Parental rights to be extended for LGBT families in the Netherlands The government in the Netherlands is looking to change the law to take into account its 25,000 LGBT families, and issues faced by stepparents or sperm donors.
The extension would mean that children could have three or more parents, including the biological parents of children of same-sex couples.
Wiebe Alkema, a spokesperson for the justice ministry, said it “is going to investigate and see what the possibilities are for recognizing three parents or more per family.”
The left-wing Green Party, the Liberal VVD and the Labor PvdA requested a report with the intention of amending a lesbian parenting bill.
Green MP Liesbeth van Tongeren commented on what has been the norm for legally recognizing parents: “Currently, parenthood in the eyes of the law is almost always the consequence of biological parenthood,” she said in a statement. She added, “This does not represent the diversity of families in the Netherlands. Often enough, the father of a child with lesbian parents also plays a role in the life of the child.”
“How a family lives is more important than the biological lineage,” van Tongeren added. “The bill should take into account what’s best for all concerned.”
The Netherlands currently has no legal recognition for stepparents or sperm donors who may wish to be involved in the upbringing of their child.
In Parliament, Junior Justice Minister Fred Teveen noted various potential practical objections to the bill being passed, but said he would wait for the conclusions of the report.
The Netherlands was the first country to legalize marriage equality back in 2001 and official statistics report that, by the end of 2010, 14,813 gay couples were married in the country. Sicily gets ready for first gay governor A gay man who shrugged off three Mafia plots to kill him is poised to become Sicily’s first gay governor in elections that show the center left advancing at the expense of Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing party.
Representing a coalition of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party and the Catholic UDC party, Rosario Crocetta is leading against the Berlusconi candidate and a contender representing the maverick movement of comedian Beppe Grillo, who trails in third place.
Crocetta, a devoted Catholic, has long claimed that Southern Italy is surprisingly relaxed about gay politicians, once stating, “There is a great respect for the individual, making it less homophobic than the north.”
As mayor of Gela, Crocetta persuaded local businesses not to pay protection money to the Mafia and claimed that coming out gave him a sense of liberation that allowed him to understand how suffocated Sicily had become under the Mafia’s yoke.
One mob boss who hired a Lithuanian assassin for a failed bid to kill Crocetta was less than tolerant of his sexuality than voters, describing him in a wiretapped call as “this queer communist.”
A local magistrate said at the time: “The clans may ridicule Crocetta’s sexuality, but it’s the backing he gave businesses that refuse to pay the pizzo [protection payment] that really drove them mad.”
Crocetta has suggested that a surprising number of members of Cosa Nostra are themselves gay.
Palermo magistrate Antonio Ingroia has said he believes there are a number of gay bosses, adding, “It remains a taboo since they are scared of being ejected from the mob.”
Human Rights Watch: Cameroon must protect lawyers from threats Human Rights Watch has called on the authorities in Cameroon to protect two lawyers who have been on the receiving end of death threats because of their LGBT advocacy work.
The New York-based organization said the country’s government should publicly denounce the threats made against Michel Togue and Alice Nkom.
Both have received correspondence claiming the lives of their children and families are at risk.
Recently, Nkom revealed that she had been called a “lesbian whore” in a text message, which also said it was her turn to “suffer.”
Togue has also received similar threats, with one individual emailing him photos of his children leaving school.
In response, Neela Ghoshal from Human Rights Watch said, “Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate to find out who is threatening these courageous human-rights defenders.”
She added: “The government should make clear to the public that everyone has a right to defense, and that threats against defense attorneys will not be tolerated.”
Recently, American and European officials called for the release of two Cameroonian men convicted under the country’s antigay laws.
They were prosecuted on a range of dubious accusations, including their preference for consuming the Irish cream liquor-based drink Baileys. Jamaica faces legal action over antigay laws Three people have launched legal action against Jamaica due to the country’s continued enforcement of homophobic laws.
The case is being sent to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and has the support of the Human Dignity Trust, an LGBT-rights group based in the UK.
The people are: Gareth Henry, who successfully obtained asylum in Canada due to the violent abuse and persecution he suffered in Jamaica based on his sexual orientation; Dane Lewis, the director of J-FLAG — Jamaica’s only human-rights lobby group; and Ian McKnight, CEO of Caribbean Vulnerable Communities, the largest coalition of HIV/AIDS groups in the Caribbean.
The Jamaican criminal code prohibits sex between men and sentences for sodomy can include 10 years imprisonment with hard labor. The laws date back to the island’s colonial past.
In December of last year, Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller promised to review the country’s homophobic legislation. However, campaigners have accused her of inaction.
Lewis said that homophobic killings in the country have increased.
“This year alone, there have been nine [murders],” he said. “The violence in Jamaica is having a spillover effect on other parts of the Caribbean. St. Lucia now has a murder or so every year.”
One prominent Jamaican victim was John Terry, the 65-year-old British honorary consul in Montego Bay who was found dead in 2009 after having been beaten and strangled.
A note left on his body read: “This is what will happen to all gays.” It also featured the word “batty man” — a homophobic term of abuse.
Jamaican police claimed Terry’s death was not a homophobic murder.
— compiled by Larry Nichols