UK Marriage Equality Legislation Threatened in Parliament

David Cameron's marriage equality legislation faces a challenging series of votes in parliament today, the Guardian reports, the primary one coming from an amendment by Tory opponents to grant civil partnerships to heterosexual couples:

Maria Miller, the equalities minister, has warned that the entire gay marriage bill will be at risk of collapse if Tory opponents join forces with Labour MPs to vote in favour of granting civil partnerships to heterosexual couples.

In the strongest indication yet that Downing Street will shelve the bill if "fundamental" changes are made, Miller warned that opponents were in danger of giving the government a "headache".

The Guardian adds:

The government warned of three dangers to the bill if an amendment to grant civil partnerships to heterosexual couples is passed. It is being tabled by the former children's minister Tim Loughton who opposes gay marriage. A government source said the Loughton amendment would:

• Come with a price tag of £4bn. Steve Webb, the pensions minister, told parliament's joint committee on human rights last week that the state would be liable for new "survivors'" pension rights.

• Delay the introduction of the entire bill by 18 to 24 months because the government would need to work on the joint implementation of new rights for gay married couples and heterosexual couples in new civil partnerships.

• Complicate the government's argument that the changes are about strengthening the institution of marriage by opening it to all couples. "If you open up civil partnerships to opposite sex couples then the institution of marriage will be weakened," one

Pink News adds:

A Downing Street source told PinkNews.co.uk that, if an amendment put forward by Tim Loughton, which would extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, were to pass, the Government may pull its support for the Marriage (Same Sex couples) Bill.

The source said no option could be ruled out over the bill, until after the vote on the amendment.

News: Jake Gyllenhaal, Stonewall, Minnesota, Tumblr, Russia

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 Jake Gyllenhaal strolls around SoHo in disguise.

 A comic book about Stonewall will hits stands on the 44th anniversary of the riots. Watch a trailer here.

 Singer and Daft Punk collaborator Romanthony dead at 46.

 Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson might be done.

 Neighbourhood Watch survey inquires whether responder is gay, bisexual or straight: "The questionnaire by West Midlands Police asked residents in Birmingham questions about their sexual orientation so they could help officers 'detect crime and anti-social behaviour.'"

 80,000 expected to attend today's Long Beach Pride parade.

Pride communion celebrates marriage equality in Minnesota: "Revolution Church in Minneapolis served congregants rainbow-colored communion bread during its inaugural service last Sunday."

 European Union asks Russia to not move forward with "gay propaganda" bill: "'The EU called on Russia to refrain from adopting federal legislation on ‘homosexual propaganda,’ which it believed could increase discrimination and violence against LGBTI individuals,' the EU said in a statement on its website. The statement referred to the results of a meeting on May 17 in Brussels between Russian and EU diplomats on human rights issues."

 Yahoo will fork over $1.1 billion dollars for Tumblr.

 Star Trek: Into Darkness has raked in over $84 million at the box office since it opened Wednesday.

French President Signs Marriage Equality Bill Into Law

As expected, French President Francois Hollande signed a bill into law today making France the 14th country with marriage equality.

It was only yesterday that France's Constitutional Council approved the bill.

The very first same-sex marriages in that country could come as soon as the last week of May.

Just before he signed the bill, Hollande expressed his support for marriage equality in France saying: “I will ensure that the law applies across the whole territory, in full, and I will not accept any disruption of these marriages.”

According to the BBC, the country's right wing opposition party said they "would come up with alternative proposals in 2017 that were 'more respectful of the rights of children.'"

Also yesterday, anti-marriage equality demonstrators took to the streets in protest and demanded Hollande step down from his post. According to AFP:

Late on Friday, between 200 and 300 protesters gathered in central Paris to denounce the ruling backing the bill and calling on Hollande to resign. One police officer was injured after a flammable liquid was thrown in his face.

Earlier, a group of bare-chested men wearing white masks staged their own protest against gay marriage on one of the bridges over the Seine. They call themselves the "Hommen" -- a riposte to the bare-breasted feminist protesters known as the "Femmen".

Check out the new and improved look of the latest marriage equality world map, AFTER THE JUMP.

France's Gay Marriage Bill Gets Final Approval from High Court

France's Constitutional Council has approved the marriage equality bill, denying a challenge from opposition groups, and the measure is now set to become law, The Local reports:

France made history on April 23 when it became the 14th country to vote gay marriage into law but opposition UMP deputies referred the bill to the Council, which has the right to throw it out if it is against the country's constitution.

However "les sages" as the council members are known has suggested they would not intervene with the wishes of parliament and on Friday they stuck to their word.

A statement by the council, however, said that gay adoption did not automatically mean the "right to a child" and that the "interest of the child" would be the overriding factor in such cases.

All that remains now is for Francois Hollande (pictured) to sign the bill into law, which he is expected this week. The first gay weddings could take place as early as June, although some mayors across the country have refused to administer the ceremonies.

Washington Florist Barronelle Stutzman Countersues State for Discriminating Against Her Religious Discrimination

Another lawsuit has been flung in the case of Barronelle Stutzman, the Richland, Washington florist who refused to provide flowers for a longtime gay customer's wedding because of her "relationship with Jesus Christ."

The couple who were discriminated against and the ACLU, as well as the state attorney general are suing Stutzman in two separate lawsuits, and now she's countersuing the state, KING5 reports:

The Alliance Defending Freedom issued a statement Thursday, saying it is representing Stutzman in the countersuit. It says Stutzman has employed people who identify as homosexual. Despite this, she feels she’s being discriminated.

“In America, the government is supposed to protect freedom, not use its intolerance for certain viewpoints to intimidate citizens into acting contrary to their faith convictions,” said Alliance Senior Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt. “Family business owners are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs. It is this very freedom that gives America its cherished diversity and protects citizens from state-mandated conformity.”

The countersuit argues that the state Constitution protects Stutzman.

GALLUP: New Polls Show Most Americans Support Marriage Equality and Believe People are Born Gay

Gallup has revealed the results of a recent poll showing support for marriage equality at 53 percent, the third consecutive reading of 50 percent or higher in the past year.

Gallup's May 2-7 poll suggests Americans' support for gay marriage is solidifying above the majority level. Recently, Rhode Island and Delaware legalized same-sex marriage, and Minnesota is likely to follow suit. That would bring the total number of states legally recognizing same-sex marriage to 12.

Just three years ago, support for gay marriage was 44%. The current 53% level of support is essentially double the 27% in Gallup's initial measurement on gay marriage, in 1996.

Nearly all U.S. subgroups are more likely to favor gay marriage now than in the past. Politically, Democrats, independents, and liberals all show increasing support for gay marriage over time, with each well above the majority level now. Republicans, conservatives, and moderates are more likely to favor gay marriage now than in 1996, but the increase in support among these groups may have stalled. Thus, most of the increase in the percentage favoring legal gay marriage in the last three years has come among left-leaning groups politically.

Much deeper data diving at the source.

Another poll shows the largest-gap ever measured between those who favor 'nature' over 'nurture' when it comes to sexuality.

Writes Gallup:

Currently, 47% of Americans view being gay or lesbian as a sexual orientation individuals are born with, while 33% instead believe it is due to external factors such as upbringing or environment. That 14-percentage-point gap in favor of "nature" over "nurture" is the largest Gallup has measured to date. As recently as two years ago, the public was evenly divided.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 2-7. When Gallup first asked about the origins of same-sex orientation in 1977, Americans were much more likely to attribute it to upbringing or environment. Although the gap in favor of external factors shrank somewhat over the next two-plus decades, it remained the more common belief.

Throughout most of the last decade, Americans were generally divided in their views, though there were times when they tilted slightly more in the direction of environmental factors (2003-2005) or toward a birth factor (2006-2008).

The 2012 Values and Beliefs poll marked the start of a trend toward an increasing belief that people are born with a same-sex orientation.