Italy: Catholic Church and Equal Rights - Anti-Gay Pope Francis Meets Sweden's Antje Jackelén Female Head Of Lutheran Church

The Vatican made history Monday when Pope Francis welcomed a woman archbishop to an official audience at the Apostolic Palace for the first time, according to Vatican Radio.

Archbishop Antje Jackelén, the first female head of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, tweeted her gratitude for the meeting to the pope, with a photograph of the two religious leaders chatting.

The pontiff has staunchly opposed ordination for women in the Catholic Church. “The Church has spoken and says no... That door is closed," he said in a July 2013 press conference.

The topic on Monday's agenda was not, however, women's role in the church, but rather the need for Christian unity across denominations and for better care for the poor. Francis addressed the archbishop as "esteemed Mrs. Jackelén, esteemed sister" in his call for charity.

“The call to unity as followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ includes an urgent call for a common effort on the charity front," Francis said, according to Vatican Insider. "The testimony of our brothers and sisters especially, pushes us to grow in fraternal communion."

Note EU-Digest:  in the meantime it was reported that the Pope - who in some eyes is a "wolf in sheep's clothing", has personally met with France’s proposed Gay ambassador to the Vatican – to tell him his appointment will be blocked because he is gay.

Read more: Pope Francis Meets With Female Head Of Church Of Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelén

Homosexuality tolerated but not accepted throughout the EU, as Slovakia votes against same-sex marriage in referendum

Gay Europe still has a long way to go

For decades, homosexuality was a taboo topic in Slovakia. It has only entered public discourse in the last 10 years.tolerated

The country, which joined the EU in 2004, has an anti-discrimination law that protects lesbians and gay men.

But neither same-sex marriage nor registered partnerships exist. Homosexuals are also not permitted to adopt children. Since the summer of 2014, marriage has been defined in the Slovak constitution exclusively as the union of a man and a woman.

On Saturday February 7, Slovakia votes against same sex marriage in referendum

Unofficial reports announced that about 54 percent of voters opposed the law [AFP report], while 44-percent favored it. Last month, conservative advocacy group Civil Initiative for the Family and the Rights of Children, with the help of Catholic supporters, collected and filed the required 40,000 signatures [STA report] to challenge the law to a referendum vote. Labor, Family and Social Affairs Minister Andrej Vizjak [official profile, in Slovenian] responded to the referendum results, saying that the government would respect the will of the people [statement audio, in Slovenian] and would draft a new proposal. 

Since 2004, 13 nations have joined the European Union and 10 of them either prohibit or do not recognize homosexual marriage, while the remaining three allow some legal "partnership" recognitions but not on the same level as heterosexual marriage.  In the most recent vote on the issue, in Croatia on Dec. 1, the Catholic and Orthodox churches led a strong campaign against same-sex marriage.

Croatia entered the European Union (EU) in July last year, making it the 28th and newest member of the union.  Among its 4.4 million citizens, 87.8% identify as Roman Catholics and 4.4% as Orthodox Christian.  After the center-left government crafted a same-sex “life partners” law back in May, the Catholic Church and other denominations rallied behind a referendum to amend Croatia’s constitution to legally define marriage as between one man and one woman.

The marriage question was the third referendum in Croatia since the country became independent in 1991.

The referendum asked, “Do you agree that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman?” As reported by the state electoral commission to numerous media, 65% of Croatians voted “yes” and 34% voted “no.” .

Besides Croatia, 12 other nations, all from Eastern Europe, have joined the EU since 2004.  Not one of those nations legally recognizes homosexual "marriage" and only three permit some legal standing for same-sex couples.

Probably Zelka Markic, the leader of “In the Name of the Family,” which pushed hard in favor of the referendum in Croatia, gave the best possible (democratic) answer to solving this issue, when she said: “We believe that marriage, children, and family are such important issues that the whole society has to decide on them -  by a referendum - and not just by a Government decree or law, unless it has the support of the majority.”



EU-Digest

The Netherlands: Dutch Gay Rights Groups Await Putin In Amsterdam - by Vladamir Isachenkov and Toby Sterling

Vladimir Putin faced hundreds of protesters ranging from gay rights activists to a topless feminist group during his visit to Germany and the Netherlands on Monday, but the Russian president appeared unruffled by the furor.

In Hannover, Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Russia's human rights record at a press conference. Then activists from Ukraine's Femen group bared their torsos and ran at him shouting "Putin dictator!" before they were detained.

Putin shrugged off the protest later with what appeared to be a comment on the women's breasts and a swipe at Dutch protesters angry over Russian lawmakers' approval of a bill that bans gay "propaganda."
"I hadn't had time to have breakfast, so I would have liked it more if they showed some sausage or pork fat, not the beauties they showed," he said at a press conference in Amsterdam. "Thank God, the gays didn't strip naked here."

In Amsterdam, more than a thousand gay rights activists picketed outside his meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and rainbow flags around the city flew at half-staff.

Read more: Dutch Gay Rights Groups Await Putin In Amsterda

Finland Rejects Marriage Equality Bill

The bill, proposed by the National Coalition Party (NCP) minister Alexander Stubb proposed the bill, which would have made marriage gender-neutral, therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry.

It was rejected 9 votes to 8, and so it will not go before the full legislature for consideration.

The bill would have made regulations relating to marriage equal for all, irrespective of the gender of the partners. In Finland, gay and lesbian couples can currently register their partnerships, but do not automatically take each others’ surnames, or adopt children, reports YLE.
Finland is the only Scandinavian country without marriage equality.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2013/03/finland-rejects-marriage-equality-bill.html#ixzz2MKkK0GKI

Read more: Finland Rejects Marriage Equality Bill| News | Towleroad

‘Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque’ sparks controversy - by Ben McPartland

A Muslim prayer center, which has been dubbed Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque, opened in Paris this week. Its founder described it as the first step in breaking “prejudices in Islam”, but it has been criticized by religious leaders.

Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grande Mosqueé in Paris, told FRANCE 24 that the opening of a new place of prayer for gay Muslims goes against the rules of Islam.

“The mosques that are already there accept everyone so creating one specifically for homosexuals is against the spirit of Islam. Worshippers go to a mosque to worship god, they don’t go to demonstrate their sexuality,” Boubakeur said. “This is an abuse of the definition of a mosque.”
Boubakeur argues that Islam’s rules on homosexuality were unambiguous.

“Homosexuality is condemned in 13 verses of the Koran. The only sexual relationship that is legitimate is between married men and women”, he said, though acknowledging that it is against Islam to be homophobic.

Abdallah Zekri, president of an organisation which monitors Islamophic attacks for the French Council of Muslims, also criticised the move. “We know that homosexual Muslims exist but opening a mosque (for them) is an aberration,” he said.

Read more: ‘Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque’ sparks controversy - FRANCE - FRANCE 24

Armenia: Anti-Gay Protests Block Film Screening - by Sara Khojoyan

The Armenian government has been criticized for failing to ensure that a film about gay rights could be shown, despite hostility from nationalist groups.

The European Union mission in Armenia, together with the German embassy, was hoping to show an award-winning Serbian film called “The Parade” at venues in Yerevan, to raise awareness about human rights.

The film is about attempts to organize a gay pride parade in the Serbian capital Belgrade in the face of fierce opposition.

The plan had to be shelved after nationalist demonstrations halted three separate attempts to screen the film in October. 

In a joint statement from the EU and German missions following the last failed attempt to show the films, on October 17-18 in the Congress Hotel the two delegations noted:  “The EU delegation and the German embassy are concerned by the abrupt refusal of several venues to show the film, given that they initially agreed to host the screenings. This highlights the need for further awareness on tolerance in Armenia,” The statement added that local organizers had promised to show the films at a later date.

It also referred to a statement by EU delegation chief Traian Hristea on October 9 which said that some people were concerned that a film on this subject would be shown. “I would like to underline in response that the EU aim is to spread information and encourage awareness in Armenia, thus challenging stereotypes. One of art's important functions is to open discussions and confront prejudice and preconceived opinions," Hristea said.

More than 20 non-government organzsations joined forces to criticise the government for failing to protect screenings, which was part of a series of EU events to mark Human Rights Day 2012. “As part of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership, Armenia has accepted an obligation to reinforce respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the NGOs said in a joint letter. “Armenia receives support from the European Union, including financial support, to implement these reforms.”

Davit Harutyunyan, a member of the ruling Republican Party and chairman of parliament’s legal affairs committee, said the government was not currently taking specific action to protect homosexuals.  “Of course society needs to be kept informed of these issues. However, the government thinks that although important, this is not a problem of major significance,” he said.

Read more: Armenia: Anti-Gay Protests Block Film Screening - Institute for War and Peace Reporting - P212

Honduras Is Test of New US Policy on Gay Rights Around the World - by Tim Johnson

From U.N. chambers to the halls of the State Department, global pressure on countries to protect the rights of gay people and transgender people is rising.

For Josue Hernandez, the new emphasis can't come fast enough.

The 33-year-old Honduran gay activist bears the scar of the bullet that grazed his skull in an attack a few years ago. He's moved the office of his advocacy group four times. Still, he feels hunted in what is arguably the most homophobic nation in the Americas. "We are in a deplorable state," Hernandez said of gays in Honduras. "When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away." From U.N. chambers to the halls of the State Department, global pressure on countries to protect the rights of gay people and transgender people is rising.

Laws criminalizing homosexuality have led the U.S. and British governments to threaten economic assistance to Malawi, Ghana and Uganda in Africa. "It does translate into dollars and cents," Bromley, chairman of the Council for Global Equality, a Washington-based advocacy group, said, referring to the economic assistance, but "conditionality really is not the main tool in the tool kit." 

He said a greater emphasis on providing training and funding to gay rights groups operating in difficult environments, such as Russia, has the potential for lasting impact, while U.S. diplomats bring up gay rights as part of broader human rights discussions.

Note EU-Digest: the other area which needs urgent attention when it comes to Gay Rights is the Middle East . Homosexuals of the Arab world stay out of sight because they are condemned by religious leaders, oppressive regimes and their own relatives. 

Notorious for its adherence to Wahhabism, a puritanical strain of Islam, and as the birthplace of most of the 9/11 hijackers, Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country that claims sharia, or Islamic law, as its sole legal code. The list of prohibitions is long: It’s haram—forbidden—to smoke, drink, go to discos, or mix with an unrelated person of the opposite gender. The rules are enforced by the mutawwa'in, religious authorities employed by the government’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. 

This legal and public condemnation notwithstanding, the kingdom leaves considerable space for homosexual behavior. As long as gays and lesbians maintain a public front of obeisance to Wahhabist norms, they are left to do what they want in private. In an an interview by a Western Newspaper a Syrian who moved to Riyadh in 2000, even calls the Saudi capital a “gay heaven.” 

Nevertheless homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia and is punished by flogging, jail or death.

For more: Honduras Is Test of New US Policy on Gay Rights around the world | Truthout

Britain: Gay church 'marriages' set to get the go-ahead

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone is to propose lifting the ban on civil partnerships taking place in religious settings in England and Wales.

There are no plans to compel religious organisations to hold ceremonies and the Church of England has said it would not allow its churches to be used. Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the change was "long overdue". Civil partnership ceremonies are currently entirely secular.

Note EU-Digest: Freedom of speech and choice is the right of anyone in a Democratic society, including church communities. Government laws regulating church membership requirements is just as ridiculous as Government regulating membership in a social club.


For more: BBC News - Gay church 'marriages' set to get the go-ahead