'rii
august 18.2000
'mews
ntttr'6
JAPAN
bout 3,000 homosexuals
attended the first Lesbian
& Gay Day on July 30 at Tokyo
Disneyland, the Japan Times
reported.
Many wore red T-shirts with the slo
gan “July Pride 2000.” The day was organized
by gay journalist Shigenobu Umeki.
“1 believe places like Disneyland, which is
such a healthy, bright, family-oriented and com
mercial atmosphere, are the hardest ones for
gays to become completely open about them
selves," he said. “The event is an attempt to get
away from the usual nightclub events into places
under the bright sunshine without hiding their
sexual identity.”
A
AUSTRALIA
A man arrested for receiving oral sex from
J- !>. another man in a Brisbane park got his
case dismissed earlier this m onth after a court
ruled the act did not take place in public
because the public could not have seen it.
According to the Courier-
Mail, Magistrate Elizabeth
Hall ruled that, unlike the
police, ordinary citizens do
not
customarily
walk
around darkened parks
shining flashlights on other
people.
“T he police officers
would not have seen the
behavior before the torch
es were switched on,” she
said. “In my view, there is no
case to answer because the prose
cution did not produce any evi
dence to show that any member of
the public could have seen it.”
he state of Victoria’s ban on in-vitro fertil-
1 ization of single women, which recently
was struck down by the Federal Court, might be
reinstated if Australia’s government has any
thing to say about it. According to Prime Min
ister John Howard, “This issue involves over
whelmingly. .. the right of children in our society
to have the reasonable expectation, other things
being equal, of the affection and care of both a
mother and a father."
UNITED KINGDOM
he European C ourt of Hum an
I Rights struck down Britain’s ban on
male group sex July 31, saying it violated the
privacy rights guaranteed by the European
Convention on Human Rights.
A gay man who was charged under the
ban received almost $50,000 in damages
and costs. He had been convicted of gross
indecency in 1996 after police seized a
videotape from his home showing him
having sex with four other men.
Leading gay activist Peter Tatchell
commented: “This ruling spells the end of
the gross-indecency law, which was used to
convict Oscar Wilde in 1895. ...It is another
historic victory on the road to gay equality."
n other Oscar Wilde news, an unfinished
handwritten play he wrote has been found in
the University of California’s library by fan Neil
Kydd. A Wife’s Tragedy portrays a man who
betrays his wife with another woman.
It was written around the same time the gay
W ilde’s marriage to his wife, Constance, was in
serious trouble. “Things were really building to
a head in 1892, when he was completely
besotted with Lord Alfred Douglas,” Kydd told
the BBC.
]
Several days after the discovery, Wilde’s
grandson told Reuters the play was not previ
ously unknown.
“Wilde scholars have known
about this for years,” Merlin
Holland said. “It certainly
has not been dug out of a
deep and dusty vault. ...Peo
ple are forever discovering new
things about Wilde—supposedly.”
Columbia County’s Premier
Real Estate Resource.
Country living only 20 minutes
from downtown Portland.
3ohn i . Scott
ITALY
www.columbiacountyhome.com
he International Lesbian and Gay Associa
tion, a consortium of hundreds of organiza
tions from around the globe, staged its annual
conference in conjunction with the recent
World Pride Rome 2000 celebration. According
to spokesman Harold K(xxJen, “Since the con
ference was only for three days, it focused pri
marily on maximizing ILGA’s work in the
regions, networking and furthering its influence
in world conferences.”
New member groups attended from Latvia,
Pakistan, Albania and the Philippines. Kooden
said the association is “progressing with our
efforts for reinstatem ent as a n o n
governmental organization in the U nit
ed Nations.”
It lost U.N. consultative status
in the mid-1990s after anti-gay
U.S. politicians revealed that
not all of its member
groups oppose sexual con
tact between adults and
people below the world’s
varying ages of consent,
which range from 12 to 21. The
U nited Nations demanded the
association prove it is pedophile-free,
which it has been unable to do because of
internal politics.
KixxJen said finances “are still a constant
problem for ILGA. Our work is still being done
by volunteers and only two staff people who are
not paid full-time.”
Send e-mail to ilga@ilga.org for more
information.
Jenniferpugsley@ johnlscott.com
503-543-3751 (o) 503-313-8130 (c)
W HO’S R EA D Y FO R A
CAREER
CHANGE?
e-Commerce Fulfillment
Call Center & Customer Service
Administrative & Office Support
Semiconductor Cleanroom Production
Sales & Management Professionals
IT. IS. and Creative Talent
CDR has great jobs available NOW!
Contact us to schedule an interview.
We want to meet you, not just your
resume! CDR International specializes
in finding just the right position that
suits your experience, skills and goals.
INTERNATIONAL
PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL STAFFING
CANADA
lesbian relationship has been removed
from the North American version of the
Japanese television cartoon series Sailor Moon,
Ottawa’s Capital Xtra! reported.
Optimum Productions, the
Ontario company in charge of the
English-language version of the show,
said it made the change in accor
dance with guidelines of the
Canadian Radio-Television
and Telecommunications
Commission.
But
a
spokesman for the agency
said it has no guidelines
on gay content in chil
dren’s programming.
In the third of Sailor
Moon’s five seasons on
Japanese television, the
lesbian couple Uranus and
Neptune debuted. In the
English version of the pro
gram, they have been dubbed
and edited into cousins.
Optimum Productions changed another
character, Zoicite, from male to female because
broadcasters feared viewers would intuit a gay
relationship between him and the character
Malachite, Xtra! said.
A
■ 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.
North
Portland
Veterinary
Hospital
Like any family member
our pets need good healthcare.
At North Portland Veterinary
Hospital, we provide the very
best medical care along with
big doses of tenderness
and compassion.
Body Piercing
Salon
310 SW 4th Ave
285-0462
243-1127
2009 N.Kiliingsworth
www.knighterrant.com/annala
17