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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
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