By Christopher Cappiello

Civil Unions Controversy Divides Australian Pols

When Australian Prime Minister John Howard's government took the unusual step of vetoing a territory's law granting limited rights to same-sex civil unions, a controversy was sparked among the country's local and federal governments.

In mid-June the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) passed the civil unions law that was based on Great Britain's civil partnership laws that took effect in December 2005. Howard's government claimed the ACT bill violated a 2004 federal law that limited marriage to opposite-sex couples, and Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery vetoed it.

This action inspired a movement in the Australian Senate by the Green and Labor parties to overturn the veto. In a June 16 vote, the move to override the veto was defeated in a very close 32-30 vote. Among those voting in favor of the override was Liberal Sen. Gary Humphries, who represents the ACT. He is the first senator to vote against his party in its 10 years in office, the BBC reports.

“I am deeply unhappy about the decision that has been made,” Humphries said. While he has said he opposes gay marriage, the senator objected to the federal government's interference in his territory's legislation.

Even with the Senate defeat, the controversy is not over. Territory officials have expressed an interest in passing a new law granting rights to same-sex couples.

“Discrimination against same-sex relationships persists in this country,” ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell told the BBC. “In the ACT we have sought to address this through our legislation and if this legislation is overturned permanently, then we will consider introducing new legislation.”

Latvian President Vetoes Rights Bill that Excludes Gays

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga vetoed a bill outlawing employment discrimination because it did not protect workers on the basis of sexual orientation, the BBC reports.

The June 21 veto sends the bill back to the Latvian Parliament where members can either amend it to include sexual orientation, or return it to the president as is and work to overturn a second veto with a two-thirds vote.

The parliament's discriminatory anti-discrimination bill puts the country's membership in the European Union (EU) at risk, as the EU requires member states to pass legislation protecting workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Latvia remains the only member of the EU without such a law.

The original bill included protections for sexual orientation along with race, gender, age, disability and religious or political beliefs. After a heated debate in which homosexuality was described as “a sin,” and gays as “degenerate” and “sick,” members of parliament removed sexual orientation and sent the bill to the president.

In December 2005 the Latvian Parliament amended the country's constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Latvia joins Poland and Lithuania as the only EU members to have such a restricted constitutional definition of marriage.

French Presidential Candidate Favors Marriage Equality

Segolene Royal, the widely recognized frontrunner for the French Socialist Party's 2007 presidential nomination, has come out in favor of allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children, Reuters reports.

“It is essential that everybody has equal rights and dignities and the chance to express themselves freely,” Royal said in a June 21 interview with Tetu magazine. “Opening up marriage to same-sex couples is needed in the name of equality, visibility, and respect.”

Royal said her party would make gay marriage legal if elected in 2007. And if gay marriages are recognized, she said, adoption must follow. “Whether the parents are homosexual or heterosexual, adoption is above all a family project. From the moment a same-sex couple is recognized as a family, this family has the right to conceive of family projects,” she told Tetu.

The French government of conservative President Jacques Chirac opposes both marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. The government reluctantly agreed to expand the rights granted to civil partnerships in 2005.

“I think today the findings of modern psychology-which can certainly develop-indicate that it is better for a child to have a dad and a mum,” Conservative Family Minister Philippe Bas told Canal+ television, according to Reuters.

Royal is a controversial figure in French politics. She has called marriage a “bourgeois institution” and has remained unmarried after having four children with Socialist Party head Francois Hollande.

A recent poll indicated that 60 percent of the French people favor gay marriages, while closer to 50 percent favored adoption by gay couples.

More than 2 Million Celebrate Brazil Pride

With organizers claiming it is the largest gay pride celebration in the world, the 2006 Sao Paulo Gay Pride parade brought more than 2 million revelers to the streets of the Brazilian city on June 17, The Associated Press reports.

The theme of the 2006 parade was “Homophobia is a crime,” the BBC reports, with activists claiming that 81 Brazilians were killed in 2005 because of their sexual orientation. Organizers also hoped to raise awareness among voters and legislators for upcoming legislation regarding anti-discrimination and same-sex civil unions.

Participants noted that acceptance of homosexuality varies widely throughout the large South American country. “Here I guess we are privileged,” one reveler told the BBC, remaining anonymous. “Here [in Sao Paulo] we can be open almost every day. But for most of the people, they can't be open every day at all.”

“I just want to show that we're harmless,” 36-year-old architect Cao Ramos told the AP, reportedly wearing a gold evening gown and high heels. “There are so many other things in the world that we should be worrying about instead of people's sexual preferences.”

Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic country, also has a growing evangelical Christian movement that is pressuring politicians to resist gay rights reforms. Two days before the pride parade, police report that 3 million people joined a religious march on the same Sao Paulo streets to protest legislation that would legalize same-sex unions.