Just out., October 21, 2005, Page 23, Image 23

October 21.2005 • jlISt OUt 23
■ me ws
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P rime M inister : S ingapore
S hould N ot H ave
G ay P arades
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong said Oct. 6 that there
should be no gay parades in the city-
state because people would disapprove.
“I don’t think we’re homophobic,”
Lee said, answering a question at a
Foreign Correspondents Association
event. “Homosexuals are people like
This beautiful queen graced Taipei's third Pride parade
you and me. But there’s some segment
Oct. 1.
of Singaporeans who vehemently dis­
agree with that, and we have to be
B rit C elebs P rotest I ran
aware of that.
Several public figures joined an Oct. 4 protest
"Gay Pride—well, you can do that in
in London against Iran’s ongoing harassment and
Sydney, in London, in San Francisco. But I’m
executions of gay men.
not sure if I want to do that in Singapore.
They included actor Jeremy Sheffield, rap
I think it would be offensive to a large number
star Q Boy, comedian Scott Cappurro, Big of Singaporeans and will be very divisive.... It is
Brother contestant Josh Rafter and gay MP Chris
not a wise thing to do.”
Bryant. The action outside Iran’s embassy also
received letters of support from Boy George,
H ong K ong A ppeals S odomy C ase
actor Simon Callow and Little Britain television
The Hong Kong government has appealed an
star Matt Lucas.
Aug. 24 High Court ruling that struck down a
“We are here to condemn Iran’s execution
law that punished male sodomy with life in
and torture of gay men and to demand inter­ prison when one or both partners are younger
national action against the tyrannical Iranian
than 21.
regime,” said protest co-organizer Peter Tatchell
The case was brought by a 20-year-old gay
of the gay direct-action group OutRage. “The
man, William Roy Leung, who said the law dis­
international community should issue an ultima­ criminated against him. Judge Michael
tum to Iran: Either respect human rights, or face
Hartmann had called the statute “grave and arbi­
economic sanctions. There can be no normal
trary interference with the right of gay men to
relations with an abnormal regime that executes
self-autonomy in rhe most intimate aspects of
gay people, unchaste women, Muslims who
their private lives."
renounce their faith and political, religious and
The government said it is appealing because
ethnic minorities.”
of “significant public concern.”
Two gay teens were hanged July 19 in the
Iranian city of Mashad. The government claimed
G ays M arch in T aipei
they raped another boy, bur “underground gay
Thousands of gays and lesbians inarched in
groups inside Iran tell us that the two teen-agers Taipei’s third Pride parade Oct. 1.
were lovers,” said Tatchell.
“We want society to treat us like normal
OutRage says its inside sources report that
human beings and not see us like aliens or sick
“the Iranian government routinely makes up false
people,” marcher Vodka Wang, 23, told Reuters.
allegations—such as rape, drug-taking and spy­
Pride spokesman Ashley Wu said: “Although
ing—to discredit the people it executes and to Taiwan’s society has become more liberal in
. discourage public protests."
recent years, there are still some politicians that
Iranian police also have been using the
make comments discriminating against homo­
Internet to entrap gay men—arranging dates,
sexuals. Gays are also discriminated in the legal
then arresting and flogging them.
system.”
D ata S urface from 1949
B ritish S ex S urvey
T hailand U nveils U niversal A ccess
to HIV T reatment
Newly discovered results from a 1949 British
sex survey show high rates of homosexuality at
the time.
According to the British Broadcasting Corp.,
which found the data in a university archive, the
findings were “suppressed” 56 years ago because
they were “so scandalous." About 20 percent of
both men and women told investigators they had
engaged in gay sex.
It was the United Kingdom’s first nationwide
sex survey.
Thailand has begun offering a free cocktail of
anti-HIV drugs to everyone who needs them,
under its new universal health care scheme.
“The main reason for Thailand doing so well
is that it produces its own drugs,” Paul
Cawthome of Doctors Without Borders told the
Inter Press Service news agency. “The drugs are
cheap and affordable."
Out of a population of 64 million, Thailand
is believed to have some 600,000 HIV-positive
residents. An additional 300,000 people have
died of AIDS-related causes. JH
R ussian G ay M an W ins
D iscrimination C ase
St. Petersburg’s Frunzensky District Court
ruled in September that October Railway broke
the law when it rejected a gay man’s application
We test because we matter.
for a conductor training class, The
Moscow Times reported.
The train line’s doctors deemed the
30-year-old man unfit because his 1992
military record said he suffered from the
“psychopathic mental disorder” of
homosexuality. The court ordered the
railroad to accept the unnamed man’s
application for the course, declared that
military records cannot be used to deter­
mine health status for purposes of
employment and said that homo­
sexuality is not a disorder.
Compiled by R ex WOCKNER, who has reported for
the gay Pres5 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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