______________Miiuary 7.2QQ5 •jllSt Olltj 19
twnrmnews
ans” and “contrary to public interest in general.”
The Dec. 25 party, organized by Fridae.com
and Jungle Media, was allowed in 2002 and 2003.
In a statement, the police department said it
permitted the previous parties because it had
been assured they were not gay events. But, in
fact, “patrons of the same gender were seen open
ly kissing and intimately touching each other.”
This year’s party had sponsorships from
Heineken, Qantas, the InterContinental Singa
pore Hotel and other big-name companies.
N ew Z ealand P asses
C ivil U nions L aw
New Zealand’s Parliament passed a civil
unions law for gay and straight couples Dec. 9 by
a vote of 65-55.
Registered couples will received the same
rights and responsibilities as married people.
Recent polling showed that New Zealanders
opposed recognizing gay relationships by a mar
gin of three to one.
The measure takes effect in April.
democracy from 1975 to 1979. But the legisla
tors did not grant any monetary reparations, as
requested by gay activist organizations.
Some 5,000 people were detained under
Franco for gay, lesbian or transsexual “acts or
attitudes,” according to Antonio Ruiz, president
of the Association of Ex-Social Prisoners. Hun
dreds were jailed in “sexual re-education” cen
ters, reports said.
G ay R etirement H ome
to O pen in B erlin
A gay retirement home is set to open in
Berlin’s gay Nollendorfplatz area in 2006, an
apparent first for Europe.
The Magnus Hirschfeld House will have 150
apartments, said Hans-Jürgen Esch, one of the
developers.
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I ndian L esbian C ouple to D emand
M arriage R ecognition
Two young lesbians who “married” each
other in India’s Punjab state say they will
demand that officials recognize their union,
Britain’s The Independent reported Dec. 11.
“Raju” and “Mala” eloped from their homes
in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in late Novem
ber, then returned, announced they had married
in a Hindu ceremony and urged their families
and the state to accept them.
Raju’s mother, Ranjit Kaur, told local media:
“It is humiliating for us and for humanity. We
only wish they are joking.”
Raju’s father demanded that police arrest the
couple, but police said the women had not bro
ken any law.
EUROPE
S paniards W ant C atholic C hurch
to S tay O ut of P olitics
Three-fifths of Spaniards want the Catholic
Church to stop trying to interfere in politics, an
Instituto Opina poll has found.
The church has been particularly outspoken
against the new Socialist government’s plans to
legalize full same-sex marriage. It also dis
approves of proposals to relax abortion restric
tions and permit euthanasia.
Pollsters asked 1,000 adults: “The Catholic
Church has undertaken a campaign of protests
against some of the government’s social reforms.
Do you support or oppose this campaign?”
About 60 percent said they oppose it, 29.2
percent said they support it, 9.9 percent were
unsure, and 0.9 percent gave no answer. The
margin of error was reported as 3.1 percent.
Antonio Ruiz, head of group seeking repara
tions from Spain for imprisonment under Franco
S pain C ondemns past
P ersecution of G ays
Spain’s Congress of Deputies unanimously
condemned Dec. 15 the persecution of gays dur
ing the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco
from 1939 to 1975 and during the transition to
Berlin retirement home for gays and lesbians
Hirschfeld, one of the world’s first gay
activists, founded Berlin’s gay Scientific
Humanitarian Committee in 1897.
Berlin has an estimated 75,000 gays and
lesbians older than 65, the French Press
Agency said.
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P artner B ill P asses
P olish S enate
A bill granting registered same-sex couples
some marriage rights passed Poland’s Senate by
a vote of 38-23 with 15 abstentions Dec. 3. It
now moves to the Sejm, the lower house of Par
liament, where it may face strong opposition,
says correspondent Slawek Starosta.
The measure would grant gay couples spousal
rights in areas such as taxes, hospital visitation
and inheritance.
A spokesman for the Polish Roman Catholic
hierarchy said the measure is unconstitutional
because Poland’s Constitution defines marriage
as between a man and a woman.
MIDEAST/AFRIC A
I sraeli C ourt A ffirms
M en ’ s R elationship
Tel Aviv’s Family Court recognized a child
support agreement drafted by a male couple,
ovemiling a government decision on the matter,
the Ha’aretz daily newspaper reported Dec. 7.
The men, a couple for 19 years, impregnated
a female friend, and one of the men legally mar
ried her. The woman gave birth to twins, and
the men then created a financial agreement
with her for the babies’ care.
Family Court Judge Yehuda Granit ruled that
the government’s refusal to recognize the agree
ment violated the Basic Law on Human Digni
ty and Liberty.
“One would expect an attorney general in a
democratic society to work to adjust the law to
the reality of life; to defend the rights of all
members of society, regardless of their sexual ori
entation; to be aware of existing and developing
realities in society; and not to serve as an auto
matic mouthpiece for those with conservative
ideologies,” Granit wrote. JH
Compiled by REX 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.
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