Section 48 of the Crimes Act (”self-defence”) may prove to be a possible solution for those with legitimate concerns about the effects that the abolition of Section 169 (the provocation defence) might have on ‘deserving defendants.’
The clause in question provides for justification of ‘reasonable force’ in specific circumstances where an intention to kill or cause […]

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At present, it seems that LGBT adoption reforms are occurring over much of the rest of the world, while New Zealand’s currently centre-right dominated Parliament refuses or delays forward movement on inclusive amendments to our own Adoption Act 1955.
Elsewhere, though, things are moving forward apace. In Germany, their federal Constitutional Court has just upheld coparent […]

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Although New Zealand’s LGBT communities have primarily focused on the effect of provocation defence on mitigation of homophobic homicides, Section 169 of the Crimes Act has a specific legal and international history, which is summarised below.
In R v McGregor [1962], the Court of Appeal formulated a particular test that had to be met if a […]

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The (probably) Mormon-backed US “National Organisation for Marriage” is trying to generate enough signatures on a ratbag referendum to attack same-sex marriages, currently recognised within the state. In April 2009, Iowa’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s anti-SSM “Defence of Marriage Act” on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
Accordingly, NOM is plotting to get a […]

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We haven’t heard much from the dwarf star of Australian politics since the good voters of Bennelong had an attack of sanity and decency and dumped the former Liberal Prime Minister of Australia.
There have been occassional impotent glowerings, arguing that liberal public opinion got ex- One Nation racist ratbag Pauline Hanson and former Governor-General Peter […]

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 Given the formidable set of barriers that illegality presents to  LGBT Pakistanis, it is all the more remarkable that two brave lesbians, Kyla Pasha and Sarah Suhail, started up Chay, a South Asian LGBT magazine, in April 2008. In August 2008, it was published online.
It deals with a range of issues like the denial of HIV […]

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In a matter of hours, the ridiculous belting referendum will be over. The Christian Right will have secured a pyrrhic ‘victory’ that actually means nothing, as the Citizens Initiated Referendum Act 1993 only provides for a non-binding citizens referendum.
Fortuitously, as I waited for the end of this interminable carry-on, I encountered a most amenable article […]

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Prestigious scientist Richard Dawkins has called for a government apology to the late British gay mathematician, cryptologist and pioneer computer scientist Alan Turing for his shameful treatment by the British government during the fifties.
Dawkins has long advocated such an apology, and is set to host a UK Channel 4 programme on Turing soon. In his […]

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The Exclusive Brethren have apologised to a Tasmanian transwoman, Martine Delany,  over a transphobic election advertisement, but the Tasmanian Liberal Party is seeking legal action and appeal over the same case.  EB members Roger Unwin and Graham Lewis admitted they were behind anti-Green election advertisements in that state’s state election, back in 2006.
The pair claimed […]

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Human Rights Watch has just released a disturbing report that demands that the current Iraqi government do more to protect gay men from (predominantly) Shia Muslim militia that have killed hundreds of gay men over the course of this year. Human Rights Minister Wijdan Salim has thus far been the only government minister to express […]

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