The Guardian newspaper reports that the UK government had made legal submissions to the European court of human rights, arguing that Austria had no obligation to provide the same rights for same-sex couples as for opposite-sex couples.

The UK government argued that the UK’s civil partnership legislation was “a natural progression towards its goal of developing a more inclusive society”, which was not necessarily relevant to other countries.

“There is no positive obligation to create a structure for legal recognition or registration of same-sex relationships,” it said, claiming that in other countries any such obligation may be out of keeping with the social, cultural and religious norms and traditions.

The UK has now abandoned the opposition, following pressure from the House of Lords.

[crossposted at Lesbilicious]

It's a great idea, but the results are disappointing, to say the least - of the six pitches, three rely heavily on negative stereotypes of women to put the point across.

The worst offender, created by The King’s Arms Creative, Manchester, shows unflattering pictures of women already villified by the press, including Heather Mills, Cherie Blair, Amy Winehouse and Jodie Marsh, with the message 'Go Gay'.

My heart sinks. Why is it necessary to push one group of people down to push another up? (Yes, PETA, I'm looking at you.) And not only is it offensive, it's lazy. The fact that so many creative agencies came up with broadly similar ideas doesn't say much for their creativity....

See all the Homo Promo visuals here.

The report, entitled The Double-Glazed Glass Ceiling, is based on interviews with working lesbian and bisexual women from both the private and public sectors.

All participants felt that being lesbian or bisexual was something they ‘had to think about’ in relation to their work. The majority of the women interviewed felt that their gender had a greater impact on how they were treated in the workplace, because they were able to hide their identity as a lesbian if they wanted to.

“A lot of women in the workplace don’t want to put their hands up twice: once for being a woman and then secondly ‘by the way, I’m a lesbian,’” said ‘Jaqui’, one of the interviewees who worked in the private sector. “They feel they’ve got hard work enough cut out as a woman without having to take on board any sort of mission or responsibility for calling out that they’re a lesbian as well.”

Interviewees pointed to a lack of openly gay women in the workplace, with many expressing the opinion that such role models made a crucial difference to the confidence and profile of lesbians and bisexual women in working environments.

Among the recommendations made by the report are that employers should promote career development opportunities to lesbian and bisexual women and encourage them to develop confidence and assertiveness. It also recommends that employers should support and enable lesbian and bisexual senior members of staff to be out and involved in awareness raising initiatives.

Ruth Hunt, Stonewall Head of Policy, said: “Women know that in 2008 the glass ceiling is very much still in place. What this report shows is that for lesbians, that glass ceiling is double-glazed.

“It’s no surprise therefore that Britain’s two million lesbians remain almost invisible at work. In publishing this report Stonewall wants to see that change.’”

There are no known lesbian directors of FTSE100 companies. Only one parliamentarian out of more than 1,300 is openly lesbian.

[cross-posted at Lesbilicious]

Just one in four coaches in the UK are women, and of these, just 30% have FA coaching qualifications.

Female Coach Development is a three year project aimed at increasing the number of women achieving Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football.

There are five levels of coaching accredited by the FA, with level 5 reserved for coaches working at the highest level of professional league football. Level 2 is designed for coaches working with young players, and will be the minimum qualification required to work in local authority and Football in the Community Schemes and Girls’ Centres of Excellence.

373 people attended the Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football between 2005 and 2007, but only 32 of them - 9% - were women.

Research indicates that girls’ participation in sport is much more likely to be sustained if they are coached by women. By increasing the number of qualified female coaches, the Female Coach Development project will in turn increase participation rates amongst girls.

The Female Coaching Development project is a structured mentoring system that will support intending coaches through the preparatory phase, the training course, the assessment and finally into the paid and voluntary workplace.

The initiative is free to participants and will be based at London Marathon Playing Field (Greenwich), which will also become London’s centre for female coach education.

England coach Hope Powell said “This is a most needed project and the London Playing Fields Foundation should be congratulated for recognising that the drive to get more girls playing the game should be accompanied by a practical approach to increasing the number of female coaches.”

“Coaches and volunteers are at the heart of grassroots sport and without them, many sporting opportunities just wouldn’t exist,” added Thomas Godfrey, Sport England Commercial Director. “This project will contribute toward Sport England’s goal of getting one million people doing more sport by 2012/13.”

Female Coach Development is a three year project funded by The Football Foundation, Jack Petchey Foundation, London Marathon Charitable Trust, Sport England and NIKE.

[cross-posted at Lesbilicious]

Diagram created by Daily Kos

The law as it currently stands is thought to contravene the Sex Discrimination Act and the Human Rights Act, reports The Guardian.

Geoffrey Robertson QC, the constitutional lawyer who has represented the Guardian in challenges to the constitutional restrictions, said: "I welcome this as two small steps towards a more rational constitution.

"The Act of Settlement determined that the crown shall descend only on Protestant heads and that anyone 'who holds communion with the church of Rome or marries a Papist' - not to mention a Muslim, Hindu, Jew or Rastafarian - is excluded by force of law.

"This arcane and archaic legislation enshrined religious intolerance in the bedrock of the British constitution. In order to hold the office of head of state you must be white Anglo-German Protestant - a descendant of Princess Sophia of Hanover - down the male line on the feudal principle of primogeniture. This is in blatant contravention of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Human Rights Act."

A small group of protesters took a banner reading 'KIDS NEED REAL DADS NOT DAWN'S LESBO DADS" to the Bristol office of junior health minister Dawn Primarolo.

Ms Primarolo, MP for Bristol South, is a vocal supporter of gay equality, including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

In May 2008 MPs voted to change IVF clinic legislation so they must now recognise 'supportive parenting' rather than 'the need for a father' when treating lesbians and single women.

"It is deeply sad that in trying to put across a point of view Fathers 4 Justice have descended into obvious homophiobia," said Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill.

"Many thousands of lesbian couples bring up their childen together, something which sadly many members of Fathers 4 Justice do not. Dawn has been a dogged and supportive champion of equality on this issue and it seems unfair she has been targeted in this way."

New Fathers 4 Justice is a reportedly a group made up of people banned from the similar protest group Fathers 4 Justice. However the distinction between the two groups is not clear, with both using superhero outfits in stunts to advocate men's rights.

[Crossposted at Lesbilicious]

1. They rightly call Noel Gallagher a 'tool' because he's posted a list of his top 10 bands of all time but decided that it should have "no female artists allowed". OMG that must means that Oasis only listen to dreary white-male guitar bands! SCOOP.

2. They've jumped to the brilliant conclusion that Usher is a massive Bikini Kill fan because he's performing a series of women-only gigs. Despite the fact the tour is called 'One Night Stand' and that Usher explained the tour with such wisdom as: "What better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women? The ladies like to see that masculine build. They question if I still got it", The Lipster hopes he will be performing a cover of Suck My Left One. Wouldn't that be just lovely!

Los Angeles Daily News reports that Lapriss Gilbert, 31, was stopped by a security guard when she tried to enter the Social Security office. The security guard said that Gilbert’s tshirt, which named an educational and resource Web site for gay women, was offensive.

“As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven’t been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination … but this is just shocking,” said Gilbert.

She said the guard, who works for a private company hired by the Department of Homeland Security, demanded that she leave the building or face arrest.

After being kicked out of the federal building, Gilbert called her mother, Tanya Gilbert, a longtime activist for gay rights.

When Tanya Gilbert arrived on the scene she called the Los Angeles Police Department to protest her daughter’s removal. But before four Los Angeles police officers and one federal agent arrived, Lapriss was told she could come back into the building.

Paul Dumont saw the incident and made a statement to the police, in which he said the guard’s “loud, unreasonable, aggressive and angry approach to the situation almost caused chaos.”

“For her to be told to leave was completely unnecessary, especially considering how peaceful and quiet she was responding the security officers,” said Dumont. “Nobody in that office felt her T-shirt was offensive by any means.”

Lori Haley, a federal spokeswoman for the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - which is under the Homeland Security umbrella - said the guard was out of line: “We believe that the actions of the contract security guard were inappropriate and unacceptable - we have notified his company, Paragon, of our position in the matter.”

[crossposted at Lesbilicious.co.uk]

Model Maker's daring idea is to make skinny, body-obsessed girls skinnier and more body-obsessed, by combining modelling and dieting. Let the self-loathing begin!

The official website doesn't pull its punches over what we can expect:

'Women come in all shapes and sizes, but models don’t. The term model conjures an image of stick-thin, towering beauties oozing confidence, glamour, poise and sexuality from every pore.

“Skinny,” “no body fat,” and “size zero” are the words and phrases associated with models. “Chubby,” “well-fed,” and “big- boned” are not… Until now! '

15 'lucky' women from across the USA will be chosen to compete in the show. They will endure 12 weeks of intensive physical fitness training to help them get down to their 'ideal size', while also competing in modelling challenges every week. The winner receives $100,000 and a personal trainer for a year (assuming she survives that long).

Now for the really frightening part: To audition for the show, contestants must be 5'9" to 6' tall, and 130-190 pounds.

Someone who is 5'9" and weights 130 pounds has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 19.2. Someone who is 6" and weighs 130 pounds has a BMI of 17.5.

According to the NHS, a healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. So the person is 5'9" is already at the lower end of their 'ideal weight', and the person who is 6" is already underweight.

If you want to tell the producers your thoughts about the show, why not email mtvmodel@madwood.tv.

[via The Lipster]

According to BBC Online, Tom Cruise had a long-standing connection to Edwin A Salt. After his departure, several other male actors expressed interest in the script but the directors decided it was best suited to Jolie.

Supposedly, the only changes that will be made to the film as a result of Jolie stepping to the role will be the gender of the character and the title of the film. If this really is the case then it's fantastic news for a film industry not exactly famous for gender equality.

Jolie is clearly no stranger to strong characters in action-led films. From Tomb Raider's Lara Croft to Wanted's Fox, it's tempting to think that Jolie's characters are throwing punches for feminism and showing that women can be just as tough as men.

But look a little closer and the reality is that Jolie's characters are usually there because male characters need some kind of love interest. Even when she plays the lead, as with Tomb Raider, she's still really there to be an object of lust, for the audience if not the characters. Guys love a sexy tough girl. Let her fight, but she has to fight in short shorts and tight shirts.

So if the rumours are true and the only change will be flipping Edwin to Edwina, then congratulations to the film-makers for accidentally making a mainstream feminist action flick.

If Jolie does and says everything that Cruise would have, with no new male characters to save her or bed her, then not only will it probably pass the Bechdel test, it would also be a wonderful slap in the face for Warner Bros president of production Jeff "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead" Robinov. Go Angelina.

Soho Pride is a smaller gay pride event in London that is based around the gay bars in Soho.

Soho Pride is one of around 20 community festivals in London that is under threat due to cuts in funding from the Mayor's office. Other threatened events include Liberty - disability arts festival; the Jewish Simcha on the Square; Vaisakhi; Baishakhi Mela; Celebrating Sanctuary (refugee festival) and Black History Month events.

Pickled Politics blog comments "Unsurprisingly, now Boris wants to cut funding from them all [the community festivals] so they can rely on the businesses to support them. The guy is adamant on making London lifeless again."

In a letter to the Soho Pride organisers, Boris Johnson said that the funding destined for Soho Pride would be re-directed to other LGBT causes: "Money saved from this decision will not be cut from LGBT-related projects, but is being re-invested to help facilitate a pan London campaign against homophobic bullying in schools, a cause I am sure you will agree it is vitally important to support."

Despite the insistence that the money will be go towards other LGBT issues, London's LGBT population should consider this a warning. After all, this is a man that vocally supported Thatcher's Section 28 (which made the 'promotion' of homosexuality illegal in schools) and famously wrote: "If gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."

Writing on the Guardian's Comment is Free blog, Richard Adam Smith notes "His record in office, after just four months, does not bode well. The withdrawal of funding for Soho Pride is not Johnson's first snub to lesbians and gay men in London. In July, he announced he was scrapping the mayor's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advisory panel, which was set up by Ken Livingstone in March. His predecessor's support for an LGBT museum in London and the capital's hosting of the Gay Games also now look likely to be quietly dropped."

[cross-posted at Lesbilicious]

The men decided when the barbeque would be lit, then they argued over how to do it, then they decided when and how the meat would be cooked. The women made salad. The men kept cooking and piling up sausages that would never get eaten. The women cleared the plates. The men ran off to play football. The women did the dishes. The men came back, sweating and flushed, and rolled their eyes as their girlfriends nagged them about putting on jackets as it was starting to get chilly.

My girlfriend and I looked on, intrigued and horrified in equal measures.

Not all heterosexual relationships are like this, I know. Some of my best friends are straight, (no, really) and I know several gorgeously feminist blokes who would hate to live in that kind of dichotomy. But for every straight couple who share the toilet-scrubbing, there will be hundreds more who fall into the tired of pattern of dividing behaviour and work into men’s and women’s.

Along with saving money on birth control and swapping shoes opportunities, one of the great advantages of being in a same-sex relationship is that there are no ingrained gender roles to blindly accept or deliberately avoid. Who opens a door for whom does not become a political statement.

While I love living largely without a gender script, I do appreciate that other people deliberately seek out these restraints, and find them liberating. Some women revel in matching femme to butch, and it would be incredibly patronising to suggest that they only do so out of habit or to emulate traditional heterosexuality.

I have no problem with long-haired, frock-wearing girls who dream of tall handsome boys or bois to whisk them away. But I do have a problem with then assuming that with all the positives must come all the negatives. That a man’s man shouldn’t put away cutlery, or isn’t capable of deciding for himself when to put on a jumper.

Apart from childbirth, I don’t believe that there is any task on Earth that is truly performed better by men or women. And that most definitely includes barbeques: my girlfriend’s concerns that the chicken wasn’t thoroughly cooked were dismissed by the man in charge of the barbeque… and she spent the night puking into a toilet.

The dweebs at Ripten.com have created a hil-a-rious parody of Guitar Hero, called Vagina Hero. The purpose of the game is to fill the 'climax meter' by pushing the right buttons on the vulva-shaped controller, although you can also speed things up with 'the shocker' by repeatedly jamming the buttons which on the controller represent the vagina and anus. Once you've finished one girl, you move onto the next level girl.

Advice on using the controller includes "You could also just mash all the buttons at the same time with your fist and hope to get lucky.”

There are also plans for a Pro Bundle costs about $600 extra. Because as creator Dan Landis explains, "We wanted to prepare our players for the inevitable truth that dudes with money are more successful with women, even if they aren’t any more skilled."

Why create this stupid fake game? Because acording to Landis, "We all know what the girls are thinking anyways when they get all googily-faced over guitarists, even fake guitarists. Might as well stop faking the funk and try to teach them boys something useful."

But relaaax! It's not offensive to women: "If anything, we are doing women a great service. We are making foreplay interesting and exciting for guys while simultaneously giving them the practice they need so they know what they’re doing when they get there. I think women should be excited by the idea of no longer walking away from a sexual encounter with blue balls, or whatever the equivalent of that would be for women.”

So how does Vagina Hero score on the sexist hate-scale?

Objectifies women: 10/10
Reduces women to a body part: 10/10
Women as goldiggers stereotype: 10/10
Women as groupies stereotype: 10/10
No female musicians stereptype: 10/10
No female gamers stereotype: 10/10
Men hate foreplay stereotype: 10/10
Men are crap at sex stereotype: 10/10

SCORE: 100% sterotyping sexist bullshit! Suprise!

[Found via Lesbian Gamers]

“Suspect athletes will be evaluated from their external appearance by experts,” said Professor Tian Qinjie of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, who will be in charge of the testing. “They will then undergo four tests, including blood tests, to examine their sex hormones, genes and chromosomes for sex determination.”

The sex-testing is a huge step back for the International Olympic Committee, which stopped the practice on ethical grounds in 1999. It’s an invasive and humiliating process, in which women who 'fail' will have to endure a physiological examination of their genitals, according to the New York Times.

Mary Peters, Britain’s gold medal-winning pentathlete at the 1972 Munich Olympics, described the sex tests as “the most crude and degrading experience I have ever known... The doctors proceeded to undertake an examination which, in modern parlance, amounted to a grope.”

Not only is the test a massive invasion of privacy, it's also laughably ineffective. Contrary to popular belief, there’s more to sex than male or female. Depending on who you believe, between 0.018% and 1.7% of people are born with some degree of sexual ambiguity or chromosomal abnormalities. That means that somewhere between one in 500 and one in 59 women have a condition that will give them no competitive advantage, but will make then 'fail' the test.

So sex-testing is invasive and ineffective. What else? Well, it also reveals some rather nasty sexism and homophobia. After all, no male athletes will be subjected to this. And not all female athletes will be tested, only those who look ‘suspicious’.

What, exactly, does 'suspicious' mean? Will they only test women who they, these 'experts', decide look unwomanly? How about women who cut their hair into 'unfeminine' styles, or women who don’t shave their legs? Will women wearing blue trainers be eyed suspiciously, while those in pink trainers can continue unhindered?

Or perhaps the femininity of female athletes will be judged on performance rather than aesthetics. Men are naturally faster and stronger than women, so presumably if an athlete excels in her discipline she will arouse suspicion. Ladies! Don’t jump too high, or punch too hard - someone might think you’re not really a woman.

As for trans people - officially, and perhaps surprisingly, sex-testing doesn't really affect them. Since 2004, people who have experienced gender realignment and hormone treatment have been able to compete on the same basis as cisexual people. We can only speculate what would happen if a transwoman's sex was considered 'suspicious' by the Olympic authorities.

The only thing about sex and gender that the Olympic committee know for sure is this: the only women who are undeniably 100% women are royalty, as Princess Anne was the only female athlete who didn't have to have to submit a sex test at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. And of course it had nothing to do with the fact that she was the daughter of Canada's Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II.

What makes a 'real woman'? Is it chromosones, testosterone levels, sex organs, or a love of the colour pink? I don't know, and actually I don't care. But what I do know is that I sure as hell don't want to be told what it is to be a woman by a group of self-appointed experts from the Olympic Committee.

[Cross-posted at Lesbilicious]