Same sex marriage

It’s a decade since the first same-sex marriages were performed in England and Wales. What have they meant for LGBT+ people?

Most people of our generation never thought we would get married. As a gay man or woman, we did not even think a wedding was a possibility. Then, in 2014, same-sex couples in England and Wales finally won the right to be legally married.

Ten years on, the Church of England still does not perform same-sex weddings, although it will allow blessings. 

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza were the first same-sex couple to marry in the UK. They got married just after midnight on the first day that same-sex marriage became legal. Peter is not a fan of the institution but says equal marriage was nevertheless an important step towards full equality.

Thai activists prepare for country’s marriage equality law to take effect

Thailand’s marriage equality law is set to take effect on 22 January.

The country will become the first one in Southeast Asia – and the third in the continent after Taiwan and Nepal – to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Thai MPs passed the marriage equality bill on 15 June 2024, by a 210 – 180 vote margin. Four lawmakers abstained.

300 same-sex couples are expected to marry in Bangkok on 23 January, the day marriage equality becomes possible.

A report that YouGov, a global public opinion and data analytics company, published last July found 32 percent of respondents expressed happiness about the marriage equality law, while 18 percent felt proud and 14 percent were hopeful. The report noted that support for marriage equality was greater among women (81 percent) than men (67 percent).

After the law’s passage, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin called it a “significant step” for Thailand. “Equality and equity have become concrete in Thai society,” he said, adding he was hopeful that gender diversity would be fully accepted.

Thavisin also highlighted the government’s commitment to equal rights for LGBTQ couples. He stated the marriage equality bill would give them “the exact same equal rights” as heterosexual couples.

LGBT news from Russia

Russian clubgoers have been fined for dressing “too gay” as part of the country’s ongoing crackdown on LGBT+ people and expression.

After a raid on a nightclub in Tula, about 120 miles south of Moscow seven men were charged with “trying to arouse interest in non-traditional sexual relations”. They included a man who wore “pink socks” and “an unbuttoned kimono.” Other offending wardrobe items included a crop top, black leather shorts, and fishnet stockings. A judge ruled their clothing was “’inconsistent with the image of a man with traditional sexual orientation” and fined the men.

Two of the men were ordered to pay fines of 50,000 rubles (approximately £400), more than the average monthly salary in Tula.

Russia’s crackdown on LGBT+ people has expanded dramatically over the last several years. In 2022 all forms of LGBT+ organisations were criminalised. In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court declared the “international LGBT movement” to be an “extremist” organisation, which was backed up the following year with a decision labelling the “movement” to be “terrorist”.

At least 131 cases of “LGBT propaganda” charges were brought to Russian courts in 2024, with fines ranging up to 200,000 rubles (approximately £1,600).

Free books

Free books on nearly any subject you can think of are all over the internet, ready to be downloaded, read, and shared. I’m new to this, so I did a bit of research. Here are some sites with free books covering a wide variety of subjects:

Google Books – https://books.google.co.uk/

I found “The Making of Americans” by Gertrude Stein. I already have the hardback book which is 974 pages, but the ebook is 1731 pages!

OpenCulture – https://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks

On this site I found James Baldwin’s “Fifty Famous Stories Retold” as a free mp3 to stream or download.

Project Gutenberg – https://www.gutenberg.org/

Under the Top 100 EBooks I found “Cranford” by Elizabeth Gaskell, and other books by E M Forster and Oscar Wilde.

There are other sites to try:

Internet Archive, Subbook, ManyBooks, BookBub, OpenLibrary, Free-ebooks, Bookboon, PDFBooks World, Obooko, O’Reilly and E-BookLobby.