Legal challenge to begin as final couple are refused civil partnership

Gay rights campaigners are preparing to launch legal action after the last of eight couples to challenge the UK’s marriage laws were turned away from a registry office today.

The Equal Love campaign aims to overturn the bans on gay marriage and straight civil partnerships.

Lucy Hilken and Tim Garrett applied for a civil partnership in Aldershot but clerks rejected them, citing UK law.

In the last two months, four gay couples and four straight couples have applied for – and been denied – ceremonies they are not entitled to.

They now plan to challenge the law in court.

Mr Garrett, 31, said: “We hope Britain will soon join other civilised, liberal democracies such as South Africa and the Netherlands, by casting off this unpleasant and offensive form of segregation. Allowing civil partnerships only to gay people and civil marriages only to straight people is unjust discrimination.”

Ms Hilken added: “We have been refused a civil partnership on unfair and discriminatory grounds. We are now are going to pursue this matter in the courts.”

Campaign organiser Peter Tatchell said a press conference would be held next Tuesday and that further details about the next steps would be released later this week.

The couples are being advised by Robert Wintemute, professor of human rights law at Kings College London.

Prof Wintemute says that the twin bans violate Article 14 (protection against discrimination), Article 12 (the right to marry) and Article 8 (the right to respect for family life) of the Human Rights Act.

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Gay Youth Parliament member suspended over porn pictures

A gay member of the UK Youth Parliament website has been suspended after allegedly posting explicit pictures of himself on the internet.

Reace Mcdonnell, 19, put the images on a “porn networking site”, the Plymouth Herald reports.

He was suspended after a mother found them and complained.

The woman, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper: “I am concerned as a mother for my child. He has recently ‘come out’ as gay and has been following the out youth in Plymouth.

“Reace Mcdonnell, who leads this group and is an apparent role model for young teens in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, is on the internet.

“My son has spoken to me about this internet site and thinks that this is ‘cool’.”

Andy Hamflett, chief executive of the UK Youth Parliament, said: “Our primary concern is for the safety of all the young people we work with and we are taking these allegations very seriously.

“The young person in question has been suspended whilst the matter is investigated.”

Mr Mcdonnell has not commented but posted on his Facebook profile yesterday: “I would like to remind people NOT to believe everything you read in the papers.

“I think its really quite pathetic that you should intringe on my life like this, not only at this pivotal stage, but atall, considering im an adult.

“My statment is that the allegation is not based on fact and should be discredited and ignored by all who read it [sic].”

He joined the Youth Parliament in 2007 and said he would campaign for LGBT rights and better sex education.

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Top Marine general says lifting gay ban could result in deaths

The US Marines’ top general has said that lifting the ban on out gay soldiers could cost lives.

General James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, says a Pentagon study on lifting the ban showed that front-line troops were most concerned about serving alongside out gay colleagues.

He said that gay servicemembers might cause a “distraction” that could result in increased injuries and deaths.

Gen Amos told reporters at the Pentagon: “When your life hangs on a line, on the intuitive behavior of the young man … who sits to your right and your left, you don’t want anything distracting you.

“I don’t want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda [hospital] with no legs,” he said.

“When your life hangs on the line,” he said, “you don’t want anything distracting. . . . Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines’ lives. That’s the currency of this fight.”

He has opposed lifting the ban before but according to the Washington Post, this is the first time a senior officer has suggested that troops could be seriously injured or killed if gay soldiers can serve openly.

The pro-repeal Servicemembers Legal Defense Network accused him of “fear tactics” and said he should resign.

Army veteran and executive director Aubrey Sarvis said: “General Amos needs to fall in line and salute or resign now. He implied that repeal will lead to Marines losing their legs in combat.

“Those fear tactics are not in the interest of any service member. The General’s goal is to kill repeal no matter the consequences, perhaps at the dereliction of his other duties.

“He had his say before the Senate and House. General Amos needs to stop lobbying against his Commander-in-Chief, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. If he cannot do that, the President should ask for his resignation.”

The Pentagon survey found that most troops were relaxed about lifting the ban.

However, nearly 60 per cent of troops in the most dangerous roles – in the Marines and combat units – said repeal would be damaging.

In October, the the retiring commandant of the Marine Corps said that almost all Marines would be unhappy about serving with out gay colleagues.

Gen James Conway said that “90 to 95 per cent of the Marines” he had informally surveyed said they had concerns about the consequences of allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly.

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Gay ban hotel couple ‘may have to close business’

The Christian couple at the centre of a court case around gay rights and religious freedom say they may have to close their hotel if barred from discriminating against gay couples.

Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who own the Chymorvah Private Hotel in Cornwall, are being sued for discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

In 2008, they refused to let civil partners Martin Hall and Steven Preddy stay in a room with a double bed because they are both men.

At Bristol country court today, their lawyer James Dingemans QC said that if they were not allowed to retain their policy of only allowing straight married couples to share rooms, they would have to shut their hotel.

The Bulls state on their website that they will only let heterosexual married couples share rooms. They say that their longstanding policy applies to all unmarried couples, whether gay or straight but they do not check whether couples are legally married.

Catherine Casserley, the lawyer for Mr Hall and Mr Preddy, argued that the couple were being discriminated against purely on the basis of their sexual orientation because straight couples could pretend to be married.

According to Press Association, she said: “Nobody wants to see the defendants out of business, but we say they have to abide by the law. They either have to change their policy or offer single rooms to everyone.”

The Bulls claimed that they had been the victims of a sting but Mr Preddy and Mr Hall denied this.

The court will give a judgment after Christmas.

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Researchers ‘cure’ man of HIV with stem cell transplant

German researchers believe they have cured a man of HIV by using a stem cell transplant.

Timothy Ray Brown, 42, was also being treated for acute myeloid leukaemia – a cancer of the immune system. Three and a half years later, he apparently shows no sign of either disease.

He stopped taking HIV medication and was given the stem cell transplant in February 2007. He also underwent high-dose chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which wiped out his immune system.

Mr Brown received another round of treatment and a new stem cell transplant from the same donor just over a year later, when his leukaemia relapsed.

Researchers at Charite-University Medicine Berlin said that the donor’s stem cells had a rare inherited genetic mutation that made them resistant to HIV infection.

It was expected that his HIV would return but this has not happened yet.

Dr Gero Huetter, a hematologist and professor at the University of Heidelberg, and a co-author of the new paper, told Deutsche Welle: “We weren’t able to find HIV in his cells. The new cells have a natural resistance against HIV.”

The study, published in the journal Blood, said his immune system has returned to normal health and concluded: “Our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient.”

However, HIV experts said that while the results were promising, they did not represent a potential cure for all patients.

Dr Michael Saag, professor of medicine and director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham AIDS Center, told CNN: “This probably is a cure, but it comes at a bit of a price.”

“For him to receive the donor cells, his body had to have all of his immune system wiped out. . . . The Catch-22 here is that the best candidates for a cure, ideally, are people who are healthy.”

”I would call this a functional cure,” Dr Margaret Fischl, an AIDS researcher at the University of Miami, told the Brisbane Times.

”It’s on the level and a very remarkable case. But would we do this with an HIV patient? No.”

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John Amaechi: ‘FIFA boss must apologise for gay remarks’

Gay basketball star John Amaechi has condemned the head of FIFA for saying that gay football fans should not have sex in Qatar.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Sepp Blatter appeared to laugh at concerns that Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup, is deeply homophobic.

When asked how gay fans could visit the country for the event, he joked: “I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities.”

Qatar punishes homosexuality with five years in jail and lashes.

Amaechi, who came out in 2007, said he was “enraged” at the comments and had made a complain to FIFA.

He said: “The statements and the position adopted by Sepp Blatter and FIFA regarding LGBT fans who would pay the enormous ticket and travel prices to attend the World Cup in 2022 should have been wholly unacceptable a decade ago.

“Instead, with little more than an afterthought, FIFA has endorsed the marginalisation of LGBT people around the world.

“Anything less than a full reversal of [Blatter's] position is unacceptable and if the FA and football and sporting associations around the world fail to acknowledge this insult, they too will be complicit.”

Amaechi added: “Blatt’s [sic] words aren’t really about sex. . . Rather, what Blatt is really saying is ‘don’t be camp… don’t hold hands… don’t look into each others eyes… don’t book rooms with one bed… don’t have candle-lit dinners in the restaurant…’ and so on.”

Meanwhile, the Gay Football Supporters’ Network said Blatter should resign.

Chris Basiurski, chair of the GFSN, said: “Many LGBT people live in countries where they would face execution or imprisonment if discovered, these people deserve our help, our respect and our support. They, like the rest of us, do not deserve to be laughed at.

“Mr Blatter should retract his remarks and apologise immediately. Otherwise, he should reconsider his position and resign.”

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Jury retires in case of gay Trafalgar Square death

The jury in the case of a gay man killed in central London has retired to consider its verdict.

Ian Baynham, 62, died 18 days after he was attacked in Trafalgar Square in September 2009.

The Old Bailey heard this month that he had suffered homophobic abuse before being knocked to the ground and then kicked and stamped on.

He suffered severe head injuries and never regained consciousness.

Joel Alexander, 20, and Ruby Thomas, 18, both of south London, deny manslaughter and affray.

Mr Baynham had been out with a friend celebrating a new job on the night he was attacked.

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the court that Ms Thomas had drunkenly hurled anti-gay abuse at the pair and Mr Baynham had confronted her.

Ms Thomas is said to have lashed out at Mr Baynham and he retaliated towards her friend, Rachel Burke, the jury heard.

The court was told that Mr Alexander then knocked Mr Baynham to the floor with a punch to the jaw.

As he lay on the floor, the girls are said to have kicked him and stamped on him.

Mr Alexander admitted punching the older man but said he struck out to protect the girls.

Mr Baynham died from head injuries sustained when he hit his head on the pavement, the court heard.

Ms Burke was not in court and the jury was told not to speculate on reasons for her absence.

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