SEPTEMBER 21. 2007 justOUt;?1
world
EUROPE
Hungarian Radio Station
Fires Anti-Gay Editors
Budapest’s Lanchid Radio station fired two
editors Aug. 29 after they posted a doctored pho
tograph on the station’s Web site that showed
openly gay government official Gabor Szetey
wearing a pink triangle and standing outside the
Auschwitz concentration camp.
Szetey, the federal human resources secretary
of state, publicly came out July 5 as he opened
Budapest’s 12th Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans
gender Festival of culture and arts. Responding to
the photo incident, Szetey told reporters he
“cannot be intimidated.”
The radio station’s management called the pic
ture “impermissible and offensive” and apologized
to Szetey and anyone else who found it upsetting.
Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany also denounced
the image, calling it “a scoundrel act.”
“The fascists are gathering,” Gyurcsany said.
“They are not knocking on the door; they are right
here among us.”
Budapest’s Gay Pride parade was attacked July 7
by hundreds of skinheads, neo-Nazis and other
thugs. They threw eggs, bottles, smoke bombs,
Molotov cocktails and bags of sand at the 2,000
marchers, physically attacked several marchers and
pelted police with beer bottles.
The protesters chanted, “Faggots into the
Danube, followed by the Jews," “Soap factory” and
“Filthy faggots.” Dozens more Pride attendees were
attacked in the vicinity of the post-parade party at
the open-air, riverside Buddha Beach nightclub,
the parade’s endpoint.
In his coming-out speech, Szetey said: “It is not
your choice whether you are gay or not, but it is
your choice to accept it.... I believe in truth, and
I am sick and tired of lies.... I believe that we can
and we have to break the culture of silence. I have
to say out loud who am I, so that finally my own
decisions direct my destiny. We have to say it out
loud so that we take control of our lives, so that we
can be what we are meant to be...so that we don’t
have to live two different lives, one public life and
one secret life."
ASIA/PACIFIC
MCC's Founder
Silenced in Singapore
Metropolitan Community Churches founder
Troy Perry was banned from giving a speech at
a meeting of gay rights and Pride groups in
Singapore last month.
“I’ve had enough experiences for three life
times, but this was the first time an entire country
banned me from public speaking,” he said.
Perry was allowed into Singapore but instruct
ed by the authorities to speak with people only one
on one. So he went to the meeting as scheduled,
but instead of giving his speech, he answered ques
tions for three hours, from one person at a time.
“Of course, I was answering them out loud in
front of the audience, so I was actually able to share
far more information than if I had only delivered
my speech,” Perry noted.
Singapore has been on a gay-ban spree of late.
The Media Development Authority prohibited
July 30 an exhibition of 80 of photographer Alex
Au’s pictures of gay people kissing. The censors said
the exhibit would “promote a homosexual lifestyle
and cannot be allowed."
Gay sex is illegal in Singapore and punishable
with two years in prison.
The exhibition, which was part of two weeks of
Pride activities, was replaced with a PowerPoint
presentation during which some of the photos were
projected and discussed. Organizers also set up
a photo comer where attendees could have their
own kissing photos taken, and Au showed some
attendees his private album of the 80 pictures.
The authorities banned Aug. 3 a Pride forum at
which retired Canadian law professor Douglas
Sanders was to discuss “Sexual Orientation in
International Law: The Case of Asia.” Police with
drew the license for the event, the immigration
department canceled Sanders’ visa, and the Home
Affairs Ministry stated that “foreigners should refrain
from interfering [in] discourse over a domestic issue
such as the laws that govern homosexuality in
Singapore.”
A third Gay Pride event was partially banned
Aug. 2. The Media Development Authority
approved a license for a story-reading event, but
only on the condition that author Ng Yi-Sheng not
read his story about sex between a young man and
politicians and military officers. The agency said
the story lacks “gtxxl taste and decency” and is
“disparaging and disrespectful...of public officers."
Mohd. Sufian Mohamad's (right) and Zaiton
Aziz's marriage was voided by Malaysian Court
because Sufian is female.
Mohd. Sufian Mohamad, 40, and Zaiton Aziz, 43,
were ordered to separate after a medical exam found
that Sufian was a woman. The couple had been
married for nearly five years but ran into trouble in
registering their marriage with the state’s religiixis
affairs department, which questioned Sudan's gender.
Zaiton told the court “she had never seen or
touched her husband’s private parts and had taken
him to be a man all along and that she felt.. .satis
fied,” Judge Che Saufi Che Husin said in his ruling.
The couple have 14 days to appeal the decision.
Malaysia does not permit sex-change operations. ©
Malaysian Court Voids Marriage
An Islamic court in Malaysia’s Malacca state
voided a couple’s marriage Sept. 4 after determin
ing that the husband was female, local newspapers
reported.
Connecting the
spectrum of
Portland's LGBTQ
community
R f .X
WoCKNER has reported for the gay press since
1 985. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from
Drake University and started his career as a radio
reporter.
■■
LOSE FAT FOREVER.
NO SURGERY, NO SWEATING, NO KIDDING
A nori-surgical, cosmetic, medical treatment that is
an alternative to liposuction and is proven to eliminate
unwanted fat for good!
Q Center Board of Directors,'Staff
For a list of
upcoming events
and activities,
please go to
www.pdxqcenter.org
/I series of microinjections safely targets & DISSOLVES
fat cells from problem areas. THE FAT CELLS DO NOT RETURN!
Call today for a complimentary consultation!
Additionally, at Thrive we offer a wide range
of aesthetic services designed to enhance your
natural beauty:
Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy
Medical Weight Loss
Titan® Skin Tightening
Botox® & Restylane®
CENTER
69 SE TAYLOR (AT WATER AVE )
■■■■■■
I PL for Sun damager*^
Laser Therapy for
Facial and Spider Veins
Laser Skin Rejuvenation
& Resurfacing
(LIPO)
www.dissolve-fat.com