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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2007)
FEBRUARY 2. 2007 JUSt|OUt .21 Our professionals will arrange your delivery (503) 642-9992 1-800-356-1884 Don Duncan owner Aloha Market Centre 20455 SW TV Highway www.westsideflorist.net Teleflora Gays and supporters returned to the Vatican since this 2002 protest to picket against Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay rights. The protest marked nine years since Alfredo Ormando set himself alight in St. Peter's Square to protest Catholic homophobia. ■^^»D avid W. O wens P.C. & ASSOCIATES * Ormando, set himself alight in St. Peter’s Square to protest Roman Catholic homophobia. Ormando died 10 days later from his injuries. The Vatican has expressed hostility to the Italian government’s promise to introduce a civil union bill into Parliament by the end of January. The measure is expected to cover areas such as health insurance, health care decisions, hospital and prison visitation, inheritance, immigration, transfer of leases and alimony. Prime Minister Romano Prodi told local media that such a law would be a “fundamental step forward.” AMERICAS Mexican State Passes Civil Unions The Mexican state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, passed a civil union law for same-sex couples Jan. 11. The state Congress approved the measure 20- 13. It was introduced by the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled Mexico for more than 70 years until the election of President Vicente Fox in 2000. Expressing support for the bill, Coahuila PR1 Gov. Humberto Moreira said “it would be discrim inatory not to...respect the rights of every person regardless of sexual affiliation.” The law extends most of the rights of matrimo ny to registered same-sex couples. Coahuila is known for mining and ranching. Its capital city is Saltillo. The only other locale in Mexico with a same- sex partnership law is Mexico City. That measure passed the city’s Legislative Assembly 43-17 with five abstentions last November. It grants spousal rights in areas such as property, pensions, inheri tance, medical decisions and co-parenting. Heterosexual couples and nonsexual couples also can register under the law. Other Latin American localities with same-sex civil union laws include Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Argentine province of Rio Negro; and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Mexican Gay Leader Murdered The best-known gay activist in Matamoros, Mexico, was found stabbed to death in his home Jan. 15. José Ernesto Leal López, 42, was killed just days after staging a press conference calling for the state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, to pass a same sex partnership law similar to those passed in Mexico City and in the border state of Coahuila. Leal López also recently had demanded that Matamoros police stop allegedly arresting residents because of their homosexual orientation and charg ing them $84 to be released. But a police department spokesman said the killing appeared to be solely “a crime of passion," noting that there were no signs of forced entry and that there was bkxxl throughout the house. The Hoy Tamaulipas Web site reported Jan. 19 that openly gay federal congressman David Sanchez Camacho, who serves on a commission concerned with “vulnerable groups,” had arrived in Matamoros to challenge the “crime of passion” theory. “Enough with wanting to solve this crime by saying it was passion and wanting to sweep it under the carpet when we could be facing an anti-gay hate crime," Sanchez Camacho said. “We’ve come all the way to Tamaulipas to learn the realities of life for people like us on this border.” Matamoros is across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. 602 SE 38th Ave. Portland, OR 97214 503.2313922 Wed - Sat PAUL MITCHELL serving the community since 1975 A ttorneys at L aw Serving Oregon & Washington 503°224°3100 DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS ADOPTIONS • ESTATE PLANNING WILLS • TRUSTS • ADVANCE DIRECTIVES POWER OF ATTORNEY GUARDIANSHIPS AND CONSERVATORSHIPS vww.owens-law.com »101 SW MAIN, SUITE 700 • Portland, Oregon 97204 • Parking Validated MIDEAST/AFRICA Trouble for Scottsdale/Marrakech Sister-City Plan The Scottsdale Sister Cities Association in Arizona has come under fire from gay activists over a plan that would pair Scottsdale and Marrakech, Morocco, as “sister cities.” They say it’s contradictory for a city with an official gay tourist outreach program to team up with a country that punishes gay sex with up to three years in prison. “It wouldn’t have been our first pick,” said Amy Kobeta, director of public affairs at the Arizona Human Rights Fund and Foundation. “It makes me curious about what guidelines they used in selecting a sister city,” she told The East Valley Tribune. “Our hope is that they would kx>k at other areas of the world that are more tol erant.” / According to Amnesty International, about 80 of rhe world’s 193 independent nations criminalize gay sex. © R ex WOCKNER 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. cost — for routine checkups, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, birth control, including emergency contraception, pregnancy testing, and more. n Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette TALK TO US IN CONFIDENCE. WITH CONFIDENCE. www.ppcw.org Z2Z
