The Movement for Equality in Access to Civil Marriage launched on May 31 in Lisbon, Portugal.

More than 1,000 people signed onto the campaign, including politicians, well-known actors, pop singers and businesspeople, and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, who was honored for literature in 1998.

The campaign’s manifesto, which now can be signed by anyone in Portugal, states, in part: “Equal access to civil marriage is a matter of justice that deserves the support of all people who oppose homophobia and discrimination. ... We citizens who believe in equal rights, dignity and recognition for all of us — for our families, friends and colleagues — join our voices to express our support for equality.

“We call this change necessary, fair and urgent because we know that the current situation of inequality divides society between those who are included and those who are excluded, between persons who are inside and marginalized persons. ... We now have an opportunity to end one of the last unjustified (instances of) discrimination written in our law.”

The Stockholm diocese of the Church of Sweden elected an open lesbian, the Rev. Eva Brunne, as bishop May 26.

Brunne, 55, is in a registered partnership with the Rev. Gunilla Lindén and they have a 3-year-old son.

Brunne received 413 votes against 365 for her challenger, the Rev. Hans Ulfvebrand. The electors are clergy members and an equal number of lay people.

Brunne is believed to be the first openly lesbian bishop in the world.

The Church of Sweden is Lutheran and counts 76 percent of the population as members, although only about 2 percent of them regularly attend services.

The U.S.-based International Same-sex and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said June 1 it has received civil-society status from the Organization of American States.

The recognition will enable IGLHRC to attend and make presentations at OAS meetings and provide information and advice during drafting of OAS documents.

Spain’s Supreme Court ruled May 30 that judges can’t refuse to marry same-sex couples.

The ruling came in the case of a judge from Valencia province who wanted to be excused from marrying same-sex couples for religious reasons.

The General Council for Judicial Power had previously come to the same determination.

Twenty-one percent of same-sex and bisexual men and 18 percent of lesbian and bisexual women in Northern Ireland say they’ve been the victim of a homophobic hate crime or incident in the past three years.

The figure comes from a survey of 1,143 LGB people carried out by the Rainbow Project with funding from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The study found that 64 percent of such incidents were not reported to police and 30 percent resulted in physical injury.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has again lashed out at GLBT people, calling them “homos” and calling Pride parades “demonic.”

Appearing on a TV program June 2, Luzhkov reportedly said: “There are two reasons Pride parades are unacceptable in Moscow. First and foremost, public morality does not accept such parades, public morality does not accept those homos.”

Secondly, he said: “If they gather together, assuming they are allowed to hold a parade, other people will simply kill them. There are radical Christians in Moscow who stand strongly against such demonic manifestations, as they say.

“There were attempts made (in May) to hold the parade during the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. We had to isolate about 19 radical Christians who intended to attack those homos.”

On May 16, riot police broke up an attempt to stage the fourth annual Pride parade in Moscow, arresting up to 80 participants, including same-sex leader Nikolai Alekseev, British same-sex leader Peter Tatchell and Chicago same-sex activist Andy Thayer.

Luzhkov previously has called Pride parades “satanic” and “weapons of mass destruction,” and has officially banned them each year.

The Charities Commission of England and Wales ruled June 2 that adoption agencies cannot discriminate against same-sex couples.

The commission cited the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, which ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Violation of the law would lead to a loss of charity status and public funding.

The ruling came in a case involving the Catholic Care charity in Leeds, which wanted to amend its official statement of objectives with the commission to exclude consideration of same-sex couples.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Interreligious Council is opposing a bill to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, claiming it will lead to legalization of same-sex marriage.

The measure has passed first reading in the House of Representatives.

A national law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation is a requirement for any nation that wants its citizens to be able to travel within the European Union without obtaining a visa.

Assistance: Bill Kelley