In Taiwan, the first East Asian country to consider a Bill allowing
gay marriage, a large march in favour of gay marriage in October was answered
by an even larger march opposing the Bill in November. Opponents of gay
marriage want a referendum to be held on the topic; the Bill’s supporters
oppose a referendum, on the grounds that prohibiting gay marriage involves
“restriction and denial of basic human rights for minorities.”
A Catholic school in Philadelphia has fired a teacher because
he plans to enter a gay marriage. The headmaster said that teachers’ contracts
require them to follow the teachings of the Catholic church as a condition of
employment; the teacher in question acknowledged that he understood the
contractual condition but refused to withdraw his application for a marriage
license in his home state of New Jersey. The teacher commented that the school
was well aware of his 12-year relationship with his gay partner.
The idea of providing a food bank for poor people has been
taken one step further in a village near Barnsley where a “social supermarket”
has opened. The shop, which is open only to people on benefits who live in the
area, sells food rejected by other supermarkets (for reasons such as incorrect
labelling) at discounts of up to 70% on prices elsewhere. A spokesperson said, “Manufacturers
don’t want to throw this food away, but until now they’ve had no way of shifting
really large quantities of rejected food.”
The case of the Italian woman who was given a forcible Caesarean
section while sectioned continues to produce new information. The three most
pertinent details are that the woman was sectioned because she neglected to
take her medication for her bipolar condition, and yet the courts denied her her
baby once she was back on the medication; that contrary to the implication of
Essex social services’ statement, a relative of the woman was found who was
willing and capable to care for the baby, but this was rejected because she was
a step-aunt rather than a blood relative; and perhaps most shockingly, none of
this would ever have become public knowledge if a newspaper reporter had not defied
the law about secrecy in family courts in order to report it. It has also
emerged that she was sectioned while visiting Essex from Italy for a two-week
Ryanair training course.
In sport, six footballers have been arrested as part of the
investigation into allegations of match-fixing (or ‘spot-fixing’ i.e. rigging a
particular event in the match rather
than the result of the match). One of the players is a former Premier League
player, Blackburn striker DJ Campbell; one of his games being investigated
occurred only last Tuesday, where he fouled an opponent and got a yellow card
very early in the game.
And finally, a legal issue of church-state separation in
Oklahoma regarding a religious monument has taken an unexpected twist –
Satanists have applied to place a Satanist monument next to it. The
tombstone-like Ten Commandments memorial was privately funded and donated to
the State, whereupon Republican lawmakers agreed to set it up on State land
outside the Capitol building. The Satanic Temple of New York now wants to
donate their own monument and to see it similarly displayed. “It will be a
homage to the historical/literary Satan and will be in good taste and
consistent with community standards,” said a spokesman.
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