JULY 6. 2007
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The measure passed the House of
Representatives by a 62-43 vote June 14, and had
passed the Senate in April. It granted spousal rights
in the areas of social security, health insurance and
inheritance to same-sex couples who have been
together at least two years.
But in a vote June 19 to reconcile the House
and Senate versions of the bill, four senators from
Uribe’s La U party broke ranks and opposed merg
ing the bills, thereby killing the measure. The pro
ject’s sponsor, Sen. Armando Benedetti, was furious
and demanded that the turncoats be expelled from
the party.
Although a small number of Latin American
cities and states or provinces have passed gay part
nership laws, Colombia was the first Latin
American nation to do so.
World Record: 3 Million
March in Sâo Paulo
About 3 million people took part in the 11th
Gay Pride parade June 10 in Sâo Paulo, Brazil,
making it easily the world’s largest such’parade
ever.
Nelson Matias Pereira, president of the Sâo
Paulo Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transvestite
Parade Association, said the march down Avenida
Paulista aimed to confront homophobia, machismo
and racism, according to the Agenda Brasil wire
service. Marchers included the mayor, the governor
and the federal sports and tourism ministers.
The official attendance figure was provided by
police. Last year, 2.5 million people turned out.
According to the British Broadcasting Corp., 70
other Brazilian cities also have gay Pride parades.
The day before the march, about 1 million
evangelical Christians staged an anti-gay “March
for Jesus.” Reports said one participant, Christian
pastor André Fabiano, used a public address system
mounted on a truck to chant: “Vade retro,
Satanism! Vade retro, homosexuality!"—a para
phrase of a medieval exorcism formula.
Jamaican Singers Agrée
to Halt Anti-Gay Music
Top Jamaican reggae-dancehall singers Beenie
Man, Sizzla and Capleton have signed an agree
ment to stop bashing gays in their music.
Under the Reggae Compassionate Act, written
by reggae promoters working with activists from the
international Stop Murder Music campaign, the
three performers will not release new anti-gay songs
or rerelease or perform their earlier gay-bashing
material.
The document states, in part: “There’s no space
in the music community for hatred and prejudice,
including no place for racism, violence, sexism or
homophobia. We agree to not make statements or
perform songs that incite hatred or violence against
anyone from any community.”
Stop Murder Music’s campaigning has resulted in
the cancellation in several countries of concerts by
the three singers and fellow gay-bashing dancehall
singers Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa, Vybz
Kartel and Buju Banton, who have not signed the
agreement. Some of the singers also have lost spon
sorship deals because of the campaign’s initiatives.
“This deal will have a huge, positive impact in
Jamaica and the Caribbean,” said activist Peter
Tatchell, who coordinates the campaign from
Lindon. “Having these major reggae stars renounce
homophobia will influence their fans and the wider
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Italian transgender MP Vladimir Luxuria led
Rome's Pride parade.
public to rethink bigoted attitudes. The beneficial
effect on young black straight men will be immense.”
Gareth Williams, cochairman of the Kingston
based Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals
and Gays, said he hoped the singers who signed the
pledge meant it. “We hope it is not commercially
motivated by the singers’ desire to maintain their
concert revenues, but a sincere commitment that
will encourage an end to homophobic violence and
to all violence against everyone."
ASIA/PACIFIC
Lesbian Japanese
Politician Marries
Openly lesbian Japanese politician Kanako
Otsuji, 32, and her girlfriend, Maki Kimura, 32, got
married June 3 in Tokyo. They wore white dresses
and carried roses in the ceremony, which was not
recognized legally.
A former member of the Osaka Prefectural
Assembly, Otsuji is a proportional-representation
candidate for the National Diet’s House of
Councilors, the upper house of parliament. Under
the proportional-representation system, the per
centage of votes cast for the Democratic Party and
Otsuji’s spot on the party’s list of candidates will
determine if she wins election July 22. She would
become Japan’s first-ever openly gay MP.
“Ten years ago, it would have been impossible
for me to stand as the official candidate of a major
party,” she told The Scotsman newspaper. “I want to
give all kinds of minorities in Japan a voice to
express themselves in the political world...single
mothers, the victims of domestic violence, com
mon-law couples who do not have the same rights
as married people—not just gays and lesbians.”
Otsuji came out publicly at Tokyo's 2005 Gay
Pride parade.
“Homosexual people have often kept silent for
fear of discrimination and prejudice," she said at
the time. “By declaring I’m homosexual, I would
like to highlight the problems and put an end to a
vicious circle of discrimination and prejudice.”
She later published an autobiography called
Coming Out: A Journey for Finding Your True Self. ©
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.
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