The move, which has outraged
Catholics, means only the word
“parents” would be used in identical
marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples.
The draft law states that “marriage
is a union of two people, of different or
the same gender”.
It says all references to “mothers
and fathers” in the civil code – which
enshrines French law – will be swapped
for simply “parents”.
The law would also give equal
adoption rights to homosexual and
heterosexual couples.
Gay Characters at Record High
on US Television
Reuters – October 5, 2012
New shows “The New Normal,”
“Girls” and comedy “Go On” have
helped US television rack up a record
number of gay, bisexual and transgender characters, gay rights group
GLAAD said on Friday.
In its 8th annual report tracking
gender and ethnic diversity on television, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (GLAAD) said on
Friday there will be 111 LGBT characters in regular or recurring roles on
scripted shows across US television.
Inclusive TV shows now range
from crime and medical series like
“Grey’s Anatomy”, to long-running
teen dramas like Canada’s “Degrassi”
on Teennick and British period favorite
“Downton Abbey” with its duplicitous
gay butler Thomas Barrow.
GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said the increasing numbers reflect
“a cultural change in the way gay and
lesbian people are seen in our society.”
Anti-Gay Marriage Protesters
Rally in Paris
AFP – November 18, 2012
Thousands of Catholics and other
opponents of French government
plans to legalize gay marriage and
same-sex adoption marched in Paris on
Sunday, a day after more than 100,000
turned out across France for the cause.
The protesters included several
young people wearing cassocks, a
Christian clerical garment. Others
waved the French flag and banners
depicting the Christian cross and
other emblems.
Pope Says Future of Mankind at
Stake Over Gay Marriage
Telegraph – December 21, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI has weighed
in on a heated debate over gay marriage, criticizing new concepts of the
traditional family and warning that
mankind itself was at stake.
“In the fight for the family, the
very notion of being – of what being
human really means – is being called
into question,” the Pope said in Italian
during an end-of-year speech.
He cited feminist gender theorist
Simone de Beauvoir’s view to the effect
that one is not born a woman, but one
becomes so – that sex was no longer
an element of nature but a social role
people chose for themselves.
“The profound falsehood of this
theory and of the anthropological
revolution contained within it is
obvious,” he said.
The defense of the family, the Pope
said, “Is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied,
human dignity also disappears.” e