MARCH 17. 2006 lUSt QUt
21
70% OFF HANDMADE PERSIAN CARPETS!
Moscow Mayor Reiterates
Anti-Gay Stance
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has reiterated his
promise to han the city’s first Gay Pride parade this
May.
. Speaking Feh. 22 in Berlin at a press conference
with the mayors of Paris, London and Berlin, he
said that he is “against such a phenomenon in life”
and that the parade would “provoke society.” Paris
Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and Berlin Mayor Klaus
Wowereit are both openly gay.
“I will not permit such parades,” Luzhkov said,
according to Interfax. “My philosophy is my negative
attitude to these phenomena, as I believe them to be
unnatural to the human nature, though I try to be
tolerant to whatever develops in human society.”
Human Rights Watch denounced Luzhkov’s
statements Feb. 27, calling them “a threat to civil
liberties and civil society.”
In a letter to the mayor, gay rights director Scott
Long said: “Prohibiting this parade would consti
tute an unacceptable and discriminatory interfer
ence with the peaceful exercise of the freedom of
assembly [and] violate Russia’s obligations under
international law. As a party to the European
Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms, Russia is obligated not to discriminate on
grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Gay groups picketed March 2 outside Russian
government buildings in London; Paris; Stockholm,
Sweden; Vienna, Austria; and Warsaw, Poland.
“Who does Luzhkov think he is? Joseph
Stalin?,” asked Peter Tatchell of the British gay
direct-action group OutRage. “Someone should
remind Yuri that the anti-gay Soviet Union is dead.
Russia is a democracy, and in a democracy people
have a right to protest peacefully.”
In Warsaw, about 20 protesters put a letter in
the Russian Embassy’s mailbox after no one came
outside to meet the group.
Lesbian Parliamentarian
to Get Hitched
Liberal Democrat Member of the Scottish
Parliament Margaret Smith will “marry” her part
ner this month under the United Kingdom’s new
Civil Partnership Act.
“The ceremony will take place in Edinburgh in
the presence of family and friends," Smith and part
ner Suzanne Main said in a statement.
Smith came out in 2003, saying: “I am happy to
confirm that I am in a relationship with a female
partner.... My partner is not in the public eye. We
would hope that the media would respect the
privacy of both families at this time.”
France Extends Parental Rights
to Same-Sex Couples
Same-sex couples were granted access to joint
parental rights over each other’s biological children
by France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation,
Feb. 24.
The court said a biological partner is free to del
egate parental authority to his or her live-in, stable
partner when it is in a child’s best interest to do so.
Transsexual Beaten to Death
in Portugal
A 46-year-old transgender woman was beaten to
death in Porto, Portugal, in late February.
According to PortugalGay.PT, “Gisberta”
reportedly was beaten, stoned, stomped on, burned,
Margaret Smith, an openly gay member of the
Scottish Parliament, will register with Suzanne
Main under the United Kingdom's new Civil
Partnership Act.
sexually assaulted with a stick and thrown into a
deep pit in an abandoned building where she had
been living. Media reports said that 14 boys
between ages 10 and 16 admitted to police their
involvement in the crime after one of the boys con
fessed to a teacher.
About 40 people staged a candlelight vigil
Feb. 24 in a parking area of the building in ^hich
the body was found.
An immigrant from Brazil, Gisberta had lived in
Portugal for 25 years. She worked as a prostitute
and an occasional performer in gay bars. Her legal
name was Gilberto Salce Júnior.
free
900 AW 5th Ave (at 5th and Taylor) • Portland. OP 97204
shipping and delivery
503.222.1230 • a rto f_ pc rs i a @ hot m a i I. co m
|( I
|)J MORÍ JAN FINANCIAL, INC
M ortgage L ending & I nvestments
Custom Financing that fits your Needs!
It is my goal to fit every borrower with the mortgage that
best suits their interests and goals. It is of the utmost
importance that you understand all of the
potential options you have, and make the right decision.
ASIA/PACIFIC
400,000 at Sydney Mardi Gras
Around 400,000 people turned out March 4 for
the 28th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney,
Australia.
The famous parade down Oxford Street featured
6,000 participants attached to 130 floats and
marching units.
Cowboy costumes were in vogue this year,
thanks to Brokeback Mountain. Former Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein and supermodel Kate
Moss were among those lampooned.
It is important to me that you are comfortable with the
financing from the minute you fill out an application to
the day you move into your new home.
Pauline Hines
Brunch Manager
pauline@morfi.com
1920 NW Lovejoy • Portland, Oregon 97209
503-542-7894 Office
503-515-8761 Mobile
50 3-542-7895 Fax
Miluand Windows
AMERICAS
Quebec Priests Oppose Vatican's
Anti-Gay Moves
Nineteen priests in the Canadian province of
Quebec published a letter Feb. 27 in Montreal’s La
Presse denouncing the Roman Catholic Church’s
recent pronouncements against same-sex marriage
and its new crackdown on gay seminarians, the
Can West News Service reported.
Titled “Enough Is Enough,” the 1,000-word
letter said the church’s categorization of homo
sexuality as a “disorder” leads to increased societal
homophobia." In November, the Vatican
announced a ban on seminarians “who practice
homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual
tendencies or support so-called gay culture."
AFRICA
Editor Who Outed Official Jailed
The editor of the Yaounde, Camenxin, news
paper L’Anecdote was jailed for four months and
fined about $1,833 March 3 for publishing the name
of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Grégoire
Owona on a long list of alleged homosexuals.
The judge said that editor Jean-Pierre Amougou
Belinga had failed to prove that Owona had
engaged in gay sex. The newspaper plans to appeal
the conviction.
Two other Camenxin newspapers also have pub
lished long lists of public figures alleged to be gay. ®
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.
REPLACEMENT
WINDOWS
Clearly the best
For over 26 years we have been selling and installing Milgard
windows and doors to homeowners in the Portland area.
Whether you are looking for vinyl, fiberglass, or woodclad -
Milgard has just the right windows and doors for your home.
Milgard windows and doors are made right here in Oregon
with lifetime service direct from the factory in Tualatin.
If you would like to change your old windows to new Milgard
Replacement Windows and Patio Doors at a reasonable price,
call any time for a courteous in-home proposal.
INSULATED WINDOW
CORPORATION
503 283-9481
8124 N. Denver
MCMMR
Better Business
Serving Oregon * Western Washington
CCB#I9O95
Qarland Homer
Owner