22 jUSt OUt * october 21.2005
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Beirut has its first gay magazine, The Daily
Star reported Oct. 10. Out is published quar
terly by the gay organization Helem.
Helena coordinator Georges Azzi told the
Star that Lebanon is the only Arab country
where gays can find refuge and that Helem is
the “first Arab nongovernmental organization
openly fighting for their rights.” Lebanon pun
ishes “unnatural sexual intercourse” with up to
a year in jail.
U ganda B ans S ame -S ex M arriage
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni
signed a constitutional amendment Sept. 28
banning same-sex marriage. The measure
passed Parliament in August.
It says that “marriage is lawful only if
entered into between a man and a woman”
and emphasizes that “it is unlawful for same-
sex couples to marry.” Criminal penalties for
entering into a same-sex marriage will be
added in an upcoming revision of the penal
code.
Out is Lebanon’s first gay magazine.
Gay sex already was banned in Uganda.
AMERICAS
O ntario W oos U.S. G ay D octors
The Canadian province of Ontario is trying to
solve its doctor shortage by wooing gay doctors
from the United States.
Openly gay Health Minister George
Smitherman attended the Gay and Lesbian
Medical Association conference in late Septem
ber and played up the fact that same-sex couples
can get married in Canada. According to Reuters,
Ontario is short about 2,200 doctors; as a result,
1.2 million people have no access to a family
physician.
#
“Canada is sort of a shining example of the
way things ought to be from a political perspec
tive,” GLMA executive director Joel Ginsberg
told the wire service. “There’s no question that
(Ontario] must be attractive to people in a posi
tion to consider moving.”
l'HvüuvN wniit vini lo
be well.
•tn tinti inn Giithi i 0
SVEND
R obinson
W ants to
R e -E nter
P olitics
Canada’s
first openly gay
member of Par
liament is re
entering politics
and will run for
the Vancouver-
Centre seat in
the next federal
election.
Svend Rob
inson, who rep
resented a subur
ban Vancouver
district for 25
years, resigned in 2004 after stealing a $50,000
diamond ring from a jewelry sale. He pleaded
guilty to theft and was sentenced to 100 hours of
community service.
Robinson later revealed he suffers from bi
polar disorder.
EUROPE
C roatian G ays C ome O ut
in N ewspaper A d
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Several hundred Croatian queers signed an ad
placed in two large daily newspapers Oct. 11,
National Coming Out Day, Reuters reported.
The ad, titled “We don’t want to hide any
more,” ran in the Jutamji List and Vecemji List
newspapers. But despite the headline, the ad’s
signers used only their first names.
“This is a symbolic coming out, but it shows
that gays in Croatia are mustering courage to fully
reveal their identities,” Qorino Manzin of the gay
group Step Out told the wire service.
More information about the campaign can be
found at www.comingout.gay.hr.
P olish C andidate D efames G ays
Poland’s probable next prime minister
defamed gays Oct. 3.
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz—selected by the
victorious parties in the recent election as their
candidate for prime minister—told Newsweek
that homosexuality is “unnatural.”
“The family is natural, and the state must
stand guard over the family,” he said. But, he
added: “I don’t care if someone is a homosexu
al or not, and even if I found out something like
that, I wouldn’t judge a person differently than
on their actions alone. But if that person tries
to infect others with their homosexuality, then
rhe state must intervene in this violation of
freedom.”
Marcinkiewicz would become prime minister
after appointment by the president and confir
mation by Parliament.
S paniards L ike G ay M arriage
The people of Spain oppose .the opposition
Popular Party’s plan to file suit to undo the
nation’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage,
a poll has found.
About 60 percent of 1,000 adults questioned
Oct. 1 called the move “a negative develop
ment.” Only 29.9 percent said it was “a positive
development.” The rest were unsure or didn’t
answer the question. The poll’s margin of error
was 3.1 percent.
The Congress of Deputies legalized same-sex
marriage June 30 in a 187-147 vote with four
abstentions. Full marriage also is available to
same-sex couples in Belgium, Canada, the
Netherlands and Massachusetts.
L ithuanian A nti -G ays P rotest ^
N onexistent P ride M arch
There are no plans to stage Lithuania’s first
Gay Pride parade anytime in the foreseeable
future, but that didn’t stop 50 anti-gays from
protesting the very notion of such a parade
Sept. 30.
Supported by several large Christian denomi
nations, the demonstrators gathered in Vilnius'
Europe Square in hopes of fending off a future
“attack by homosexuals,” they said in a state
ment. They carried signs that read “Diwn with
homophiles" and "No to gay marriage.”