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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1996)
4 ▼ octob*r 18. IM O ▼ just out ' D W a v i d P .C . & A S . S O v -:: oiid briefs O w C I A e n s T E S sen inx the a immunity since /975 2 ) a nf</ (D iren i f {/ f * \ / ^ / o n n e 'S ro u A tto r n eys 503-289-9497 8527 N Lombard, Portland Across the ❖ ❖ A dvising Businesses REAL ESTATE • PORTLAND’S Dom estic Partnership A do ptions D ivorce & Modifications BAN KR UPTCY ■ ❖ L aw F A M IL Y L A W • ■ « ❖ at H o m e Purchase Reviews W IL L S & T R U S T S ■ Conservatorship & G uardianship • A dva nce Directives ❖ L A N D L O R D R IG H T S ❖ B U S IN E S S F O R M A T I O N & L IT IG A T IO N • Representation, purchase & sales • ❖ Collections couples before the federal government gets around to amending relevant legislation, such as the Income Tax Act and the Pension Benefits Stan dards Act, to bring it in line with the Human Rights Act alterations. A U S T R A L IA The state Parliament in Western Australia rejected a measure to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation Sept. 19. State Attorney General Peter Foss explained that outlawing discrimination against homosexu als would encourage intragender sex and infringe on the rights o f people who object to homosexu ality. T ▼ ▼ Fifteen gay men, lesbians and supporters marched behind a PFLAG banner in the Canada Day parade in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on July 1, reported Wayves, the gay and lesbian newspaper o f Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the first time sexual minorities openly marched in any parade in the province. Most o f the thousands o f spectators looked on indifferently or applauded or waved politely. A few cheered enthusiastically and a few made negative remarks, Wayves reported. ▼ T T Gay activists in the state o f Tasmania launched a federal High Court challenge against the state’ s sodomy law Sept. 10. The law, the last such statute in Australia, allows for 25 years’ imprisonment for the crime o f gay sex. It has been denounced by entities from the United Nations to Amnesty International to the Australian national government. The federal Human Rights and Equal Oppor tunity Commission is backing the lawsuit. C O S T A R IC A The Costa Rican gay group Triangulo Rosa has expanded to the Caribbean coastal city o f Limón. Initially, the group will host Sunday afternoon workshops on AIDS, gay rights and gay empower ment. Eventually, a sateilite office will be opened. The residents o f Limón, pop. 40,000, are mostly descended from Jamaican slaves who came to Costa Rica about 100 years ago. The economy is based on bananas and shipping. T ria n gu lo R o s a ’ s phone num ber is 0 1 1 -5 0 6 -2 3 4 -2 4 1 1 ; e-m ail the g rou p at rastem@sol.racsa.co.cr. B R IT A IN Members o f the activist group OutRage! pick eted Saudi dissident Muhammad Al-M ass’ ari and Islam ic fundamentalist leader Omar Bakri Mohammad during an Islamic rally at Speakers Comer in London’ s Hyde Park on Sept. 8. T A X IS S U E S & A P P E A L S 503 224 3100 R O M A N IA Romania’ s Chamber o f Deputies voted 165- 20 on Sept. 10 to set the penalty for pri vate gay sex acts at from six months to three years in prison. Gay sex that occurs in public or creates public scandal would be punished by up to five years in prison— as would homosexual organizing or pros elytizing. The measure differs from one passed by the Senate and thus was sent to a conference commit tee for reconciliation. The bill flies in the face o f demands from the Council o f Europe and the European Parliament that member nations— and specifically Roma nia— legalize homosexuality. A Communist-era law banning same-gender sex is in force in Romania. 101 SW MAIN. SUITE 700 • Portland. O regon 97204 1744 HE CLAtXAXAS STREET, PORTLAND OR ( 503 ) 331-1104 The rally was organized by Al-Muhajioum, a Muslim group that, according to OutRage!, “ in cites hatred and violence against Jews, homo sexuals and Hindus.” The protesters launched a “ queer jihad” against Islamic fundamentalism, declaring Omar Bakri guilty o f crimes against queer humanity. Omar Bakri responded by calling for extermi nation o f all homosexuals. Graceful, soft and delicate... T h e P alais R o y a l ▼ ▼ T The offices o f Britain’ s main sexual minority newspaper, The Pink Paper, were torched Sept. 7. Thirty separate fires were set in the building, and the editorial and production departments were destroyed. Damage was estimated at $350,000. The paper appeared on schedule Sept. 13, complete with photos o f melted computers and charred ruins. “ Clearly this was a carefully planned arson attack,” said a police spokesman. c o lle c tio n a b o u n d s w ith ev ery textu re, pattern and c o lo r im agin able. Create e v e ry d a y lu x u ry w ith pure T ▼ T A story line on the popular British television series EastEnders about a bisexual who falls for his girlfriend’ s brother has prompted a flood o f calls to gay switchboards from closeted men involved in straight relationships, reported London’ s The Pink E gyp tian co ttto n sh eets in lush and vib ra n t T A IW A N The mayor o f Taipei, Chen Shui-bian, will officiate at a November wedding o f two gay men, reported the news page o f the Planet Out World Wide W eb site. No further details were re ported. Chen also has in structed the city ’ s Cul ture and Information Division to help gay men and lesbians or ganize a dance in a city-owned building Paper. Hundreds o f men have called local help lines after each recent episode o f the three-night-a- week BBC drama. patterns. Enjoy the comfort F in e L in e n s a n d A c c e s s o r ie s FRENCH QUARTER I SW EDEN Swedish M em ber o f Parliament Barbro Westerholm will travel to Brazil on Nov. 5 to lobby for a same-sex-partnership bill introduced in the Brazilian parliament by Deputy Marta Suplicy. Polling shows that about 40 percent o f Brazil ians support a form o f same-gender marriage, with vocal opposition coming mostly from funda mentalist Protestants. Westerholm has a long history o f queer activ ism. In the late 1970s, as director o f the National Social Welfare Board, she removed homosexual ity from Sweden’ s official list o f medical illnesses. 1713 N E 1 5 th a t B r o a d w a y 2 8 4 -1 3 7 9 CANADA The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled Sept. 13 that Air Canada does not have to offer a survivor pension to the lover o f a gay employee. The airline already extends other benefits to part ners o f gay men and lesbians. The tribunal said Air Canada was not dis criminating under the Canadian Human Rights Act since employee Niels Laessoe’ s complaint was filed before the act was amended to ban bias based on sexual orientation. Further, the tribunal said, it would be unrea sonable— and probably unenforceable— to de mand that Air Canada offer pensions to same-sex ' I ‘V I * V ilM M 'w '| l in i U i i Earlier this year the city granted sexual mi norities a time slot on the city-owned radio station for a daily program. Compiled by Rex Wockner I J . i /< M # r* *» * • • • * *‘