Gay Man And Lesbian Child Custody Case, Saudi Gay 27 Year Old Sentenced To Five Years In Prison And 500 Lashings For “Homosexual Activities,” Croatian Soccer President Says No Homosexuals Will Play For National Team Adding That He Never Met A Gay Soccer Player Since “Only Normal People Play Football”

A gay man, a lesbian and her civil partner are in embroiled in an acrimonious court battle in the United Kingdom over their two children born by artificial insemination, the woman and her partner taking the case to the Court of Appeals Monday in an attempt to overturn rulings that allow the father a joint residency order, reports the Independent. The father placed an advertisement in Gay Times in 1999 that read “Gay guy want to be a Dad. White, handsome, solvent 30’s, professional, in happy relationship, non-scene, has everything but kids. Looking for a similar female couple who wants to have kids. I require little involvement. I have a lot to offer.” The father, in a relationship with his partner for 25 years, won a shared residence order in a county court for the children, including an order that they should reside with him for 152 days of the year. However, June Venters, an attorney representing the mother and her partner, told a panel of three appeal justices that the children, a boy now nine and a girl now six, need to know which is their permanent home and that the female couple consider themselves to be the parents, adding that the ruling made between the biological father and mother “marginalised” the women’s partner, who is seen as a primary care giver by the children. She said that the county court decision has “sent the wrong message” and that the women wanted the children to be “very clear” who everyone was in their lives. In that ruling, the country recorder says he was struck by the intensity of hatred the two women have for the father. The three judges reserved their ruling for a later date.

The Emirates 24/7 is reporting that a 27 year old Saudi gay man was sentenced by a court to five years in jail and 500 lashes with a whip for homosexual activities and for publishing what it categorised as obscene photographs of him online. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested the man, who the report says had been previously tried and jailed for posing a security man, and that he was accused of indulging in “obnoxious acts inside the prison.”

The Croatian Times reports that the country's gay and lesbian rights activists have condemned Croatian Football Federation president Vlato Markovic, who, in an interview with the national daily newspapers Vecernji List, said “While I’m a president of the CFF, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team.” Later, when asked if in his career he had ever met an openly gay soccer player, he replied “Luckily, only normal people play football.” A coalition of gay and lesbians associations say they intend to sue the CFF for discrimination, and report Markovic to the United European Football Association.