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ROMANIA
gay man from Romania lost his hid for asy
lum in the United Kingdom on Nov. 1.
The high court agreed Gahi Ragman, 25, had
been mistreated because of his homosexuality
hut mled he did not have a “well-founded fear of
persecution" as required by the Geneva Conven
tion. If mistreatment was all that was required to
win asylum, then every openly gay Romanian
would likely qualify, Justice Scott Baker said.
“The right protected by the convention is
not a right to practice as a homosexual," he
wrote. “It is the right not to suffer persecution
for doing so. [There can] he various degrees of
hostility towards homosexuals that nevertheless
fall short of persecution.”
Before he left Romania, Ragman was called
before a student assembly at his university and
told by the institution’s director that he had
brought shame on the school because of his sex
ual orientation. Administrators told him he
could finish his degree in physical education
teaching but never would he allowed to teach
because he would be “a danger to children.”
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esbians in Sydney get sexually trans
mitted diseases as often as straight
women, a study by the Alice Springs’
Sexual Health Unit has found.
Both groups had equal rates of herpes and
genital warts, while lesbians had higher rates of
bacterial vaginosis and hepatitis C. Only 7 per
cent of the self-identified lesbians never had had
sex with a man.
The study looked at the medical and sexual
histories of 1,408 lesbians and 1,423 heterosex
ual women from 1991 to 1998. It appears in the
journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
L
Millynn James
2100 NE Broadway,
A
bout 50 percent of Australian gay men
who catch HIV are getting it from their
boyfriends or lovers, not from casual sexual part
ners, according to a study by the National C en
ter in HIV Social Research, Capital Q reported.
Researchers said: “The most common rea
sons given by men in regular relationships for
their seroconversions were couched in terms of
love and intimacy and in terms of a breakdown
in trust and communication. Assumptions are
made on HIV status based on nothing, or failed
communication.
"In many of these cases, people are throwing
away condoms before negotiations about their
HIV status.... The most striking thing is that
seroconversions within relationships occur very
early in a relationship.”
Dr. Andrew Grulich, a spokesman for the
National Center in HIV Epidemiology and
Clinical Research, added, “Not using
condoms within a couple of weeks of
meeting someone is not an effective
safe-sex strategy.” In many, cases,
partners who seroconverted were
aware their lover was HIV-positive,
the study found.
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EUROPE
he Council of Ministers of the 15-nation
European Union outlawed employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation
Oct. 17.
Member countries will have three years to
implement the mandate in their national laws.
The members of the EU are Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Por
tugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The ministers also banned discrimination
based on religion, belief, age and disability. Jack
ie Lewis, International Lesbian and Gay Associ
ation European co-chairwoman, called the new
law “historic.”
T
“It is arguably the most important law ever
introduced in relation to sexual orientation dis
crimination,” she said. “It will lead to the ban
ning of all aspects of employment discrimina
tion first in the 15 European Union member
states and then in a further 13 countries as those
countries currently applying to join the Euro
pean Union become members.”
UNITED KINGDOM
O
ne of Britain’s most prominent Hindu
priests was murdered O ct. 20, and police
say his secret gay life is a main area of investiga
tion. The body of Harish Purohit, 42, was found
stabbed 13 times at an empty house in Leicester.
“We know he led a double life,” Detective
Superintendent Bryan Warraker told the British
Broadcasting Corp. “He had a happy domestic
home life hut also had a separate social
lifestyle.... From the information we have, Har
ish had a lot of male friends that he went to
meet and engage with in the evenings."
Purohit was president of the Hindu Federa
tion and secretary of the National Association of
Hindu Priests. His wife, Anjana Joshi, told the
Times she was aware of his evening activities.
“O f course I knew about it,” she said. “But I
respected his wishes, and he was always a loving
husband.
“He was an incredible person, and he has left
a big hole in the life of all his family. Whoever
chose to take his life was totally selfish and evil
beyond belief."
T
he boyfriend of the first openly gay officer
in Britain’s Royal Navy has been fully
accepted as a naval spouse.
Lt. Cmdr. Craig Jones’ partner, Adam, has
attended formal dinners on his ship, the HMS
Northumberland, and recently flew to the
Mediterranean with Navy wives to visit their
husbands in port. The European Court of
Human Rights struck down Britain’s ban on
gays in the military last year.
SWITZERLAND
he Swiss government
has appointed Justice
Minister Ruth Metzler to
draft a registered partnership
bill for gay couples.
The measure is expected
to grant registered partners a
large number of the rights and
obligations of marriage, includ
ing adoption rights and access to
medically assisted procreation. It also might give
immigration rights to foreign lovers.
The process of enacting the law could take sev
eral years. Gay couples have almost all the rights of
marriage in Denmark, France, Greenland, Iceland,
the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Vermont.
IRELAND
I providers
of goods and services in Ireland
1 cannot discriminate based on sexual orien
tation under a law that took effect Oct. 25. The
Equal Status Act bans unfair treatment based on
gender, age, marital and family status, religion,
race, sexual orientation, disability or member
ship of the Traveller community (an apparent
reference to Gypsies).
Enforcement will be carried out by the
Office of the Director of Equality Investiga
tions, which can impose fines and mandate
remedial action. Ireland already bans employ
ment discrimination based on the same nine
characteristics. j n
Com piled by R ex WOCKNER, who has report
ed for the gay press since 19 8 5 . He has a bache
lor's degree in journalism from Drake University
and started his career as a radio reporter.