Pictured
Longtime Spanish gay activist Jordi Petit (fifth from the left), a former secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, receives the Catalonia Institute of Human Rights' 27th annual Solidarity Prize.
VATICAN, MUSLIMS TARGET U.N. GAYS
Fifty-six Islamic nations and the Vatican are lobbying United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reverse his January decision to grant spousal benefits to employees who have been united in an official same-sex union in their home nation.
A spokesman for the Organization of the Islamic Conference said there is 'no justifiable basis' for giving the benefits to employees from the dozen or so nations where same-sex couples can marry or enter into a marriage-like civil union or registered partnership.
GEORGE MICHAEL
TO QUIT MUSIC
BUSINESS
Gay pop singer George Michael, 40, says he has enough money and doesn't want to put up with record companies any more, so he'll give away his new music online in the future.
Downloaders will be welcome to make a donation, which Michael will route to charity, he told BBC Radio 1 on March 10.
'I'll hopefully be a happier man, giving my music and also doing something really positive with my music if people are generous enough to donate to the site,' he said. 'I'll remove myself from all that negativity.
'I'm sure it's unprecedented,' Michael said. 'It's definitely unprecedented for someone who still sells records. I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years, so I really don't need the public's money.'
IFE SENTENCES IN CAPE TOWN MURDERS
The killers of nine men at a Cape Town, South Africa, gay massage parlor and escort service were sent to prison for life March 16.
Adam Woest, 27, and Trevor Theys, 44, tied up, shot and slit the throats of 10 men at the Sizzlers business on Jan. 20, 2003. One of the men survived despite taking two bullets in the head.
'Your attitude to your fellow human beings is that of utter callousness and brutalness,' Cape High Court Judge Nathan Erasmus told Woest and Theys. 'The court has the responsibility to act fearlessly to show the world the repugnance of your actions.'
The two men never said why they committed the crimes. Speculation has centered on gang or drug wars, or anti-gay hatred.
South Africa, population 43 million, has a high crime rate which includes an average of 55 murders a day.
SPANISH ACTIVIST HONORED BY
GOVERNMENT
Longtime Spanish gay activist Jordi Petit, a former secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, has received the Catalonia Institute of Human Rights' 27th annual Solidarity Prize.
The award was presented in the Catalonian Parliament in Barcelona by Parliament President Ernest Benach and Justice Councilor Josep Maria Vallés.
'I understand that this award, which I proudly receive for my work, is a recognition of the volunteers in the GLBT movement over these 26 years of democracy in Spain,' Petit said.