Australians march for same-sex marriage
A National Day of Action for Same-Sex Marriage saw demonstrations Aug. 1 in the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Lismore.
According to the group Equal Love, 5,000 people marched in Melbourne in "the largest single show of support for marriage equality ever in Australia."
The rallies had no apparent effect on the national convention of the ruling Australian Labor Party, which voted the same day to support a national registry for same-sex partnerships but to oppose legalization of same-sex marriage.
"Although the decision of the ALP delegates was disappointing, I think politicians from all sides now understand that this is not an issue that's going to go away," said Equal Love co-convener Tim Wright. "Today's rallies put it clearly on the national agenda. Marriage equality is rapidly spreading throughout the world and we're going to be back here year after year until we get it in Australia."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told local radio July 29 that marriage is "between a man and a woman."
At the same time, the Rudd government has altered around 100 laws to give same-sex de facto couples the rights and obligations of marriage in areas that include health care, taxation, pensions, parenting, public benefits, workplace benefits, workers' compensation, veterans' affairs, elder care and educational assistance.
Rudd said July 29 that his goal is to remove "all legal discriminations" against gay couples.
Polling has found that 60 percent of Australians think gay couples should be allowed to get married.
Eur. commissioner publishes report on transphobia
Council of Europe member states should do more to stop transphobia and discrimination against transgender people, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said July 29 in an "expert issue paper" released at the World Outgames 2nd International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Copenhagen.
"The situation of transgender persons has long been ignored and neglected, although the problems they face are very real and often specific to this group alone," the report said. "They experience a high degree of discrimination and intolerance in all fields of life, as well as outright violence."
Among other things, the document asserts that transgender people should not have to undergo sterilization or other medical treatment before their revised gender identity is recognized.
Amsterdam mayor marries binational couples
Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen married five binational gay couples on a boat during the gay pride canal parade Aug. 1.
The couples were purposefully composed of one Dutch citizen and one resident of New York state. Same-sex marriage is not allowed in New York, but New York recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
The weddings created the disconnect of the couples now being married in the Netherlands and in New York, where they would not have been allowed to get married, and also not being married in the eyes of the U.S. government, which holds the keys to more than 1,000 marriage rights and obligations, including spousal immigration rights.
"As a result, thousands of U.S. citizens are forced into exile in countries like the Netherlands, where their relationships with their foreign partners are recognized and where they enjoy equal rights in family law," said Martha McDevitt-Pugh of the Love Exiles Foundation.
On April 1, 2001, Cohen conducted the first same-sex marriages in the world, after the Netherlands became the first nation to allow them. Same-sex marriage has since been legalized in Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Spain and the U.S. states of Connecticut, Iowa and Massachusetts. It also has been legalized in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, but the laws have not yet come into effect.
More than half a million people turned out for Amsterdam's waterborne pride parade.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
