march
X
2000 •
l’iU ii j « m e w s
AUSTRALIA
CANADA
een-age bashers have beaten at least seven
gay men in Melbourne’s cruisy Alma Park
recently, police said Feb. 10.
The police force has responded with a special
operation to patrol the park after dark.
According to news reports, several closeted
married men also have been bashed but did not
report the attacks for fear their wives would
learn they have homosexual sex.
he federal government introduced legisla
tion to grant same-sex couples all the ben
efits given common-law opposite-sex couples.
The measure, which was introduced Feb. 11,
also extends to same-sex and straight common-
law couples many marriage rights that neither
group currently has.
The bill is a response to a string of recent
court decisions. The legislation will rewrite
more than 60 federal laws in areas ranging from
pensions and insurance to income tax and
prison visits.
“This is a historic day for our communities,”
says Kim Vance, president of the national lobby
group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Every
where. “The federal government has recognized
in unequivocal terms the right of same-sex cou
ples to equal treatment before the law.”
Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia
already give gay and lesbian couples the rights
accorded common-law opposite-sex couples.
T
BRAZIL
kinheads in Sao Paulo killed a gay man in
the city’s Republic Plaza on Feb. 6 by beat
ing him with brass knuckles and kicking him
with steel-toe boots while they shouted anti-gay
epithets.
S
E .IronITrnr
COVARDIA
É F ICAR CAI. ADO
T
FINLAND
innish voters elected a former head of a
national gay group as president of the nation
Feb. 6.
Tarja Halonen was president of SETA, a
national gay organization, in the early 1980s.
She now has a male partner, Pentti Arajarvi.
Halonen, 56, is a Social Democrat with a
radical past as a follower of revolutionary icon
C he Guevara. She is popular among left
wingers, union members and communists.
F
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F i ' j i j j ■! i F r f ' . i M i i : j -
t
A poster for a Feb. 12 rally in the Sao Paulo,
Brazil, plaza where Edson Neris da Silva was
murdered by gay-bashers six days earlier
Dog trainer Edson Néris da Silva, 35, died in
a nearby hospital shortly after the attack.
Police promptly swooped down on a nearby
bar and arrested 30 people. Those who were
adults were charged with aggravated homicide
and illegal congregation. Witnesses have fin
gered three of the adults as participants in the
beating.
Gay groups, politicians and human rights
activists staged a large anti-violence rally Feb.
12 at the site of Silva’s death.
According to activists, 1,600 gays and trans
vestites have been murdered in Brazil in the past
10 years.
- 5 -
razilian soccer legend Pelé has acknowl
edged that his first sexual experience was
with a man, the London Evening Standard
reported Feb. 2.
“It was with a homosexual,” Pele said. “I was
scarcely 14- But let’s be fair, it
wasn’t just my thing. It was
with a homosexual that all our
team used to go out with. But
after that 1 never again started
this type of relationship.”
B
many human rights treaties. The European
Court of Human Rights settles violations of the
convention.
The council is governed by the foreign min
isters of its member states who form its decision
making body, the Committee of Ministers, and
by representatives from national parliaments,
who make up its Parliamentary Assembly.
PANAMA
he gay and lesbian group New Men’s and
Women’s Association of Panama has been
denied official registration.
Government and Justice Minister Winston
Spadafora says the group’s goals run contrary to
the nation’s morals and customs.
T
UNITED KINGDOM
B
ritain’s House of Lords has blocked repeal of
Section 28, a 10-year-old law that prohibits
cities from “intentionally promot[ing] homosex
uality” or teaching “the acceptability of homo
sexuality as a pretended family relationship” in
schools.
The Lords’ 201-165 vote,
which occurred Feb. 8, was a
big defeat for Prime
Minister Tony
Blair’s Labour
government,
which has
promised to
get rid of
the statute.
INTERNATIONAL
P
arliamentarians from across Europe voted
Jan. 26 to recommend that anti-gay dis
crimination be banned via the European
Convention on Human Rights.
The vote occurred as the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly reviewed a draft of a
new “Convention Protocol” put
forward by the council’s gov
erning body, the Commit
tee of Ministers.
T he recommenda
tion now moves back
to the committee for / f s * .
consideration.
T he Council of
Europe’s main role is
to strengthen democ
racy, human rights and
the rule of law through-
\
out its 41 member states.
Founded in the wake of World
War 11, it is the continent’s most
important human rights organization.
T he European Convention on Human
Rights is the most significant of the council’s
Air Force for being gay, was awarded a $16,000
payout Feb. 2 in the wake of the European Court
of Human Rights ruling that struck down the
nation’s military gay ban.
Technician Michael Stalker, 27, was booted
from the Air Force in 1998. His discrimination
complaint was scheduled to go before an
employment tribunal at the end of February.
Opponents say they will not repeal the sec
tion unless it is replaced with another law that
regulates the teaching of sexuality in schools.
“The government cannot get past the
House of Lords, and they cannot put
this on the statute book until the
Lords agree,” said Member of Par
liament Stuart Bell.
Ordinarily, Britain’s elected
House of Commons can vote to
overrule the unelected House of
Lords, but not this time, since the
bill originated with the Lords.
Meanwhile, anti-Section 28
protesters halted traffic in Piccadilly
Circus the day of the vote by hijacking
a double-decker bus and painting it pink.
man from Drongan, Scotland, who was
kicked out of the United Kingdom’s Royal
According to the Glasgow Daily Record and
Sunday Mail, Ministry of Defence bosses are
bracing for a flood of similar settlements with
other gays who were kicked out of the military.
VATICAN CITY
he Vatican is irritated by gay activists’ plans
to stage World Pride Rome 2000 during the
Roman Catholic Holy Year.
Thousands of gay men and lesbians are
expected to descend on the city June 28 to July
9 for the festivities, which will include a large
parade.
O n Jan. 28, the pope’s No. 2 man, Vatican
Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano,
urged the Rome city government to ban World
Pride because thousands of Catholic pilgrims
will be in the city at the same time.
“Rome is...a city apart because of the pres
ence of the Roman Pontiff,” Sodano said. “1 am
sure the authorities will reconsider the matter.
T he civil authorities know how to deal with
public order. They know the rules and know
how to avoid things that can harm the sensibil
ities of a city such as Rome.”
T he city has given $180,000 to pride orga
nizers to help fund cultural activities, and Mayor
Francesco Rutelli said Jan. 28 that the event
continues to have his support.
“You might not go along with the gay pride
event, but it would be a mistake to ban it,” he
said. “Rome has a millennium-old code of wel
come and respect that won’t change in 2000.”
T
■ Com piled by R ex W c 'OCNER, who has reported
fo r the gay press since 1985. He has a bachelor’s
degree in journalism from Drake University and
started his career as a radio reporter.
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