Times: AD on its way to winning MEP seat - Cassola

http://www.timesofmalta.com/mepelections/view/20090517/news/ad-on-its-way-to-winning-mep-seat-cassola

17.5.9

AD was on its way to winning a seat in the European Parliament, chairman and MEP candidate Arnold Cassola said.

Addressing an EP elections campaign activity he said that AD had a very good fighting chance, even more so now that Malta would probably get six seats in the European Parliament.

He said that surveys quoted by The Sunday Times today gave 56 to 57 percent to the PL and 40 percent to the PN.

“This anonymous survey is very difficult to believe. So according to The Sunday Times, all other parties will get just over 3.5 percent,” he asked.

Prof. Cassola said that The Sunday Times failed to report that AD’s share of the vote in scientific polls was increasing.

“The reality is that scientific polls show that AD is on its way to win a seat in the European Parliament. We can do it. Yes we can. Malta needs a third voice in the European Parliament. Pluralism will show that Malta is a serious and modern country.”

Prof. Cassola also referred to statistics about the state of the family that one out of four children were born out of wedlock.

AD wanted to strengthen the family by investing in counselling services, but social reality had to be faced.

“AD will push for a resolution in the EP for divorce to be recognised in Malta so that those who choose can build a new family should they wish to. We will also work for the recognition on pension and inheritance rights for various forms of cohabiting couples.”

MEP candidate Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros spoke of the need of childcare facilities.

She said that schools were closed after 2.30 p.m. With some investment these could be used to provide childcare facilities.

“We must make an effort to reach the Lisbon criteria”, she said.

[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]

YouTube: Domestic Partnerships

YouTube: LGBT AD - Domestic Partnership 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZdZTlEfBAk


Hospital Visitation Rights. Fair Equal.

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YouTube: LGBT AD - Domestic Partnership 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JffnZyefiL8

CNN: Argentina grants gay couples partner pensions

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/08/19/argentina.gay/

19.8.8

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In a nationwide measure, Argentina has granted gay couples the right to collect the pensions of their dead partners.

The Axel Hotels, aimed at the gay community, is shown in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The National Social Security Administration's director is to sign the resolution on Tuesday, and it will become law upon publication the following Wednesday. It requires that same-sex couples show they have lived together for at least five years.

Maria Rachid, president of the Buenos Aires-based Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans, said she has been fighting for this change for a decade. She credited the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for creating the environment in which such a change could take place.

"Now we have a government that's more open, that's disposed to listening to our demands, and that's beginning to generate some changes," she said in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires.

But Hector Timerman, Argentina's ambassador to the United States, told CNN in Atlanta that it was not so much the influence of the current president as it is the changes that have occurred since Argentina emerged from the dictatorship years of 1976-1983.

"For a Latin American country, it's an amazing story," he said, noting that things have become much more open in the past quarter century.

Argentina has been reaping benefits from its stance, including serving as a popular destination for international gay and lesbian visitors, he said. "Nobody bothers them," he said. "Not even the church."

Still, the Catholic Church has long been the main opponent of granting partner rights to gays and lesbians.

But church officials had muted their opposition to divorce after the former president, Raul Alfonsin, suggested holding a plebiscite on the matter in the 1980s, and realized they had little chance of winning this battle either, Timerman said.

Rachid agreed. "We pay little attention to the Catholic Church," she said, citing a poll that found most residents of the capital city of Buenos Aires favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry, despite the church's opposition.

But plenty of work remains, Rachid said, citing her desire for gays and lesbians to be allowed to marry and the fact that civil unions for gays and lesbians are allowed in only a few cities in the country.

Andres Duque, director of New York-based Mano a Mano and a blogger on Latino gay issues, credited Argentina with being "the first one to jump to the gate in Latin America in terms of providing rights to same-sex couples." He cited the civil unions bill of 2002 in Buenos Aires -- the first Latin American city to pass one. But he criticized the effort as incomplete, citing the fact that the law does not allow for gays to adopt.

As a number of Latin American countries have elected socialist leaders, the political landscape has become more favorable on a continent often associated with machismo and Catholicism, Duque said.

For example, Ecuador is considering a change in its constitution that would grant rights to same-sex couples, including pension rights, health benefits and social security, he said. And leftist President Evo Morales is pushing for a prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In some districts of Mexico, including the capital, civil unions are allowed.

"The nascent movement of LGBT rights in Latin America is just flowering right now," he said.

Even Colombia, still among the most conservative countries in Latin America, is considering a same-sex civil-unions bill, he said.

Telegraph: Gay-only retirement village to be built for £12.7 million in Australia

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2438354/Gay-only-retirement-village-to-be-built-for-and16312.7-million-in-Australia.html
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney; 21/07/2008

Australia is to get its first gay-only retirement village.

Linton Estate in Ballan, an hour's drive from Melbourne, is billed as a haven for ageing homosexual men, lesbians and the transgendered.

Moorabool Shire council approved plans for the project last week, despite four objections from local residents.

Construction of the The estate will feature 120 two and three-bedroom apartments, a tennis court, bowling green, open-air theatre and a multi-million dollar leisure centre with a pool, spa, gymnasium, cafe, restaurant, piano room and business centre.

Managing director and major shareholder Peter Dickson said the village filled a gap in the market.

"Whether we're in a relationship or whether we're single, we want to be surrounded by friends," he said.

"I wanted Linton Estate to be different to other retirement facilities and this has now come about.

"It's a wonderful achievement for all."

Dianne McAuliffe, mayor of Moorabool Shire, said the council's decision was based on the merits of the development, not the sexual orientation of its occupants.

"We don't go into the nuts and bolts of who's going to be living (there) with any of the applications we look at," she said.

The estate is located near Daylesford, which has one of the largest homosexual populations in rural Australia.

£12.7 (AU$26 million), development will begin early next year.

Independent: European Court of Justice ruling welcomed by Maltese gay community

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=67474

by FRANCESCA VELLA, 9th April 2008

The Maltese gay community welcomed a ruling handed down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last week, which, in the words of lawyer Helmut Graupner, “would indirectly help gay couples in countries where there is no equivalent to marriage”.

Reacting to the judgement, which is essentially about pension rights for same-sex registered couples, the Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) said it welcomed the ruling and its strong wording.

Details about this landmark case were first carried in last Friday’s edition of The Malta Independent. The case was triggered by German national Tadao Maruko in 2005, after his partner died and he was refused a widower’s pension.

The German pension fund refused to grant Mr Maruko a widower’s pension, claiming that only people who have been married are entitled to such a pension.

However, the ECJ ruled that this was a violation of EU law, and it established a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

MGRM said the ruling unequivocally states: “...the refusal to grant the survivor’s pension to life partners constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation...” and therefore cannot be justified in any circumstance.

This is a significant achievement that will be applicable in EU countries that provide formal registration of same-sex unions and require mutual maintenance, said MGRM, adding, this decision does not have, however, immediate legal consequences for same-sex partners in Malta, which does not yet recognise same-sex unions.

As stated by the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe), “This creates a discriminatory two-tier level of protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) EU nationals, who are divided into two categories as their access to survivor pension rights depends on their country of residence”.

MGRM said it looks forward to seeing how the EU is going to eliminate this discriminatory divide based on nationality and/or place of residence of LGBT people.

Patrick Attard, who contested the general elections on the AD ticket, told The Malta Independent that the ECJ ruling is a step in the right direction.

“Since the death of one of the partners is just the starting point, it is important not to forget the importance of the survivor’s bereavement leave.

“Whenever bereavement leave is granted, the surviving partner is more likely to recover quicker and be productive again.”

BBC News: EU backs gay man's pension rights

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7324824.stm
1 April 2008

The ruling will apply to countries which recognise same-sex marriage

A gay man in Germany may be entitled to his dead partner's pension following a ruling by the highest court in the EU.
Tadao Maruko's partner died in 2005 but the pension fund refused him a widower's pension and the case was sent to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The court ruled that refusing a pension was direct discrimination if the partnership was comparable to marriage.
Mr Maruko's lawyers predict the case will have repercussions in EU countries where same-sex partnerships are legal.
"I'm happy. It's a very important step," lawyer Helmut Graupner told the BBC News website.
"This will help all those countries which have registered partnerships. It's the first time the ECJ has ruled in favour of same-sex couples."

GAY MARRIAGES IN THE EU Full marriage recognised: Spain, Netherlands, Belgium Legal partnerships similar to marriage: Germany, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary Civil contracts: France, Luxembourg No provision: Baltic states, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Ireland

The court based its ruling on an EU directive which states that there should be no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Although German law considers only heterosexual unions as marriage, the ruling makes it clear that any country in the EU that gives same-sex couples rights equivalent to marriage should treat the two as comparable.
The European Commission welcomed the decision, but emphasised that national governments rather than the EU were in charge of legislation on family law.
"It all depends on the law of the country. The right to a survivor's pension exists if the two regimes [marriage and gay partnership] are analogous," said commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger.
European repercussions
Mr Graupner said the ruling would have significant repercussions for the UK and Scandinavia where same-sex partners had "mirror institutions" to marriage, rather than French-style civil contracts.
But he also suggested that indirectly it would help gay couples in countries where there was no equivalent to marriage.
"The next case may be one of indirect discrimination, from a country that excludes same-sex partners from the rights and obligations of marriage.
"The way out for such a country would mean they would have to provide the same benefits as other countries," he said.

See also:
http://euobserver.com/9/25902/?rk=1

http://www.maltastar.com/pages/msrv/msfullart.asp?an=20004