HIV-Positive Gay Couple Granted Deportation Reprieve While Canadian Border Services Agency Hears Application Based On Humanitarian Grounds, Landmark Ruling Awarding Custody To Non-Biological Parent Challenges Alberta Legislation Regarding Rights Of Gay Male Parents, New Jersey Governor Christie Calls Anti-Gay High School Facebook Comments “Disturbing,” Spanish Town Offering Fast-Tracked Same Sex Marriage Ahead Of National Election Who’s Results May Repeal 2005 Law, Joe Manganiello

An update on a previous post, a gay Mexican couple who say their lives would be at risk if they return home will not be leaving Montreal on Thursday after all. David Perez and his partner, Pablo Gonzalez, were scheduled to return to Mexico on Thursday after their application for refugee status was turned down in June 2010. Perez said he was beaten and sexually assaulted by his ex-girlfriend’s uncle, a Mexican police officer, after he broke off their engagement because he is gay. After the couple’s refugee application was rejected, their lawyer asked the Canada Border Services Agency to delay their removal until their application to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds is heard. The CBSA rejected the request for a delay in the removal. However, reports The Montreal Gazette, a Federal Court judge ruled on Wednesday that the couple can stay in Canada while they contest the CBSA’s decision. “They are thrilled; they broke down in tears,” said Kathleen Hadekel, an attorney who has been assisting the couple. No date for the hearing has been set.

In what is being called a groundbreaking ruling, a gay Calgary, Alberta man has been granted legal parent status in place of his ex-partner, the child’s biological father. The Calgary Sun reports that in part of a five-year constitutional battle involving the now eight-year-old girl, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Susan Bensler ruled the man identified as H is a parent instead of his gay ex-partner, R. Remaining the other parent, stated Bensler in her October 12 decision, is the girl’s biological mother, D who along with R has been fighting the case against H. “Should Mr. R wish to pursue parental status ... he will be required to challenge the constitutionality of his limitation,” reads the ruling that includes a publication ban on names that could identify the child. But Bensler states the physical guardianship status of R, “who has acted as primary caregiver following separation” won’t be changed by the ruling. The two men split in 2006 and have since been locked in a court fight that H says has left him homeless and acting as his own lawyer. In her decision, Bensler noted H had served as one of two caregivers for the first three years of the girl’s life, adding she sees shortcomings in Alberta’s legislation regarding the rights of gay male parents, writing “It is clear that in the case at bar a legislative gap exists.” The ruling granting parenthood to a gay male non-biological figure amid two separate guardians is unheard of in this country, said Edward McCann, lawyer for R and D. “It is fair to say it’s unprecedented in Canada ... the judge’s decision has to be respected,” said McCann, who added that H failed to achieve most of what he sought, with H admitting his bid to strip D of guardianship failed. “But our case is pushing” reforms to Alberta’s Family Law Act towards equal rights for gay male parents, said H. His current partner, G, said their fight continues for the parental recognition of non-biological gay men in Alberta. “In a 2005 case involving two gay females, the government didn’t appeal,” said G. The fight, said H who insists he hasn’t seen his daughter in 4-1/2 years, has been difficult for him and the girl. “It’s a gong show — my daughter doesn’t know who I am,” he said. “The kid’s been ripped apart.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he is concerned about statements made by Viki Knox, a high school teacher who’s anti-gay Facebook comments set off a debate about free speech and gay rights. "I think that kind of example is not a positive one at all to be setting for folks who have such an important and influential position in our society," Christie said this morning on 770 WABC Radio. "I'm really concerned about those kinds of statements being made." The Star-Ledger reports that Christie said he finds the comments "disturbing." The uproar over Knox began two weeks ago when she posted comments on her public Facebook page critical of a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month display at Union High School. The special-education teacher with more than 20 years of experience went on to describe homosexuality as “a perverted spirit” and “a sin that breeds like cancer.” The district launched an investigation last week to determine whether Knox’s conduct violated any school policies. The teacher retained an attorney Friday through her union, the New Jersey Education Association. In an earlier post, Knox had called on students in her Seekers Fellowship Bible study group to pray. “Well, the enemy is making it clear and plain as day what Seekers Fellowship needs to pray about/against,” Knox wrote beneath a photo of the display. Christie, who was asked to comment on the brewing controversy, used as an opportunity to discuss his call to overhaul teacher evaluations and do away with the current tenure system. Christie has called for a review process that includes in-classroom evaluations and standardized tests to re-approve teachers every three years instead of life-time tenure, and added "I would like to see an examination of how that teacher conducts herself in the classroom."

A Spanish town is offering gay couples fast-track marriages before a likely November election win by the conservative Popular Party, which opposes same-sex marriage. The AFP reports that the mayor of the small south-western town of Jun, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, said he offered the service across Spain after hearing from gay couples fearing a change in the law after the November 20 vote. "People are very afraid, they are starting to realise that there could be a real change and they will lose a hard-fought right," the Socialist mayor told AFP. "I felt it was important to reassure people and find a way so that people who want to get married could do so," he said. Rodriguez said the town had received 52 requests from same-sex couples wanting to be married in the past week after he announced on Twitter he would offer speedy gay marriages before the general election. The town of just over 4,000 residents carried out just 11 same-sex marriages during all of 2010. The wedding applications are handled entirely online in about five days, complete with marriage certificate delivered by e-mail. The mayor said he had made the town's park available for wedding ceremonies but the vast majority of couples opt for the electronic marriage and would not need to set foot in Jun. Under Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain has been on the vanguard of Europe in terms of gay rights. In 2005 -- a year after Zapatero was first elected -- Spain passed a law to allow same-sex marriages, making it only the third member of the European Union after Belgium and the Netherlands to do so. The law, part of the ruling Socialists aggressive agenda for social reform, also lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each other's property. Since then more than 20,000 gay couples have tied the knot. The conservative Popular Party, which is riding high in the polls, has appealed the same sex marriage law to Spain's Constitutional Court. Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy has pledged to reform the same-sex marriage law if elected but as the general election has neared he has stressed that any legislative action will come only after the court issues its ruling. Polls show two-thirds of Spaniards back same-sex marriage, one of the highest levels of support in Europe.

Joe Manganiello and his smoking sexy body spotted on the beach.