World
New Zealand parliamentarians reflect on passage of marriage bill
Same-sex marriage bill received final approval on April 17.
New Zealand Parliamentarian Louisa Wall (Photo courtesy of the office of Louisa Wall)
Editor’s note: This article will appear in the April 24 issue of Gay Express, a newspaper that covers LGBT issues in New Zealand.
By Sarah Murphy
Louisa Wall is a woman who holds a special place in our all of our hearts. A champion of GLBTI rights, she is a woman who has fought so very hard to proudly walk each and everyone of us down the isle.
Absolutely humbled by the aroha she received on the night of the third reading, Louisa says there was an overwhelming sense of pride that filled the air.
As the final vote was read aloud, the crowded public gallery stood en masse to sing Pokarekare Ana, an unheard-of gesture outside of treaty settlement legislation and a sign of utmost respect.
In a single moment we became equal under the eyes of the law, with marriage equality for all.
But the magnitude of this momentous occasion extends far beyond the issue of marriage. We not only gained recognition under the eyes of the law, we were offered hope.
The very next day Louisa received an email from a university lecturer who told her of the many students who felt empowered to come out after the bill passed.
“That inspires me; we have changed the environment for people to be able to be proud of who they are and actually to be embraced, valued, respected, for who they are, which is fundamental.”
Louisa wanted to take the opportunity to express her heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for the overwhelming support of the GLBTI community, saying: “I really want to congratulate us on our ability to stand up, to advocate for ourselves, for each other and also our ability to network with like-minded New Zealanders who believe in social justice, who believe in human rights, who believe in collectives working together. I just really want to thank everybody because this has been a team effort, not only in Parliament but outside of Parliament, we did it and so congratulations!”
As an equally important partner in the push for marriage equality, Kevin Hague says he felt sheer elation the moment the final vote was read out.
Softly spoken and humble in nature, Kevin’s passion has been eloquently conveyed throughout the course of the campaign. His heartfelt speeches have warmed our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. We cannot deny how lucky we are to have such a fierce advocate for the rights of our community.
Many of us have grown up knowing nothing other than the freedoms afforded by homosexual law reform and this was reflected by the position we took in the marriage equality campaign. Kevin says that the differing perspectives shone through in the submissions made to the Select Committee. GLBTI youth for example found it “utterly bizarre” that there would be law that treats people differently because of their sexual orientation.
“For us older ones that’s wonderful and refreshing and fantastic, but its just hard for us to hold that view without a sense of almost resentment or bitterness towards that historic injustice.”
As someone who remembers all too well the struggles of the past he says, “I think its fantastic that we have generations coming through who are not weighed down with that. I don’t wish the hurt that we’ve experienced to be superimposed on the experience of our young people.”
Just as Louisa has done, Kevin too gives credit to the honesty, passion and bravery displayed by our community and says, “while we will get the applause actually the honour and the credit needs to go to the community, so thank you.”
Of course, this campaign has only been strengthened by the support of our straight allies such as Tau Henare.
A staunch supporter of marriage equality and a proud member of the National Party, one would assume that Tau might have come up against some backlash from his colleagues on the right, but Tau says despite what you may think, he didn’t really find this to be the case apart from “a bit of well intentioned ribbing.”
He says he is so very proud of the work Louisa has put into the marriage equality campaign. “She’s not the dyed-in-the-wool Labour MP that a lot of us think she is; she’s hard core human rights. I look at her and think ‘maverick’ and this place needs a few of them, otherwise you just slip into the mould of a nobody, really. She’s got character and its cool; I love her for it.”
To us, his GLBTI friends, he extends his congratulations: “Welcome to the mainstream.”
From three different fronts they converged with a single vision. They did it because it was right. They did it for the health of every community, straight or gay. They did it for the future of New Zealand – for one and for all.
Hungary
New Hungarian prime minister takes office
Péter Magyar’s party defeated anti-LGBTQ Viktor Orbán last month
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office on Saturday.
Magyar’s center-right Tisza party on April 12 defeated then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition. Vice President JD Vance less than a week before the election traveled to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, and urged Hungarians to support Orbán.
Orbán had been in office since 2010. He and his government faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The European Commission in 2022 sued Hungary, which is a member of the EU, over the country’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, on April 21 struck down the statute.
The EU while Orbán was office withheld upwards of €35 billion ($41.26) in funds to Hungary in response to concerns over corruption, rule of law, and other issues.
Hungarian lawmakers in March 2025 passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
Upwards of 100,000 people last June defied the ban and marched in Budapest’s annual Pride parade.
“Congratulations to [Péter Magyar] on becoming prime minister of Hungary,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X.
“This Europe Day, our hearts are in Budapest,” she added. “The hope and promise of renewal is a powerful signal in these challenging times.”
“We have important work ahead of us,” noted von der Leyen. “For Hungary and for Europe, we are moving forward together.”
The Vatican
New Vatican report acknowledges LGBTQ Catholics feel isolated in the church
Document contains testimonies of two gay married men
A report the Vatican released on Tuesday acknowledges LGBTQ Catholics have felt isolated within the church.
The report, which the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod’s Study Group 9 released, includes testimony from two married gay Catholics from the U.S. and Portugal.
“Regarding the resistances — limiting ourselves to those emerging from the lived experiences shared with us — we wish to highlight the following: the solitude, anguish, and stigma that accompany persons with same-sex attractions and their families, not only in society but also within the church; this is often linked to the temptation to hide in a ‘double life,'” reads the report. “Within this problematic outlook lie the positions expressed in the pressure to undergo reparative therapies or, even more gravely, in the simplistic advice to enter the sacrament of marriage.”
“At the root of both the emerging openings and the persisting resistances, it seems possible to identify a difficulty in coordinating pastoral practice and the doctrinal approach. Other testimonies received by our study group from believers with same-sex attractions further confirm how arduous it is for individuals and Christian communities to reconcile “doctrinal firmness” with “pastoral welcome,'” it adds.
The report appears to criticize so-called conversion therapy. It also states “every person, first and foremost, is singular, irreducible, irreplaceable, and original” and “this is the meaning of the Biblical-theological theme of the human being, male and female, created in the image and likeness of God.”
The National Catholic Reporter notes “a group of theologians, including bishops, priests, a sister and a layperson” the Vatican commissioned “to study ‘controversial’ issues that Pope Francis’s Synod on Synodality raised wrote the report.
Francis in 2023 launched the multi-year synod to examine on ways to reform the church.
The Argentine-born pontiff died in April 2025. Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, succeeded him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday met with Leo at the Vatican. The meeting took place against the backdrop of increased tensions between the U.S. and the Holy See over the Iran war.
LGBTQ Catholic groups largely welcome report
LGBTQ Catholic groups welcomed the report; even though it will not change church teachings on homosexuality, marriage, and gender identity.
“It was a really bold choice to make LGBTQ issues — or homosexuality — one of the case studies,” Brian Flanagan, a senior fellow at New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization, told the Washington Blade on Wednesday during a telephone interview.
Flanagan is also the John Cardinal Cody Chair of Catholic Theology at Loyola University in Chicago.
“They (the study group) could have punted and said something easier,” he said. “Instead, they’re putting what was frankly one of the hottest issues leading up to and after the Synod and addressing it more head on.”
New Ways Ministry Executive Director Francis DeBernardo in a statement described the report as a “breath of refreshing air, the first acknowledgment that LGBTQ+ issues were taken seriously by the three-year global consultation of all levels of the church.”
“By establishing mechanisms and recommendations to continue dialoguing with LGBTQ+ people, the report is a significant step forward in the church’s process to become a more welcoming place for its LGBTQ+ members,” he said.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, an LGBTQ Catholic organization, in her own statement said the report “demonstrates a welcome humility and openness to learning from the People of God about people’s lives and faith journeys.”
“It is clear that the study group members understand that the doctrines of the church undermine the deep relationship with God that many LGBTQ+ people have, or try to have, and that this needs to be corrected,” she said. “Church officials have decades of testimony from people who have found their sexual orientation or gender identity to be a blessing and a gift, and their relationships to be sacred. To see this reality reflected and respected in this document is a long-awaited positive step.”
Duddy-Burke added the report largely ignores “the experiences of transgender and nonbinary people.” She further notes it “provides few concrete recommendations and proposes no doctrinal changes.”
“Rather, it calls for dialogue, encounter, and communal theological reflection to shape how the Catholic Church moves forward in addressing doctrine and pastoral practice,” said Duddy-Burke. “The paradigm shift repeatedly called for in this report is a significant and very welcome change. Experience, especially of those most impacted, must be key to developing dogma.”
Ukraine
Ukrainian MPs advance new Civil Code without protections for same-sex couples
Advocacy groups say proposal would ‘contradict European standards’
Ukrainian lawmakers have advanced a proposed new Civil Code that does not contain legal protections for same-sex couples.
The Kyiv Independent reported the proposal passed on its first reading on April 28 by a 254-2 vote margin.
The newspaper notes more than two dozen advocacy groups in a statement said some of the proposed Civil Code’s provisions “contradict European standards” and “violate Ukraine’s commitments under its EU accession process.”
“The most worrying provisions are those that make it impossible for a court to recognize the existence of a family relationship between people of the same sex,” the statement reads. “This overturns the already established case law on this issue, and closes the only legal avenue that allows partners to somehow protect their rights in individual cases.”
“Moreover, the draft completely ignores the obligations that Ukraine should have already fulfilled as part of its accession to the EU, as it lacks provisions that would allow people of the same sex to register their relationships,” it adds.
“The provisions also stipulate that all marriages concluded by people who have changed their gender automatically become invalid,” the statement further notes. “This is not just stagnation in the field of human rights or lack of progress on the path to European integration, but an actual setback in the legal sphere.”
Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, a Ukrainian LGBTQ advocacy group, in an April 28 Facebook post said the new Civil Code “is a step back on upholding the rights of women and the LGBT+ community in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022 publicly backed civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
The Ukrainian Supreme Court on Feb. 25 recognized Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk — a gay couple who has lived together since 2013 and married in the U.S. in 2021 — as a family. Ukraine the day before marked four years since Russia began its war against the country.
New Hungarian prime minister takes office
Comings & Goings
Learn more about queer love
Calendar: May 8-14
Va. Supreme Court invalidates Democrat-backed redistricting plan
A reign defined by commitment and human impact
DOE investigates Smith College’s trans-inclusive policy
Key West Pride’s state funding pulled
PHOTOS: Miss Gay Western Maryland
