Ì2QQ1 20 i'iU i H 'i n e w s y Office • • i 5 0 3 .2 9 7 .9 9 0 0 • New purchase • 100% equity loans • Pre-qualification by phone or fax • Refinance/cash out • Pre-approved loans • Residential, commercial & investment property • Appointm ents at your convenience Evenings / Weekends 5 0 3 .7 8 0 .1 5 6 1 Toll Free 1 .8 7 7 .8 2 6 .9 9 0 0 ,, colleenw(a>mtgad vocates.com www.mtgadvocates.com Colleen Weed JJA mortgage M A rW A Advocates 9900 S.W. Wilshire Street • Portland, Oregon 97225 C orn er o f Sandy Blvd. & N E 6 4th 3 1 0 6 N E 6 4 th P ortlan d, O R 9 7 2 1 3 Gifts fo r Romance in an Elegant Setting It 1 * My Plmtwt A riace o f R om antic Invention CANADA utch gay marriage legislation cleared its final hurdle in the Senate on Dec. 19 and will take effect in April. The new laws will allow same-sex couples to marry under the same statutes as heterosexuals and to adopt children. Although several nations have passed gay registered partnership laws, the Netherlands is the first to grant gay couples access to regular marriage. “We’re the first country in the world where there is no distinction made on the basis of gender,” said Onno Hoes of the national gay rights group COC. Dutch gays have had access to a registered partnership scheme since 1998. Gay couples will not be allowed to adopt foreign babies— because of the Dutch government’s fear of Third World homophobia— and couples from other coun­ tries, gay or straight, cannot marry in the Netherlands. The legislation was supported by the liber­ al and labor parties of the governing coalition, with additional support from left-wing opposi­ tion parties. The opposition Christian Demo­ crat party and small religious parties opposed the bills. The Vatican denounced the laws’ passage. “The Catholic church contests these revolu­ tionary innovations which in the name of free­ dom seek to legitimize a union regarded by the universal consciousness as going against nature,” the church said. “The family in its natural and Christian model is undergoing a serious affront and is losing its role as the base of society.” 7 ancouver’s Little Sister’s Book & Art V Emporium suffered “excessive and unnec­ essary prejudice” from Customs Canada officers who repeatedly seized gay erotica sent to the store, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled Dec. 15. The court rewrote Customs law to D T m available when you are!" J Email THE NETHERLANDS \ switch the burden of proof in obscenity cases from the importer to the government. “This changes in our view utterly the rela­ tionship of Canada to expression materials,” John Dixon of the British Columbia Civil Liberties A ssociation told the Canadian Press wire service. “From now on, it will be 503 280 8080 www.teleport.com/~pleasure Financial freedom and peace of mind Interested? Let me assist you with comprehensive financial planning and investment management Stocks Bonds Mutual Funds CD’s IRA’s and Roth IRA’s 401 (k) Rollovers Tax Advantaged Investments Kate Winslet (left) had no problem with same-sex nookie in 1994’s Heavenly Creatures UNITED KINGDOM H P itanic star Kate Winslet is upset that her G r if f o n F in a n c ia l G r o u p , LLC Financial and Estate Planning Services E-mail: alaferriere@rjfs.com 5440 SW Westgate Drive, Suite 110 Portland. OR 97221 Securities and financial planning offered exclusively through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member NASD/SIPC JL newly acquired $1.16 million home on a island in the Thames river in Surrey, England, is next door to a popular gay cruising spot, the Sun reported. “Every day dozens of homosexu­ al men cruise past her home, park around the comer and have sex with strangers,” the news­ paper said. According to a police spokesman, Winslet “said she had nothing against gay people and has lots as friends, but there is a big difference when men are driving past the front door and stopping 150 yards up the lane to have sex in the bushes. It is a one-way lane and she has to drive past them daily. We have said we will monitor the situation and send patrol cars down there.” A Sun reporter claimed to have been “beck­ oned” twice “by lone men standing by a tree.” “Two men climbed together into the hack of a camper van,” the newspaper said. “A search revealed scattered used condoms and gay pom magazines.” almost impossible to prove a book— the text— is obscene. That is an enormous ratch­ et forward.” Little Sister’s manager Janin Fuller called the ruling an “incredible indictment” against Customs’ “unscrutinized tyranny at the bor­ der.” The court’s decision was a 6-3 split with dissenting justices wanting to strike down entirely the laws under which the Customs service operates. Since 1984, officers seized material headed to Little Sister’s 261 times and destroyed it if the bookstore did not prove the material was not obscene. Now, they must release material after 30 days if the government has not proved it is obscene. The Little Sister’s case first went to court in 1994- Lower courts foumf that foreign erotica headed to the store was seized routinely while the same books and magazines often arrived safely at straight bookstores and, in some cases, were even on the shelves of British Columbia public libraries.