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  WINDY CITY TIMES

WORLD ROUNDUP
Special to the Online Edition of Windy City Times
by Rex Wockner
2009-07-22

This article shared 1976 times since Wed Jul 22, 2009
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Lithuanian Parliament overrides veto of 'no promo homo' law

The Lithuanian Parliament on July 14 overrode a presidential veto of a bill that bans from schools and public places any information that "agitate ( s ) for homosexual, bisexual and polygamous relations." The vote was 87-6.

The Parliament, or Seimas, previously had passed the measure 67-3, with 67 MPs not voting. Seventy-one votes were needed for an override.

The new statute is called the "Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information."

An explanatory note attached to it says: "The propagation of a nontraditional sexual orientation and exposure to information containing positive coverage of homosexual relations may cause negative consequences for the physical, mental and, first and foremost, moral development of minors."

The law specifically states that it is meant to cover movies and Web sites, so domestic and foreign gay Web sites might now be banned in Lithuania, along with hundreds of films such as "Milk" and "La Cage aux Folles."

The law also bans information that promotes hypnosis, "bad eating," paranormal phenomena, gambling, lotteries, physical passivity and other things legislators consider "detrimental" to minors' bodies or thought processes.

The measure's sponsor said it protects Lithuanian youth from "the rotten culture that is now overwhelming them."

The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association ( aka ILGA-Europe ) said the law "seriously undermines the right to education and can have detrimental effects to young people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual as they are now officially banned from receiving any information and support."

Amnesty International said the law "denies the right to freedom of expression and deprives students' access to the support and protection they may need."

Poles hate same-sex marriage

Seventy-five percent of Poles oppose legalization of same-sex marriage and 87 percent say gay couples shouldn't be allowed to adopt children, a GfK Polonia poll has found.

The poll is the latest example of the wide gulf on gay acceptance that separates Western Europe from the European nations that used to be part of the Communist bloc.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Europe in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden—and most other Western European nations have civil-union laws for gay couples.

Portugal sees largest Prides yet

About 3,000 people marched in Lisbon's gay pride parade June 20, making it Portugal's largest pride parade to date.

But Portuguese gays may like to party more than they like to march, as the Arraial Pride party a week later attracted 4,000 people.

Mayor Antonio Costa joined the outdoor booze, food and music event near the Torre de Belem, the city's most prominent landmark.

"One novelty was the 'Queer Games' activity with high-heels run, and other funny sport-like activities; another first was a kindergarten area," said correspondent João Paulo of the Web portal PortugalGay.PT.

On July 11, about 1,000 people took part in the fourth gay pride parade in Porto, the nation's second-largest city.

After dark, some 2,000 people showed up for the ninth Porto Pride party, which lasted until 8 a.m.

Ukraine bans Brüno

Sacha Baron Cohen's new gay flick Brüno has been banned in Ukraine for alleged immorality, obscenity and impropriety.

The Culture Ministry said it was displeased with the movie's "artistically unjustified" gay-sex scenes, obscene language, nudity, graphic homosexuality, sadism and anti-social behavior.

In the U.S., the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation also has dissed the film.

"The filmmakers wanted to use satire to highlight and challenge homophobia," said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. "But their film also reinforces troubling attitudes about gay people in ways that run counter to the intentions of the filmmakers.

"The movie repeatedly builds entire scenes around stock stereotypes and situations that make gay people and families the butt of crude jokes. I can't help but think of all the teenage kids already getting bullied, beat up and ridiculed for being—or for being thought to be—gay. For these kids, this movie will give their tormentors one more word in the anti-gay lexicon of slurs: Brüno."

Some gay bloggers and Facebook users who have seen the film say GLAAD is humorless and needs to find its funnybone—a charge the group occasionally has encountered before.

Group says LGBT activists targeted

after Honduran coup

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission on July 17 condemned "the recent murder and arbitrary arrests of ... LGBT activists in Honduras."

"IGLHRC has learned that these human rights abuses have occurred as a direct result of the military coup on June 28 ... which ousted that country's democratically elected government," the group said.

A transgender activist was shot dead June 29 a block from the gay community center in the city of San Pedro Sula, IGLHRC said.

"Local activists in Honduras claim she was killed by military police patrolling the streets," the organization reported.

Five other GLBT activists—Héctor Licona, Donny Reyes, Patrick Pavón, Claudia Cervantes and Lizeth Ávila—were arrested, detained and beaten June 29 in Tegucigalpa, the capital, IGLHRC said.

"The arrests occurred while the activists were participating in a demonstration in support of the democratically elected government," the group said.

The five activists are well-known GLBT leaders.

"The recent coup in Honduras is an illegal assault on democracy that violates the rights of all Honduran citizens, including those who identify as LGBT," said IGLHRC Executive Director Cary Alan Johnson. "We especially deplore the vicious murder and arbitrary arrests of LGBT people in the wake of this crisis."

Russian human-rights ombudsman meets gay group

Russia's human rights ombudsman, V.P. Lukin, met with members of the Russian LGBT Network on July 15 and received a "discrimination monitoring report" prepared by the network and the Moscow Helsinki Group.

Lukin reportedly said that GLBT people are entitled to the same rights as anyone else and "if rights of specific people are violated due to their orientation, we are ready to protect their rights."

LGBT Network Chairman Igor Kochetkov said he was very pleased with how the meeting went.

"This is the first time a representative of the Russian government officially met with ... Russian LGBT activists," Kochetkov said. "We can safely say that the results exceeded our expectations. We very much count on further collaboration with the ombudsman."

Numerous cases are pending at the European Court of Human Rights over Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's repeated bans of gay pride and other gay events. There also are cases against other Russian cities that have blocked gay events.

300 march in Sofia

Around 300 people marched in the second gay pride parade in Sofia, Bulgaria, on June 27, twice as many as last year.

Police and private security officers, hired by pride organizers, protected the marchers to prevent a recurrence of last year's violence, when skinheads and right-wing extremists attacked the parade with bottles, rocks, eggs, firecrackers, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails, resulting in 80 arrests.

This year's march, which traveled from the National Palace of Culture to the Red House debate club, encountered nothing more serious than some booing.

Organizers called for a law to ban anti-gay discrimination in employment.

Irish gov't introduces civil-partnership law

Ireland's government has introduced a civil-partnership bill in Parliament, where it should pass easily. The law is expected to be in effect by the end of the year.

The measure extends to registered same-sex couples nearly all rights and obligations of marriage.

However, most gay activist groups have denounced the plan, saying it amounts to second-class status for same-sex couples. The organizations have cited inequalities in the areas of inheritance, taxation and children's rights.

"The bill is forcing lesbians and gay men to accept a second-rate set of rights, and ensures that lesbian and gay relationships will be regarded as inferior to married couples," said the group MarriagEquality, urging that gay couples be granted access to marriage instead.

The group Equals likewise complained, "Civil partnership will create a two-tier society and will legislate gay and lesbian people into inequality."

On June 26, activists protested against the measure outside Leinster House, seat of the two houses of Parliament, the Dáil Éireann and the Seanad Éireann.

Activist Will St. Leger climbed atop a pillar and remained there for three hours before being arrested. He was later released without charge.

Protester Lisa Connell chained herself to the Dáil gates. Police used a bolt cutter to remove her, then ordered her to leave the scene.

Meanwhile, thousands of people took part in Dublin's gay pride parade June 27. Marchers chanted: "What do we want? Marriage. When do we want it? Now."

—Assistance: Bill Kelley


This article shared 1976 times since Wed Jul 22, 2009
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