Gay Norwegian Muslims just got a little more religious space in which to roam. And we do mean a little.

The Islamic Council of Norway this week came out and said that gay Muslims should not live in the closet. Rather than hiding in the dark, Council leader Senaid Kobilica declared that gays should feel free to speak with their Imams.

And Imams, in turn, should be receptive to dialogue: "Most of all they need somebody to speak with. Imams must therefore be open to listen to homosexual Muslims. We recommend that everybody respect homosexuals and lesbians."

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It's a good day to be gay in Norway! The nation's parliament voted 84-41 today to legalize gay marriage and adoption, a direct reflection of the public's progressive politics. Here's the nitty-gritty:

Norway's parliament on Wednesday adopted a new marriage law that allows homosexuals to marry and adopt children and permits lesbians to be artificially inseminated.

After a heated debate, the members of parliament adopted the text by a vote of 84 to 41.

The three centre-left coalition parties in power and two opposition parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, voted largely in favour of the law, while the Christian Democrats and the far-right Progress Party voted against it.

Norway thus became the sixth country in the world to grant homosexuals the right to marry on an equal footing with heterosexuals, according to Norwegian television TV2.
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The most controversial part of the law is that which gives lesbians the right to be artificially inseminated. The sperm donor must be identified so that the child can seek out his or her biological father at the age of 18.

Yeah, a barely legal bastard child sounds bad, but then you can just have them make up for all the chores they missed!

Norwegians know what's up.

A recent survey found that 58% of the population approves of new legislation that will equalize gay marriage. Thirty-one percent, meanwhile, are against such a move, while a remarkable 11% simply don't know or don't care enough to answer. The majority of opposition came from the Christian Democrat Party, which should come as no surprise.

Gay groups are certainly gay over the news. Norwegian National Association of Lesbian and Gay Liberation leader Jon Reidar Øyan remarked, "We are very happy that such a large majority of the population wish to put an end to the discrimination of homosexuals and our children."

Norway's massive Lutheran church may have just stepped into a judicial mess of Biblical proportions. The Lutheran synod voted 50-34 to lift a 1997 ban on relationship-oriented queer clergy. Great, right? Of course, except for the fact that not all of the Norwegian bishops have to abide by the new rule:

Norway's state Lutheran church on Friday lifted an outright ban on allowing those living in homosexual partnerships to serve in the clergy, but will leave it up to each bishop to make individual decisions on whether to employ them.
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Varying practices in 11 bishops' districts could trigger lawsuits on whether different employment practices in the same organization violate anti-discrimination and labor laws.

"This is food for the Supreme Count [sic]," said synod delegate Hans Petter Jahre, a special legal adviser to the national prosecutor.

Gay lutheran Arne Groenningsaeter certainly didn't mind the constitutional conundrum, telling the press, "Finally, I can get rid of the feeling of having a B-team membership in the church!" You sure are, Arne, you sure are…

We get literally hundreds of emails everyday. Some are from publicists pleading for us to feature their products, quite a few emails are from readers requesting specific stories or music videos, about one or two come from our depleted pool of friends and the rest are mostly crap. Every once in a while, however, what looks like crap turns into gold.

A fashion publicist friend recently sent us what may be the best, most insane, delusion and utterly unbelievable rambling in history. Read it and weep with joy, after the jump…

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Norway's God loving gays got a bit of good news today.

A consultative panel for the nation's Lutheran Church voted 6-5 to allow gay preachers. The Australian elaborates:

Theological doctrine currently followed in the Norwegian church officially excludes people living in the a homosexual union from officiating at services.

Another Norwegian theological consultative body, the 20-member Laerenemnd, met in January 2006, but could not agree a course of action.

At least two openly gay men currently serve as ministers after they were hired by liberal bishops.

The paper also reports that the controversial matter will be debated at the Lutheran's next general Synod, November 12-17th.

Lesbians are twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as their heterosexual sisters, a new Norwegian study says. 42 percent of lesbians smoke compared with 27 percent of straight women.

"Although there is little Norwegian research on this area, American data indicate the same," Lund told Oslo daily Aftenposten, adding that the tobacco industry specially targeted lesbian and gay men to start smoking.

"The reason lesbian women smoke so much more than heterosexual women has an explanation. Cigarettes are used to cope with stress, a survival strategy," Lund said.

So, is this study for real or just bull? Next time we’re at a dyke bar we’ll keep our eyes peeled for proof. Who knows, maybe lesbians need something to suck on just like the rest of us.

Lesbians puff away [Page One Q]