Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2002)
'mews L is t e n e r N e g o tiato r he the gay and lesbian community’s answer to the Olympics, generating more than $100 mil lion for the economy,” the paper said. But only 10,000 of 120,000 tickets have been sold so far. “The event will he struggling to break even,” the report said. Mardi Gras, meanwhile, escaped bankruptcy in early July via an infusion of $222,400 from a mystery donor and a promise to its hank that the parade and festival will he profitable, according to the Australian. he state of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, has seen a nearly 50 percent increase in annual HIV diagnoses since 1999. Up until then, the rate was decreasing. “These figures in Victoria are a clear warning sign," Bill Whitaker, Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations president, told the Sunday Age. “We have got a window of opportunity to fix up Australia’s A ID S response.” Officials and activists hlame the assumed increase in unprotected sex on “safe-sex fatigue” and optimism about treatments. “The fear of AIDS has lost some of its hite,” said Nick Crofts of Melbourne’s Burnet Institute. R U S S IA R ussian cult writer Vladimir Sorokin was charged with distributing pornography July 11 because his 3-year-old novel Blue Lard depicts Josef Stalin and N ikita Khrushchev having gay sex. “We received a complaint from a man who bought Sorokin’s hook, [and] we launched an expert investigation,” S v et lana Petrenko o f the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office told Reuters. Some officials de nounced the arrest. “Persistent attempts by law enforce ment. . .to break writ ers of their incorrect writing hahits never achieved anything, either for literature or the citizens of this country as a whole,” said Alexei Volin, Vladimir Sorokin deputy head of ad ministration for President Vladimir Putin. Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi said: “I am not a fan of Sorokin, hut I will defend his right to speak.... This is a highly dangerous precedent.” CANADA A breaking and historic, although the government might well appeal the case all the way to the national Supreme Court. E d u ca to r H om eow ner Call the Law Office of James D. McVittie 503-224-6611 f orget Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Elton John’s upcoming Canadian tour is heading to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and Kelowna, British Columbia. “Some artists are of such a high caliber that they don’t need to play by the ‘stay in the major markets’ rule,” ChartAttack.com explained. “While we’re overjoyed for Elton fans in Saskatoon and Kelowna, you gotta admit, it’s a little hit weird.” Saskatoon boasts a population of 209,000. Kelowna, located 237 miles northeast of Van couver, has a population of 96,000. Protect Your Assets Through Estate Planning • To Receive Your FREE Booklet A Practical Quid? I q Estate PLanning. Jasm in e Ruthdotter B ^ ^ WN A ss o c ia te B ro ker 5 0 3 /8 1 7 .0 0 7 2 RKA1.TV ja s m in e @ b rid g e to w n re a lty .c o m * Schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation to discuss your personal estate plan. James D. McVittie Attorney at Law 2310 N W Everett Suite 200 Portland, Oregon 97210 503.224.6611 C H IN A eijing’s AIDS Action Project was evicted from its office at a private university after officials told the school to stop cooperating with the organization, the South China Morning Post reported July 4. “ It will he very difficult for us to apply for funding without being connected to an institution,” founder Wan Yan Hai said. He believes authorities targeted the project because its Web site published the names of 170 farmers who died from AIDS in the Henan province after selling their blood to unsanitary, government-sanctioned collectors between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Wan told the Post that up to 2 million residents might have been infected. SUfTtfER TH0NG-A-TH0N i 1596 off on ail men’s and women's thongs! M ALTA I " or the first time, a political party in Malta has come out in support of gay equality, the Independent newspaper reported. The Alterna tive Democrats called July 6 for state recogni tion of partnerships, fairness for couples in hous ing and social welfare, a constitutional amend ment banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and criminalization of harassment. “We would like other parties and institutions to follow us, as they did with regards to the envi ronment,” chairman Harry Vassallo said. “I just hope they won’t take another 10 years to get to agree with us on this issue.” Representatives of the year-old Malta Gay Rights Movement appeared with party officials as the proposals were announced. The organiza tion staged a week of Pride celebrations in early July, including an art exhibit and a festival. “There must be around 40,000 gays and les bians in Malta, but people ask, ‘Where are they?’ ” coordinator Sandro Mangion said. “We all know that social stigma forces a lot of gays to remain in the closet, but we also know there are politicians, people in the media, in show busi ness, teachers and public figures who are gay and who could serve as positive role models to elim inate stereotypes.’ three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Ontario ruled July 12 that it is unconstitu tional not to recognize marriages between peo ple of the same gender. The two couples who instigated the case, Joe Vamell and Kevin Bourassa and Anne and Elaine Compiled by R ex WOCKNER, who has reported Vautour, were married at the gay Metropolitan for the gay press since 1 985 . He has a bachelor’s Community Church via the process of reading degree in journalism from Drake Unniersity and hanns— asking in church on three Sundays if started his career as a radio reporter. anyone objects to the marriage, which is a legal way to marry in Ontario. They were given marriage certifi cates by pastor Brent Hawkes, hut provincial officials later refused to register the documents. The court’s decision will not become law for two years to give the federal Parliament the option of changing the law itself. Activists called the decision un Joe Vamell and Kevin Bourassa respond to the crowd June 30 during precedented, ground- the Toronto Pride Parade ’jn D avid W. O wens P. C. & A S S O C I A T E S serving the community since 1975 A tto rn eys David W. O w en s Brady M. Ricks *of counsel Roger Gray* at L aw Richard A. C rew s*t 101 SW MAIN, SUITE 700 • Portland, Oregon 97204 ❖ FAMILY LAW • Domestic Partnerships • Formation & Dissolution • Adoptions • Divorce & Visitation •> REAL ESTATE • Home Purchase Reviews -» WILLS & TRUSTS • Probate & Trusts • Conservatorships & Guardianships • Advance Directives ❖ BANKRUPTCY • Advising Businesses & Individuals * PERSONAL INJURY • Auto Accidents Drew C. Hunsinger tlicensed Oregon, Washington, and Colorado «> CRIMINAL 503°224°3100 ❖ LANDLORD/TENANT LAW • Concentration on Landlord Rights ❖ BUSINESS FORMATION & LITIGATION • Corporations, Partnerships, LLCs & LLPs • Commercial Collections of large accounts ❖ TAX ISSUES & APPEALS
