UK: Court rules same-sex couples are not entitled to £3.3bn pension boost

A landmark court ruling on whether a gay man can legally inherit his partner's full retirement fund has been rejected in a major setback for gay rights. The Court of Appeal ruled that the man is legally entitled to pass only £500 of his final salary pension on to his partner when he dies, instead of £41,000, the amount he would legally be allowed leave to a wife. 

Lawyers describe the case as the most important concerning sexual discrimination in pensions since the 1990s. It relates to a legal loophole that leaves hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian couples who are married and in civil partnerships worse off in retirement than everyone else.

John Walker, the man who lost the case, said: “It is utterly reprehensible that my employer - Innospec - a large, successful company with a pension fund surplus – is unwilling to follow the example of the vast majority of major British companies in giving homosexual partners exactly the same spousal benefits as heterosexuals.  Read More via Telegraph 

Malaysia: Back to square one for transgenders as Federal Court overturns landmark ruling on Shariah law

The Federal Court has overturned the Court of Appeal’s landmark decision declaring an anti-crossdressing Shariah law unconstitutional and void. The five-man bench set aside the judgments made by the High Court and Court of Appeal and the High Court, citing improper procedures used to commence the lawsuit that they said rendered the lower courts’ rulings invalid.

The Court explained that the applicants should have started their legal challenge directly at the Federal Court as the matter involved the Federal Constitution.

The apex court’s decision today will set a precedent on other cases where state Islamic authorities are arguing that fundamental constitutional rights guaranteed to all Malaysians cannot be applied to determine the validity of Islamic laws. Read More via The Malay Mail 

Isle of Man leader draws line under 'dark days' and aims to legalise gay marriage

Allan Bell, leader of the self-governing island, says he has been in a relationship for 21 years. Until homosexuality was decriminalised in 1992, two men caught having sex with each other in the Isle of Man faced life in prison. 23 years on, the island is hoping to follow Ireland, the UK, the US and others by bringing in equal marriage.

The chief minister, Allan Bell, said a public consultation would be launched this month on the introduction of laws to enable same-sex couples to be married. Bell said: “The message the Isle of Man has to send out in 2015 is that we are a tolerant, inclusive, open society. We abhor discrimination of any description and are outward looking and engaged with the outside world.”

It is an open secret on the island that Bell has been in a relationship with another man for 21 years: “People know that I’m gay. I’ve never made a secret of it, but no one has ever asked me.” Read More via the Guardian

UK: Parliament to hear case for introducing a legal ‘third gender’

The government’s new Parliamentary Women’s and Equalities Committee is to hear evidence from a one-sided panel on the possibility of introducing a “third gender” into the British legal system. Choosing to have no gender on a passport is already allowed in Australia and New Zealand, and Ireland passed a new law at the end of July to allow the transgendered to be recognized as their “true gender.”

According to The Gender Recognition Act of 2004, trans people can legally swap between the two legally recognised genders in the UK. However, so-called “gender non-conforming,” “non-gendered” and “gender neutral” people are a specific category of the transgendered.

Rather than wanting to merely transition from one gender to another they often prefer to invent a gender all of their own; such as “pangender,” “gender fluid,” “transmasculine” or “queer gender.”  Read More via Breitbart

Poland: Shock as Gender Recognition Act falls

Poland’s Gender Accordance Act will not come into force, following the unexpected failure of a parliamentary committee to prepare a report required in advance of the planned vote. This means that Poland will not have a legal gender recognition process defined in legislation. ILGA-Europe send our sympathy the trans community in Poland, the committed activists and LGBTI organisations who had guided this historic law through the lengthy legislative procedure to this point. 

“This Act was not just about codifying an unwritten procedure. It was an opportunity for Poland’s parliamentarians to reaffirm their commitment to equality. The law had been supported by both houses of parliament only weeks ago. But now, those same elected representatives have backtracked on the chance to give trans people in Poland greater dignity. To have their hopes thwarted at the final legislative hurdle is incredibly frustrating.” commented ILGA-Europe Executive Director Evelyne Paradis.

The Gender Accordance Act aimed to give trans people in Poland greater clarity and protection. The uncodified legal gender recognition process requires people to endure stressful court proceedings and lengthy waiting times for any decision. Read More via ILGA 

US: White House still not ready to back Equality Act

When asked a pointed question from Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson, press secretary Josh Earnest said he was "not prepared to say" that the president endorses the Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include LGBT people in protection from discrimination in things such as employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations, among other areas.

That's odd because the vice president told the Human Rights Campaign in a keynote speech this weekend that's he's personally fully behind it. "We must pass federal non-discrimination legislation, and we must pass it now," Biden said, before outlining his own strategy for building national support.

Earnest said President Obama does support the idea underlying the bill, which was introduced in July with record Democratic support.   Read More via the Advocate 

Russia: Putin talks gay rights on 60 minutes

In an interview with US '60 Minutes,'  Putin says he supports equal rights. "The problem of sexual minorities in Russia had been deliberately exaggerated from the outside for political reasons, I believe, without any good basis," he said.

In the U.S., Putin points out, some states still have laws on the books against same-sex relations. (This is partly true; all such laws were invalidated in 2003 by the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas.)

In Russia, Putin adds, "We have no persecution at all. People of non-traditional sexual orientation work, they live in peace, they get promoted, they get state awards for their achievements in science and arts or other areas. I personally have awarded them medals."

Putin also defends Russia's controversial gay "propaganda" law: "I don't see anything un-democratic in this legal act." Read More and watch a clip via CBS 

Taiwan: Presidential hopeful would treat LGBT child with ’empathy, tolerance and respect’

Candidate James Soong Chu-yu said that if he had an LGBT child he would treat them with nothing but “empathy, tolerance and respect.” The chairman of the People First Party – who is currently second in the polls – was asked what he would do if he had a gay or trans child in a Facebook question and answer session with voters.

In the latest polls, Soong is second with 17% of the vote, behind the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen, who has also spoken out for LGBT rights.

Last year, an online poll revealed that 68% of the Taiwanese population supported same-sex marriage. Taiwan’s LGBT community have been campaigning for same-sex unions for years.
In July, thousands of supporters flooded the streets of Taipei in a bid to urge the government to change the country’s stance on gay marriage. Protesters waved rainbow flags, lit candles and shouted “gay votes are still votes”. Read More via PinkNews 

Kenya: President Kenyatta on gay rights in Kenya

President Kenyatta appeared on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. When Zakaria pushed him on gay rights, Kenyatta repeated sentiments he told Obama during his state visit saying that Kenyan's are uninterested in gay rights and that "whatever society you come from right, the principal aim is that you must give the people you know their right to choose." 

Kenyatta went on to note, however, that he will not allow individuals to take the law into their own hands and that individuals should not persecute, beat, or torture gay people. Read the full transcript via CNN

David Cameron in Jamaica: Prime Minister must highlight violent homophobia and 'batty bwoy' hatred

To his great credit, David Cameron has previously promised that his government will champion LGBT rights worldwide: declaring that LGBT rights are universal human rights and that Britain will use its influence to defend the rights of sexual and gender minorities worldwide. Bravo!

As he visits Jamaica, the Prime Minister will have a chance to make good that commitment in a country where it really matters and where his words can make a positive impact. Jamaica is a country where a declaration of support for LGBT equality is desperately needed. Most local politicians and the government shy away from the issue. Around 80% of the population oppose LGBT people and LGBT rights. Mob violence against known or suspected LGBT people is not uncommon.

In these hateful circumstances, only a handful of Jamaicans are openly LGBT. There are no well known out public figures. The gay activist Brian Williamson was the first person to come out and be reported in the media as an openly gay man. He was brutally murdered in a frenzied knife attack in 2004. Read More via IBT 

US: Epigenetic 'tags' linked to homosexuality in men

The biology of sexual orientation has been one of the most vexing — and politically charged — questions in human genetics. For the first time, researchers have found associations between homosexuality and markers attached to DNA that can be influenced by environmental factors. 

Researchers looked at epigenetic markers — chemical changes to DNA that affect how genes are expressed, but not the information they contain. These 'epi-marks' can be inherited, but can also be altered by environmental factors such as smoking, and are not always shared by identical twins.

However, several researchers have criticized the study’s methods and some statisticians have said that the study incorrectly presented its results as statistically significant. Study co-author Tuck Ngun has disputed this and other statistical criticisms. He has said he and his collaborators will issue a statement. Read More via Nature