Government "split" over homophobic incitement law

The government's chief law officer does not support a new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, according to a report in The Times.

Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, has privately clashed with Justice Secretary Jack Straw over the proposals, which form part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill which is before Parliament.

The Times reports that Baroness Scotland is concerned the homophobic incitement proposals will be blocked or watered down by the House of Lords, and she believes that existing legislation is sufficient to deal with the problem.

In an interview with PinkNews.co.uk published today, Justice minister Maria Eagle defended the proposed new law.

"There is existing legislation about violence against individuals, provisions within the current law that will enable the Criminal Justice System to take a dimmer view of those who get engaged in violence against an individual because of their sexuality," she said.

"If you go and attack someone because they are gay then that is an aggravating feature of the violence offence. That's true.

"But I think that the evidence that Stonewall gave to the public bill committee got to the point on this.

"Because there is no incitement provision at the minute, there is a gap.

"If you go around inciting hatred against a group of people or an undefined group of people on the grounds of their sexuality, that isn't against the law. We think it should be."

Gay equality organisation Stonewall has been lobbying for a new offence of homophobic incitement.

In evidence to a committee of MPs last month Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill quoted extensively from the homophobic lyrics of dancehall star Beenie Man and others to demonstrate the nature of their comments about gay men and lesbians.

MPs were confronted with the words "motherfucker," "pussy-sucker" and "batty-fucker" during his testimony, along with excerpts from BNP leaflets claiming the government were trying to "legalise child sex" by equalising the age of consent.

Tory MP David Burrowes asked if there were examples or evidence of rap lyrics leading to criminal offences by those who have heard them.

Mr Summerskill explained:

"That is, of course, the key issue in incitement. The level of offence that incitement to racial hatred captures is that in which incitement is directed against a community as a whole rather than an individual - in which I do not say that someone should attack you, but suggest that they should attack anyone who happens to be like you.

"As for the context in which these lyrics and leaflets are distributed, in this instance, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed for us last Friday that in the past two years there has been a 167% rise in the number of convictions secured for offences with a homophobic element.

"That is not what is sometimes characterised as cranky complaints, or cases that might not have resulted in a conviction; that is 600 offences."

He went on to say that the Home Office acknowledges that the vast majority of cases of homophobic violence in this country may not be reported and noted that the second anniversary of the homophobic murder of Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common has recently passed.

Some prominent gay people have objected to the law.

The Times journalist Mathew Parris asked if homophobic insults were to become unlawful, "why should we remain free to sneer, in ways inciting hatred, at a person's being Welsh, or Irish?

"Lines of absolute principle are hard to draw," he added, "but some groups may be so weak and fragile as to need the law's protection from hateful speech. I'd like to think we gays are no longer among them."

In The Independent, Johann Hari commented that while the views of Richard Littlejohn and Sir Iqbal Sacranie are the kind that might "encourage thugs who are likely to bottle somebody on a Saturday night," it is better to meet their views in open debate.

"Gay people need to be confident enough to know that our arguments are so strong that they will win in any free, open exchange of views," he said.

Peter Tatchell, writing on The Guardian website, said:

"Introducing legislation prohibiting the incitement of homophobic hatred seems a bit amiss when already-existing laws are not being enforced.

"All incitements to hatred should be treated with the same zero tolerance. But not, in my opinion, by means of criminal sanctions."

Baroness Scotland is scheduled to attend an event this evening in support of LGBT History Month.

Gay pop couple allowed to perfrom in Singapore

An American gay pop duo previously barred by Singapore authorities have been given permission to perform at an HIV/AIDS awareness concert.

Jason Warner and deMarco DeCiccio, a couple in real life, were stopped from performing their act Jason and deMarco in 2005 when a similar event was being organised by Safehaven, a ministry of the equal rights for all Free Community Church.

At that time, the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore said: "Based on the duo's performance in the United States and information from the website, the couple have used their musical performances and their own example as a gay couple to promote a gay lifestyle" and as such would be "against the public interest."

Amy Tsang, the MDA's director for arts and licensing said that the 2005 concert had been prohibited because it was "open to general members of the public", according to Fridae.com.

This time round, Safehaven has assured the MDA that the concert, which is for over-18s only, "is targeted at the high risk groups" and that its aim is "AIDS education and HIV prevention."

Commenting on their decision to ask the authorities to allow the duo to perform for a second time, the event's co-organiser Peter Goh said:

"We want to give ourselves as well as the authorities another chance to prove that together we can create more space to move the community towards healthy living."

Mr Warner and Mr DeCiccio, who met in 2001, have released five albums and a single.

Both Christians, the pair has starred in a documentary entitled We're All Angels about the anti-gay Christian fundamentalist abuse that they have received.

Mr Goh told Fridae.com: "Jason and deMarco are openly gay and we hope the HIV message will go so much further coming from people who are gay themselves.

"The fact that they are a gay duo makes them really unique.

"There are many openly gay artistes around, but you don't see many gay duos who partner in life as well as in their music careers."

The concert is being organised to tackle the rise in HIV infection rates amongst gay men in Singapore.

According to Action For Aids, 26 per cent of the 357 new HIV diagnoses reported in 2006 were from gay men.

AFA believes, however, that most cases are unreported and that the true figure is closer to 60 per cent.

Director Paul Toh said: "It is critical that gay men in Singapore realise that safe sex is not an option.

"It is totally non-negotiable if we do not want the HIV epidemic to devastate the community as it did in the US in the late 80s and early 90s.

"If we do not intensify our prevention work today, we certainly will find ourselves in the same situation sooner than we think."

Last month the Singapore parliament legalised oral and anal sex in private between consenting straight adults in the first changes to the penal codes in more than two decades.

But the ban on "gross indecency" will remain in place and male homosexuals still face up to two years in prison for gay sex.

During the summer the authorities banned a gay photo exhibition, a gay poetry reading during Pride celebrations and a picnic and fun run from the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Poland rejects new human rights charter

Gay activists in Poland have spoken of their dismay that the country's newly-elected government are to continue the policy of opposition to the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Before coming to power earlier this month Donald Tusk had signalled he would sign up to the charter, which broadly mirrors the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the Law and Justice party had claimed that Poland was "culturally different" from their EU partners, especially when it came to the rights of LGBT people and the use of the death penalty, and refused to sign up.

In a TV debate during the campaign Mr Tusk pledged to sign Poland up to the EU Charter.

However, in an address to the Polish parliament last week Prime Minister Tusk said he will honour the commitment of the previous government and join the UK as the only nations in the 27-member EU to opt out.

The charter will become legally binding on EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice as part of the new Reform Treaty agreed by the EU heads of government in Lisbon last month.

It will be signed in the city on 13th December.

The treaty needs a two-thirds majority vote in the Polish parliament to become law, which requires the Law and Justice party must to support it. For this reason the government decided to retain the opt-out.

"Poland is not going to protect its citizens on equal level as 25 other EU member states," said Tomasz Szypula, Secretary General of Campaign Against Homophobia.

"In Poland there's no anti-hate speech, anti-hate crime, anti-discriminatory laws which mention sexual orientation and now there won't be the Charter of Fundamental Rights."

Interview: Maria Eagle defends homophobic incitement law

The government's proposal to create a new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation has not been met with approval by some leading gay commentators.

Well-respected opinion-formers such as Times columnist Matthew Parris and Independent journalist Johann Hari have questioned the need for new laws.

Parris said that the gay community does not need protection from ridicule.

Rowan Atkinson, the star of the inexplicably popular Mr Bean films, has publicly fretted about the implications of such a law on the freedom of comedians to mock gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

The minister piloting the relevant amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Maria Eagle.

The 46-year-old MP for Liverpool Garston has held various junior ministerial posts since 1998, and when we met in her spacious Whitehall office last week she was keen to highlight the work done on gay equality in the past ten years.

As the sister of the only out lesbian MP, Maria Eagle has a particular understanding of the experience of the gay community.

The proposed incitement to homophobic hatred law has been discussed for some time. The Liberal Democrats made its introduction a manifesto commitment in the 2005 elections.

The passage of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Act in 2005 and 2006 led gay rights campaigners to increase their campaign to have their community granted an equal level of protection.

I put the three main arguments put forward in opposition to the government's homophobic hatred provisions to the minister.

The first is that as incitement is already an offence, the new law is unnecessary.

"There is existing legislation about violence against individuals, provisions within the current law that will enable the Criminal Justice System to take a dimmer view of those who get engaged in violence against an individual because of their sexuality," she replies.

"If you go and attack someone because they are gay then that is an aggravating feature of the violence offence. That's true.

"But I think that the evidence that Stonewall gave to the public bill committee got to the point on this.

"Because there is no incitement provision at the minute, there is a gap.

"If you go around inciting hatred against a group of people or an undefined group of people on the grounds of their sexuality, that isn't against the law. We think it should be."

Christian activist groups such as the Evangelical Alliance claim the new law will leave them "living in fear of prosecution" for expressing their Bible-inspired beliefs about homosexuality.

Muslim groups have also criticised the law for the same reason. Ms Eagle confirms that groups have made representations to her on the issue.

She insists that the new law will not have any such effect.

"It has not been our intention to outlaw people expressing their views, whether they be Christians or comedians, about the way other people live their lives.

"You can have protection against incitement to hatred and at the same time protect people's right to express their free views. It's a very important factor of our history and heritage, freedom of speech, and I hope we can do it right."

Concerns about freedom of speech led to a rare Commons defeat for the government in January 2006 over the Racial and Religious Hatred legislation.

Lib Dem peer Lord Lester introduced a clause in the House of Lords which had the effect of seriously restricting the way in which the incitement law could be used.

The Blair government lost a vote on that amendment in the Commons.

Provisions referring to "abusive and insulting" language and behaviour were removed from the law, and prosecutors now have to prove intent to stir up religious hatred, rather than just the possibility of doing so.

Ms Eagle says the homophobic incitement proposal differs from both the race protections in the Public Order Act and the recent religious protections.

The homophobic amendments target threatening behaviour or words that are intended to stir up or incite hatred but not those that are judged as "likely to."

"We are aiming at threatening words and behaviour that are intended to incite. It is very clear from that what we do not want.

"We are taking out abusive and insulting, but we are applying the offences to threatening words or behaviour.

"Partly because that way of expressing ourselves in (the Racial and Religious) legislation was never what we wanted as a government. We did not support it. It only ended up in there because we got defeated.

"I think that in respect of sexuality in particular it would be most inappropriate to have a caveat saying you are allowed to go and abuse and insult gay people."

To bring some clarity to all of this, I presented two high-profile examples to the minister.

Stephen Green, the Christian activist, likes to hand out leaflets at Pride events carrying quotations from the Bible stating that homosexuality is wrong. He's been arrested under public order offences before.

The BNP has in the past handed out leaflets in a council estate saying "All gay people are paedophiles." Would both or either of those be covered by the proposed incitement law?

"I think it depends not only on the intention, which is a key part of the offence, and that will be a matter for the judgment of the individual investigating officer," Ms Eagle explains.

"Police officers make those judgments all the time and CPS make those judgments.

"Obviously the context is going to be important. If you are a preacher and on Sunday morning you tell your sermon of your beliefs and the beliefs of your denomination about gay people then that's different to going and standing outside a gay club and using threatening words and behaviour.

"The intent is the key. That is very clearly unacceptable and that's where we are pitching the offence."

The third objection to the law focuses on its practical purpose. When he announced the proposed amendments, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said of the proposed incitement legislation:

"It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are all now appalled by hatred and invective directed against gay people, and it is now time for the law to recognise the feeling of the public. "

In other words, it is symbolic, a sign to the gay community that their concerns are listened to by the government, but just another new offence to add to the thousands already created by this Labour administration.

"The law lays down a line beyond which it's not possible to go without being on the wrong side of the law and you are subject to being prosecuted," the minister asserts.

"The law as a side effect can send signals, yes, and I think that can be important in areas like this about equality.

"But I am trained as a lawyer and I am not myself inclined to see the law as something that is just sending signals.

"It's putting down a line in the sand, on this side of the line what you do is lawful; on the other side it's unlawful. That's what the law does.

"If it sends signals as a result then that's also important. It's not a cosmetic exercise. I don't think it's right to change the law as a cosmetic exercise."

The leading contender for the Lib Dem leadership supports the proposed new law, while the Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert has stressed "the right balance between freedom of speech, ensuring that the offence must be intentional, and covering threatening language only."

The minister says she expects amendments to be brought forward, and concedes that the Lords are unpredictable, but expects "widespread support" from MPs for the incitement law.

There are proposals to include trans people and the disabled in the proposal, but the government requires an evidence base to make the case for their inclusion.

"One of the things you need to do if you are impinging upon free speech is be able to show for human rights reasons that there is a good reason for that to balance against the free speech rights," Ms Eagle explains.

"I've had some representations as you might imagine as a result of this. Anyone who wants to talk to us about this please do. We do, in order to impinge on free speech in this way, need to show that there is a reason."

The new Justice department, of which Ms Eagle is one of six ministers, takes responsibility for the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

She concedes that parts of the system have been slower than others to tackle homophobia and homophobic attacks, but claims that the specific needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual people are being taken seriously.

"Since the 2003 legislation that made an aggravating factor of homophobic motivation in attacks, the criminal justice agencies, be they police, the judges or the CPS have to take that on board.

"It's partly training, partly cultural change in society. I think we have seen a lot of that, but which is the chicken and which is the egg I'm not quite sure.

"One of the reasons why we have seen such cultural change is a general increased level from younger age groups of tolerance, but in order to promote that you have to have a way of tackling intolerance, and this is part of that."

Ms Eagle knows more than most about intolerance. She has been a Labour member since her teenage years, and her sister Angela made the headlines and gained the respect of many by coming out as the only gay woman in Parliament soon after the 1997 election.

The sisters first attended party conference in 1980 – "you never had to queue in the ladies, put it that way, as there weren't very many women there," she recalls with a smile - and they are the only pair of female twins ever to be elected to the Commons.

The minister embraces the change in British attitudes since the days of Old Labour, not least the fact that the Tories are now keen to stress their gay-friendly credentials.

"You wouldn't have thought that ten years ago, or five years ago, and I think that's good. Tolerance, diversity and equality have always been at the heart of the Labour party and its politics.

"Far more gay and lesbian people are happy to come out now, they are able to do it without having to live their lives hiding away, and that's got to be good for the health of individuals and society generally."

Many MPs and others in politics are yet to step out of the closet.

When I mention that her sister is the only lesbian MP the minister corrects me by saying she is the only one "out," indicating there are others who have thus far not been so brave.

Given the attention Angela Eagle's announcement received, it is understandable why other women have not followed.

"It was a tough thing for her to do," recalls Maria.

"I supported her very much. The previous female MP who had done that, or rather had that done to her, was Maureen Colquhoun, who had a terrible time.

"She was deselected by her own party, the national party had to say hang on, you can't do that to her, reinstated her, and she lost.

"So obviously we were worried about it, but to be honest she prepared it so very, very well, she picked the time perfectly and it came off as well as you could have expected.

"That isn't to say that my father wasn't door stepped, that I wasn't door stepped, our neighbours weren't door stepped, our old head teacher from when we were five wasn't door stepped because, they all were.

"I saw it from being a supportive sister with Angela, how much guts and preparation and everything it takes. It's the same for everybody who decides to come out in their lives. Alright it's not always going to be on the front of all the newspapers but for every person who does that it feels like to them.

"There are gay and lesbian people at every level of every organisation, and I think whether or not they are out is a very personal choice.

"Some people do and do so at an early stage, but I have never talked to a gay or lesbian friend who has not found it to be one of the hardest things they have ever done, and I don't think its right to force people to declare themselves. It's the same with disability.

"When I was a minister for disabled people we had all these arguments and discussions. I just don't think that when you have discrimination, which we still do, that it's right to force people to declare a disability, or their sexuality.

"I am the only person who got forced to declare my sexuality that I know of because of course when Angela came out everybody had to report that I was heterosexual.

"It's quite amusing , when you look at a lot of the information sheets you get about MPs, you get a lot of "Maria Eagle, the heterosexual member for Liverpool Garston."

"Why don't you say everyone else is heterosexual as well, but its just one of the consequences of being a twin."

Despite all that information identifying Maria Eagle as the straight one, she reveals that even the Speaker has mixed them up.

"People just think of us as "the Eagles." Sometimes I wish I had a pound for every time I get mixed up with my sister, because I'd be very rich."

Korean activists come together to fight for orientation protection

The South Korean government removal of 'sexual orientation' from its Anti-Discrimination Bill has galvanised activists in the csountry.

The Alliance against Homophobia and Discrimination of Sexual Minorities (AHDSM) was formed earlier this month in response to the changes are outraged by the u-turn.

A coalition of 40 LGBT groups in South Korea, AHDSM claim that an investigation conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea showed that discrimination based on sexual orientation, education background and national origin form the basis of most discrimination in South Korea today.

AHDSM has launched a campaign for legislation of the Anti-Discrimination Bill in its original form.

According to the organisation, the seven categories are no longer protected by the bill which leaves them entirely dependent on the legal interpretations of individual judges.

"We are extremely disappointed with the current Participatory Government, which announced early on that it would protect the people from all forms of discrimination," AHDSM said.

"We therefore cannot but call the current Anti-Discrimination Bill, from which seven categories and relief steps have been deleted groundlessly, a de facto Pro-Discrimination Bill."

The government said that the new bill is based on international human rights conventions and examples of similar legislation abroad.

They admitted to removing the sexual orientation category because of the controversy that surrounded its insertion when the bill was drafted just a month ago.

Six other categories have also been deleted from the bill.

These include educational background, medical history, language, national origin, family type and status, and criminal and detention record.

The government has responded to criticism by stating that these deleted categories are now covered in the 'and other reasons [for discrimination]' clause.

NZ gay man bitten during frenzied fatal attack

A gay man was beaten and bitten to death in a vicious murder in New Zealand.

Andre Gilling and Ashley Arnopp are accused of the attack which included biting off some of their victim Stanley Waipouri's ear and genitalia.

They allegedly attacked 49-year-old Waipouri in his flat in Palmerston North, playing very loud music to cover the sounds of them beating him to death.

"Arnopp said he had a huge amount of adrenalin, these are his words...'and I was just powering for hours'," Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said, according to TV New Zealand.

"Arnopp was found in the flat at the time in clothing and footwear covered in blood, as were his hands and particularly noted by the police were blood deposits, smears around his mouth and his lips."

The Court claims that the two men were high on a mixture of drugs and alcohol when the attack took place.

29 witnessed will be called during their trial, which is expected to take two weeks.

Gay rugby gets bookie's backing

A gay rugby tournament to be held in Ireland next year has received Ђ100,000 (Ј72,000) in sponsorship from the betting group, Paddy Power.

The deal, the biggest ever secured for a gay event in Ireland, will be used to host the 2008 Bingham Cup, an international rugby tournament that has already sold more than 600 tickets to those living abroad.

The sponsorship was proposed by Paddy Power who view the event as highly appropriate for their brand.

Paddy Power's marketing director Ken Robertson said: "We wouldn't be the sort of company that does what you might expect a bookmaker to do.

"This might raise a few eyebrows when it comes to town, but we're not scared of that."

The Bigham Cup's director Richie Whyte was overjoyed with the support, although he is still looking for sponsorship from a drinks company.

"I think it's hard for some sponsors to imagine what an event like this will be like," he said.

Mr Robertson added that it was no longer just men betting on sports events, with the gay and lesbian market representing an important sector of consumer society.

The Bingham Cup will take place at Dublin University next June. 32 amateur rugby teams will compete.

The event has been held three times since its launch in San Francisco in 2002, once in London in 2004 and then in New York in 2006.

Richie Whyte, Tournament Director said: "Paddy Power have an innovative and risk taking approach to the market. We are delighted that they see the Bingham Cup as a good fit for them both in terms of its sporting potential and public profile.

"The Bingham Cup Dublin will be both the largest amateur XVs rugby tournament held in the country in 15 years and the biggest international gay-oriented event ever held in Ireland.

"Having an international brand such as such as Paddy Power throwing their weight behind it represents a huge development for the tournament particularly in terms of developing mainstream interest. We expect our partnership to enhance an already great tournament and help to make it the biggest and best tournament yet."

Lesbian couple admit murder of 16-year-old

A lesbian couple in Australia face 15 years imprisonment for murdering a British teenager because she irritated them, according to The Sun.

Jessica Stasinowsky, 20, and Valerie Parashumti, 19, confessed to beating 16-year-old Stacey Mitchell to death with a concrete block before dumping her body in a wheelie bin.

She was found by police in a shed after her parents had reported her missing in December last year.

Ms Mitchell, whose family had emigrated from West Moors, Dorset, was staying with the couple.

The pair, who admitted that they had thought about hacking Ms Mitchel up with a chainsaw, will appear in court in Perth, Western Australia next month.

Welsh minister to launch Stonewall report

The largest ever survey of Wales' lesbian, bisexual and gay population will be unveiled today at the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly building.

Dr Brian Gibbons, Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, will deliver the keynote speech at the launch of Counted In! which was commissioned by Stonewall Cymru.

The report recommends that the Welsh Assembly provide support and guidance about policies and procedures for organisations looking to embrace equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Counted In! also demonstrates the important contribution lesbian, gay and bisexual people make to the Welsh society, culture and economy but highlights areas where further improvements are needed.

Liz Morgan, director of Stonewall Cymru, said:

"Homophobic hate crime is still under reported. Of those who have experienced hate crime only half have reported it.

"We need to work with the police to ensure gay people feel confident enough to report hate crime.

"It is absolutely crucial that we have this data about Wales' lesbian and gay population, given the paucity of research into LGB issues and the absence of any question on sexual orientation in the National Census.

"We hope this report and its recommendations will be adopted by the Welsh Assembly and will be used to ensure even greater inclusion for lesbian and gay people in Wales."

The report revealed that highly-qualified gay job-seekers are taking their skills to employers who show a commitment to workplace diversity.

Nearly one third of lesbian and gay people said they would be attracted to jobs where there was a good record on equality and diversity and more than 50% stated that having an equal opportunities policy would influence their choice of employer.

Ms Morgan commented:

"In our experience gay and straight people don't want to work for an employer that permits any kind of discrimination and are choosing to take their skills and talents to organisations that promote an inclusive workplace.

"Staff who feel comfortable and supported in work are more likely to be happier and therefore more productive."

Catholic adoption agencies seek ways round gay rules

Claims by the Roman Catholic Church that the government would be offering money to help them avoid new regulations in their adoption agencies have been dismissed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

In a statement issued last week on the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales website, they claim the government will "pay for further work to be done to explore whether within the law there might yet be ways found which will enable the adoption work to carry on and for our agencies to continue."

Earlier this year the Sexual Orientation Regulations came into force, making it illegal to discriminate against gay, lesbian and bisexual people when providing goods and services, including adoption agencies.

The Roman Catholic Church tried to get an opt-out from the regulations for their adoption agencies, but after a Cabinet row they were unsuccessful.

The Church was given 18 months to adjust its practices so that it can allow gay couples to adopt from its agencies or close them down.

A spokesperson from the DCSF told PinkNews.co.uk: "We don't provide money to get around government regulations.

"The funding is being made available for grants to all voluntary adoption agencies in England and Wales.

"It is being made available for a specific purpose: to enable voluntary adoption agencies to access the legal, financial and/or human resource advice they need to maintain and/or develop their family-finding services for `difficult to place' children, including as a result of changes to the legislative context within which they work."

Reverand Martin Reynolds, from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and himself an adoptive parent, thinks that the agencies should be honest and acknowlede that they have been "allowing gay couples to adopt for years but with only one of the partners registering as the parent.

"The great work that they do should be preserved," he added.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall said: "We are delighted that the adoption agencies are required to comply with the law.

"We trust that agencies, that are already in financial difficulty, will not use the cloak of compliance with the law as an excuse for closure."

MP Chris Bryant, a former Anglican priest, said that he thought the "dogmatic position of the Catholic Church is unnecessary.

"Some very difficult children have found loving homes in gay couples," he added.

Man sues police over hammer attack

A Brighton man is suing Sussex Police after he claims they did not protect him from the violence of his former partner.

Stephen Smith, 38, was attacked with a hammer by a man he had met on the internet after he made it clear he did not want a committed relationship.

Gareth Jeffrey had bombarded him with text messages threatening to kill him, which Mr Smith said he reported to officers before the attack took place in March 2003.

Among the texts Jeffrey sent was one saying he had lain in wait for Mr Smith in a pub while carrying a carving knife.

The attack, which took place outside of Smith's home when he was on his way to work, left him with three depressed fractures of the skull.

Jeffrey is now serving a ten year sentence after pleading guilty at Lewes Crown Court for causing GBH with intent and threats to kill.

Heather Williams, Mr Smith's lawyer, told Brighton paper The Argus that the Sussex force had failed to adhere to its policy on domestic violence and had breached its duty under the Human Rights Act.

Edward Faulks, the chief constable of Sussex Police, said the introduction of the Human Rights Act had not altered the law on the "duty of care."

Mr Smith's lawyers said he would receive "substantial" damages should he win the case.

Fallout from failed HIV vaccine trial continues

Just a few short months ago, a spirit of cautious optimism surrounded the prospects for a viable HIV vaccine.

As pharmaceutical company Merck began testing its highly anticipated V520 vaccine, which it had reportedly been developing over a ten year period, there was an undercurrent of excitement among researchers in the HIV community about the radical new approach, which was expected to attack, seek out, and destroy infected cells.

There was a sense of promise: For the first time in years, the study might yield a significant breakthrough in the ongoing fight to contain the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Two months into the study, those hopes were dashed and the HIV community sent reeling as the international Merck trials were shut down after preliminary results demonstrated that the vaccine appeared to be doing more damage than good.

With researchers collectively scratching their heads in confusion, the Merck failure has created some serious impediments for future HIV vaccine trials, forcing the HIV research community to rethink its science, priorities and goals.

The Merck HIV vaccine trials included 3,000 participants, mostly male, in North and South America, the Caribbean and Australia, all of whom were considered to be at high risk of exposure to the virus because of their sexual activity or drug use.

Unlike previous experimental HIV vaccines that attempted to stimulate the body to produce antibodies that would ward off infection, Merck's V520 focused on T-cells that attack and kill cells that HIV had already infected.

But rather than stimulate an immune response to ward off HIV invasion, the vaccine, which employs a few synthetic fragments of HIV loaded onto a genetically modified cold virus (called an adenovirus) may well have altered the immune system to facilitate infection of study participants.

Moreover, the vaccine did not reduce viral loads in volunteers who became infected with HIV during the trial.

Despite this disappointing initial data, there are those in the HIV research community who insist that all hope is not lost.

The first piece of good news. Though the V520 vaccine may have increased the chance of infection, Merck along with the majority of HIV experts agree that the vaccine itself did not and cannot cause HIV infection.

The other piece of good news to come out of the Merck HIV vaccine trials is that there are valuable lessons to be learned from its failure.

According to Dr. Stephen J. Brown, Medical Director for AIDS Research Alliance, which was the only Los Angeles site conducting clinical trials for the Merck vaccine, "The closing of the Merck vaccine study may have an important impact as to the future of most HIV vaccines candidates currently in clinical trials because, like the Merck vaccine, many are designed to similarly stimulate strong cell-mediated immune responses."

Further, in a published statement, AIDS Research Alliance was quick to not discount the outcome of the Merck experiment.

"The results of this study may also provide valuable information as to the future direction of HIV vaccine research.

"Since all vaccine candidates in the pipeline are designed to stimulate only one arm of the immune system, maybe an efficient vaccine against HIV will need to stimulate both arms (including neutralising antibodies, or other cells such as natural killer cells) of the immune system in humans," the statement said.

Despite these arguably positive, if unanticipated, results, there remains substantial concern about the long-term perception that the high profile failure of the Merck trial might have on future studies.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Hildegund C.J. Ertl, an immunologist at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, who is preparing to test another HIV vaccine based on a chimpanzee cold virus next year, has said that the Merck effort will likely alter her study.

Gary J. Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Centre of the National Institutes of Health, has postponed until at least mid-2008 his group’s PAVE 100 HIV-vaccine trial.

That trial uses three shots of DNA followed by a cold-virus booster, albeit one with different components from the Merck product.

Meanwhile, according to various news reports, The National Institutes of Health, which helped sponsor Merck's aborted clinical trial, recently halted recruitment for vaccine trials involving several diseases, including Ebola, because those vaccines, like the failed Merck one, are made with an adenovirus.

Perhaps the greatest problem that lies ahead for future HIV vaccine studies may not be the science or the trials themselves but the recruitment of now skittish volunteers to take part in them.

"I can tell you that as a volunteer in the study, and as someone who worked on the last phase III clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine, I'm less disappointed than I am scared by the early results of this trial," says Jim Key, Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Centre.

"What scares me, of course, is the indication that study volunteers who received the product, and not the placebo, may be at greater risk of HIV-infection than those who didn’t receive it.

"This is a scary concern not just for volunteers in the study, but for the success of future studies. It's already difficult to recruit volunteers for vaccine studies.

"The results of this trial are likely to make recruitment for future studies considerably more difficult.

"I don't believe hopes were high for the Merck vaccine, so I'm not overly surprised it didn’t prove efficacious," Key added.

"What's important to remember, however, is that every clinical trial of a vaccine helps advance the science and if we don't continue to develop and test promising vaccines we'll never stop AIDS."

Still others like Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, seem to believe that the implosion of the Merck trial is only more indicative of the need to balance the quest for a vaccine with developing long-term treatment options and the availability thereof.

"Development of a safe and effective AIDS vaccine is clearly a noble and worthy goal; however, the sad truth remains that more than 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS today, yet barely two million of them have access to lifesaving antiretroviral AIDS treatments," Weinstein said in a statement.

"Treatments that actually do work and help keep those fortunate enough to have access to them alive and well, and which also have also been around, and continually improved, for over a decade.

"These recent failures in vaccine development underscore just how tenuous the quest for an AIDS vaccine remains, and reminds us of what effective, but underused tools, including antiretroviral treatment, we already have available to us today.

"While we long for the day when there is an effective preventive AIDS vaccine, we also call for a re-evaluation of the distribution of limited government resources in the battle against AIDS, and renew our call for a greatly stepped-up commitment to bringing antiretroviral treatment to many, many more of those people still in need worldwide."

The final effects of the collapse of the Merck HIV vaccine trials may not be seen for quite some time to come.

Whether the results of the study will ultimately help or hinder HIV research is debatable, but one thing is for certain.

Though hope for a vaccine may spring eternal, its prospects have, for the moment, most certainly been dealt a short-term setback at minimum.

Howard loses his seat as Australia votes for change

John Howard has admitted that he's lost the Australian general election to the the Labour leader Kevin Rudd. Mr Howard became only the second Prime Minister in Australian history to lose his own Parliamentary seat.

He said he had telephoned Mr Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".

Mr Rudd said the country had "looked to the future" he said he will be a Prime Minister "for all Australians."

"I want to put aside the old battles of the past, the old battles between business and unions, the old battles between growth and the environment...," he said. "It's time for a new chapter in our nation's history to begin."

Liberal Party Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull successfully defended the Sydney seat of Wentworth, which after boundary changes now includes gay districts such as Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Gay rights have been a theme in this race.

The announcement of a general election prompted evangelical groups in the country to begin campaigning against gay equality.

The Labour party took the line that marriage is for heterosexuals only, and would grant legal concessions to homosexuals, but not the legal status of marriage.

"On the institution of marriage itself, our view is between a man and woman and it's just been our traditional, continuing view," Mr Rudd said in October.

When asked if in the future this position would look as closed-minded as racist beliefs of the past, Mr Rudd said it was what he believed in.

However, Labour will support changes to the law to remove inequities in the tax and benefits system that discriminate against same-sex couples.

A report in June by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) recommended that 58 laws need to be changed to grant gay, bisexual and lesbian Australians equal rights.

"Gay for pay" woman convicted

A woman was convicted of benefits fraud against the Department for Work and Pensions and Swansea Council after she claimed she was a lesbian and had split from her husband.

Yvonne Lesley Butler from Swansea claimed almost Ј20,000 in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefits between 2003 and 2006. She said that her husband Islwyn Butler had left her after she came out.

In reality, the pair were still living together, although he had briefly moved out of the marital home. She told the authorities that she was a lesbian.

The 53-year-old grandmother admitted two offences of not notifying authorities of changes that would have affected her entitlement to benefits under the Social Security Administration Act.

Her nine-month jail term was suspended for 18 months on the basis that Bulter is the sole carer of her grandson.