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Jerusalem's Gay Center Norwegian Finance Minister Marries Partner |
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By Rex Wockner International News Report Rep. Barney Frank & Partner Visit Jerusalem's Gay Center Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and his partner made an appearance at Jerusalem Open House, the city's gay community center, in mid-January.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank in Jerusalem
Wockner News Service Photo Courtesy of Flash 90 Photos and The Jerusalem Open House Frank was in Israel on official business, meeting with the Israeli president and prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority. "Congressperson Frank praised the work being done at the Open House in promoting LGBT rights, particularly efforts towards including gay and lesbian persons of all religious and ethnic background," the center said in a press statement. "He strongly urged the Open House to actively pursue the political struggle for human rights, and cited the gay-friendly approach of the IDF [Israeli military] as an example he would proudly use in his deliberations in the U.S. regarding a change in the U.S. military stance 'Don't ask, Don't tell.'" Norwegian Finance Minister Marries Partner Norway's finance minister, Per-Kristian Foss, married his boyfriend January 4 under the nation's registered-partnership law. The law grants more than 99 percent of the rights and obligations of marriage.
Nations that grant many, most or all marriage rights to same-sex couples include Canada, Denmark (and Greenland), Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, The Netherlands (the only nation where gay couples, including foreign residents, can marry under the same laws as straight couples), Norway, Portugal, Sweden and, in the United States, the state of Vermont. |
