Month: July 2020

India’s top court has decriminalised gay sex, striking down a colonial-era law, sparking jubilation among LGBTQ and human rights groups across the country.

The Supreme Court in Delhi ruled that the Section 377 law, dating from 1861, was unconstitutional.

The Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar, who has long campaigned for gay rights, tweeted: “… abolishing #Section377 is a huge thumbs up for humanity and equal rights! The country gets its oxygen back!”

The five-member bench said the concept of “I am what I am” must be be protected under Indian law, referencing the 18th century German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Chief Justice Dipak Mshra added that homosexuality is neither a crime nor a “mental disorder” as described in the “incomprehensible” 157-year-old laws.

Justice Chandrachud, reading out the verdict, said: “Section 377 provided ‘rule by the law’ instead ‘of the law’.

"Sexual minorities in India have lived in fear, hiding as second class citizens," he said.

“The constitution protects the fluidity of sexual experience,” he added, saying that overturning Section 377 was a big step towards “laying the colonial ghost to rest”.

“This is not just a major landmark but some of the language coming out from the court is just beautiful” said the author Chetan Bhagat, an outspoken proponent for gay rights in India. “It feels like we have been on the journey here together: the people and the judges, and that the journey continues.”

The Supreme Court verdict comes after a petition by five openly gay people, who claimed they were facing harassment and intimidation under the laws. They were: dancer Navtej Singh Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and businesswoman Ayesha Kapur.

"Sexual orientation is one of many biological phenomena which are described as natural and inherent. They are considered part of freedom of expression”, the judgment said. “The fundamental rights of even a single individual cannot be infringed upon."

The Court said that all measures should be taken to properly broadcast the fact that homosexuality is not a criminal offence any more, to create public awareness.

Section 377 has been through legal wrangles since 1994, with parliament and the judiciary batting the issue between each other. It was ruled unlawful before it was reinstated in 2014 after a challenge by ultra-religious groups.

French authorities have refused to let a couple name their newborn boy Amber because the child might suffer from unclear sexual identity.

Amber – or Ambre in French – has now joined a growing list of names such as Nutella, Strawberry, and Manhattan that have fallen foul of French courts who deem them unsuitable and potentially damaging.

The couple from the Morbihan department of Brittany had the child in January this year. But when they went to officially register his birth, the registrar reported them to the prosecutor in the town of Lorient, who decided that as Ambre was usually a girl’s name the risk of confusion over the child’s sex might prove damaging to him.

The parents were ordered to appear in a family court but the judge said she saw no grounds for forcing them to change their child’s name. The prosecutor however decided to appeal, and the baby’s name will remain in limbo at least until next April when the case is likely to come back before the court.

The child’s mothers, who are backed by Les Enfants d’Arc-en-Ciel, a group promoting the rights of gay parents, have questioned whether they are the victims of homophobia.

“Society is very unfair,” said one of the boy’s mothers Alice Gondelle. “It allows ridiculous first names like ‘Clitorine.’ I wonder why it is that with a name as classic and ancient (as Ambre) can’t get through and it is the state that is attacking us in the courts?” 

Amber, which is derived from the translucent fossil resin used in jewelry making, is a popular girl’s name in English-speaking countries, especially the United States, but its French equivalent Ambre is relatively rare in France. It is largely seen as a female name, but Ms Gondelle said in a post on her Facebook page that she knew of 37 male Ambres in France.

French officials have a long track record of knocking back names they do not approve of. In 2015, a court ruled that a couple could not call their daughter Nutella as it might “lead to mockery and unpleasant remarks.” The same court had made similar arguments a few months earlier before overturning the decision of another couple to name their child Fraise (Strawberry).

Last year a couple was told to find another name for their baby after a court ruled they could not use the name they wanted because it contained the an accented letter, “ñ”.

The French language does not use the tilde accented, but the couple from Brittany had picked a traditional but obscure name from the Breton language – Fañch.

Click Here: camiseta boca juniors

The Big Takeaway —

The build towards the New Japan Cup continued as those who were scheduled to face off against one another in the opening rounds competed in a series of mystery tag team matches. The situation over the NEVER title became clearer, as Zack Sabre Jr. looks to add a fourth belt to his growing collection.

Gedo & Jado have become the favorites to get the next Junior tag team title match against new champions Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru. KUSHIDA scored a pin over Hiromu Takahashi, further building a showdown between the two.

Show Recap —
Manabu Nakanishi, Hirai Kawato, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tomoyuki Oka, and IWGP Tag Team Champions Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima

Kawato jumped Liger at the bell and really gave him a beating, stomping him in the corner viciously. This was a standard, pretty solid opener with Nakanishi scoring the win with the torture rack on Oka.

Kawato and Liger stared down one another after the match, but nothing came out of it. 

Yuji Nagata, Juice Robinson & Michael Elgin defeated Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale & Tanga Loa

Juice and Yujiro, who are facing each other in the opening round of the NJPW Cup, squared off against one another, as did Elgin and Fale. It boiled down to Nagata and Loa, with Nagata drilling his NJ Cup opponent with an exploder suplex for the win. This was a nice match with some good action.

RPW British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Jado, Gedo & Trent Baretta

This was a solid match, but it was more about building programs for the NEVER and Jr. tag team titles. The heels beat up on Gedo for a while. They were building a future junior tag title bout between the new champs and Gedo & Jado.

Goto and Sabre Jr. were paired together and went at it for a bit, exchanging near falls before Sabre Jr. caught Goto in a bridge pin hold. This probably signals a future match between Goto and Sabre Jr. for the NEVER title.

Tiger Mask, Katsuyori Shibata & Togi Makabe defeated Minoru Suzuki, Taka Michinoku & Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Suzuki and Shibata brawled into the crowd early, with Suzuki getting the better of it and whacking Shibata with a steel chair. Suzuki and Shibata eventually came back in. Both teased their finishers but took each other down with multiple big boots. The crowd was really into that, and helped the match pick up over time.

Makabe and Taka Michinoku were in, and from there it didn’t last long as Makabe quickly took him down and pinned him with the King Kong Knee Drop.

Shibata and Suzuki continued to brawl as they eventually had to be separated. Suzuki pelted one of the young boys (Kitamiya) with a steel chair, causing another brawl between the two. 

Kenny Omega & Tama Tonga defeated Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii

Yano had a near fall with a low blow on Tonga, but Omega pulled the ref out. Omega went for the knee strike, but Yano dodged and Omega fell to the floor. Tonga gave Yano a low blow of his own, then pinned him with the Gun Stun in another solid match.

KUSHIDA & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated EVIL & IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi

Tanahashi jumped EVIL at the bell, which was retaliation for EVIL’s assault earlier in the day at the New Japan Cup press conference. Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA worked together a lot as well, since they are the next Junior title match. They have excellent chemistry with one another and made this a good match.

EVIL laid out Tanahashi, then KUSHIDA sent EVIL packing. KUSHIDA then caught the surprise win over Takahashi with a backslide into a bridging pin. 

IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & SANADA defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero & IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada

Not a spectacular main event by any means, but the action was fine and the crowd was pretty hot for everything, which helps.

BUSHI wiped out YH on the outside, leaving it between SANADA and Romero. The latter pulled off some great near falls that people got into, but the size difference was too much and Romero tapped out to the Skull End when SANADA sunk it in.

Naito cut the end of the show promo.

Final Thoughts —

There’s nothing on this show that you need to see, though everything was solid and nothing was awful.