A Catholic school in the US state of Georgia is facing a discrimination lawsuit for sacking a teacher who entered into a same-sex marriage. Despite working to protect its Catholic ethos, Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, has been served with legal papers arising from the 2014 dismissal of music teacher Flint Dollar, after he...
A senior EU official has called for same-sex marriage to be legalised across Europe under EU freedom of movement rules, the Irish Independent reports. Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s vice president, gave his backing to campaigners who argue that the marriage of a same-sex couple in one EU state should be recognised in all of...
One of Northern Ireland’s leading pro-life campaigners has had a harassment conviction against her struck out on appeal. Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life had been convicted in November 2014 for allegedly pursuing a campaign of harassment against Dawn Purvis, then director of the Marie Stopes abortion clinic, on dates in January and February of that...
The Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia, has written to a number of prominent businesses to express concern at their public support for a same-sex marriage campaign in the country. Following the sponsoring of a full-page advertisement in The Weekend Australian by the corporations, which called on the government to amend the Australian Marriage Act of 1961,...
A Christian couple in the US state of Iowa have been driven out of business following their refusal to host a same-sex marriage ceremony at their wedding chapel. Richard and Betty Odgaard both devout Mennonites, are the owners of Gortz Haus Gallery, a combined chapel, bistro, art gallery and flower shop in the town of Grimes. They...
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the nation’s Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage in all states. In a 5-4 decision, the court’s panel acknowledged that “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two...
One of the front-runners for the leadership of the Labour Party in Britain has insisted that teaching that same-sex relationships are on a footing of “absolute equality” with heterosexual ones must be “absolutely compulsory” in all schools, including faith-based. As he continues his campaign to gain the party’s top job, Andy Burnham, the current Shadow...
Austria’s parliamentarians have rejected moves to legislate for same-sex marriage by a massive margin. In a vote held in the National Assembly, a motion to introduce gay marriage was roundly defeated by 110 votes to 26. Only members of the the nation’s Green Party, which had tabled the motion, fully supported the move. The vote...
Over 30 pro-life organisations have urged the United Nations not to declare abortion a human right. As the UN prepares to vote – this September – on Sustainable Development Goals which are set to include universal access to “sexual and reproductive health-care services” by 2030, pro-life groups, interpreting such language as including abortion, responded to a submissions...
The government of Paraguay has rejected international pressure to proceed with an abortion on a young girl pregnant by rape. In the face of calls, from the UN and from Amnesty International, for an immediate termination on the 24-week foetus carried by the 10-year-old, who is identified only as ‘Mainumby’, the Paraguayan ministry of health...
