4 Min Read
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court ruled on Wednesday that not allowing same-sex couples to get married is “unconstitutional,” setting a precedent in the only G7 nation not to fully recognise same-sex partnership.
The ruling by a district court, the first in Japan on the legality of same-sex marriages, is a major symbolic victory in a country where the constitution still defines marriage as being based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”.
Following the ruling, plaintiffs and supporters unfurled rainbow flags and banners in front of the court.
While a new law will be needed before same-sex marriages can actually take place - which could take some time in socially conservative Japan - the plaintiffs’ lawyer called the ruling “revolutionary”, while LGBT activists deemed it life-changing.
4 Min Read
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court ruled on Wednesday that not allowing same-sex couples to get married is “unconstitutional,” setting a precedent in the only G7 nation not to fully recognise same-sex partnership.
The ruling by a district court, the first in Japan on the legality of same-sex marriages, is a major symbolic victory in a country where the constitution still defines marriage as being based on “the mutual consent of both sexes”.
Following the ruling, plaintiffs and supporters unfurled rainbow flags and banners in front of the court.
While a new law will be needed before same-sex marriages can actually take place - which could take some time in socially conservative Japan - the plaintiffs’ lawyer called the ruling “revolutionary”, while LGBT activists deemed it life-changing.
4 Min Read
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican’s directive banning the blessing of same-sex unions has sparked defiance among some priests in Europe and left bishops perplexed on how to minister to gay Catholics.
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis listens to Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (not pictured) during a mass to mark 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, in St. Peter s Basilica at the Vatican, March 14, 2021. Tiziana Fabi/Pool via REUTERS/
Conservatives praised the ruling, issued on Monday by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but it greatly disappointed gay Catholics, who felt their Church was becoming more welcoming under Pope Francis.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Grindr app is seen on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in Shanghai, China March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/Illustration
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway’s influential Consumer Council called on Wednesday for the country’s data protection watchdog to order Grindr to identify and erase any personal data gathered illegally.
Datatilsynet, Norway’s Data Protection Authority, said in January it planned to fine the LGBTQ+ dating app 100 million Norwegian crowns ($11.8 million) for allegedly illegally disclosing user data to advertising firms.
“The Consumer Council is now asking the Data Protection Authority to impose measures to ensure that the company also must identify and delete illegally collected personal data,” the council said.
4 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to remove a decades-old deadline for adopting the Equal Rights Amendment, in hopes of finally formally protecting women’s rights in the U.S. Constitution.
Congress approved the ERA in the early 1970s and set a 1982 deadline for it to be enacted if 38 state legislatures voted to approve.
The drive for the amendment initially attracted widespread support but fell short after a conservative backlash led by activist Phyllis Schlafly, who said the ERA would actually erode women’s standing and lead to homosexual marriages, women in combat, government-funded abortions and loss of alimony.