WORLD ROUNDUP - 3435 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

AUSTRALIAN P.M. MEANS IT Australian Prime Minister John Howard is strenuously opposed to same-sex marriage. 'I don't support gay marriages being given the same legal and community status as a traditional marriage,' he told The West Australian newspaper Dec. 8. 'I believe traditional marriage is one of the benchmark institutions of our society and I hold that view very strongly. 'Even if you produced an opinion poll tomorrow that showed me 80 percent of the Australian community disagreed with me, I would still hold that view,' he said. 'I don't alter my views on issues like that according to polling, but frankly I would expect that a lot of people would agree with me. But as to whether it's a majority view or not, I've never tested it and frankly I don't intend to.'ANTI-GAY SINGER CANCELS CONCERTS Jamaican reggae star Bounty Killer canceled planned concerts in London and Birmingham, England, Dec. 5 and 6 after the gay-rights group OutRage! urged the police to arrest him on charges of inciting violence against homosexuals. At OutRage!'s request, police warned the concert venues—the White Pearl Club in Birmingham and the Stratford Rex in London —that they could be found guilty of aiding and abetting criminal offenses if Bounty Killer performed his hit songs calling for gays to be burned, drowned, stoned, wiped out and murdered. 'The cancellation of his concerts is a victory over homophobia in pop music,' said OutRage!'s Peter Tatchell. 'Our aim is to make Britain a no-go area for singers who incite violence against gay people and other minorities.' Among Bounty Killer's lyrics: 'Bun a fire pon a kuh pon mister fagoty. Poop man fi drown a dat a yawd man philosophy ( Uh huh ) .' The translation, OutRage! said, is: 'Burn the queer. Men who have anal sex should be drowned, that's a yardie man's philosophy.' Also: 'Hear this likkle punk guh sing a battyman concept. To kill dis yah fool, to me dat is no stress. Murder dem fast just like a Federal Express.' Translation: 'Hear this little punk who sings a queer song. To kill this fool, to me that is no stress. Murder him fast, like Federal Express.' Spokesmen for the two clubs said Bounty Killer, whose real name is Rodney Price, canceled the shows because he missed his flight from Jamaica.PARTNERS GET TRAVEL BENEFITS Members of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory can now take their partners with them on overseas trips at taxpayer expense, the territorial Remuneration Tribunal ruled Dec. 9. The tribunal redefined a de-facto spouse as a 'person who is not married to the Member, but is in a marriage-like relationship with the Member.'BOLIVIANS DISRUPT SPEECH Members of Bolivia's National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS disrupted a speech by Vice Minister of Health Oscar Larrain Dec. 1 in Santa Cruz, the nation's second-largest city. As Larrain began his address to the nation's first World AIDS Day ceremony, 19 members of the group stood and brandished placards bearing crosses and names of group members who have died. 'We are not here to celebrate World AIDS Day,' said activist Julio César Aguilera. 'We are here because this is a day of mourning for us. Our friends continue to die because our government will not give them antiretroviral medications.' Activist Violeta Ross seized the microphone from Larrain and declared that people living with AIDS are sick of the national AIDS program's failed promises to provide HIV medications. Larrain and other officials continue to pledge that the drugs, to be purchased from a company that markets generics, will be available soon. Prior to the ceremonies, activists marched from the Central Plaza to the National Cathedral, attracting heavy media coverage.HARASSMENT MEASURED IN TAIWAN About 36 percent of gays and lesbians in Taiwan have been harassed or discriminated against because of their sexuality, a survey has found. The Taiwan Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Association questioned 1,641 homosexuals along with a smattering of heterosexuals and bisexuals. Thirteen percent of the 336 heterosexuals quizzed said they had been harassed after being misidentified as gay. According to a summary of the research published in the Taipei Times, 36 percent of the harassment cases occurred at universities, 32 percent at home, 24 percent at work and the remainder elsewhere.

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