A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Church cannot be punished for anti-gay protest
WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court, saying even hurtful speech is protected by the constitution, has ruled that members of a Kansas church cannot be punished for staging an anti- homosexual demonstration at a military funeral.
The judges, voting eight to one, said a lower court was right to throw out a $5 million award to a man who said the demonstration marred his son’s funeral. The protesters, from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, had signs saying God was killing US soldiers to punish the country for accepting homosexuality. – (Bloomberg)
Jailed transgenders to dress as they like
BERLIN – Jailed transgender men and women in Germany will be able to wear whichever clothes they want after a court ruled on Tuesday that personal rights superseded security concerns when it came to clothes.
An incarcerated transgender man first brought the case to court because a state prison would not let him wear women’s clothing, as he had done before entering prison. – (Reuters)
Call to modernise British monarchy
LONDON – A Labour politician has called on Prince William to support a campaign to modernise the British monarchy to give any daughters he has with future bride Kate Middleton the same rights as any sons.
Tristram Hunt MP said the prince and heir to the throne should lend his weight to attempts to overhaul the 300-year-old Act of Settlement law, which asserts the primacy of male heirs to the British throne. – (Reuters)