300 gay cops, staffers march in Manchester
In the largest such grouping ever, 300 gay and lesbian police officers and staffers marched in the gay pride parade in Manchester, England, Aug. 23.
The cops came from 16 police forces around the United Kingdom.
'I am totally overwhelmed with the response we have had this year,' Sgt. Julie Barnes-Frank, coordinator of Greater Manchester Police's Lesbian and Gay Staff Affiliation, told the Press Association. 'Each year our presence gets bigger and bigger and this year it is true to say there's never been anything like it in the world.'
Meanwhile, England's most southwesterly county, Cornwall, saw its first gay pride parade Aug. 23 in the city of Truro.
Some 600 people marched and the Gay Police Association flag flew from the Truro Police Station.
Newsweek encounters obstacles reporting on gays in Iraq
Newsweek ran into obstacles left and right in attempting to do a story on gays in Iraq, the magazine reported on its Web site Aug. 26 in an article titled, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Do Kill.'
'Nobody wants to talk about gays in Iraq, much less who is killing them,' the article said.
After weeks of inquiries, the magazine set up a meeting with Nadir, who helps run one of the 'safe houses' foreign activists fund for Iraqi gays.
But the night before their meeting, Nadir was visited by the Mahdi militia, the armed wing of the organization led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and Nadir then called off the meeting.
'That was only one of many problems reporting on gays in Iraq,' Newsweek said. 'Iraqi authorities scoffed at the subject—when not scolding a reporter for even asking about it. Some of Newsweek's own local staff were wary of the story. Virtually no government officials would sit for an interview. And the United Nations human-rights office, which has a big presence in Iraq, dodged the subject like a mine field.'
Gay men the magazine did manage to talk to told stories of being thrown out of their homes and 'savagely attacked' by Shia extremists from the Badr Corps or members of the Mahdi Army.
Killing gays has become 'honorable' in Iraq, the report said.
'And raping them is OK because it isn't considered a homosexual act—only being penetrated or providing oral sex is.'
The report concluded, 'Changing Iraq's attitudes toward its gay minority may prove even harder than ending the war.'
35,000 at Ottawa Pride
Some 1,200 marchers and 34,000 spectators turned out for the 19th gay pride parade in Ottawa, Ontario, on Aug. 24.
The march went down Wellington Street to City Hall, with stops at the Parliament Buildings and the federal Supreme Court, both of which played a role in Canada's legalization of same-sex marriage.
'It's important for us to keep ... celebrating those victories,' Capital Pride spokesman Julien Lavoie told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 'And maybe there's still some inequalities that gays and lesbians face.'
Lithuania blocks EU antidiscrimination truck from public property
The mayors of Vilnius and Kaunas in Lithuania blocked the European Union's antidiscrimination truck from parking on public property in their cities Aug. 20-22.
The European Commission, which sponsors the touring truck, responded by arranging for it to visit supermarket parking lots instead.
The 'For Diversity—Against Discrimination' truck travels Europe promoting diversity and tolerance and raising awareness about EU legislation prohibiting discrimination based on gender, disability, age, religion, belief, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
In banning the truck, Kaunas Mayor Andrius Kupcinskas stated that the 'homosexual festival may cause many negative emotions.'
'The mayors of Vilnius and Kaunas are sending a clear message that LGBT people are still not welcome in their diverse communities and are creating some kind of 21st-century apartheid,' said Lithuanian Gay League Chair Vladimir Simonko. 'Homosexuals who find it impossible to live in such a situation are forced to emigrate to more tolerant European cities.'
Last year, Kaunas banned the truck from entering the city at all.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley