’t have housing protection either. If you’re landlord wants to throw you out because he can’t stand the idea of your being married, he can do so. You might have a case that you were discriminated against on the basis of marital status. But you’ll still have to find a new home in the meantime.
3. You’re on the front line of the religious liberty war. Every holier-than-thou county clerk, baker and wedding photographer is aching to make a statement about their personal beliefs. They won’t be making those statements in Chelsea or West Hollywood, because they are much more likely to be living in small towns, especially in the South. Moreover, it won’t just be wedding vendors. For example, accountants may not want to prepare your joint tax return. (Thank God for Turbo Tax.) Religious liberty is the next big fight, and there is an army of pro bono lawyers ready to defend the right of wingnuts everywhere to discriminate against you.
4. Marriage is much more public than you imagine. Thought that you’d just have a quiet little ceremony? Your marriage certificate is a matter of public record. Small town papers still often publish the names of everyone who has taken out a marriage license. It takes some looking to find the information, but it’s out there. And at least in the early days, you can count on some self-appointed defenders of the faith to be looking really hard for the first signs that their community is going to hell in a pink handbasket.
5. Harsh words lead to harsh deeds. This is potentially the most troubling consequence of the marriage ruling. It’s easy to laugh off the bloviating of Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee, to say nothing of the apocalyptic rantings of religious right leaders. But look at how high they have raised the stakes with their rhetoric by describing the Supreme Court decision as illegal, a threat to Christians and destructive to democracy. Those are dangerous arguments to throw around because they can take root in unstable personalities. While antigay attacks can happen even in the most accepting cities, the attitudes in small towns may make them more fertile ground.
It’s a testament to the bravery and resilience of the LGBT community in small-town America that it has been front and center in celebrating the Supreme Court ruling. Ultimately, nothing will stop couples from expressing their love for one another. But as we move ahead in the coming weeks and months, let’s not forget that for some of us, that expression is going to carry more risk than it will in big cities.
But every risk has a reward. By showing their communities what love can look like, small-town couples will change attitudes that must be changed. It’s all about coming out.
And for many of us the biggest coming out of all may be getting married.
Photo credit: faungg’s photos
JohnGallagher
Madrid Pride 2015
Op-ed: Will GOP Candidates Sign NOM’s 2016 Hate Pledge?
Op-ed: Will GOP Candidates Sign NOM’s 2016 Hate Pledge?
The antigay National Organization for Marriage held much sway over the 2012 election. Fred Karger, an out GOP presidential candidate from that year, wonders if NOM will exert the same influence in 2016.
Fred Karger
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/07/06/op-ed-will-gop-candidates-sign-nom-s-2016-hate-pledge
Revealed: White House hosted secret gay wedding without Obama knowing
Revealed: White House hosted secret gay wedding without Obama knowing
Former presidential speech writer Jon Lovett reveals he used his White House access to sneak two gay friends into the Rose Garden where they were married in a secret ceremony
Former speech writer for President Barack Obama turned Hollywood screenwriter Jon Lovett has revealed that he helped two gay friends get married on the grounds of the White Hose without the president’s knowledge.
Lovett made the claim at the Aspen Ideas festival in an interview with The Moth Radio Hour podcast which is yet to be released online.
In the podcast Lovett recounts sneaking friends ‘Justin’ and ‘Steve’ into the White House under the guise of giving them a tour of the building.
But when they got to the Rose Garden he performed their wedding, filing their paperwork with the address 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – the famous street address of the President of the United States’ official residence.
‘We were very nervous,’ Lovett reportedly told the Moth Radio Hour.
‘They were nervous because they were getting married. I was nervous because I snuck into my boss’ house to perform a wedding against his wishes in his backyard.’
‘You can say what you will about the first same-sex marriage at the White House, at the very least, it was quite rude.’
Lovett said that Justin and Steve ‘kissed modestly’ after the ceremony.
Lovett left the Obama Administration towards the end of 2011 – before Barack Obama publicly ‘evolved’ his view on same-sex marriage so it is likely that the wedding took place while the president was still publicly opposed to gay marriage.
Lovett was a writer and producer on the television shows The Newsroom and 1600 Penn and wrote many of the jokes in President Obama’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner addresses during his time working for the administration.
The post Revealed: White House hosted secret gay wedding without Obama knowing appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
www.gaystarnews.com/article/revealed-white-house-hosted-secret-gay-wedding-without-obama-knowing/
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Malaysia has ‘no need’ for gay parade, says PM
Malaysia has ‘no need’ for gay parade, says PM
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said the Southeast Asian country has ‘no need’ for a gay Pride parade.
Razak said Malaysia’s ‘moderate’ form of Islam was incompatible with extremes, be they conservative or liberal, during a breaking-of-the-fast event in Kuala Lumpur last week.
‘Islam is a religion that promotes peace. Islam does not promote violence and teaches us moderation. It is not extreme nor it is too open,’ he said.
‘There is no need for events like a gay parade because it is too open.’
Najib added that deviant cultures were slowly ‘creeping into’ Malaysian society, but did not elaborate on what these were.
Gay sex is illegal in the country and punishable by fines, whippings or up to 20 years imprisonment.
Last month, A Sharia court in the northeastern state of Kelantan sentenced nine transgender women to fines, and two to one-month jail terms, under an anti-crossdressing law.
The post Malaysia has ‘no need’ for gay parade, says PM appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/malaysia-has-no-need-for-gay-parade-says-pm/
