Iraqi gay leader
assassinated
The Baghdad head of the international group Iraqi LGBT was assassinated in late September, activists in London reported.
Bashar, 27, was gunned down in a barbershop.
'Militias burst in and sprayed his body with bullets at point-blank range,' said leading British gay activist Peter Tatchell. 'The exact identity of the gunmen is unclear, but he was probably murdered by the Islamist death squads who are targeting lesbian and gay Iraqis for 'sexual cleansing.''
Bashar was the local coordinator of foreign-funded 'safe houses' for gays and lesbians living in Iraq.
'His efforts saved the lives of dozens of people,' Tatchell said. 'Bashar was a kind, generous and extremely brave young man—a true hero who put his life on the line to save the lives of others.'
Open gay joins
England's second-
highest court
Openly gay lawyer and former Olympic fencer Sir Terence Etherton became a member of England's and Wales' second-highest court in late September.
Etherton, 58, was sworn in as one of 36 judges who serve on the Court of Appeal, said The Independent.
He is the first openly gay Lord Justice of Appeal.
Etherton was formally recommended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
'My appointment ... shows that diversity in sexuality is not a bar to preferment up to the highest levels of the judiciary,' Etherton told the newspaper.
Pride to be staged
in Singapore
Singapore's first gay pride parade is scheduled to take place Nov. 15 at Hong Lim Park, the locale where the government recently announced it will allow demonstrations.
'I have no idea how many people are going to turn up,' said organizer Roy Tan. 'If it's just me, I'll be marching round the place holding a placard reading 'Repeal 377A' on one side and 'Legalize gay marriage' on the other.
'We will march about three times round Hong Lim Park singing 'We Shall Overcome,' 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor, 'Survivor' by Destiny's Child or 'I Am What I Am'—some kind of anthemy song to highlight the struggle for equality or the tenacity to survive against all odds.'
Afterwards, Tan envisions a picnic or a dance. He said the goal is not necessarily for the parade to be 'a success' but rather 'to establish a precedent.'
'So it doesn't matter if it's not terribly well organized or attended,' he said.
Penal Code Section 377A states, 'Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years.'
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