Just out., March 21, 2003, Page 25, Image 25

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w w w .cllysearch.com/pdx/rosecl.ifvet
one occasion to use
the toilet, go for a walk
and watch badgers.
Davies, who is mar­
ried to his third wife
and has a new baby,
resigned as Welsh sec­
retary in 1998 after
being caught in a
homosexual situation
on London’s cruisy
Clapham Com m on.
He later called the incident “a moment of mad­
ness”— a phrase that has stuck to him ever
since.
CANADA
P
rince George, British Columbia, has given
in after a seven-month fight and will pro­
claim gay Pride Days on April 5 and 6.
It also will fly the rainbow flag and let the
gay group Youthquest address the City Council.
“It’s satisfying to have this issue behind us,”
City Manager George Paul told the Canadian
Press wire service.
Youthquest had filed a complaint about the
matter with the provincial human rights com ­
mission. Prince George, population 70,000, is
478 miles north of Vancouver.
-5*
anadian gay men and lesbians who have
- been living with a lover for more than a
year must declare their partner’s income on
their tax returns this year.
The new requirement results from changes
made to more than 100 federal and provincial
statutes in the wake of a Supreme Court of
Canada ruling on same-sex couplings. Accord­
ing to Toronto’s Xtra!, an individual whose
partner makes substantially more money than
he or she does— including people on disability
and social assistance— will see smaller tax
refunds as a result of the declaration.
Z IM B A B W E
P
resident Bush slapped sanctions March 7
on virulently homophobic Zimbabwe Pres­
ident Robert Mugabe. He froze Mugabe’s U .S.
assets and those of 76 other Zimbabwean offi­
cials and forbade U .S. citizens from having
business dealings with Zimbabwean leaders.
“Over the course of more than two years, the
government of Zimbabwe has systematically
undermined that nation’s democratic institu­
tions, employing violence, intimidation and
repressive means including legislation to stifle
opposition to its rule,” Bush said. “To add to the
desperation of the besieged Zimbabwean people,
the current government has engaged in a vio­
lent assault on the rule of law that has thrown
the economy into chaos, devastated the nation’s
agricultural economy and triggered a potential­
ly catastrophic ftxxJ crisis."
dam and Her Weapons of Mass Seduction”— a
tank escorted by a dozen marchers dressed as
Australian Prime Minister John Howard,
“complete with erect patriot missiles,” Reuters
said. Volunteers wore T-shirts saying, “We’re
here, we’re queer and we vote."
“Twenty-five years ago we were asking for
basic reforms like decriminalization of male
homosexuality,” co-chairman Stevie Clayton
told the French Press Agency. “T xlay we are
demanding nothing less than equality.”
S O U TH A F R IC A
A
ctivists from the Treatment Action Cam ­
paign said Feb. 21 they will fill the nation’s
jails and prisons via civil disobedience if the gov­
ernment does not agree by March 21 to distribute
HIV drugs freely to everyone who needs them.
One in five South African adults is HIV­
positive. To date, the government has refused
to make the dnigs available at all, arguing they
are too expensive and toxic.
President Thabo Mbeki also has said he does
not believe HIV necessarily is the cause of
AIDS. The campaign said it will break the law
via sit-ins, hunger strikes and illegal importa­
tion and distribution of pharmaceuticals.
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S W ITZ E R L A N D
I ^he Swiss company Roche is making its
new HIV drug, the fusion inhibitor
Fuzeon, available in Europe while it awaits
licensing— but at a cost of $56 a day, more than
$20,000 a year. Pharmaceutical head William
Bums blamed the exorbitant price on a “high­
ly sophisticated manufacturing process.”
Fuzeon— also known as enfuvirtide and
T-20— is the first fusion inhibitor to make it to
market. It will be particularly helpful to
patients who have become resistant to the
other two categories of HIV drugs: protease
inhibitors and reverse transcriptase inhibitors.
M EX IC D
M
exico City will see its First Lesbian March
on March 21. Around 1,000 participants
arc expected to walk from the Monument to
the Revolution to the Zócalo, the nation’s
political epicenter.
“While we continue to support the LGBT
march, we want as lesbians to have a public voice
that is autonorrxxjs, heterogeneous, positive and
free,” organizers said. “The march will be an expres­
sion of our rebellious spirit as lesbians.’ ’ jn
sona ä
The Trusted Specialists
www.sonainternational.com
C a ll a b o u t o u r
SPRING SPECIAL!
503 - 443-2250
Or. Minot Cleveland
Medical Director
GRAND OPENING!
Compiled by R ex WOCKNER, who has reported
for the gay press since 1985. He has a bachelor's
decree in journalism from Drake University and
started his career as a radio reporter.
A U S T R A L IA
O ydney’s 25th annual Gay and Lesbian
O Mardi Gras parade attracted 250,000 spec­
tators, 6,000 marchers and 140 floats March 1.
That was about half the crowd of last year but
was considered a decent turnout given that the
organizers went bankrupt in 2002 and that the
entire monthlong series of events had to be
rescued by a group of community-based groups
heavily dependent on volunteers.
“This has been a resounding success for
New Mardi G ras," co-chairm an Michael
Wtxxlhouse told the Australian Broadcasting
Corp. “People said it couldn’t happen; we have
proved tonight that it absolutely can."
A s usual, Dykes on Bikes led the parade,
joined this year by gay former Rugby League G ay rugby player Ian Roberts joined Dykes
player Ian Roberts. Notable floats included the on Bikes for Sydney’s G ay and Lesbian
fake Nicole Kidman noses and “Madame Sad- Mardi G ras parade March 1
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