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“If you wanted to have fun, you should have
stayed in Australia instead of trying to come to
Fiji and exploit our young hoys,” Shah told
McCosker. “You should have known that such
indecent acts are illegal.”
Police became aware of the men’s activities
after McCosker reported a theft of $1,500 in
Australian currency. When police questioned
Nandan in connection with the theft, he report
ed that he and McCosker had been making
pornographic photos and videos together to sell
on the Internet. A total of 18 of the pictures
were used as evidence in court.
I ndian S odomy B an
C ase A dvances
New government statistics show that 5,751
same-sex couples got married between April 1,
2001, and the end of 2003—and 63 got
divorced. There were 243,000 heterosexual
marriages and 2,800 heterosexual divorces dur
ing the same period.
The divorce rate for lesbians was slightly
higher than for gay men, the Central Bureau for
Statistics said.
Full same-sex marriage also is legal in Bel
gium, in eight of Canada’s 13 provinces and ter
ritories and in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
Numerous nations and states/provinces/regions
grant same-sex couples many or nearly all mat
rimonial rights via registered partnership or civil
union laws.
India’s Supreme Court has expressed interest
in hearing a case brought by rhe AIDS organiza Swiss A rmy O fficers
tion Naz Foundation against Section 377, a law F orm G ay C lub
that bans gay sex.
Gay officers in Switzerland’s Army have
The case was rejected last year by the Delhi formed a gay officers club, London’s Gay Times
High Court, which ruled that the law could be reported in its April issue.
challenged only by people who have been
Founder Lt. Silvan Amberg, 22, believes it
affected by it. Naz appealed, arguing that the may be the first such official club in the world.
ban makes its anti-HIV work more difficult It has about a dozen members so far.
among men who have sex with men.
The Supreme Court responded by asking the E uro P rotocol
national government, the Delhi city administra to H elp G ays
tion, the Delhi police commissioner, the Nation
Protocol 12 to the European Convention on
al AIDS Control Organization and the Delhi Human Rights, which should be of help to gays,
State AIDS Control Society to file statements of came into force April 1.
their position on rhe case with the court.
It grants individuals rhe right not to be dis
Section 377 of rhe Indian Penal Code states, | criminated against and requires public authori
“Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse ties not to allow discrimination. Sexual orienta
against the order of nature with any man, woman tion discrimination is not explicitly listed as pro-
or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment
for life, or with imprisonment.. .for a term which
may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to
fine.”
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The Serbian women’s organization Zren-
janin Educational Center was hit with anti-gay
and racist graffiti April 6.
The facade of the organization’s office was
painted with “Serbs give birth to healthy and
white children, not faggots,” “Faggots, get out of
Serbia!” and “Jews, get out of Serbia!”
“This act constitutes a call for violence
and...it should be publicly condemned,” said
the Serbian lesbian group Labris. “We request
from rhe authorities to take immediate measures
against the perpetrators according to the law.”
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G ay M an E lected
P resident of I talian R egion
Openly gay communist Nichi Vendola was
elected president of Italy’s southeastern Puglia
region April 4-
He defeated right-wing incumbent Raffaele
Fitto of Forza Italia, the national government’s
main party, receiving 49.94 percent of the vote
to Fitto’s 49.14 percent. Vendola has been a
member of Parliament for more than a decade.
C atalonia OK s
G ay A doption
The Parliament of Spain’s autonomous Cat
alonia region, where Barcelona is located, legal
ized adoption by same-sex couples March 31.
Gay adoption also is permitted in the Navarre,
Basque and Aragon regions of the country.
“This decision...is a very positive develop
ment that protects the interests of children who
already live or will, in the future, live in gay and
lesbian families,” said the State Federation of
Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals.
D utch G ays and S traights
D ivorce at S ame R ate
Since the Netherlands became the first
nation to legalize full same-sex marriage in
2001, gays and straights have divorced at about
the same rate.
5O3.46O.O4O5
Openly gay communist Nichi Vendola was
elected president of southern Italy's
conservative Puglia region.
hibited, but European Court of Human Rights
case law has found such discrimination to
breach the convention.
“This is a very significant legal development
in European anti-discrimination legislation
which has great potential for lesbian, gay, bi
sexual and transgender people in Europe who
still experience discrimination in many areas of
their lives,” said Patricia Prendiville, executive
director of the European arm of the Internation
al Lesbian and Gay Association.
To date, only 11 of the 46 European coun
tries that are signatories to the convention have
ratified Protocol 12: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland,
Georgia, Macedonia, Netherlands, San Marino,
and Serbia and Montenegro. JM
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.
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