Irish Government begin bid to allow same-sex couples to adopt TheJournal.ie

JUSTICE MINISTER ALAN Shatter has, today, published the General Scheme of the long-anticipated Children and Family Relationships Bill.

The proposed legislation, which would clarify the legal status of children in in civil partnerships, surrogacy arrangements and assisted human reproduction, will now go forward for discussion at Oireachtas committee level.

The new laws will allow civil partners to jointly adopt a child for the first time.

According to the Minister, this measure “removes the current anomaly where single lesbian and gay individuals can adopt children, but civil partners cannot jointly adopt”.

Today’s law relating to adoption provides for the adoption of children by married couples and by single persons (irrespective of their sexual orientation), but not jointly by civil partners.

 Shatter has asked the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality – in conjunction with members of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children – to undertake a consultation process on his proposals for the Bill.

The cross-party TDs and Senators will have until Easter to furnish any observations to his department before the outlined proposals which, according to the Minister, “seek to put in place a modern legal architecture to underpin family situations”.

TheJournal.ie:

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Brazilian judicial council: Notaries must recognize same-sex marriage

The Brazilian National Council of Justice, which oversees the nation's judiciary, passed a resolution Tuesday that denies notaries the right to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

In Brazil, notaries officiate marriages and civil unions.

Recently, 12 Brazilian states began allowing same-sex couples to marry or convert their civil unions into marriages. However, since the Supreme Court does not carry legislative powers, it was up to each notary to officiate at their discretion, and many refused, citing the lack of law.

Joaquim Barbosa, president of the Council of Justice, said in the decision that notaries cannot continue to refuse to "perform a civil wedding or the conversion of a stable civil union into a marriage between persons of the same sex."

Barbosa, who also presides over the Supreme Court, says the resolution merely follows the transformation of society.

"Our society goes through many changes, and the National Council of Justice cannot be indifferent to them," he said.

Civil unions between same-sex couples have been recognized in Brazil since 2011, after the Supreme Court ruled that the same rights and rules that apply to "stable unions" of heterosexual couples would apply to same-sex couples, including the right to joint declaration of income tax, pension, inheritance and property sharing. People in same-sex unions are also allowed to extend health benefits to their partners, following the same rules applied to heterosexual couples.

Brazilian lawmakers have debated same-sex marriage, but in most cases, the bills introduced have not progressed through Congress.

Brazilian neighbors Uruguay and Argentina are the only other two countries in Latin America that have laws allowing same-sex couples to marry.

- CNN

UK Parliament to Vote on Equal Civil Partnerships

Straight couples could be allowed to enter civil partnerships, rather than get married, under proposals to be voted on by MPs.

MPs have tabled new amendments to gay marriage legislation currently going through Parliament to give straight couples the same rights as homosexual ones.

Campaigners said the amendment showed the changes risked weakening marriage by allowing straight couples to enter civil partnerships.

The measure, which is due to be voted on by MPs in the Commons at the end of May, would allow couples to be in civil partnerships rather than be married.

Tim Loughton, former Children’s minister, tabled the amendment to Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the Commons on Tuesday.

He said it was likely there would be “widespread support” for it when the amendment was voted on by MPs on the floor of the Commons next month.

Colin Hart, director of the Coalition for Marriage, said: “This is yet another amendment that pushes the redefinition of marriage beyond the consultation the Government has shifted its position constantly and this will report a further weakening of the institution of marriage.

The amendment will be seen as a direct challenge to Prime Minister David Cameron who suggested last month that he was against extending civil partnership rights to straight couples after MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage.

Asked by Christopher Chope MP if he will “ensure that civil partnerships are open to heterosexual couples on an equal basis with homosexual couples”, he replied: “I will obviously listen carefully to what he says.

“But frankly I am a marriage man, I am a great supporter of marriage. I want to promote marriage, defend marriage, encourage marriage.

“The great thing about last night's vote is that two gay people who love each other will now be able to get married. That is an important advance. I think we should be promoting marriage rather than looking at any other way of weakening it.”

- The Telegraph

Rainbow families : Gays granted more adoption rights

The Swiss parliament has voted to allow gay couples to adopt each other's children. However, the motion passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday was not as liberal as the original version approved by the Senate.

The Senate had approved a motion granting adoption rights regardless of marital status or sexual orientation, as long as the arrangement was the best option for the child in question. However, the House of Representatives altered the motion – specifying that a homosexual could only adopt the child of his or her partner.
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In Switzerland, gay couples in a registered partnership are not allowed to adopt children. However, Swiss law permits a single gay man or lesbian woman to do so. This peculiar situation – which essentially punishes couples who have made a formal legal commitment to each other – is what sparked gay rights’ groups to ask legislators to amend the law.
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Thursday’s developments were welcome news to homosexuals interested in adopting their step-children and gaining proper parental rights. However, gay rights groups will continue to push for full adoption rights.
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In Switzerland it is estimated that there are several thousand children growing up in homes headed by same-sex couples.

- swissinfo:

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• Gays win limited support for adopting kids (thelocal.ch)
• French government approves introduction of same-sex marriage (guardian.co.uk)
• France joins queue for same-sex marriage (smh.com.au)
• Uruguay gay marriage law advances (bbc.co.uk)

Poll finds Irish support for gay marriage at 73% ( PinkNews.co.uk)

Is full marriage equality on the way for Ireland? The signs are encouraging:

"Equal marriage advocates have welcomed a poll which puts public support for allowing gay couples to marry at 73%.

The poll, by Red C, showed nearly three quarters of those asked said they would agree with the statement: “Same sex marriage should be allowed in the Constitution”.

The results were presented to Ireland’s Oireachtas yesterday in a report prepared for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the last Constitutional referendum.

Kieran Rose, Chair of Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Equality Network said: “The poll confirms the openness of Irish people and their support for further critically important progress to achieving equality for lesbian and gay people."

- PinkNews.co.uk

Meanwhile, a powerful opinion piece at the Irish Examiner says unequivocally that civil partnerships are no longer enough: "It's time!"

CIVIL partnerships were always a first step, not a full stop, but it is remarkable the way public opinion has now swung so rapidly behind the move to gay-marriage equality.

The latest poll on the subject shows an overwhelming 73% back amending the Constitution to give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual ones.

While civil partnerships offer some guarantees for same-sex couples, such as stopping homophobic relatives barring lifelong partners from their loved one’s death bed, in practice it cements a status as second-class citizens within a society in which all should be equal.

The change to marriage equality is about the State and its responsibility to recognise its citizens as equals.

This is about people who want to have their lifelong emotional commitment to one another recognised by the State that they fund as taxpayers.

If South Africa can do it, there is no reason Ireland cannot follow Canada and Belgium, to name but two others, and let same-sex couples have the civil rights to which they are entitled.

- full article at  Irish Examiner 

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Brazil Supreme Court confirms Gay Marriage

 Technically, Argentina is the only Latin American country with legislation to recognize same-sex marriages, but in Brazil, the courts have in effect provided for full marriage equality without legislative approval. The Supreme Court has previously confirmed that same-couples have the right to legal recognition for civil unions, and some state courts have confirmed that these civil unions may be converted into full marriages. In a new decision, the Supreme Court has confirmed this.

In June, a state court judge ruled that two men could legally change their civil union into a full marriage.

It was in May that Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that gay civil unions could be recognized. But the top court stopped short of recognizing full marriages.

Since then, several couples have petitioned to have their civil unions recognized as full marriages. Some of those have been approved at lower courts, others blocked.

Tuesday’s ruling by the Supreme Appeals Court overturned two lower court’s ruling against the women.

Washington Post

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Gay marriage in Hawaii nears majority support

"Nearly half of Hawaiian voters support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, according to a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling. The poll found that 49 percent of voters support the legalization of same-sex marriages, while only 40 percent oppose the measure. Eleven percent of respondents were undecided.

Hawaii was the first state to enter the gay marriage fray when a constitutional amendment was passed in 1998 defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. However, the Hawaii Legislature passed a bill earlier this year making it the seventh state to legalize civil unions."

QSaltLake 

Marriage Equality: Progress in Poland, Estonia?

When I wrote earlier this week about the EU Declaration on LGBT human rights, I referred to heavily Catholic Poland as an example of strong resistance to equality. That was an oversimplification. A Hungarian reader, Kal,  noted that

There are serious homophobic tedences not only in Poland unfortunatly. The situation is similar in all country of Central and Eastern Europe, whiche belonged to communist block previously. I wrote a short article about this topic in  kaleidoscope.blog.hu.

Kal is correct, and his caution should be noted. however, the situation is Poland is also more nuanced than I suggested. Even without the EU declaration, there are some remarkable changes in public sentiment, as I discovered when doing some background digging follow up on a report on proposals for civil unions in Estonia.

Source: Wikipedia (Click to enlarge, and for key)

Yet Another Court Victory for Gay Marriage, Family Equality:

In barely a week, there have been four important court judgements in three American countries that represent important victories for gay marriage and family equality. Immediately after the celebrated judgement in California striking down Proposition 8, the Mexican court ruled that the legal provision for gay marriage in Mexico City was fully constitutional. Yesterday, that same court ruled that marriages in Mexico City must be recognized, and the associated benefits granted, right across all Mexican states. Also yesterday, the court in Costa Rica ruled that a proposed national referendum on civil unions, may not go ahead. There may well be another important advance coming within days: the Mexican court is due to pass judgement on a matter concerning gay adoptions, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Superficially, the Costa Rican decision may appear the least significant of all three decisions, but I disagree. Although it concerns only civil unions, not full marriage, and the population numbers affected are relatively low, this decision was explicitly based on a fundamentally important matter of principle: the rights of a minority cannot be decided by a majority vote.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="A Rainbow Future for Costa Rica"][/caption]

The Constitutional Court's 5-2 decision released Tuesday says such a referendum would put a minority at a disadvantage in a largely Roman Catholic country. It also says gay civil unions is a legislative issue and not an electoral one. The court says it considers homosexuals a group that is at a disadvantage and the target for discrimination, requiring government authorities to protect their rights.

It is still too early to say what is the future for gay marriage in Costa Rica. There may be no progress in the short term, or the legislature may feel emboldened by the progress in Argentina, coupled with this decision, to move ahead.

Whatever the Costa Rican politicians decide for now, one thing is clear: across Latin America, the momentum is now on the side of family equality. Sooner rather than later, same sex marriage and gay adoption will spread right across the continent - and the Catholic church will be no more able to prevent it than they were in Argentina. Then, faced with a fait accompli, the bishops in the region with more Catholics than any other, will have to work with the reality all around them.

UK: Support for Gay Equality Grows

"A revolution in attitudes towards gay men and lesbians: Church out of Touch".

In this month celebrating 40 years since Stonewall, the Times reports this weekend on an important opinion poll showing strong support for further advancing legal protections for LGBT equality.

On marriage, the current situation provides for "Civil Partnerships", which in practice and in legal status are almost identical  to marriage, except in name.    Even so,

"61 per cent of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships."

On adoption, the law currently insists on the right of  gay adoption, and directs that adoption agencies should treat all potential parents equally.  This has brought the Catholic Bishops into disputes with the law over the church agencies, but

Half (49 per cent) believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights, eight years after it became legal for them to adopt in a highly controversial move by Tony Blair.

Some Roman Catholic adoption agencies are fighting to retain the right to turn away gay couples, which they are now specifically prohibited from doing.

MULTIMEDIA

Archive blog: Hanged for being gay, John Attwood Eglerton, 1816

RELATED LINKS

Sizeable minority against gay relationships

Long process of adopting for gay couples

MULTIMEDIA

Graphic: tolerance towards gays

But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that 51 per cent of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.

"Half (49 per cent) believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights, eight years after it became legal for them to adopt in a highly controversial move by Tony Blair. Some Roman Catholic adoption agencies are fighting to retain the right to turn away gay couples, which they are now specifically prohibited from doing. "

On education:

"But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that 51 per cent of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage."

Read the full report at Times Online

(London celebrates Pride on Saturday.   Several faith based groups are expected to participate.  I will be joining them).

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