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witzerland’s Qiuncil of States (Senate) and
National Qiuncil (House of Representa
tives) have voted, in principle, for a same-sex
partnership registration measure that would
extend some marriage rights to gay couples,
Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported June 3.
Tlie legislation next returns to the National
Qiuncil to resolve minor differences between
the two bodies’ versions of the bill. The pro
posed law would extend spousal rights in areas
such as kinship, inheritance, pensions, taxes and
health insurance hut not in the areas of adop
tion, fertility treatment or a common surname,
the report said.
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full marriage in British Columbia, Ontario
and Quebec, and the federal government
plans to open up the institution nationwide.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has promised an
all-out fight to prevent same-sex marriage in
his province.
On another matter, 74 percent of re
spondents said gays should have the same rights
as straight people, 20 percent support gays hav
ing fewer rights, and 6 percent had no opinion.
UNITED KINGDOM
higher percentage of gay men are bareback-
ing in London than was the case in 1996,
and up to a third of them are HIV-positive and
don’t know it, The Independent reported June 1.
Those are the results of a study of (and saliva
samples from) men who frequent gay bars, clubs
and saunas. The research—conducted by the
Royal Free and University College Medical
School and the Central Public Health Labora
tory— was written up in the June 1 issue of the
journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
More than 8,000 men were questioned, and
1,206 were tested anonymously for HIV via a sali
va test. About 42 percent admitted to engaging in
unsafe sex, compared with 30 percent in 1996.
A total of 132 of the men who gave saliva sam
ples were HIV-positive; 43 of them were unaware
of their infection. HIV cases increased about 20
percent in England and Wales in 2003 compared
with 2002.
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Archbishop Andrew Hutchison delayed a vote
on blessing same-sex unions to prevent “ a
major schism” in Canada’s Anglican church
CANADA
he leaders of Canada’s Anglican church,
meeting June 3 in Ontario, affirmed “the
integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-
sex relationships” but delayed voting on a pro
posal to bless gay unions. Liberal Archbishop
Andrew Hutchison of Montreal, who was elect
ed the new head of the Canadian church, said
postponing the vote on blessings until 2007
could prevent “a major schism in the life of the
church.”
T
❖
bout 58 percent of Canadians think homo
phobia is as bad as racism or anti-Semitism,
a new Leger Marketing poll has found.
About 5 percent say it’s worse, while 24 per
cent believe it’s not as bad. The remainder of
those surveyed had no opinion. British
Columbians are most likely to say homophobia
is equally nasty (65 percent); Albertans are least
likely (47 percent).
Pollsters asked, “Personally, do you think that
being homophobic is worse than being racist or
anti-Semitic, as bad as being racist or anti-Semit
ic, or not as bad as being racist or anti-Semitic.7”
About 1,500 people were questioned, and the
results are supposed to be accurate within 2.6 per
centage points 19 times out of 20.
The survey also found that 43 percent of
Canadians approve of same-sex marriage and
that 47 percent do not, the Globe and Mail news
paper reported. Quebeckers are most receptive
(51 percent) and Albertans least supportive (36
percent).
Courts have given gay couples access to
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ngland’s Roman Catholic Church broke
with the Vatican and endorsed the idea of
legal recognition of same-sex relationships
May 26.
In a 103-page document detailing the views
of the church in England and Wales on a num
ber of moral and controversial issues, church
head Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and
the other bishops stated: “It must be quite clear
that a homosexual orientation must never be
considered sinful or evil in itself.... It may be
necessary.. .to remedy by law unjust situations in
which the bonds of friendship are improperly
disregarded (for instance, being excluded from
appropriate consultation regarding medical care
or from funeral arrangements). In such cases the
right to justice is founded on the dignity of every
human being and citizenship and not on sexual
activity or orientation.”
The Vatican, on the other hand, recently
declared: “Those who would move from toler
ance to the legitimization of specific rights for
cohabiting homosexual persons need to be
reminded that the approval or legalization of
evil is something far different from the tolera
tion of evil. When legislation in favor of the
recognition of homosexual unions is proposed
for the first time in a legislative assembly, the
Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express
his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote
against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to
the common gcxxl is gravely immoral.”
Neither the Vatican nor the English bishops
approve of gay sex, which is a “mortal sin” that
condemns one’s “soul” to “hell.”
JAM AICA
mnesty International launched an urgent
campaign June 1 asking people to write
Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson insisting
he protect gays from violence and legalize gay
sex.
“Amnesty International has received many
reports of vigilante action against gay peo
ple... and of ill treatment or torture by the
police,” the group said. “Gay men and women
have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot
on account of their sexuality. Once a person’s
homosexuality becomes known to family or
community, they are frequently at risk.”
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