Saturday, June 29, 2013

Gay News Roundup.




Russia: Gay pride parade brings dozens of arrests for gay propaganda and public display of homosexuality.(ABC.)
The so-called ‘gay panic’ defense in homicides. The funny thing is, the insanity or temporary insanity defense is notoriously unpopular with juries. People feel that other people should be held responsible for their actions. How many times have we heard it said?
Let’s assume I’m on the witness stand.
“Mr. Jones, why did you kill that man?”
“He called me gay and I thought he was going to kill me for being gay.” We’ll call that the ‘heterosexual panic’ defense and see how far it gets us…
“Are you gay, Mr. Jones?”
“How is that relevant?”
The Bench: “Answer the question, for it is the duty of this court to determine the truth and seek justice for all.”
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'Victory for Marriage Rights.' Cool website for everything in lesbian news and culture.
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Prosecutor on redirect: “Why did you kill his wife, Mr. Jones?”
“I thought she was a lesbian.”
“Ah-ha! Gotcha! The prosecution rests.” (He smirks at the crowd of good, clean, decent, God-fearing folks.) "How could you have possibly known by just looking at her that she was a lesbian?"
(Crowd giggles and stomps their feet.)
Yeah, I guess you got me on that one.
***
Gay rights raises questions about benefit status. Ah, yes, that whole entitlement thing, everything from military pensions, spousal benefits, company health and dental plans, it’s all on the table now. Conservatives hate entitlements such as Old Age Security and Medicare. They even hate it when the wrong sort of people can afford private insurance.
Quoting from the text:
Q: What about tax benefits for married couples with children?

A: Previously, same-sex parents who were unable to legally adopt their non-biological children were not eligible to take the dependency exemption or child-related credits, says LIpson. However, now that married same-sex couples can file jointly, Lipson says the non-biological parent can utilize these tax benefits.
***
New constitution in Hungary does not ban discrimination against gays, gay marriage is not possible. A ‘huge slap’ from country’s government and a step backwards.
Again, quoting from the text:
Similarly, Agnes Chetaille, PhD candidate in sociology at EHESS, Paris, states that “when a country is going through a hard time, its citizens become more nationalist. The promotion of pratriotism relies on the nation’s “internal enemies”.  Back in the Nineteen thirties, they blamed the Jews and now it is the homosexuals. Speeches are similar; only the perception of the enemy differs.”
(Should be taken in the context of the whole article.)

END

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