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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2004)
January 9. 2004 • ju s t out 23 •meies tus, family responsibility, work or occupation, physical characteristics, psychological capacity, economic position or social condition.” “This is a historic step in the recognition of the rights of GLTTB people in the entire nation,” the Argentine Homosexual Com m uni ty said in a statement. in Bangladesh’ into two groups—discreet and nondiscreet homosexual men in Bangladesh. By doing so, the tribunal fell into jurisdictional error that renders its decision of no force or effect." T he case was returned to the tribunal for a redeterm ination consistent with the High C ourt ruling. JAPAN he southern Japanese city of Miyakonojo, population 130,000, banned discrimina tion against gay, lesbian, hi and trans people Dec. 19. Following heated debate, the City Assembly passed the measure by a vote of 13-12. Miyakonojo, located in Miyazaki Prefecture, is about 600 miles southwest of Tokyo. T Gay prisoners assemble for roll call at the concentration camp in Buchenwald, Germany Continued from Page 21 with AIDS are sick of the national program’s failed promises to provide HIV medications. Larrain and other officials continue to pledge that the drugs, to be purchased from a company that markets generics, will be available soon. Prior to the ceremonies, activists marched from the C entral Plaza to the National C athe dral, attracting heavy media coverage. GERMANY ermany’s Parliament gave final approval Dec. 15 to a $610,000 m onum ent to com memorate gay victims of the Nazis. About 50,000 gays were persecuted by the Nazis, and approximately 15,000 were sent to concentration camps, where most of them died. The memorial will be erected in Berlin’s Tier- garten park. “Homosexual victims of the Nazi regime were mostly shut out of Germany’s culture of remem brance in the past. T hat is now over,” said open ly gay member of Parliament Volker Beck, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. The construction of the monum ent was sup ported hy the Greens and the Social Democrats. It was opposed hy the C hristian Democrats. G NEPAL olice officers viciously beat two gay men Dec. 6 in Kathmandu, the International Lesbian and Gay Association reported. Jag Bahadur Lama, 28, and Mani Lama, 20, were attacked near Ratna Park, first by hood lums, then hy officers from a passing van. The police reportedly put the couple inside the vehi cle and kicked them and bashed them with rifle butts for an hour, then drove them to a barracks, heat them further and forced them to fellate numerous officers. After about two hours at the barracks, the P Ha wt h o r n e Ha wt h o r n e couple were tied up, blindfolded, put back in a van and dumped in the street near Nepal’s largest temple, Pashupatinath, ILGA said. The Nepalese gay group Blue Diamond Society said such attacks are not uncommon and urged activists worldwide to complain to Nepalese diplomats. PERU eruvian Prime M inister Beat- riz M erino was fired Dec. 12 by Presi dent A lejandro To ledo am id rumors th at she might be a lesbian. Peru’s prime min ister is appointed, not elected. Toledo also fired four other Cabinet ministers. Merino, who says she is heterosexual, angered Toledo hy telling reporters that one of her political enemies, Congress man Luis Solari, was spreading rumors that P AUSTRALIA rime Minister John Howard is strenuously opposed to same-sex marriage. “I don’t support gay marriages being given the same legal and community status as a tradi tional marriage,” he told The West Australian newspaper Dec. 8. “1 believe traditional mar riage is one of the benchmark institutions of our society, and 1 hold that view very strongly. “Even if you produced an opinion poll tomor row that showed me 80 percent of the Australian community disagreed with me, I would still hold that view,” he said. “1 don’t alter my views on issues like that according to polling, hut frankly I would expect that a lot of people would agree with me. But as to whether it’s a majority view or not, I’ve never tested it, and frankly I don’t intend to.” P ❖ embers of the Legislative Assembly in Australia’s N orthern Territory can now take their partners with them on overseas trips at taxpayer expense, the territorial Remunera tion Tribunal ruled Dec. 9. The tribunal rede fined a de facto spouse as a “person who is not married to the member but is in a marriage-like relationship with the member.” M A Peruvian politician allegedly spread rumors that ousted Prime M inister Beatriz M erino is a lesbian she was gay. ARGENTINA rgentina’s Cham ber of Deputies banned anti-gay discrimination Dec. 4, following 19 years of lobbying by the Argentine Homo sexual G )m m unity and other organizations. Anti-discrimination Law 23,592 was rewrit ten to read, “These, among others, are consid ered discriminatory: acts and omissions m otivat ed hy reasons of race, ethnicity, nationality, lan guage, religion, ideology, political or union- related opinion, sex, gender, gender identity or its expression, sexual orientation, age, civil sta A Ha wt h o r n e Ha wt ho r ne BANGLADESH n a groundbreaking decision Dec. 9, Aus tralia’s High C ourt ovemiled the Immigra tion Department, the Refugee Review Tribunal, the Federal G iu rt and the Full G m rt of the Fed eral G )u rt to revive the asylum claim of two gay men from Bangladesh. T he unnamed couple had been stoned, whipped and targeted with afatuia in their home nation, they claimed. In rejecting the asylum request, the review tribunal had argued that if the men kept quiet about their sexuality, they would suffer no ill treatment in Bangladesh. But the High G iu rt declared: “T he tribunal effectively broke the genus of ‘homosexual males I Ha wt h o r n e Ha wt ho r ne Cycles/Works Love Sees N o Borders’ Leslie Bulbuk (right, with her partner, M arta Donayre) praised Brazil’s extension of immigration rights to same-sex couples BRAZIL he N ational Council on Immigration ruled Dec. 18 that the foreign partners of gay men and lesbians can immigrate to Brazil when the couple has entered into an official same-sex union recognized by a local, regional or nation al government abroad. “Latin American countries are advancing towards full equality’ for same-sex couples much faster than the U nited States is,” said Leslie Bul buk, co-founder of the U.S.-based activist group Love Sees N o Borders. “Ironically, none of these countries represents itself as the ‘land of the free’ with ‘liberty and justice for all.’ ” Bulbuk said Brazil is the 16th nation to extend immigration rights to same-sex couples. The others are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. T ITALY taly’s Senate banned fertility treatm ent, egg donation, sperm donation and surrogacy Dec. 12 for everyone except heterosexual cou ples of childhearing age who live together. The senators also banned freezing of embryos and simultaneous creation of more than three embryos and mandated that all three must be implanted. The vote was 169-92. T he measure, which passed the Cham ber of Deputies earlier, imposes penalties of up to $726,000 on violators. J H I 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. Ha wt ho r ne S U B Hawt hor ne W A Y " SE 36th & Hawthorne (503) 233-9985 9000 N. 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