BRAZILIAN STATE GETS CIVIL UNIONS
THE NETHERLANDS
A judicial panel in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, where Porto Alegre is located, instituted same-sex civil unions March 3.
Couples can register at any notary public office and will receive the bulk of matrimonial rights—including in areas such as adoption, child custody, inheritance, pensions and insurance.
'This is not going to be called 'gay marriage' ... but it is the equivalent,' said Tania Bampi, a spokeswoman for the state court administration.
A national civil-union measure has been stalled in Congress for several years.
300,000 AT
MARDI GRAS
Despite rain and wind, 6,000 marchers, 130 floats and 300,000 spectators turned out for Sydney, Australia's 26th gay Mardi Gras parade March 6.
Just prior to the parade's start, organizers attempted to set a world record for the most people to simultaneously do the hand motions for the Village People's hit disco song YMCA, which was broadcast over radio station 2JJJ at the appointed hour. The present record is 13,588 people, set in 2001 at a baseball game in Nebraska.
'Our estimates are that there are 35,000 people who participated in that attempt, although we are yet to see how the Guinness Book of Records will deal with what we refer to as 'the umbrella issue,'' New Mardi Gras co-chair Michael Woodhouse told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Dykes on bikes and aborigines led the parade followed by Monica Hingston, openly lesbian cousin of Sydney Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell.
'I accepted the invitation to be part of the Mardi Gras parade because it was one more step on the way to saying, 'Look, we're here, we're not going away,'' she told the ABC.
MUGABE
ERUPTS AGAIN
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 80, erupted against gays again March 5.
Speaking at a church ceremony in celebration of his own long life, Mugabe said: 'I'm morally revulsed by homosexuality. Let us never entertain the theory that man and man can form a family. It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam, Eve and Eve.'
In previous eruptions, Mugabe has stated: 'What an abomination, a rottenness of culture, real decadence of culture. [Homosexuals are] repugnant to my human conscience ... immoral and repulsive. ... Animals in the jungle are better than these people because at least they know that this is a man or a woman. ... I don't believe they have any rights at all.'
THAILAND BLOCKS CRUISING SITE
The U.S.-based Web site cruisingforsex.com appears to have been blocked by the government of Thailand and cannot be accessed from within the nation's borders.
Among other things, the popular site lists quasi-public places where men cruise for sex —such as nature areas, restrooms, adult video arcades and the like.
Thai cruisers can circumvent the apparent block by typing the site's Internet Protocol address (65.240.96.131) into their Web browser's address line and hitting enter. Only the name cruisingforsex.com is blocked, not the underlying numerical address.
'It appears we have the great distinction of being blocked by the government of Thailand,' said the site's founder, Keith Griffith. 'Using the IP address will gain access, but, alas, most residents of the country will be hard-pressed to know to do that. Our Thailand forum has always been popular so this is a depressing development. At least it means one less country I'll feel a need to visit, or revisit in this case.'
GAY COUPLE
'MARRIES' IN
SOUTH KOREA
Two gay activists got hitched in a Seoul cafe March 6 in what was called South Korea's first public gay 'marriage.'
Lee Sang-chul, 36, and Park Jong-geun, 32, read vows and exchanged rings in front of friends and the media, the JoongAng Daily newspaper reported.
'I want my lover to receive medical insurance and other benefits that he could have if we were legally married,' Lee said.
The couple tried to register their marriage with local officials—the only legal procedure necessary to marry in South Korea—but they were turned away.
MEDIA REPORT RUMORS ABOUT
DANISH PRINCE
Newspapers and magazines in Scandinavia have been reporting on a new Norwegian book that mentions rumors that Danish Queen Margrethe II's husband, Prince Henrik, is gay.
Journalist Liv Berit Tessem's book 'Kongereporter—journalist i eventyrland?' (Royal Reporter—Journalist in Fairy Tale Land?) states, '[I]t is a public secret that Prince Henrik prefers young men.'
Tessem has defended her decision to report the rumor, telling the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, 'If you have to write a book about being a royal reporter, it is a natural thing to write about all the rumors that the royals are entangled in.'
SINGAPORE
THREATENS GAY MAG
The Singaporean magazine Manazine is too gay and must immediately tone down its 'homosexual element', the government's Media Development Authority said March 10.
'We have warned the publisher that the current state of the magazine, which features nudity and homosexual element, is unacceptable,' the agency said. 'They have agreed to modify the content to make it acceptable to the general Singapore audience.'
Manazine editor Nijen Twilhaar, writing on the magazine's Web site, struck a conciliatory pose.
'Manazine is promoting a lifestyle that integrates arts, personal well-being and mental growth,' he said. 'We feel we don't need female models to convey that message and like to break away from the stereotyping for men's magazines in the market today. If this format appeals to a gay reader, Manazine acknowledges that and recognizes that there is strong support from the community.'
JAPAN REJECTS
ASYLUM REQUEST
The Tokyo District Court Feb. 26 rejected an asylum request from a gay Iranian who fears he will face the death penalty because of his homosexuality when he returns home.
'Not being permitted to express himself sexually in his own way does not fall under the kind of persecution in the refugee convention,' said Judge Yosuke Ichimura.
Ichimura also speculated that it is unlikely the man would be targeted because of his gayness since he is closeted.
The man, age 40, had lived in Japan since 1991 and was arrested in 2000 for being an illegal alien. He plans to appeal to the Tokyo High Court.
According to The Japan Times, Iranian adults who have anal sex can be put to death, two men who sleep naked under a cover face 99 lashes, and two men who kiss 'with lust' can get 60 lashes. Repeated lesbian sex acts also can result in the death penalty, the paper said.