june 2.2000 '
rium 'inew s
AUSTRALIA
INDIA
n a probable national first, a public-service
announcement dealing with gay hate assault
aired on television in the state of Tasmania in
mid-May.
The ad depicts a gay man talking about being
the victim of a hate crime and ends with mes
sages about public safety.
The 30-second spot is part of a series of PSAs
on safety in public places produced by the Com
mon Ground Project.
“Gay and lesbian people are at high risk of
assault, both in terms of numbers of incidents
and the violence of these incidents,” said project
coordinator Lynn Lee.
ne hundred ten gay and lesbian activists
from around India gathered near Mumbai
this month for a three-day conference titled
Looking into the Next Millennium.
Addressing the opening session, actress and
television talk show host Kiron Kher urged:
“You must fight for your rights. You need to
make your intentions clear and come public
with your sexual preferences rather than spoil
another’s life.”
Kher apparently was referring to opposite-sex
spouses who unknowingly marry homosexuals.
Dr. Alka Gogte of the Maharashtra District
AIDS Control Society agreed that coming out is
the answer.
“No one will understand your problems till
you speak for yourself,” she told the conferees.
I
CANADA
anada’s broadcasting watchdog agency
blasted U.S. radio talk show host Dr. Laura
Schlessinger on May 10, saying her homophobic
statements could ignite anti-gay violence.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
denounced Schlessinger for calling gays “abnor
mal,” "aberrant," “deviant,” “disordered,” “dys
functional” and “an error.”
She is “abusively discriminatory” and in
violation of Cana
da’s broadcasting
code, the council
said, adding that
S c h l e s s i n g e r ’s
anti-gay positions
are “fatuous and
unsustainable."
The
ruling
requires radio sta
tions to cease
broadcasting any
comments
by
Schlessinger that
breach the broad
casting code, CBSC head Ron Cohen said.
Other programs that have faced crackdowns
include The Howard Stem Show (which is now
broadcast with a time delay to allow deletions),
the Jerry Springer Show (also time-delayed) and
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which was
banned in Canada due to excessive violence.
C
tatistics Canada will count gay couples in
next year’s census.
All Canadians will be asked if they are living
in a common-law partnership, defined as “two
people of the opposite sex or of the same sex
who live together as a couple but who are not
legally married to each other.”
A follow-up question requires the person fill
ing out the form to define his or her relationship
to the other people in the household, with one
of the choices being “common-law partner
(same sex) of person 1.”
S
O
I t ' s
SOUTH AFRICA
n May 10, the gay magazine OUTright won
the mainstream Mondi Paper Magazine
Award for Best Fashion Editorials of 1999.
“The impact of Daniel
S
Somerville’s two entries—
‘Episode 1 (and a half)’ and
‘Loop’ in OUTright—is so
visually powerful that
the judges’ deci
sion was unani
mous,” said judge
Sue Grant-Mar
shall. “The photog
raphy, styling, layout,
design and origi
nality of the
entries came
together in a
strong fash
Daniel Somerville
ion
state
ment. Men’s fashion is nearly always challeng
ing, and Daniel and his team have broken new
turf with their win.”
O
tíme
TO R E ÍR E s h
youR
M EM O R y
One With Heart
17298579
Martial Arts Institute
SE 43rd & Hawthorne
_______________________________
231-1999
UNITED KINGDOM
lasgow, Scotland’s City Council temporari
ly suspended all funding of gay groups May
12 after a citizen filed suit charging the city with
violating Section 28 of the Local Government
Act, a 10-year-old United Kingdom law that
prohibits cities from “intentionally promotling]
homosexuality” or teaching "the acceptability of
bom osexuality
as a pretended
family relation
ship” in schools.
Among the
defunded groups
are HIV Carers,
the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard, the Glasgay
arts festival, the MCT Theatre Company and
the West of Scotland Lesbian and Gay Forum.
G
UKRAINE
EGYPT
uthorities arrested two men in Zagazig who
were discovered to have gotten “married"
by signing a private contract, the Cairo Times
reported April 21.
Mumin S., 38, was charged with a "violation
of honor by threat.” His lover, Amir
Mohammed Saber Abduh Ali, age 18 or 19, was
charged with immoral and indecent behavior
but was later released.
According to the Times, Ali told police the
relationship had been going on for a year and a
half while he worked in the older man’s com
puter games store. But Ali claimed the relation
ship was not one of mutual consent because he
had been “tricked” into it.
Although the contract has no standing in
the eyes of the law, Mumin S. faces up to six
years in prison if convicted of forcing Ali to
have sex against his will.
A
ovemment officials continue to beleaguer
Jf the Our World Gay and Lesbian Center in
Lugansk, the center reports.
In the latest incident, the Tax Inspection
agency ruled that the organization must pay 30
percent tax on grants it receives because it does
not engage in educational, cultural, scientific
and health care activities.
Our World officers say their group does
exactly those types of work and their grants
should therefore be tax-free. They have filed suit
to reverse the ruling.
A year ago, Our World was denied govern
ment registration as a nonprofit organization.
The center sued, won and was registered.
■ Compiled by R ex WOCKNER, who has reported
for 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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