march 16.2001 *
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Article 209 of the Austrian penal code states,
“A man over 19 years of age who engages in same-
sex lewdness with a person who has attained the
age of 14 but not yet the age of 18 shall be pun
ished with imprisonment from six months to five
years.” The law is enforced routinely, including a
recent case in which a 19-year-old man was arrest
ed for having sex with his 16-year-old boyfriend.
the sexuality that God has given them.”
Two gay partnership measures are pending
before the assembly. One grants gay couples equal
rights in inheritance and social security; the other
gives gay couples almost all rights of matrimony.
The measures have been denounced by the
Pro-Life Association as “an assassination
attempt against the family,” according to The
Arizona Republic.
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CZECH R E P U B LIC
he Czech government has drafted a new
gay partnership law and will introduce it in
Parliament before July. Many rights of matrimo
ny would be granted by the legislation, but not
the right to adopt children.
T
HONG KO N G
H
ong Kong’s first mainstream ad campaign
aimed at gays was launched by the Sunday
phone company this month.
According to Singapore’s The Straits Times,
one ad shows three men in revealing dress with
one kneeling beside the words “You can’t miss
this opportunity." The Chinese character for
“opportunity" is pronounced “gay” in Cantonese
and has come to mean “homosexual” as well.
The ad also urges customers to be “happy
together,” which is the title of a gay movie by
Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai. “This is a
very good way of testing how tolerant the public
is of this kind of message and recognizing that
there is a gay community here,” said Jeffrey Yu
Pui Man, Association of Accredited Advertising
Agencies of Hong Kong chairman.
S O M A LIA
A
lesbian couple were sentenced to death
Feb. 19 in Bossasso for “exercising unnat
ural behavior," according to numerous reports
by Somali and international media.
The women reportedly were convicted under
the Somali Criminal Punishment Law, which is
based on Islamic Sharia law. Bossasso is a port
city in the autonomous northeast Puntland
region, where most executions reportedly are by
firing squad.
The news reports said the unnamed women
were arrested when one of them complained to
police that the other refused to pay for her med
ical care after infecting her with a sexually trans
mitted disease. According to the BBC, hundreds
of spectators cheered when the judge handed
down the death sentences.
Meanwhile, Puntland police denied Feb. 23
that any of the reported events had occurred,
one Somali newspaper reportedly printed a
retraction, and the BBC said it had been unable
to confirm its earlier reports. The U.N. Integrat
ed Regional Information Network responded to
the retraction by saying it knows who the
women are and where they are jailed.
M EX IC O
A
bout 200 gay couples held a mass commit
ment ceremony Feb. 15 in front of Mexico
City’s Palace of Fine Arts. About 3,000 specta
tors and guests attended the event.
“What we are asking for is recognition of our
right to be different, of our relations,” said Eno
Uranga, an openly gay member of the Mexico
City Legislative Assembly.
Armando Quintero of the Demo
cratic Revolution Party added, “We are
fighting to defend human and civic
rights against reactionary, homophobic
and macho groups and against some
leaders of the Catholic Church.”
Participant Mirka Negroni said, “It’s
time that people realize that the tradi
tional nuclear family isn’t the only thing
out there."
Roman Catholic Cardinal Norberto
Rivera Carrera denounced the event as "a carni
val” staged by people who are “confused about
• “ *121
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-
A
ctivists gathered Feb. 3 and 4 in Aguasca-
lientes to create a communications net
work for organizers of gay pride celebrations.
Delegates attended the conference from Agua-
scalientes, Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana and
Pachuca.
“Last-minute planning and a lack of eco
nomic resources were the determining factors
that prevented a majority of Mexican pride
committees from attending the first confer
ence,” Tijuana activist Alejandro Garcia said.
He said the gathering sent a message of support
to gay leaders in Monterrey, where “during the
month of January, city and health authorities
unleashed a series of illegal detentions against
the patrons of five gay discotheques.”
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EG YPT
E
gyptian gays are upset about the forced clos
ing of 13 Turkish baths in Cairo frequented
Jby men seeking sex with men. The Ministry of
Culture and Tourism said they are being shut
down temporarily because they are in urgent
need of repair.
Gays see another motive. “The government
knows these are the only places we have to
meet, and so they are trying to restrict us fur
ther,” one activist told Britain’s the Telegraph.
| wo Egyptian men who created a queer Web
j L site have been jailed for committing an
indecent act. Sami Gamal, a 27-year-old engi
neer, and Gameel Gebreel, a 32-year-old
accountant, posted nude photos of themselves
and offered to have gay sex for pay or for free.
Gamal was jailed for three years, and Gebreel
was given a 15-month sentence. The judge said the
men had acted disgracefully and defamed Egypt.
SW ITZER LA N D
ay and unmarried straight couples in
y Switzerland’s Geneva province will have
the same rights as married couples except in
matters of immigration, social security, taxes,
inheritance and adoption. The Grand Council
passed Feb. 15 a partnership law called “the Pact
of Civil Solidarity.”
According to the legislation’s preamble,
"Cantons are legally competent to enact anti-
discrimination legislation protecting certain
arrangements under which people can live
together without being married.” The measure
will take effect in a few months. jn
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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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