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news
Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo has
said, “We must make sure we eliminate them
[gays and lesbians] from the face of Namibia.”
The Namibian Society for Human Rights called
Nujoma’s latest attack “dangerous and violent.”
The gay Rainbow Project said: “Nowhere
does our constitution state that gay and lesbian
people are not members of the human family
and therefore do not enjoy the same rights as all
other citizens. We would also like to know
whether the president has made arrangements
with the prison authorities to accommodate
some 10 percent of the population.”
It was not immediately clear if police would
act on Nujoma’s demand.
EUROPE
he registered partner of a Swedish gay man
does not deserve spousal benefits when his
partner goes to work for the European Union
bureaucracy in Brussels, Belgium, according to a
preliminary ruling in a lawsuit over the matter.
An advcxate-general delivered his opinion
to the European Court of Justice in February.
The court does not have to follow his conclu
sions but, in practice, usually does.
The advocate-general said the term “spouse”
in European Union staff regulations does not
extend to registered partnerships— even ones
such as in Sweden that grant more than 99 per
cent of the rights and obligations of marriage. A
final ruling is expected in a few months’ time.
T
M EX IC O
• I T he Mexican state of Aguascalientes
X’ banned discrimination based on sexual ori
entation March 11. Legislators voted unani
mously for the change.
An addition to the Penal Code punishes
with six to nine months in prison “anyone who
provokes or incites hate or violence or negates
or restricts employment rights based on age, sex,
pregnancy, civil status, race, language, religion,
ideology or sexual orientation."
The legislation is, in part, a response to an inci
dent last year in which a city-run swimming park
in the capital city, also called Aguascalientes, post
ed a sign banning dogs and gays. The sign led to a
picket of City Hall by 50 gays and transvestites.
After the new protections were passed, Nation
al Action Party Deputy Cecilia Franco, a member
of the state Congress’ Human Rights Commission,
told reporters: “No person should be excluded
because of his/her private life. Sexual preference is
a private matter. You cannot and should not dis
criminate against anyone because of that.”
The Federal District, where Mexico City is
located, is the only other place in Mexico where
anti-gay discrimination is banned.
CA N A D A
S
omebody detonated a can of high-pressure pep
per spray during a performance by the Vancou
ver Lesbian and Gay Choir on March 10 at the Sid
Williams Theatre in Courtenay, British Columbia.
Courtenay is 90 miles northwest of Vancou
ver, on Vancouver Island. The chorus had been
invited by the local Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays chapter.
Many of the 250 audience members began
choking and coughing and darted from their
seats. No one was seriously injured.
Choir members regrouped in front of the
theater after marching around the building
singing “Never Turning Back.” The concert
later was concluded in the sanctuary of a local
United Church parish.
The type of pepper spray involved is
designed for use by people who find themselves
under attack from a bear.
PO R TU G AL
B
y a large majority, the Portuguese Parlia
ment on March 15 extended to gay couples
the same rights given to unmarried straight cou
ples who live together. Gay couples who cohab-
itate for two years will have marital rights in
areas such as vacations, taxes, inheritance, pen
sions, housing contracts and rental leases.
The “De Facto Unions” legislation is expect
ed to receive the signature of President Jorge
Sampaio and become law within several months.
It will not allow gay couples to adopt children.
A U S TR A LIA
r | he parliament of the Australian state of
I Tasmania repealed laws banning men from
wearing women’s clothing March 13.
“A great weight has been lifted from the
shoulders of all transgender folk,” activist Ros
Houston said. “Discrimination and violence
against transgender people remain a problem,
but at least now these social ills don’t have the
sanction of the law.”
Section 8( l)d of the 1935 Tasmanian Police
Offences Act criminalized men dressing as
women between sunset and sunrise. The law
likely targeted bushrangers who cross-dressed to
elude police as well as thieves who dressed as
prostitutes to rob whalers.
C H IN A
The number of legal gay bars in Beijing is
down to one after a bizarre attack on the
popular nightclub Drag-On in which police
arrested the owner of a competing bar, Half and
Half, for orchestrating the crime, Beijing corre
spondent Steve Friess reports.
T
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The owner of Half and Half is accused of
masterminding an attack on his competition
Several thugs rampaged through Drag-On
just before it closed Feb. 10, stabbing owner Mi
Ke in the head, arms and abdomen. The injuries
were not life-threatening. Bar operators
received a call the next day warning that the
assailants would return if Drag-On reopened,
which it did not for several days.
On Feb. 22, police arrested the owner of Half
and Half and charged him with masterminding
the attack in order to increase business at his
own establishment. Half and Half has been
closed ever since.
Drag-On finally reopened Feb. 28. The bar
has Beijing’s only gay dance floor and is a
favorite among expatriates.
A few other Beijing bars attract gays, but
they are illegal and oftentimes filled with pros
titutes. Drag-On and Half and Half were
believed to be the only properly licensed gay
bars in the city. JD
Compiled by R ex WOCKNER, u>ho 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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