UNION GAY PRIDE

The Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions said today it will sponsor the Scandinavian country’s biggest gay and lesbian festival, using it as a forum to fight sexual discrimination.

“The fight against discrimination due to sexual orientation is an important union issue. I see this as another indication that we are serious when talking about all people being equal and having the same rights,” said Wanja Lundby-Wedin, the confederation’s chairwoman said.

The sponsorship deal means the confederation, or LO, will provide the organisers of Stockholm Pride 2004 with some £20,000 for the event, which is scheduled for July 28-August 1.



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Massachusetts warns non-residents' gay marriages will be void
The Associated Press
BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) - Gov. Mitt Romney's top legal adviser warned city and town clerks that issuing marriage licenses to out-of-state gay couples will make the marriages null and void and could result in legal repercussions for the clerks.

Clerks will be required to seek proof of residency or the intention to move to Massachusetts from all couples - gay and straight - who are seeking to marry as of May 17, when same-sex weddings become legal, attorney Daniel Winslow said Tuesday before the state's first training session for clerks.

The consequences of an illegal marriage could be severe for the couple, particularly if they have children, because of legal questions of support and custody, Winslow said. There also would be legal consequences for the clerks, though Winslow declined to say what those could be.

"What conscientious clerk ever would issue a license in violation of Massachusetts law when the consequences and ramifications to children and innocent parties would be so great?" Winslow said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I simply can't see that any clerk would do that."



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Methodists protest ban on ordaining gays
'Jesus always included the outcasts'
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Methodists who seek broader acceptance of gays marched together to the church's national meeting Tuesday, then dropped to their knees in prayer as delegates arrived for a day of voting.

The nearly 200 congregants and clergy, wearing the colorful stoles that are a symbol of their movement, lined up one-by-one along the entrance to the building where the United Methodist General Conference is being held.

They had little expectation that they could ease their denomination's prohibitions on gay sex. Delegates have voted consistently over the years that the Bible condemns homosexuality.

But the protesters said they wanted to remind delegates of the many gays who belong to their 8.3 million-member church.

"I think it's important to keep fighting," said Val Zellmer of Wisconsin, as she walked toward the convention center. "I think Jesus said that God loves everybody. Jesus always included the outcasts."


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Gov Signs Oklahoma Gay Couple Adoption Ban Law
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)  Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry Monday signed legislation barring adoptions by gay couples from out of state.

Same-sex Oklahoma couples were already prevented from adopting, although singles gays may become the parent of adoptive children. The new law removes a loophole that had allowed same-sex partners in states where co-adoption is legal to seek children in Oklahoma.

The legislation stemmed out of a March controversy in which the Oklahoma Health Department refused to issue a birth certificate for a child adopted by a gay couple who live in Seattle, Washington.

Lambda legal threatened to take the Department to court, but after the state Attorney General said Oklahoma's adoption code requires the state to recognize out-of-state adoption decrees involving gay couples the new birth certificate was issued.