The Times of India answers the question of whether the Delhi High Court ruling which “read down” Section 377 of the India Penal Code is binding nationwide: Since a high court has a limited territorial jurisdiction, is homosexuality decriminalized only in Delhi or the whole country? Although legal pundits are divided on this, the law laid down by a 2004 SC judgment implies that homosexuals across the country may rest assured that they too are entitled to the benefits of the historic Delhi high court decision on Section 377 IPC. In Kusum Ingots vs Union of India, a three-judge bench of ...

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. You're listening to These Days on KPBS. Candidate Barack Obama said several things gay and lesbian voters were very happy to hear. While he never lent his support for gay marriage, Obama said he was against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military and that he would sign legislation repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. So, many gay people were enthusiastic supporters of Barack Obama's campaign, and when he became president they waited for him to make good on his promises. They are still waiting. And while they wait, some in the ...

Katherine Eastaughffe and Una Harkin are lesbians. They're also mothers, to six-month-old Daniel, whom Katherine gave birth to after undergoing fertility treatment. The Queensland Government has no problem with lesbians using IVF to have children. Neither do they have a problem with taking on Katherine and Una as registered foster carers. But they draw the line at gay adoption, meaning Una cannot be legally recognised as one of Daniel's parents.The Bligh Government's refusal to consider same sex adoption is being used as part of a renewed push for federal laws preventing discrimination against gays and lesbians. A Galaxy poll ...

A federal judge hearing the Olson-Boies challenge to California's Proposition 8 indicated he's unlikely to issue an injunction that would have allowed same-sex couple to immediately begin marrying again, but also indicated he's eager to expedite the case: "In his first response to the lawsuit challenging Proposition 8, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco said the case raises numerous issues that may need to be considered at a trial, including the history of discrimination against gays and lesbians and the intent and effects of the state constitutional amendment...Olson and Boies asked Walker to issue an injunction at a Thursday hearing ...

On 6/13, the day that this New York writer was marrying in Connecticut, Nassau County executive Tom Souzzi put forth a New York Times Op-Ed wherein he voiced support for other queer New Yorkers to be able to marry a little closer to home: WHEN I ran in the Democratic primary for governor against Eliot Spitzer in 2006, I vocally supported civil unions for same-sex couples but did not endorse equal marriage. I understood the need to provide equal rights for gays and lesbians, but as a practicing Catholic, I also felt that the state should not infringe on religious institutions’ ...

Delware Online: Gays and lesbians in Delaware will have legal protection from discrimination under a bill that passed the General Assembly late Wednesday night, more than a decade after supporters started fighting for it. The House chamber erupted in applause, cheers and hugs when representatives passed the measure shortly after 8:30 p.m. An hour earlier, the Senate — where previous versions of the legislation always were killed — passed the same bill after a three-hour debate. The bill now goes to Gov. Jack Markell for his signature. Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, who helped push the bill through the House, said Markell has expressed ...

Next Monday, in another effort to ease tensions between the Obama and administration and pretty much every LGBT person in America, the White House will host a celebration of Stonewall: As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has invited some of their leaders to an East Room reception next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement. The White House has not publicized the reception, and officials did not respond to e-mail requests for comment. But ...

A letter organized by Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings went to the White House today urging Obama to halt military discharges of gay and lesbian servicemembers. The letter was signed by 76 House Democrats, the Boston Globe reports:  "In the most vocal plea yet for the White House to take the lead in pushing for gays and lesbians to be allowed to serve openly in the military, 76 Democratic lawmakers today urged President Obama to use his executive powers to order a halt to military discharges under the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law and work aggressively with Congress to pass new legislation to ...

San Francisco has asked a federal judge to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage, allying the city with a lawsuit that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. In papers filed Thursday night in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office argued that Proposition 8 was motivated by hatred of gays and lesbians and violates their constitutional right to be free of discrimination. Although sponsors of the November ballot measure said they were trying to promote traditional marriage and protect children, "excluding same-sex couples from marriage does nothing to advance those goals," Chief Deputy City Attorney ...

If we believe our politicians, health care is broken in America and the Federal Government is the only one who can fix it. Our President is so concerned about implementing healthcare reform that he can’t spare a moment to work on equality for gays and lesbians. However, a more cynical observation may be that for gay and lesbian Americans, the Federal Government is the problem rather than the solution to our immediate health care concerns. And before we focus on the controversial and highly combative effort to overhaul the country’s methods of providing health care, let’s at least make sure the ...

The marriage equality movement has taken a few punches lately. Prop 8 passed in November, and this week, the Justice Department wrote a brief in support of DOMA in which it placed same sex marriages on the same level as incest. Gays and lesbians everywhere licked their wounds and quickly moved to counterattack. However, they have yet to be enlightened. Enter the enlightened lesbian. In any Prop 8 protest or marriage equality rally, there are always a few enlightened lesbians who appear just to enlighten everyone around them. They moan, groan and rail against the marriage equality movement for ...

Reuters reporter Khalid al-Ansary files a report from Istanbul, Turkey on a growing group of gay refugees in the city who have fled from Iraq because of death threats in that increasingly intolerant country. al-Ansary interviewed “Ameer” who sold his home in Baghdad in 2007 after getting death threats from religious extremists. He was eventually granted asylum in Turkey where he “survives on the little money family members send him, while his flatmates earn about $500 a month washing cars.” Now the 28-year-old from a middle class family shares a small apartment in Istanbul with five other gay Iraqi ...

The "lavender scare" refers to the rampant fear and persecution of homosexuals in the United States during the 1950's, in the McCarthy era. Homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness, and gays and lesbians were feared to become susceptible to be blackmailed into agents on behalf of the communist Soviet Union. ...

The L.A. Times takes note of the DOMA disaster and the apparently lame attempt to stem the anger over it: In part: "The between Obama and gay rights activists appears to be growing. True, the current federal lawsuits against the marriage act and Proposition 8 fail to recognize that a hasty march can be damaging to gay rights. The current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court makes it highly unlikely that such lawsuits will succeed, and adverse decisions could set the same-sex marriage movement back by years. From an ideological viewpoint, gays and lesbians are entitled to their rights now. But well-planned timing gives them ...

Obama appoints Marble to OPM press shop John Marble, the openly gay former communications director at National Stonewall Democrats, has accepted a presidential appointment as a public affairs specialist at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Same-Sex Marriage Gains Traction in DC In a decision that reaffirms the rights of gays and lesbians under the city’s civil rights law, the Washington D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics blocked a proposal to let voters decide whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. One in six hate crimes is anti-gay andanti-gay hate crime murders highest since ...

WASHINGTON — Conservative Christian leaders are fighting a bill that would provide federal hate-crimes coverage to gays and lesbians, prompting questions of who, if anyone, should be protected by such laws. With a Democrat-controlled Congress and a president who has indicated his support for the Matthew Shepard Act, time may be running out for its opponents. To stop the legislation, a few Christian leaders have suggested repealing all hate-crimes law, which would undo historic protections for race and even religion. FAITH & REASON: How does sect handle disparate views within the 'family'? "The entire notion of hate-crimes legislation is ...

President Barack Obama has repeatedly said that he won’t make a move to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on LGBT people serving openly in the military, because ultimately it is up to Congress to change the law. His spokespeople have repeated this in answer to questions about why he hasn’t issued a stop loss order in order to halt the ongoing discharges of qualified gays and lesbians from the armed forces. They have, in effect, thrown the ball completely into the Congress’ court. Now we have word from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the reason the repeal of ...

A festival meant to celebrate the gay and lesbian communities in the Ozarks was met with mixed opinions Sunday afternoon.The local chapter of the National Socialist Movement made their opnions heard at Pridefest. Leaders with the Socialist movement say gays and lesbians are not welcome in Springfield. The Minutemen United stood just to the side of the celebration.They say they were praying for God to lift up the homosexual community."We love them so much that we want their soul in heaven for eternity. That's the greatest live that there is so we want to see that they get there. I ...

I have an article in The Advocate about a major university study that shows concealing one’s sexual orientation affects mental and physical performance: Gay and lesbian study participants who were asked to conceal their sexual orientation performed 20% worse on spatial reasoning tests and 50% worse on physical endurance tests as compared to those who were not given this instruction. The findings have clear implications for the battlefield. Gays and lesbians — even those who follow the policy — are prevented from performing optimally, which may affect the readiness of military units. What is interesting about this study is that the ...

The U.S. State Department has finally issued a statement condemning the violence against gays and lesbians in Iraq, according to this article in the Indian Times:In general, we absolutely condemn acts of violence and human rights violations committed against individuals in Iraq because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.This is an issue that we've been following very closely since we have been made aware of these allegations, and we are aware of the allegations. Our training for Iraqi security forces includes instruction on the proper observance of human rights.Human rights training is also a very important part ...