1. According to change.org last month a committee of the government of Nepal invited Jennifer Pizer (left), the Marriage Project Director at Lambda Legal in the United States, to "advise them on creating a legal framework for LGBT equality." The Nepali courts decided in favor of same-sex marriage in 2007, but the government has yet to draft a bill to make equal marriage the law of the land. In a first for any country, the committee is also considering a bill that would provide reparations for LGBT victims of violence.
2. The Associated Press is reporting that Portugal's government has drawn up a bill that would make Portugal the sixth European country to allow gay marriage. The bill is expected to easily pass the legislature when it is debated, probably sometime this month. Once it passes the legislature, then the bill would go to President Anibal Cavaco Silva (right), a conservative. He could either veto or ratify the proposal. If he vetoes the bill, however, the legislature has the power to override him. Without a veto, the first same-sex marriages would take place in April, shortly before Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive for a visit.
