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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1999)
augusta 1999 » Ja ttf M tj2 1 tWTïïFInews A U S TR A LIA IN D IA he world’s only openly gay justice of a court of final appeal broke his silence July 2 dur ing a conference on recognition of same-sex partnerships. Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby came out in April by listing his male partner of 30 years in the 1999 edition of Who’s Who in Australia , but had refused further comment. Now, in a 30-page speech to legal scholars, Kirby said, among much else: “People are not fools. Once they recognize the overwhelming commonalities of shared human experience, the alienation and demand for adherence to shame crumbles.... Once they know friends or family members are gay, the hatred tends to melt. In the wake of the changing social attitudes inevitably come changing laws: statutes made by parliaments as well as the common law made by judges.” n July 2, 15 gay men and lesbians staged a Friendship Walk in Calcutta, visiting the offices of various nongovernmental and commu nity-based organizations to teach them about the significance of the Stonewall Riots. The walk— the nation’s first pride event— was organized by LGBT India, an um brella group of homosexu al organiza tions. “Our goal was clearly not to create any tensions in the already fragmented society that we live in,” said LGBT India’s Owais Khan. “It was rather to provide a healing touch to the wider Indian community by integrating Indians through love.” Gay leader Ashok Row Kavi commented: “Between 30 and 50 million men and women with same-sex attraction cannot be wished away or denied their right of freedom to love each other. Calcutta had been chosen because it was a city where revolutions started. What [the state of West] Bengal thinks and does today, the rest of India takes up tomorrow.” T D EN M A R K he Ministry of Culture has funded a Guide to Gay and Lesbian Denmark ’99, produced by the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians. Among the English-language publication’s more colorful passages: “If you come to Den mark secretly hoping to be raped and ravaged by a raucous band of longhaired, broad-shouldered Viking queers, forget it. Danish gays are pretty much a neatly coifed, reserved group fairly indis tinguishable from their straight countrymen.” The authors go on to explain: “That’s because Denmark is very tolerant of homosexu als, making the need for a separate political or cultural identity mostly unnecessary. In Den mark, gay men have most of the same rights as other citizens, including the right to marry in a civil ceremony. That said, there is still lots of fun, e.g. parties, cruising and sex, to be had for the passing tourist. There are clubs, bars, parks, cinemas and toilets— as described in other sec tions of this periodical—catering to every taste and desire.” T G ER M A N Y I n a recent letter to a fellow Cabinet member, Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping said gays are unfit to hold leadership positions in the army. “Homosexuality justifies considerable doubts about suitability and excludes soldiers from posts entailing leadership, training and education,” Scharping wrote to Environment Minister Jur gen Trittin. The letter was leaked to the media. Trittin has championed the case of Lt. Win- fried Stecher, 29, who has filed a federal court case alleging he was not promoted because of his sexual orientation. O M O N G O LIA he country has its first gay organization, Tavilan (“destiny" in English). The group formed in response to police harassment and “improper sentencing proce dures that violated civilian rights,” organizers said. The 22 members have opened a small office in downtown Ulan Bator from which they plan to create a social network, communicate with foreign gay groups and educate the general pub lic. So far, they are offering a weekly social and weekend basketball and volleyball games, and they participated in the Run/Walk for AIDS. Mongolia, with a population of 2.5 million, is in central Asia between Russia on the north and China on the south. It is slightly larger than Alaska. T SO U TH A FR IC A O n July 5, about 300 demonstrators picket ed the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg in protest against Vice President A1 Gore’s alleged efforts to limit the nation’s access to cheap AIDS drugs. They carried signs reading “Gore greed kills” and “Stop U.S. bullying of poor countries.” Citing international law, South Africa enacted its own law in 1997— which Gore and some 40 drug makers have opposed— that lets the nation produce generic versions of AIDS medicines and makes it possible to buy them from countries where they are sold cheaply. “The American government is simply acting as a mouthpiece for the large pharmaceutical corporations," said Moma Cornell, one of the protesters. “They’re scared [that] Americans who pay so much for their medicines will turn around and say, ‘Hey, it’s cheaper over there.’ ” Gore has said he does not oppose South Africa’s efforts to make or import cheap AIDS drugs but that the country must not violate patent rights or international trade agreements in the process. SW ITZER LA N D he government has initiated a complex process that should result in recognition of same-sex couples next year. The most likely outcome will be a Scandina- vian-style registered-partnership law that grants most of the rights of matrimony. On June 21, the Legal Commission of the National Council expressed support for regis tered partnership by an 18-3 vote and rejected the notion of same-sex marriage by a 14-5 vote. T U N ITE D K IN G D O M n the aftermath of the bombing of London’s Admiral Duncan gay pub, Scotland Yard is creating a unit to monitor and investi gate attacks on gay men, lesbians, bisexu als and trans people. Metropolitan police officers are working with gay and lesbian leaders to launch the project, which also aims to improve relations between the cops and queers. Meanwhile, the Admiral Duncan reopened July 2, nine weeks to the minute after it was nail- bombed. Three people died and 86 were injured in the April 30 blast, which police blamed on a 23-year-old engi neer named David Copeland. At a brief ceremony, gay singer Boy George said: “Tonight is about so many things. It is about sadness and remembrance, but it is also about moving on. The opening of the Admiral I Duncan in just nine weeks sends out a powerful message to the small but very dangerous minor ity that wishes to terrorize and destroy London’s gay and ethnic communities.” The reconstructed pub features a sculpted light with three flickering candles and 86 twin kling bulbs. A plaque reads: “The Admiral Dun can will always remember our friends who were killed or seriously injured on April 30, 1999, at 6:37 p.m.” egendary English outlaw Robin Hood was likely gay, scholars said July 11. After studying 14th-century ballads that are the earliest known accounts of Hood’s deeds, Cardiff University litera ture professor Stephen Knight said he deter mined that Hood’s true love, Maid Marian, was fabricated by 16th- century authors to hetero- sexualize the hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His real love was prob ably Little John, Knight said. Cambridge University medieval history professor Barry Dobson agreed, telling reporters: “In the 12th century, homo sexuality was accepted, but in the 13th the church became much less tolerant and such people were driven underground.” One of the ballads, translated from Middle English, reads: “When Robin Hood was about twenty years old... / He happen’d to meet Little John / A jolly brisk blade, right fit for the trade, / For he was a lusty young man.” L -c*- ritish gay singer Sir Elton John, 52, had heart surgery July 9 at Wellington Hospital in north London. He was fitted with a pacemaker after falling ill on July 3 and learning he had an irregular heartbeat. “It came as a bit of a shock, but the operation was a simple procedure,” John said. “The only thing I really regret is canceling my shows.” He added: “Thank God for the British med ical system, because I went through every test known to man to find out exactly what was wrong. Initially I thought 1 had sunstroke.... 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