J u s t o u t T O ic tm b tr 1900 T 7 world briefs CANADA: Gay and lesbian partners of Toronto city employees are eligible for city medical and dental insurance following an Octo­ ber vote by the City Council. Activists had ar­ gued that failure to extend the benefits would have violated the Ontario Human Rights Code, which bans discrimination based on sexual orien­ tation. (Xtra!) CANADA: The Saskatchewan Human Rights commission has accepted a complaint against Regina police chief Ernie Reimer by the Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee. Reimer refused to issue a permit for July’s gay-pride parade be­ cause he felt not enough people would show up to make a police escort necessary. The com ­ plaint against the police falls under laws guaran­ teeing freedom of expression and assembly. (Perceptions) CANADA: The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission got tired of waiting for the province to pass a gay-rights law and in September an­ nounced that henceforth every provincial non­ discrimination statement that includes the word “sex” will be interpreted as including “sexual orientation.” (Perceptions) CANADA: Craig Russell, star of the semi- autobiographical films Outrageous and Too Out­ rageous, died in late October of AIDS complica­ tions; he was 42. CHINA: A report in the Belgian newspaper Liberation, says that Canton and Shanghai are “paradise for gays.” But don’t get caught in paradise. Gays in China are still “treated” with electroshock and forced vomiting, according to The New York Times. COSTA RICA: Central America has its sec­ ond gay and lesbian newspaper. Volume 1, number 1 of Confidencial may only be two pages, but so was The Advocate once. C Z E C H O SL O V A K IA : ILGA Secretary General John Clark addressed the First Congress of the HelsinkiCitizens’ Assembly in Prague in late October and, as a result, the group added dis­ crimination protections for gays and lesbians to its human-rights agenda for Europe. CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Members of the na­ tional gay-rights group Lambda Union have se­ cured the promise of a meeting with top govern­ ment ministers, following lobbying by British activists at October’s Helsinki Citizens’ Assem­ bly conference in Prague. DENMARK: As Danish gays and lesbians celebrated the first anniversary of their first-in- the-world gay marriage law in October, govern­ ment figures showed that 700 couples tied the knot in the first year — 125 female and 575 male. June 28, a government lawyer and a Copen­ hagen police officer were married at City Hall. As the couple exited the ceremony onto Copenhagen’s central square, eight city police officers removed their hats and created a canopy for the grooms to walk under. “It is guaranteed,” said Police Inspector Jens Bocscn, “that this was the first time in world history that uniformed police officers have paid the same attention to the commitment of a registered partnership between two people of the same sex.” ENGLAND: Justin Fashanu, the first British soccer player ever to be paid one million pounds ($1.92 million), has come out of the closet — the first professional British sports figure to do so. ENGLAND: Following union pressure, the British Library in October extended spousal benefits to staffers’ gay/lesbian domestic part­ ners. ENGLAND: ACT UP/London has called a boycott of the Texaco oil company to protest the corporation’s policy of testing all job applicants for HIV and refusing to hire anyone who tests positive. ENGLAND: The British Film Institute has awarded its highest honor, a fellowship, to gay Filmmaker Derek Jarman. Only 20 people have received the coveted award, which honors “out­ standing personalities from the worlds of film and television [for] their unique contributions to the moving-image culture.” Jarman, who has AIDS, told the audience that he suspected he received the award because “they’re not sure if I’ll be around next year.” GERM A NY: Half of the gay bars in Co­ logne have stopped selling Marlboro cigarettes at the request of ACT UP/Kfiln, which is pushing the Marlboro boycott in solidarity with ACT UP chapters in the U.S. GERM ANY: A recent survey by the Uni­ versity of Frankfurt am Main for the Ministry of Health found that half of 903 West German gay men said they use condoms. A 1981 survey showed that only two percent of gay men used condoms. ITALY: Film actor Ugo Tognazzi, 68, who starred in La Cages AuxFolles, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in late October in Rome. Tognazzi was considered one of Italy’s leading comic ac­ tors.. NETH ER LA N D S: The Dutch parliament will eventually vote on a national gay-rights law, following recent preliminary agreement between the Socialist and Christian Democrat parties. At present, negotiations are hung up on the Chris­ tians’ request that churches which do not want to hire gay teachers be exem pted from the law. (Tels Quels) NORW AY: As Americans begin planning for 1994’s 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the Norwegian national gay organization and the Swedish national gay organization are wrapping up their 40th anniversary celebrations. Denmark’s national gay organization is 42 years old, and Holland’s national organization is 43 years old. The very first modem-style gay activ­ ism probably took place in Berlin. According to historians, gay pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld’s Scientific Humanitarian Committee, founded in 1987, canvassed political parties, staged public debates and published books and pamphlets in defense o f the rights o f “U ranians.” Adolph Hitler’s forces burned the Committee’s library and academic institute 35 years later, wiping out gay activism in Germany for the next 15 years. PERU: The Maoist Shining Path guerrillas were responsible for 30 anti-gay murders in 1989, according to human-rights organizations interviewed by Gai Pied. The guerrillas are most active in Peru’s rural High Plains. All village shamans are gay, Gai Pied reported, "and every­ one accepts it.” The gay witch doctors are be­ lieved to be able to bring rain and cure illness. The guerrilla’s anti-gay campaign coincides with passage of a new law mandating HIV testing of all people at high risk for AIDS. The law takes effect Jan. 1. SO UTH A FRICA : The African continent saw its first gay-pride parade OcL 13 when about 800 gays and lesbians marched through neigh­ borhoods o f Johannesburg. The marchers were 70 percent white and 30 percent people of color, Nkoli said. As the parade stepped off, rain be­ gan. “But it was so exciting, we just marched through the rain— blowing whistles, chanting slogans, and we had these big puppets for the march,” Nkoli said. SOUTH AFRICA: Winnie Mandela and her bodyguards from the Mandela United Football Club have been charged in a 1988 gay-bashing attack on four boys, one of whom died, accord­ ing to Gai Pied. Mrs. Mandela “is said” to have helped with the beatings, Gai Pied reported. USSR: An estimated 800 men are im pris­ oned yearly under Russia’s male sodomy law, says Moscow gay activist Roman Kalinin, who visited the U.S. in November. Kalinin also re­ ported that the Soviet Union produces and im ­ ports only enough condoms for each sexually active male to purchase four per year, and that the condoms often break. Returning home in early December, Kalinin said his first priority was the formation of ACT UP/Moscow. Next July, about 100 American gay and lesbian activ­ ists will travel to Moscow and Leningrad to help stage the Soviet Union’s first gay-pride parades. USSR: The Moscow Gay and Lesbian Union has managed to register its newspaper, Tema. This is a watershed event, as it will now have access to typographic equipment and other scarce resources. ZIM BABW E: The Health Ministry has or­ dered 5,000 wooden peruses as props for condom demonstrations, reports Gai Pied. just out — Oregon’s Discover the Fine Art of American Craft lesbian and gay newsmagazine for 7 great years! A'. W. Indian The Real Mother Goose A Shop and Gallery Eastside_____ Downtown Portland Airport ‘v 901 S.W. Yamhill (503) 284-9929 (,503) 223-9510 Westside______ Washington Square (,503) 620-2243 designs leather containers and m il art by Steve Evans. ‘Mars 2 5 3 -5 4 2