European Union Parliament Declares That Same-Sex Marriage Is A Human Right

Huge news out of Europe today:

The European Parliament on Thursday called on EU member states to recognise civil unions and same-sex marriage as a civil and human right and urged governments and EU institutions to contribute to further discussion in this area. The call was contained in the 2013 global human rights and democracy report, approved by the assembly with 390 ayes, 151 nays and 97 abstentions. In it, the European Parliament acknowledged "the legalisation of marriage and civil unions between same-sex couples in a growing number of countries around the world, currently 17" and encouraged "the EU institutions and member states to further contribute towards reflection on the recognition of marriage or civil unions between people of the same sex as a political and social issue and a matter of civil and human rights".

The European Union currently has 28 members. Same-sex marriage is legal in eleven of them: Belgium, Denmark, Finland (effective 2017), France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia (effective date pending), Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland.)  Civil unions are legal in nine EU nations: Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia (effective 2016), Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Malta. No partnership recognitions exist in eight EU nations: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia. (Tipped by JMG readers Lulu and Andrea)

FRANCE: Madonna Vs Neo-Nazis

Yesterday Madonna today took a swipe at France's neo-Nazi National Front Party, which last week won numerous seats in the European Parliament. Today the National Front hit back.

France's National Front on Tuesday branded Madonna a "Granny Gaga" after the global pop icon became embroiled in a new row with the resurgent far right party. Madonna had enraged the FN in 2012 by showing a video depicting its leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika over her forehead at a Paris concert. She took another swipe at the party on Monday with a post on her Instagram account. The post featured the front page of French newspaper Liberation from May 26, the day after the FN topped the polls in European elections with a record 25 percent of the vote. FN vice-president Florian Phillipot responded with a sarcastic suggestion Madonna was seeking controversy to court publicity at a time when her career has been eclipsed by the global stardom of younger rival Lady Gaga. "In politics too, Granny Gaga has lost the plot," Philippot tweeted.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG:  Last month Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front, suggested using ebola on immigrants. The National Front is a backer of the anti-gay Manif Pour Tous and has supported its numerous, vicious and often violent rallies, as have Brian Brown and Tony Perkins.  Jean-Marie Le Pen has been convicted six times for inciting racial hatred, including for denying that the Holocaust took place. Last year Le Pen's daughter, Marine Le Pen, herself a failed candidate for France's presidency, praised the man who committed suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral in protest of same-sex marriage. In February of this year Le Pen's granddaughter, 24 year-old Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, led a massive anti-gay march through the streets of Paris. In January of this year the youth leader for the National Front called for France to institute anti-gay laws similar to those in Russia.

BRITAIN: Member Of European Parliament Reveals She Is Transgender

After years of denials, a British member of the European Parliament, Nikki Sinclaire, today revealed that she is a transgender woman. Sinclaire says that she believes she is the first trans parliamentarian in British history.

MEP Nikki Sinclaire said she made the decision to undergo surgery over 20 years ago because if she hadn’t she ‘would have led a lonely, neurotic life, forever out of place’. The politician was a member of UKIP, as party secretary, until a falling out with leader Nigel Farage led to her resignation. She has since founded a new party, the single-issue We Demand A Referendum, campaigning for the British public to have the right to decide on EU membership. In a candid interview with The Sun, Ms Sinclaire revealed how she first realised she should have been female at the age of three. ‘It sounds weird, but I knew something was wrong even then — I’ve always felt I was in the wrong body. I remember dressing up as a girl on my first day of school. It then started to happen every day. The other kids knew I was different,’ she said.

RELATED: UKIP, the UK Independence Party, is often characterized as Britain's version of the Tea Party. UKIP has never won a seat in the House Of Commons, but they presently hold nine of the UK's 73 seats in the European Parliament. Sinclaire's just-founded We Demand A Referendum party is vehemently against the policies of David Cameron and as noted above is demanding a public vote on Britain leaving the European Union by 2015.

VIDEO: Sinclaire spoke before the European Parliament earlier this year about her call for Britain to leave the EU.

European Parliament Denounces Nations With Anti-LGBT Legislation

The 754-member European Parliament has approved a resolution denouncing nations with current or pending anti-gay legislation. The item specifically calls out Russia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The UK's Pink News reports:

The resolution was adopted with 430 in favour and 105 against, saying it was “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis of misconceptions about homosexuality and transgenderism”. It added that EU Member States should be “exemplary in the application and protection of fundamental rights in Europe”. 14 Conservative MEPs voted in favour of the resolution with 12 either abstaining or being unable to vote. 9 Labour MEPs voted in favour of the move with 3 abstaining or unable to vote. All but two absent Liberal Democrat MEPs voted for the resolution. The resolution specifically addressed laws in several European countries, condemning laws against ill-defined ‘propaganda’.

Of the cited nations, only Latvia and Lithuania belong to the European Union.

Fireworks At European Parliament

I guess they don't mince their words in the EU Parliament.

(Via - AmericaBlog)