German same-sex couples are one step closer to being able to legally get married.
Although gay couples can have civil partnerships at the moment, the law does not permit same-sex marriages.
MPs in Germany voted overwhelmingly to legalise gay marriage on the last day of June. Nearly four hundred MPs voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage. The votes were split: 393 members of parliament voted in favour of the bill, with 296 voting against and 4 abstentions.
Up until now same-sex couples in Germany were only able to get a civil partnership.
Legal code in Germany will now be changed to read “Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex.”
Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel was on of the MPs who voted against the law – having all set out her thoughts that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. During a YouTube interview she said, ” “For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. That is my concept, but I support civil partnerships.”
Taiwan is the latest state to rule in favour of same-sex marriage.
A Taiwan court has issued a landmark ruling that gay marriage will become available to gay couples, making the island the first Asian place to allow same-sex marriages.
The court ruled that the country’s civil code “violated” the Taiwanese constitution which guarantees freedom of marriage and equality.
The notion of legalising same-sex marriage in Taiwan was first proposed in 2003, however, the bill received mass opposition and was not voted on.
This is a breaking story – please refresh to read more as the story develops.
TV star Michael Barrymore is suing Essex Police, seeking a reported £2.5 million in compensation.
Michael Barrymore is suing Essex police for a reported £2.5 million in damages after they arrested him in connection with the death of a man, at his home in March 2001.
Butcher Stuart Lubbock, 31 was found dead at the star’s Essex home in March 2001. In June 2001 Police arrested Barrymore, his partner and another man in connection to Lubbock’s death but no charges were brought forward. The same three men were arrested again in 2007 but the case was dropped again after three months. No one was charged.
Essex police accepted liability, but only on a technicality. They admitted that they sent the wrong arresting officer to Mr Barrymore’s home meaning the officer was not making an arrest “on a firm suspicion of guilt” reported Sky News.
Mr Barrymore’s legal team will argue that the entertainer suffered “devastating” damage to his reputation following on from the investigation.
Mr Barrymore was a household name in the 80s and 90s after the hit game show Strike It Lucky, became a firm family favourite. He went on to have a string of highly successful shows such as My Kind Of People and Kids Say The Funniest Things
Chelsea Manning has left prison after 7 years incarceration it has been confirmed to the BBC.
Trans whistleblower, Chelsea Manning has been freed after spending seven years in prison. Manning was imprisoned for one of the largest leaks of classified documents. She was sentenced to 35 years. Her sentence was commuted by President Obama, as one of his last acts as president.
A US army spokesperson confirmed that Ms Manning had been freed earlier today.
Two days ago, Ms Manning tweeted “Two more days until the freedom of civilian life ^_^ Now hunting for private #healthcare like millions of Americans =P”
She was freed 28 years before the end of her sentence.
The Supreme Court in West Virginia has ruled that homophobic assault or anti-gay attacks are not hate crimes.
Anti-gay or homophobic attacks will not be tried as hate crimes in West Virginia.
A vote by the West Virginia Supreme court found that hate crimes only applied to “race, colour, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex”
This goes against Federal laws enacted by President Obama in 2009.
The ruling was made when the court was hearing an appeal made for Steward Butler, a running back with the Marshall University football team, who allegedly committed an attack on a gay couple, Casey Williams and Zachery Johnso after he saw them kissing. The prosecutors allege that Butler hurled homophobic abuse at the couple before punching them to the ground. He faced two counts of battery and two counts of hate crime.
However the state’s justices have ruled that Butler will not face hate crime charges because the state’s definition of hate crime applies only to: “race, colour, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation or sex”.
The prosecutors were aiming to have Butler tried with two counts of a hate crime as well as two misdemeanour counts of battery, however the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled by a three-two votes that anti-gay attacks do not constitute a hate crime. They rejected the argument that homophobic crimes could be tried as sex-based hate crimes.
The justices insisted on a strict interpretation of the law, writing: “The word ‘sex’ in West Virginia [law] is unambiguous and clearly imparts being male or female, and does not include ‘sexual orientation’.”
This decision is in direct conflict with the federal laws which were enacted by Barack Obama in 2009 when he signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law added protections for crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
The trial will continue will now continue with Butler facing the misdemeanour charges.
A couple have won the right to marry on the island of Bermuda after a Supreme court challenge found that not allowing gay couples to wed would be discrimination. The couple used the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda’s Human Rights Act to argue their case. They said that not allowing them to marry constituted as discrimination on the basis of their sexuality, something that the act expressly forbids.
The couple, Bermudian Winston Godwin and his Canadian fiancé Greg DeRoche brought the legal challenge after being denied by the island’s Registrar-General.
Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons concluded,
“On the facts of this case the applicants were discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation when the Registrar refused to process their notice of intended marriage.
“The applicants are entitled to an Order of Mandamus compelling the Registrar to act in accordance with the requirements of the Marriage Act and a Declaration that same-sex couples are entitled to be married under the Marriage Act 1944.”
A referendum on gay marriage was held last June. a majority, 69% – 31% voted against allowing same-sex nuptials to take place. However there was a turn out rate of 47%. Fifty percent is required for the referendum to be considered answered.
According to sources some of the families of victims from the Orlando Massacre are planning to sue Google.
CREDIT: WalterPro/FLICKR CC
Families of some of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando last year are planning to sue Google for “helping the terrorists who inspired the massacre”, the New York Post is reporting.
Legal counsel for the family said that tech firms were making it too easy for terror groups like ISIS to spread their beliefs. It is claimed that ISIS use social network to recruit new members.
Lawyer Keith Altman, of Michigan’s Solomon Radner law firm, told The Post,
“We are amending the Orlando lawsuit, adding new plaintiffs and adding new allegations and arguments,”
Many of Google’s highest paying advertisers, like Starbucks, Walmart and Verizon have pulled ads from the network after many found that their messages were being displayed next to hate speech, anti-gay and anti-Semitic hate.
Taking to Twitter following her victory Jack said,
“It”s taken 21 months but today the High Court ruled that Hopkins statements to/about me were defamatory. I sued her for libel. and I won.
“To everyone who told me I couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t – I could, I would, I did.”
Commenting on Katie Hopkins’ behaviour, Jack told her fans on Twitter that the controversial talkshow host didn’t turn up to court once in the four days of the trial.
Mr Justice Warby awarded Monroe £24,000 in damages saying that Hopkins had caused “Ms Monroe real and substantial distress” and was entitled to “fair and reasonable compensation”.
Katie Hopkins is being sued by Guardian writer and food blogger Jack Monroe.
CREDIT: Channel 5
LBC presenter and Mail Online columnist Katie Hopkins is being sued by the Guardian and Cooking On A Bootstrap writer Jack Monroe; over tweets sent from Katie Hopkin’s twitter account in 2015; which Monroe has said has caused “serious harm” to her reputation.
Monroe, is suing after Hopkins wrote a tweet, which suggested that she was involved with or condoned the vandalism on a war memorial in 2015 during an anti-government protest.
The tweet was published in May 2015 and said,
“@MsJackMonroe scrawled on any memorials recently? Vandalised the memory of those who fought for your freedom. Grandma got any more medals?”
Monroe is also arguing that a tweet sent by Katie Hopkins, allegedly bore a “defamatory innuendo meaning” that she “approved or condoned the criminal vandalisation of the women’s war memorial in Whitehall during an anti-government protest”.
Monroe’s lawyer William Bennett told Mr Justice Warby:
“The claimant’s primary case is that by reason of the seriousness of the allegations and the scale of publication, serious harm to reputation has been caused.
“A widely published allegation that someone has either vandalised a war memorial or approved of such an act will inevitably cause serious damage to reputation.”
Monroe’s lawyer noted, that even after Hopkins deleted the first tweet, “she did not apologise or retract the allegation even though she knew it was false”.
Solicitor-advocate Jonathan Price, for Hopkins, told the judge in written argument that Monroe’s case was a “relatively trivial dispute” which was “resolved on Twitter in a period of several hours”.
He claimed that, “no lasting harm, and certainly no serious harm” to Monroe’s reputation resulted from the interaction.
Speaking to the court, Monroe said,
“These proceedings have been a nightmare. It has been an 18-month, unproductive, devastating nightmare.
“I did not want to be here today. I have offered several times through my lawyer to settle these proceedings outside court. This is the last thing that I wanted to be doing.”
A blow has been struck to heterosexual couples who wish to get civilly partnered rather than married after a UK court dismisses a challenge.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case which would have allowed opposite-sex couples the option to get a civil partnership instead of getting married. As it stands only same-sex couples are able to get a civil partnership.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan wanted for the law to recognise their six-year relationship via a civil partnership, however, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 states that only same-sex couples are eligible. They have been campaigning to allow heterosexual couples’ rights for civil partnership for three years.
The couple challenged a High Court ruling in November and have not ruled out take their case to the Supreme court to overturn the decision.
Three judges who heard their case, Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Briggs and Lord Justice Beatson agreed that the discrimination against opposite-sex couples could not continue and that the Government should be given more time to consider the issue.
They argued that the Court’s decision was discriminatory and at odds with the law.
Speaking outside the court, Rebecca Steinfeld said,
“We are deeply disappointed by the ruling and very sorry not be able to share good news but there’s so much in the decision that gives us reason to be positive and keep going.”
Peter Tatchell, who has campaigned on this issue said,
“I’m hugely disappointed with the ruling since the judges agreed with 90% if Charles and Rebecca’s case,”
“They accepted the points if law but believed the government should have extra time. Millions of different sex couples will feel that their rights have not been upheld by the court.
Thousands of gay and bisexual men have been posthumously pardoned by the UK’s government.
Thousands of men who were charged with offences of now abolished sex offences will be posthumously pardoned by the government. The pardon effects those men who have since died and does not include those who are still living.
It is believed that only men who have died with have their charges pardoned.
The law is dubbed the Turing Bill, after scientist Alan Turing. Alan Turing was convicted in 1952 of “gross indecency” with a 19-year-old man. He was chemically castrated. He died two years later from cyanide poisoning in an apparent suicide. He was pardoned in 2013 with a posthumous royal pardon.
Speaking about the historic pardons, Justice Minister Sam Gyimah called it a ‘truly momentous day’. The MP was heavily criticised last year after he filibustered a proposal forwarded by SNP MP John Nicolson, who suggested that the Turing Bill should “‘prioritise the living’. Sam Gyimah claimed that it would be very difficult to distinguish between those who had been convicted of offences that are still illegal and those that have now been abolished, such as homosexuality.
Homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK in stages, with the law change in England and Wales in 1967, in Scotland in 1982 and in Northern Ireland in 1982.
Those similarly convicted but still alive will also receive pardons if they have successfully applied for a disregard, or in future successfully apply for a disregard under the Protection of Freedoms Act.
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