july 15.2ÛQ51 jUSt OUt 21
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“It basically infringes upon the constitution,”
said coordinator Carlos Perera. “Why have they
marched? Nobody called for the legalization of
marriage.
“We don’t chixise to be gay,” he added. “Who
wants to be gay in a country that still treats gays
with so much discrimination? It’s a life of hardship.”
V ietnamese P rime M inister :
W e H ave F ew G ays
There aren’t very many gays in Vietnam,
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said June 27.
Visiting Canada, Khai was asked how his
government handles the equality rights of gays
and lesbians, according to the Canadian Press
wire service.
He laughed and said: “This is not a serious
problem in Vietnam at the moment. Only a few
people, 1 think. The issue has not been rising or
debated in Vietnam.”
MIDEAST/AFRIC A
U ganda B ans S ame -S ex M arriage
Uganda’s Parliament amended the constitu­
tion to ban same-sex marriage July 7 by a vote of
111-17 with three abstentions.
Legislators also criminalized the act of staging
a same-sex wedding. Penalties will be deter­
mined during an upcoming revision of the
nation’s penal c<xle.
P ride M archers S tabbed
in J erusalem
An ultra-Orthodox man stabbed three
marchers during Jerusalem’s fourth Gay Pride
parade June 30, The Jerusalem Post reported. The
attack occurred at Ben Yehuda and Hahistradnit
streets.
A woman was stabbed in the arm; a man was
stabbed in the arm, hand and chest; and a third
marcher received a minor injury. All three were
taken to Bikur Holim Hospital. Two were treat­
ed and released. Adam David Russo was moved
to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where he is
recovering from deep gashes to his arm, the back
of his hand and his chest.
“They tried to murder me because I’m gay,”
Russo told the Haaretz newspaper. “In rhe ambu­
lance 1 thought 1 wouldn’t dare set fix it again in
Jerusalem. Now I’ve calmed down, but 1 still
think 1 won’t go downtown alone. On the other
hand, now 1 view my community activism
almost as a mission, so 1 want to stand out.”
Yishai Schlissel, 30, was arrested for rhe
attack, and police say others may have been
involved.
Separately, police arrested 13 religious Jews
who tried to bkxzk the march. More than 1,000
people demonstrated against the parade—
throwing bottles of urine and bags of feces at the
marchers, the Post said.
Mayor Uri Lupolianski had tried to prevent
the parade, which drew about 10,000 marchers,
but he was thwarted by the Jerusalem District
Court. Gay activists blamed Lupolianski’s
“incitement” for the violence.
Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz agreed,
saying, “The heads of the Jerusalem municipali-
LAURELHURST
DENTISTRY
C larice J ohnston dm d .
&
ASSOCIATES
r
Israeli Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz
suggested the municipality of Jerusalem should
consider its responsibility for the violence that
took place there during the Pride parade.
ty should self-reflect on their contribution to the
incitement leading up to today’s violence.” JH
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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.
503/233-3622
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2520 East Burnside
S panish P resident
S peaks O ut
The following is a complete text of the speech issued June 30 | cept of family in
in Madrid, Spain, by President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero allowing two peo­
to Congress in defense of the reform of the civil code to permit ple of the same sex
to get married. To
matrimony between people of the same sex.
the contrary, what
oday my government submits the definitive approval of the Senate
the bill by which the civil law is modified on rhe matter of the right
to fomi a marriage contract in an effort to comply with a promise
made to our citizens in our electoral campaign.
We recognize tixlay in Spain the rights of same-sex couples to enter in
a marriage contract. Before Spain, Belgium, Holland and, two days ago,
Canada did the same. We have not been the first, but 1 am sure that we
will not be the last. After us there will he many more countries motivated,
honorable members, by two unstoppable forces: liberty and equality.
It is nothing more than a small change to the legal text that adds but a
paragraph in which we establish that marriage will have the same requisites
and the same rights when the couple is either of different sexes or the same
sex. It is a very small change in the letter that creates an immense change in
the lives of thousands of our citizens.
We are not legislating, honorable members, for people far away and not
known by us. We are enlarging the opportunity for happiness to our neigh­
bors, our co-workers, our friends and our families. At the same time we are
making a more decent six:iety, because a decent society is one that does not
humiliate its members.
In the poem “The Family," our poet Luis Ceruda was sorry because
“How does man lives in denial in vain/by giving rules that prohibit and
condemn.”
Txlay, the Spanish society answers to a group of people that during
many years have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, whose
dignity has been offended, their identity denied and their liberty oppressed.
Tixlay, the Spanish sixziety grants them the respect they deserve, recognizes
their rights, restores their dignity, affirms their identity and restores their
liberty.
It is true that they are only a minority, but their triumph is everyone’s
triumph. It is also the triumph of those who oppose this law, even though
they do not know this yet: because it is the triumph of liberty. Their victo­
ry makes all of us—even those who oppose the law—better people. It
makes ixir society better.
Honorable members, there is no damage against marriage or to the con-
T
happens is these set
of Spanish citizens
get the potential to
organize their lives
with the rights and privileges of marriage and family. There is no danger to
the institution of marriage, but precisely the opposite: This law enhances
and respects marriage.
•
Tixlay, conscious that some people and institutions are in a profound
disagreement with this change in our civil law, 1 wish to express that like
other reforms to the marriage cixle that preceded this one, this law will
generate no evil, that its only consequence will be the avoiding of sense­
less suffering of decent human beings. A society that avoids senseless suf­
fering of decent human beings is a better society.
1 wish to express my profound respect to those people and institutions
[that oppose this law], and I also want to ask for the same respect for all of
those who approve of this law. To the homosexuals that have tolerated per­
sonally the abuse and insults for many years, 1 ask of you that the courage
you have demonstrated in your stniggle for your civil rights will contribute
now an example of generosity and express your happiness with respect to
those who think different than you.
With the approval of this bill, our country takes another step in the
path of liberty and tolerance that was stated by the demix:ratic change of
government. Our children will see us with incredulity if we tell them that
many years ago, our mothers had less rights than our fathers, or if we tell
them that people had to stay married against their will even though they
were unable to share their lives. Tixlay we can offer them a beautiful les­
son: Every right gained, each access to liberty has been the result of the
struggle and sacrifice of many people that deserve our recognition and
praise.
Tixlay we demonstrate with this bill that sixzieties can better themselves
and can cross harriers and create tolerance by putting a stop to the un­
happiness and humiliation of some of our citizens. Tixlay, for many of our
countrymen, comes rhe day predicted by Kavafis one century ago: “Later
was said of the most perfect siKiety/someone else, made like me/certainly
will come out and act freely." JH
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