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the cathedral.... This is not acceptable. Latvia is a
state based on Christian values.”
Kalvitis later moderated his views, saying:
“There were attempts to link my statements with
expressions of homophobic views and hate in the
society. This is not true.... I hope that in the future
in such situations the necessary compromise will be
found by choosing appropriate time and place
beforehand."
Kalvitis added that “Latvia is a democratic
country that wishes and is able to ensure human
rights of every person living here.... It is worth not
ing that not long before the parade, the Cabinet of
Ministers adopted decisions preventing discrimina
tion of sexual minorities in [the] labor market.”
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Dutch Grant Gay Immigrants
a Reprieve
Vladimir Luxuria has become Europe's first
openly transgender member of Parliament.
EUROPE
Transgender Elected
to Italian Parliament
A transgender person was elected April 11 to
Italy’s Parliament.
Vladimir Luxuria is helieved to be the first
openly transgender individual elected to any.
European parliament.
“This is...a sign that the European electorate is
becoming more open-minded and embracing the
diversity of humankind,” said Riccardo Gottardi,
co-chairman of the European branch of the
International Lesbian and Gay Association. “We
hope the newly elected Italian politicians will ful
fill their pre-election promises and will introduce
Italy into [the] family of European nations legally
recognizing same-sex families.”
A gay man, Franco Grillini, and a lesbian, Titti
De Simone, were re-elected to the Chamber of
Deputies, and a bisexual, Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio,
was elected for the first time. Another gay man,
Gianpaolo Silvestri, was elected to the Senate.
Latvians Will Attempt
Second Pride Parade
GARY HANSEN
YOUR CANDIDATE FOR
DISTRICT 2
MULTNOMAH COUNTY COMMISSIONER
“I am proud of my strong record on LGBT Issues. In my previous service on the
county commission, I helped lead the effort that resulted in Multnomah County
becoming Oregon's second government to provide domestic partner benefits.
Let’s continue this work - vote Gary Hansen for District 2 County Commissioner -
and be sure to return your ballot by May 16."
* Gary Hansen
www.hansen4county.com
Despite last year’s disaster, gays and lesbians in
the Latvian capital of Riga will stage a second Pride
parade July 22.
Sweden’s National Federation for Sexual
Equality is supporting the effort with a $4,250
donation.
The 2005 parade of about 150 marchers was
completely trashed by about 1,000 anti-gay protest
ers who hurled insults, bottles and rotten eggs;
blocked the streets; and forced the procession to be
rerouted. They chanted “No sodomy” and “Gays
fuck the nation.” In the end, police formed a
human chain around the marchers to keep them
safe.
“Last year’s experience demonstrated that the
first Pride was not organized at its best; the society
was not properly informed and educated why such
an event was necessary in Latvia,” said the new
organizers, a queer alliance called Mosaic. “This
year a wider and more professional circle of people
are involve^, there is much greater cooperation
with other human rights organizations, and there is
a timely and thorough work with the media.”
Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis denounced last
year’s march as “a parade of sexual minorities [tak
ing] place in the middle of our capital city next to
Under pressure from Parliament and activists,
the Netherlands’ immigration minister, Rita
Verdonk, has extended a moratorium on expulsion
of gay Iranian asylum-seekers for an additional six
months.
Despite many reports of anti-gay abuses by
Iranian officials, Verdonk is not convinced Iranian
gays face serious persecution in their homeland.
During the moratorium, the Foreign Ministry
will launch a new effort to assess Iran’s gay climate.
The deportation ban was implemented last year
after reports of executions in Iran for homosexual
conduct.
The Etemad newspaper reported that two men
were sentenced to death by the Tehran Criminal
Court after the wife of one of them found a video of
the two having sex. The Tehran daily Kayhan cov
ered the hanging of two. men—Mokhtar N., 24, and
Ali A., 25—in Shahid Bahonar Square in the town
of Gorgan for what it said was the crime of sodomy.
“Men and women suspected of homosexual
conduct in Iran face the threat of execution,”
affirmed Scott Long of Human Rights Watch’s gay
rights program. “We have documented brutal flog
gings imposed by courts as punishment, and torture
and ill treatment, including sexual abuse, in police
custody.”
Article 111 of the Code of Islamic Punishments,
Iran’s criminal code, states that sexual intercourse
between men “is punishable by death.” Articles 121
and 122 punish nonpenetrative sex between men
with 100 lashes and with death on the fourth con
viction. Article 123 allows for 90 lashes “if two men
who are not related by blood lie naked under the
same cover without any necessity.” Articles 127
through 134 punish sexual intercourse between
women with 100 lashes and with death if the
offense is repeated three times.
MIDEAST/AFRICA
Iraqi Gays Say They're Being Killed
Iraq has seen an increase in homophobic
killings since the U.S. invasion, the British
Broadcasting Corp, reported April 17.
Frightened gay people told the network the
murders are connected to the growing influence of
anti-gay religious figures and the increasing lawless
ness of militias.
Seyed Kashmiri, a spokesman for Iraq’s most
revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
suggested some of the killings are appropriate.
“Homosexuals and lesbians are not killed for
practicing their inclinations for the first time,” he
said. “There are certain conditions drawn out by