An archbishop’s anti-same-sex marriage motion has been turned down by bishops in a move that has left the Anglican Church of Australia divided. The motion, proposed by archbishop Kanishka Raffel with the help of the Conservative Sydney Diocese, attempted to reinforce the ‘traditional view’ of marriage being between men and women. Currently, any of Australia’s Anglican Diocese
same sex marriage
Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter will become the first ever same-sex couple to get married in British Antarctic Territory. (British Antarctic Survey/ Rich Turner) Two polar research ship crew members are set to become the first ever same-sex couple to get married in British Antarctic Territory. Eric Bourne and Stephen Carpenter have been together for
Republican lawmaker’s ‘ugly’ anti-LGBT+ bill paves the way for child marriage in Tennessee (Newsy/YouTube) A Republican bill to make common law marriage legal in Tennessee, United States, could allow for cases of child marriage to occur, opponents say. The bill, which was sponsored by state representative Tom Leatherwood along with 23 other Republicans, would see
A court in the UK has blocked marriage equality in both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda in a huge blow to LGBT+ folk in the British overseas territories. In March 2019, same-sex marriage was legalised with immediate effect in the Cayman Islands following a lengthy legal battle by lesbian couple Chantelle Day and Vickie Bodden
Demonstrators in favour of LGBT+ rights rally outside the US Supreme Court in Washington DC, 8 October 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty) The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a Christian woman who designs websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples despite a Colorado anti-discrimination law. The court will hear a claim
Pride in Santiago, Chile, 2021. (AFP via Getty/ MARTIN BERNETTI) The lower house of the congress of Chile has approved same-sex unions, bringing the South American country another step closer marriage equality. Chile legalised civil partnerships for same-sex couples in 2015, but the move did not grant them all of the rights enjoyed by opposite-sex married
Tory culture secretary Nadine Dorries has belatedly admitted she regrets opposing same-sex marriage, saying she now wishes she could “turn the clock back”. The woman who supposedly has her finger on the UK’s cultural pulse has repeatedly voted against marriage equality and once compared it to incest. “If the gay marriage bill takes sex out
The Church in Wales’ Bench of Bishops. (Facebook/ The Church in Wales) The Church in Wales is set to vote next month on whether same-sex couples should receive blessings for the first time. A bill to allow the blessings, introduced by the church’s bench of bishops, will be considered by the church’s governing body at
Jan van Breda (L) and his partner Thijs Timmermans cut the cake after their wedding, on 1 April 2011 in Amsterdam. (Photo credit should read EVERT ELZINGA/AFP via Getty Images) The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage 20 years ago. At midnight on 1 April, 2001, then-mayor Job Cohen married
Father Helmut Schüller leads the Pfarrer-Initiative, a group of dissident rebel Catholic priests who support the blessing of same-sex unions. (YouTube/ kondomsteuer) A group of rebel Roman Catholic priests have vowed to defy the Pope’s orders prohibiting the blessing of same-sex relationships, insisting: “We will not reject any loving couple.” The Pfarrer-Initiative (Priests’ Initiative) was
Juan Orlando Hernandez, president of Honduras. (Getty/ Sean Gallup) The conservative Central American country of Honduras has amended its constitution to make legalising marriage equality and abortion almost impossible. Although homosexuality was legalised in Honduras in 1899, same-sex marriage has been banned in the country since the constitution was amended to explicitly forbid it in
Arnold Schwarzenegger pictured in 2015 in London, England. (Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty/ Paramount) As Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers a scathing takedown of Donald Trump and the US Capitol riots, it’s easy to paint the Terminator as a liberal hero. But that’s not how many LGBT+ people remember him. The former actor, bodybuilder and politician has had quite
Switzerland has taken a major step on the path to equality after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a law to pass same-sex marriage. The council of states – the upper house of Switzerland’s legislature – voted by by 22 votes to 15 to approve landmark legislation to make same-sex marriage a reality. Just
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that could determine the constitutionality of marriage for same-sex couples, smiles as he walks out of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, June 18, 2015. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty) Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the case which legalised marriage equality across
A lesbian couple take selfies during an event to raise awareness of gay rights in Hong Kong in 2019. (PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images) A Hong Kong court has thrown out mixed messages for the protection of LGBT+ rights, with two verdicts that constitute one win and one loss for LGBT+ campaigners. The High Court
Today marks 15 years since PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen put the very first rudimentary version of this website live. He’s been reflecting on the past 15 years in this Twitter thread. Incredibly, it’s 15 years, to the day, since I first started work on @PinkNews. It’s been a labour of love! We will celebrate later
The couple were accused of entering into a same-sex marriage, which is a crime in Pakistan (Envato Elements) A court in Pakistan has ordered the formation of a medical board to do a ‘gender test’ on a trans man who is accused of changing his gender to marry a woman. The couple have now been
LGBT+ South Africans wave Pride flags at Durban Pride Festival. (RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP/Getty Images) Lawmakers in the upper house of South Africa’s parliament passed a bill Wednesday (July 1) that bars marriage officers from objecting to marrying same-sex couples. South Africa remains an outlier in the patchwork of policies and laws in Africa wired to erase
Daritza Araya and Alexandra Qu Castillo become the first same-sex couple to marry in Costa Rica (Facebook/Si Acepto/Trece Costa Rica Television) Two women in Costa Rica have become the first couple to have a same-sex marriage in their country, just moments after the law passed. Minutes after midnight Daritza Araya and Alexandra Qu Castillo celebrated
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty) More than 3,500 same-sex couples have tied the knot in Taiwan since marriage equality was legalised almost a year ago. Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage on May 17, 2019, which also happened to be International Day
MP Bob Katter said same-sex marriage “deserves to be laughed at and ridiculed”. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) A tiny outback town in Queensland, Australia, will hold its first Mardi Gras party this weekend, despite being in a federal electorate held by an MP who said LGBT+ rights were a “waste of time”. Cloncurry has fewer than
The Church of England declared sex is only for married, heterosexual couples. (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty) The Church of England has apologised for the “hurt and division” caused by a statement released last week that claimed sex is just for married, heterosexual couples. The archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, said the statement
A powerful photo of a lesbian couple on their wedding day in Derry, Northern Ireland has gone viral after same-sex marriage finally became legal in the territory today (January 13). It is four months today since Emma Bradley and Danielle Doherty from Derry, Northern Ireland, tied the knot. The couple would have loved to be
Northern Ireland’s secretary of state Julian Smith has officially signed a regulation to introduce same-sex marriage by Valentine’s Day 2020. Until October, the province was the only place in the British Isles (alongside the island of Sark) that had not legalised equal marriage. In July Westminster MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the law
Queer Methodist clergy were saddened by the vote at the general conference. (United Methodist General Conference/facebook) A Methodist church in Texas is to hold a mass ceremony celebrating marriage and reaffirming wedding vows of all married couples, including same-sex couples, who want to attend. The ceremony will be held just three days before the denomination’s clampdown
Lucy Spraggan and her wife Georgina Gordon. (Antony Jones/Getty Images for Diva Magazine) Singer-songwriter Lucy Spraggan has announced that she is splitting from her wife Georgina Gordon, and said that after six years together they will now “part ways on [their] adventure”. The musician, who was a contestant on The X Factor in 2012, announced
Joe Biden said he gets “more credit for marriage equality” than he deserves. (Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty) Joe Biden reportedly said he gets “more credit for marriage equality than [he] deserves” at a private fundraiser held on Saturday night (September 28). The Washington Blade reported that Biden made the comments at a