“Prior Commitments” - Kevin and Scotty make a commitment to be life partners, Saul finally deals with his identity in a public way, and the family discovers that William (guest starring Tom Skerritt) kept yet another painful secret from his family, on the season finale of “Brothers & Sisters,”

Actor George Takei (Mr Sulu in Star Trek, later Heroes) has announced that he would be marrying his longtime lover, Brad Altman, this summer. This comes after California overturned its same-sex marriage ban.

Takei, 71, took to his official blog to announce this good news. Check out what he had to say:

“Our California dream is reality. Brad Altman and I can now marry. We are overjoyed! At long last, the barrier to full marriage rights for same-sex couples has been torn down. We are equal with all citizens of our state!

The California Supreme Court has ruled that all Californians have a fundamental right to marry the person he or she loves. Brad and I have shared our lives together for over 21 years. We’ve worked in partnership; he manages the business side of my career and I do the performing. We’ve traveled the world together from Europe to Asia to Australia. We’ve shared the good times as well as struggled through the bad. He helped me care for my ailing mother who lived with us for the last years of her life. He is my love and I can’t imagine life without him. Now, we can have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage. We embrace it all heartily.

With time, I know the opposition to same sex marriage, too, will be seen as an antique and discreditable part of our history. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy remarked on same sex marriage, ‘Times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper, in fact, serve only to oppress.’

For now, Brad and I are enjoying the delicious dilemma of deciding where, when, and how we will be married. Marriage equality took a long time, but, like fine wine, its bouquet is simply exquisite.”

Congratulations to the happy couple! Isn’t it just great that everybody can now marry the one that they love in California? California just became even better!

Fantastic Mr Sulu. I hope your gay marriage is as successful as ours.

Finally, California’s supreme court ruled today that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed.

In a 4-3 decision that flies in the face of public opinion in the state, the court found said there was no legally justifiable reason why the state should withhold the institution of marriage because of a couple’s sexual orientation, and that domestic partnerships were not a suitable substitute.

The court rejected arguments that marriage should be preserved for heterosexual couples on the basis of tradition. Citing a 1948 case overturning a ban on interracial marriage, Chief Justice Ron George wrote in his opinion that “history alone is not invariably an appropriate guide for determining the meaning and scope of this fundamental constitutional guarantee”.

“Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation,” the chief justice wrote.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California, has twice vetoed legislation that would have granted marriage to same-sex couples, but said in a statement he respected today’s decision and “will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state supreme court ruling.”

Mr Stanhope said the Prime Minister - a self-described social conservative - should allow the move, arguing that if Mr Rudd could demand China respect the human rights of Tibetans he should defend the rights of his own citizens at home.

It is the first time Mr Stanhope has spoken publicly about the federal Government’s intervention to see the ACT laws blocked.

The Rudd Government is in discussions with the ACT Government to remove clauses in its civil partnerships bill that would allow gay couples to hold a public ceremony marking their union.

In a speech to lawyers, Mr Stanhope said a national bill of rights could protect Australian citizens against such interventions. The Rudd Government has committed itself to an inquiry on a charter of rights, but has ruled out any model that would undermine the authority of parliament.

“I have hopes that a Prime Minister and a Government capable of advocating for the basic rights of the Tibetans will - must - comprehend the justice of formally extending each of those same basic rights to folk back home,” Mr Stanhope said.

“I have hopes that this Prime Minister … will respect the right of the component parts of our federation to legislate as they are constitutionally empowered to do and as they have received a mandate to do.”

He said legislating for civil partnerships was within the powers of the states and territories. “We know that what the ACT is attempting to do is no more than to extend to same-sex couples equality with other Canberrans, under ACT laws,” he said. “Not commonwealth laws: that would require a national bill of rights. Just ACT laws … in the community to which they contribute, and to which they belong.”

But Mr Stanhope said that unfortunately for the men and women in the ACT who desire recognition of and respect for their long-term “enduring primary relationships, efforts by the ACT Government to deliver these things have been thwarted”.

“The evidence suggests the rights of a significant number of Canberra’s men and women cannot be guaranteed by my Government, because of church disapproval,” he said. “This in a nation that has committed … to a separation of church and state.”

For a while now, Luke Macfarlane has been reported as being gay and in the past, romantically linked (dating) Wentworth Miller. It’s true they are friends, but Luke has taken that bold step in Hollywood to come out as gay. Well done Luke! He is probably shitting himself right now about the media revelation (no surprise I think Luke).

“I don’t know what will happen professionally … that is the fear, but I guess I can’t really be concerned about what will happen, because it’s my truth.
Luke Macfarlane: ‘I can’t really be concerned about what will happen, because it’s my truth.’

Ontario borm actor Luke Macfarlane is currently filming hit television series Brothers & Sisters in Los Angeles where he plays a gay character Scotty Wandell. If you have been following it (and we havent as we are in London) the season finale is the wedding of Lukes character Scotty Wandell, to Kevin Walker

Speaking in an interview to Ann Johansson for The Globe and Mail, Luke is quoted a saying

“There is this desire in L.A. to wonder who you are and what’s been blaring for me for the last three years is how can I be most authentic to myself - so this is the first time I am speaking about it in this way.”

The episode, which started shooting yesterday and will air on May 11 on ABC and Global, is a monumental step in television culture, he says.

Luke holds ambitions to be married to a gay partner one day (which is perfectly possible in Canada for both citizens and in some states non citizens).

In the interview with Ann Johansson, Luke speaks about relationships and the importance of the person not the sexuality and his personal aspirations.

Today on Friday 8 June at 3.00 pm in the British Consulate, Sydney, we became Civil Partners under British law. Eighteen friends and family witnessed our gay wedding and partied with us afterwards at the Dolphin Hotel in Surry Hills. We held our own kind of gay wedding, with wedding vows, wedding ring exchange and lots and lots of photos!

It is fantastic that the British Government recognises our gay relationship and that a British man, I can legally enter into a Civil Partnership in Sydney. It is sad that this Howard government does not recognise us as married citizens and denies us equal access to 98% of federal legislation. No wonder we are moving to Britain.

More photos to come and some words on how I feel about my new legal (UK) unrecognised (NSW) status!

For those of you who dont know, this is what it means.

Civil Partnerships

1. What is a civil partnership?
Civil partnership is a new legal relationship for lesbian and gay couples, aged 16 and over. It will give lesbian and gay couples the same legal benefits as heterosexual married couples, just like a registry office wedding.

2. When did the new law come into effect?
The Civil Partnership Act came into effect on 5th December 2005. Registrars have to be given 15 days’ notification, so the first civil partnership ceremonies can now take place.

3. Are civil partnerships available throughout the UK?
The Civil Partnership Act applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

4. What rights do we get?
Same sex couples who register their partnership will gain access to a number of legal rights. These include rights to survivor pensions, recognition for immigration purposes, equal treatment for tax purposes, including inheritance tax, protection from domestic violence.

5. What about responsibilities for children?
If you register your partnership you will be able to gain responsibility for each other’s children, and will have a duty to provide reasonable maintenance for your partner and any children of the family.

6. What about pensions?
As for widowers, civil partners will be able to access survivor pensions in public service schemes and contracted-out pension schemes from 1988.

7. What about taxes?
Civil partners will be treated in the same way as spouses for tax purposes. For further information, visit, www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.

8. What about benefits?
If you form a civil partnership, you will be treated jointly for income-related benefits.

9. What will happen if my partner dies?
If one of you dies after you have registered your partnership, the surviving partner will automatically inherit their partner’s estate if there is no will. They will have the right to register the death of their partner and will be eligible for bereavement benefits. They will also have the right to claim a survivor pension will have tenancy succession rights and will be able to claim compensation for fatal accidents or criminal injuries. They will also be recognised under inheritance tax rules.

10. Do we need to be living together in order to register our partnership?
No.

11. How much will it cost to register our partnership?
There will be statutory fees to pay the registrar.

12. How do we register our partnership?
You will need to go to the registration service to give formal notice in person of your intention to register your partnership. You will be able to register 15 days after giving this notice, during which time the registration service will check your eligibility. Following this, you will form your civil partnership by signing a document in the presence of a registration officer and two witnesses.

13. Where can we register our partnership?
You can register your partnership in any premises licensed to carry out registrations, not just a registry office.

14. Can we register our partnership anywhere in the UK?
Couples will be able to form their civil partnership in licensed premises anywhere in the UK. However, you will still have to notify your local authority of your intention to register your partnership - they will need to know the details of when and where you are going to register.

15. What will we be called after we register our partnership?
Legally you will be ‘civil partners’. There is no provision in the act to enable you to automatically take your partner’s surname, so if you wish to do this, you will need to make arrangements to change by deed poll.

Civil Partnerships UK

The EqualityAct officially became law on 30 April. B&Bs are now not allowed to refuse a room to a gay couple and a hotel cannot refuse a room for a civil partnerships ceremony.

However, religious groups will have a limited opt-out and the National Blood Service will be able to continue to ban gay men from giving blood. Catholic adoption agencies, along with insurance firms, have been given until the end of 2008 to comply with the law.

Ben Summerskill, of gay rights group Stonewall, praised the act: These laws mark the triumph of 21st century tolerance over 19th century prejudice. They’re a historic step forward for lesbian and gay human rights in this country.

Civil partnerships have quickly and seamlessly become a feature of British national life. The statistics are compelling: more than 15,500 couples registered civil partnerships in the period from last December to September this year, suggesting that government predictions of 22,000 partnerships by 2010 are a huge underestimate. But perhaps more significant is that among the 15,500 pledging their union were a cabinet member - Ben Bradshaw, the Fisheries minister - and among those planning to tie the knot are Adam and Ian from The Archers, which, lest we forget, is “an everyday story of country folk”.

Ambridge’s Wedding of the Year takes place this week. “A gay wedding on The Archers,” marvels Adam Mattera, editor of the gay lifestyle magazine Attitude, which carried Elton and David’s only “official wedding interview”. (Elton: “I think the fact of gay men just being able to express commitment is a very important issue”.)

“If you’d told me in my teens that gay marriage would become a reality in the not-too-distant future, I wouldn’t have believed a word of it,” continues Mattera. “In the 1980s it was all Thatcher, Clause 28, and doom-laden Aids warnings on TV; one step forward and two steps back. I think the whole civil partnerships thing has been quietly momentous. And it’s not just about the legal benefits; it’s about a fundamental change in basic human rights.”

The trend analyst and social commentator Peter York says, “Civil partnerships have reinvigorated the whole notion of marriage. As an institution, it was getting a bit ragged in this country, wasn’t it? Most people weren’t doing it, or were failing at it. Now, for a whole bunch of people to embrace it in this way - well, no wonder the conservative lobby are rather stymied. It’s like the embourgeoisement of the gay outlaws - they’re coming in from the cold and taking their place at the table.”

As revolutions go, this one’s erred on the Velvet rather than Russian side, though some residual unease is proving rather dogged. Brian, Adam’s stepfather in The Archers, is threatening in huff-puff style not to attend the ceremony and Ian’s father has refused to go. A a fifth of listeners think same-sex marriage an “inappropriate” topic for the show, according to a poll for the programme’s website.

A geographical breakdown of the civil partnership figures shows a hefty South-east bias, London hosting a quarter of the UK total, while only 3 per cent have taken place in Wales and 6 per cent in Scotland. Three times as many male partnerships were formed as female, Yorkshire and the Humber lead the way in lesbian unions. The average age of male partners dropped over the first nine months of the new law, with those aged 50 or over falling from half at first - the initial “gay grey wave” of long-term partners - to one in four by September.

“No one’s pretending the legislation we’ve got is perfect,” says Mattera. “And some will choose a different path entirely. That’s their right. But for the first time, same-sex partnerships have been recognised in law, and that’s a real step forward. The genie’s out of the bottle. So bring on the brides and grooms.”

Peter York concurs. “I predict a rising tide of this new form of embourgeoisement,” he says, “to the point where gay weddings will become as white-bread mundane as their straight counterparts. And that will be the great, barricade-free victory. Do I think they add to the gaiety of the nation? Actually, I think they add to the decency of the nation. And that, in the end, is far more important.”

Spain is considering financially compensating gay men who suffered years of abuse due to their sexual orientation.

The Washington Times reports that men like Antoni Ruiz, who was imprisoned after revealing he was gay, may soon be awarded a one-time payment of nearly $16,000 and receive a monthly pension.

“I spent three months in prison,” Ruiz said of the abuse he suffered due to his sexual orientation, reports the Times. “I was raped there and in the police cells and psychologically tortured by both the guards and the prison doctor.”

In order to garner compensation for himself and others like him who suffered through abuse and were unable to work during dictator Francisco Franco’s rule, Ruiz became president of the Association of Ex-Social Prisoners, The Independent said.

The Times reports that Ruiz said the possible approval of the compensation, that would include a pension of more than $1,000 a month, could mark an official recognition of the atrocities.

“This is not just about economic compensation but remembering homosexuals who suffered under unjust and dictatorial laws,” he said, reports the Times.

During Franco’s homophobic dictatorship, gays were jailed or locked up in sinister mental institutions known as “correction camps”. With echoes of the Nazi atrocities against gays, they were given electric shocks in the belief that this would rid them of their homosexual urges. Inmates were forced to watch pornographic films featuring women in an effort to show them a sex life that was deemed “natural” by the conservative authorities.

As part of their nationalist, Catholic ideals, the Franco regime and its Falangist supporters considered homosexuals a threat to the “macho” Spanish male.

General Queipo del Llano, who broadcast to the nation, once said: “Any effeminate or introvert who insults the movement will be killed like a dog.”

The most famous gay man killed by the regime was the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who wrote Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba. Considered a subversive, he was executed by a Nationalist firing squad in Granada in 1936.

Homosexuality was designated as an offence under the “law against delinquency and criminals” introduced in 1954. But towards the end of Franco’s regime, it was increasingly viewed as an illness rather than a crime. According to the Independent, in 1968, the psychologist Lopez Ibor said: “Homosexuals should be seen more as sick people than as criminals. But the law should still prevent them proselytising in schools, sports clubs and army barracks.” Jail terms of up to three years were imposed under laws covering “public scandal” or “social danger”.

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