NEWS NOTES: January 31, 2013

Here are links to Catholic LGBT news items that might be of interest to you:

1) Archbishop Victor Tonye Bakot of Yaounde, Cameroon called same-sex marriage a “serious crime against humanity,” according to Reuters. His comments intensify ongoing debates over legal equality in Cameroon, where youth are agitating for LGBT rights in a nation that has criminalized homosexuality.

2) The Telegraph reports that Scottish regulators recently ordered a Catholic family services agency to end discriminatory adoption practices that favored couples married for at least two years. Scotland is moving towards marriage equality, but for now the regulators gave the agency until April 22nd to end their policy.

3) Hackers downed an anti-gay Catholic blog in Italy for 25 days because it advocated a ‘cure’ to homosexuality and posted comments that blamed domestic violence victims for their abuse.  Pink Star News reports that, unfortunately, the site is now up again.

4) The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed legislation that would grant same-gender couples marriage rights and, as expected, the Catholic bishops in that state have opposed it. The Providence Journal reports that the Rhode Island Catholic Conference director claims marriage equality undermines the common good.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry