Gay Sex Now Legal On Isle of Fiji

The Pacific paradise isle of Fiji has become the first in the region to decriminalize homosexuality!    In a new government decree removes sodomy and confirms that sex between consenting people of the same gender is now legal.

The move has been welcomed by gay rights groups around the world and around the region and a welcome step in the right direction towards equality.  Fiji took gained it’s independence from the United Kingdom in October 1970,  but has had at least three military coups since  has a population of just 849,000.


“This is a welcome move but the Fijian leaders,  it’s shows a strong commitment to move with the times,  to be more open and tolerant”  D Vatinu,  a former resident of Fiji said last night,  as news reached out from the pacific.


“We’d just like to compliment Fiji on taking a really bold step”  Stuart Watson of UNAIDS told Radio New Zealand.

Church Ban On Gay Ceremonies Lifted

Jason Shaw,  Brighton,  England.
GayAgenda.com’s UK Correspondent.



Jason blogs on The Seafront Diaries,  a personal account of facing the forties with a smile and a joke,  and just a smattering of grey and memory loss!

Jason blogs on The Seafront Diaries,  a personal account of facing the forties with a smile and a joke,  and just a smattering of grey and memory loss!

Australian Senate Votes Against Gay Marriage

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UK’s Gay Marriage Church Ban At An End?

The current ban on church weddings for gay couples could soon come to an end. In a switch from previous viewpoints, a group of Anglican bishops and other clergy have pledged support to a relaxation of the ban, that will effectively allow same sex civil partnerships be carried out in church.

Some  senior bishops in the House Of Lords have told The Times Newspaper that they are going to support an amendment to the Equality Bill when it comes up for review next month that will lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in religious premises.  This amendment to the bill  would remove the legislative ban on blessings of gay couples and open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques and all other such religious premises.

In the letter in The Times a group of Church of England clerics yesterday said that religious denominations should be allowed to register civil partnerships on their premises if they so wish.  It would be up to individual denominations whether to offer civil partnership ceremonies,  but allowing them the freedom to do so.

The Church of England, is now and has always been  divided over gay ordinations and same-sex blessings,  will maintain its official ban. However, if the legislative ban on gay blessings and ceremonies is lifted, as is looking likely under the new amendment , the Church’s own ban is almost certainly going to be ignored by some clergy.

The House Of Lords, is expected to be debate the amendment to the law during this week when openly gay Lord Alli will introduce the motion or amendment. sometime this week. Supporters of this new amendment, include the Bishop of Leicester and the Right Rev Timothy Stevens, who convenes the 26 bishops in the House of Lords.

The Quakers have called for the law to be changed to give same-sex partners the same status in their ceremonies as heterosexual couples. They joined forces with Liberal Judaism and the Unitarians to support an amendment to the Equality Bill giving religious organisations the freedom to register civil partnerships.

Stonewall, the gay rights campaign group, who constantly fight for equality for gays and lesbians, said in a statement “We know this is a matter of importance to only a small number of people, but it is important nonetheless. And the amendment makes clear that the celebration of civil partnerships is permissible, not mandatory.”

This amendment shows the change of attitude and opinion in the British population over the last few years, less than than a third of the population believe homosexuality is wrong, compared to more than two thirds who did during the 1980s, according to the latest survey of British Social Attitudes. Last year The Times carried out a poll marking the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, found that the British public desired to see greater liberalisation in the law. Almost 61% wanted gay couples to be able to marry, just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships, while 68% of the public back “full equal rights” for gay men and lesbians.

More details on the letter from the bishops can be found in The Times.

Jason Shaw, Brighton, England

GayAgenda.com’s UK correspondent.

Lessons: Don’t Ask, Don’t Get

Last year, during Black History Month, African Americans celebrated with great pride Barack Obama’s election as the first black President of the United States. Obama sought to enlist blacks and all citizens in his army of hope — even as too many Americans wrongly believed that Obama’s victory ushered in a post-racial America.

Most blacks scoff at the idea of a post-racial nation — after all, the fingerprints of race are everywhere, from sports arenas to church sanctuaries. A growing number of blacks now feel that perhaps we were only deemed as useful for our votes; all but gone are campaign promises to address our specific needs, like more jobs, better education and important help with the mortgage crisis.

Many of my black brothers and sisters are now murmuring and beginning to feel that the President’s ascent to the most powerful station in the nation has done little to get them off their posts of despair. Many black folk walked on rice paper to keep from tearing into the fiber of the President’s disturbing avoidance of race in America. It may be that Obama’s presence in the White House has overshadowed the problems of a people who survived the “peculiar institution” of slavery. Although the President should keep all Americans in view, it appears that he has lost sight of the problems of most blacks. Other groups — GLBT, Latinos, Native Americans, even the sometimes amorphous “middle class” — have asked, and received, particular attention from the Obama administration. Black folk have largely lagged far behind.

More at: Huff Po!

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