THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Wowereit would welcome Obama to Brandenburg Gate

Openly gay Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said July 9 he would be 'delighted' for Barack Obama to speak at the city's famed Brandenburg Gate.

Although no firm plans have been made, Obama's campaign inquired about the procedures for such a speech during an upcoming European trip by the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, said she doubts it would be appropriate to use the gate as a campaign backdrop.

Council of Europe executive committee to support gay rights

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe plans to issue a formal declaration in support of GLBT rights and to engage the entire organization in combating discrimination against GLBT people.

Activists called the move groundbreaking. The committee is composed of the foreign ministers of the CoE's 47 member nations.

The ministers will address the need to ensure respect for the human rights of GLBT people, instruct an intergovernmental expert committee to examine measures to avoid discrimination against gay couples, and instruct all committees involved in intergovernmental cooperation to propose specific actions to strengthen GLBT equality.

'Much of the credit for this great step forward goes to LGBT human rights defenders in Central and Eastern Europe,' said Nigel Warner, adviser to the CoE for the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

'Their courageous work in advocating for LGBT rights has revealed the appalling extent of homophobia and transphobia in many countries, and shocked the Council of Europe into taking action,' Warner said.

Anti-gay-marriage registrar winsdiscrimination case

A marriage registrar in the London borough of Islington who refused to perform same-sex civil partnerships was bullied, harassed and discriminated against for her Christian beliefs, the Central London Employment Tribunal ruled July 10.

Lillian Ladele had complained she was shunned, picked on and ridiculed. She praised the tribunal's decision as 'a victory for religious liberty.'

The tribunal said Islington Council, the borough government, violated 'Miss Ladele's dignity and created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.'

A determination of damages will be made later.

A spokesman for the council said the borough may appeal the ruling, which he called disappointing.

'We consider our approach was the right one,' Councilor John Gilbert, the executive member for human resources, told the BBC. 'The wider issue of whether councils should be able to expect employees to carry out civil partnerships doesn't seem to have been fully addressed.'

Gay leader Peter Tatchell denounced the ruling, saying it 'sanctions the right of religious people to discriminate against others who they disagree with.'

'We could soon find religious police officers, solicitors ( lawyers ) , firefighters and doctors refusing to serve members of the public who they find morally objectionable -- and being allowed to do so by the law,' Tatchell said.

The United Kingdom's civil-partnership law grants all the rights and obligations of marriage, but under a different name.

Anglican church gay wedding causes uproar

Yet another gay uproar occurred in the worldwide Anglican Communion in mid-June when newspapers reported that two male priests had sealed their civil partnership using a traditional wedding rite at London's St. Bartholomew the Great Anglican church.

The ceremony, which included Holy Communion, was carried out by the Rev. Martin Dudley in violation of guidelines issued by the Church of England and the bishop of London, the Rt. Rev. Richard Chartres.

As the fallout from the news reports escalated, one of the partners, the Rev. David Lord, resigned from the priesthood on June 15. The other partner, the Rev. Peter Cowell, is a priest vicar at St. Margaret's Church, a parish attached to Westminster Abbey that falls under the jurisdiction of the queen rather than the bishop.

The Church of England allows civil-partnership celebrations to include prayers and hymns, but not a formal blessing or use of a wedding rite.

Policies at Anglican churches in the United States and Canada are generally more liberal, though they vary among dioceses. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion.

Report: Gay life in Albania is not good

Gay people in Albania face routine intolerance and physical and psychological violence, says a new report by Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights.

The report was presented to the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly and Committee of Ministers on June 18.

'An open discussion regarding homosexuality remains taboo in Albania,' Hammarberg wrote. 'LGBT persons are routinely subject to intolerance, physical and psychological violence and seen by many as persons suffering from an 'illness'. ... There have also been cases of mistreatment by the police.

'There is no single competent body that may accept complaints on the grounds of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Albania in the context of employment,' the report continued. 'This lacuna results in victims being dissuaded or discouraged entirely from seeking just satisfaction.'

Hammarberg said that 'to sensitize people on diversity of sexuality requires education.'

He recommended 'a combination of public campaigns, integration of further sexual education within school curricula and further training of state professionals including law enforcement, judicial and medical personnel.'

U.K. Foreign Office issues gay-rights kit to embassies

The United Kingdom's Foreign Office has adopted an official program in support of GLBT rights and issued a toolkit to its embassies around the world to further the undertaking.

'The program and toolkit provide a great opening for LGBT activists to approach their local UK embassy when they need help,' said the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

The Netherlands and Sweden are the only other countries with similar projects aimed at supporting gay equality in foreign nations.

—Assistance: Bill Kelley