MP IN GAYDAR PHOTO FLAP
United Kingdom Member of Parliament Chris Bryant, who represents Wales' Rhondda Valley area, is under fire for sharing a photo of himself wearing only underwear with users of the Gaydar.co.uk cruising site and for sending a sexually explicit e-mail to a cruiser he hoped to hook up with.
'I'd love to meet for a good long fuck,' it said.
Bryant, 41, has been under consideration as a future Labor Party leader, an idea that has been dampened by the flap.
'I'm sorry this has happened,' Bryant said Dec. 2. 'I've always been open and honest about my private life but never sought to make an issue of it. I'm saddened that others have sought to do so. The important thing is the work that I do for my constituents as an MP. I will not myself be distracted from standing up for the people of the Rhondda.'
CHINESE UNIVERSITY TEACHES HOMOSEXUALITY
China's Fudan University is the first to offer a class devoted to homosexuality, the South China Morning Post reported.
About 60 students have enrolled in 'Homosexual Health, Society and Science.' In addition to classroom work, they will take a field trip to Shanghai's gay bars.
"The number of homosexuals in China is large, but people who dare to speak out are few. This is slowly changing," said the class's instructor, Professor Qin Shide.
WORLD AIDS DAY EVENT BANNED
The mayor of Santiago, Chile, Joaquín Lavín, banned a World AIDS Day event in the Plaza de Armas Nov. 30 citing security concerns, according to www.orgullogay.cl.
The commemoration had been planned by nongovernmental AIDS groups and organizations of people living with AIDS. They issued a statement denouncing the decision as 'an explicit act of discrimination against people living with HIV and individuals who work in the AIDS field.'
GIANT CONDOM TOURS BOGOTÁ
Activists marched through Bogotá, Colombia, with a 10-foot-tall ( 3-meter ) condom Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.
The giant prophylactic, constructed of hundreds of ordinary rubbers in the three colors of the Colombian flag, was paraded from Independence Park to Bolívar Plaza.
The demonstrators denounced Colombian Roman Catholic Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo for his assertions that condoms do not prevent HIV transmission.
BRAZILIAN MAYOR BANS GAYS
The mayor of Bocaiuva do Sul in Brazil's Paraná state banned homosexuals and 'any element linked to this class' from moving to the town Dec. 3.
According to Reuters, Mayor Elcio Berti explained, 'This municipality is fighting to support social projects and needs to bring in industries, for which people with strong fists are needed to operate production tools.'
He also said the town, population 10,000, needs to 'preserve respect and family atmosphere' and increase its birthrate. Berti previously banned sale of condoms and other birth-control measures and reportedly handed out free Viagra to encourage reproduction.
'I need to increase the population by encouraging people to have kids, not with troublemakers,' he told the Folha de São Paulo newspaper. 'When I was a kid I used to live among criminals but even so they were all real men.'
Gay activists announced plans to sue to overturn the decree and, on Dec. 5, state officials charged Berti with violation of local and federal antidiscrimination laws and abuse of administrative power, The Advocate reported.
"Mayor Elcio Berti stepped beyond any reasonable limit," prosecutor Agenor Salgado told the AP, The Advocate said. "If convicted, he could face two to four years in prison, aside from losing his office."
FINNISH AUTHOR HONORED
Openly lesbian Finnish author Pirkko Saisio has won the nation's top annual book prize, Finlandia, for her novel 'The Red Book About Separation' ( 'Punainen erokirja' ) .
Saisio donated her 26,000 euro ( US$31,584 ) prize to SETA, the National Organization for Sexual Equality.
In the novel—part three of a semiautobiographical trilogy—Saisio describes coming out at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Finland.
SOUTHEAST ASIANS DUMP EPISCOPALIANS
Anglicans in nine southeast Asian nations cut ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church Dec. 4 because of the Diocese of New Hampshire's recent consecration of an openly gay man, Gene Robinson, as bishop.
Archbishop Yong Ping Chung, Anglican primate of Southeast Asia, said New Hampshire exhibited 'a flagrant disregard of the fundamental teachings of the Bible and doctrines of the church.' He also declared same-sex unions unnatural and an abomination to God.
Yong's authority covers Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Anglican churches in several African nations also have cut or reduced ties with the U.S. church or the New Hampshire diocese. The Russian Orthodox Church also has terminated relations with U.S. Episcopalians because of Robinson's consecration.
FRENCH CIVIL UNIONS ARE POPULAR
France's marriage-like Civil Solidarity Pacts proved popular in the first half of 2003—15,000 couples signed up. Last year a total of 25,000 couples tied the knot.
The pacts, which confer most marriage rights and obligations, are available to same- and opposite-sex couples.
France enacted the partnership law in late 1999.
PAGEANT PROCEEDS DESPITE BOMB THREATS
The Miss Gay South Africa pageant proceeded as planned Nov. 29 despite several bomb threats, Durban's The Daily News reported.
The sold-out event took place at the Kismet Hotel in Pietermaritzburg, co-capital of KwaZulu-Natal province.
A 10 p.m. search by the Bomb Disposal Unit found no explosives.
Christians for Truth picketed the pageant.
Monique Perez beat out 22 other contestants to capture the crown.
JUSTICE SUPPORTS GAY COUPLES
The first woman appointed to Britain's highest court, a section of the House of Lords known as the Law Lords, supports extending marriage rights to same-sex couples.
"My present view is that there is a strong case for introducing a legal commitment between people who are unable to marry, principally gay and lesbian partners," Lady Hale told The Independent.
The 12 law lords are the court of final appeal for the full United Kingdom on points of law in civil cases, and for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in criminal cases.
