Polish gays march
despite ban
Some 2,500 GLBTs marched in Warsaw, Poland, June 11 even though Mayor Lech Kaczynski banned the gay pride parade.
Kaczynski had said he opposed both 'propagating gay orientation' and holding the event on the same day Warsaw unveiled a monument to anti-Nazi hero Gen. Stefan Rowecki.
Around 300 antigay protesters hurled eggs and shouted slurs at the marchers. Ten people were arrested and three were injured, including a policeman.
Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tomasz Nalecz joined a GLBT rally outside Parliament.
Singapore bans
circuit party /
Singapore has banned the large gay circuit party Nation after allowing it the past four years.
Police refused a permit for the event, calling it 'contrary to public interest in general.'
The party, which is organized by Fridae.com, will be moved to Phuket, Thailand. It is scheduled for Nov. 4-6, sponsored by Motorola and Subaru.
Phuket province Gov. Udomsak Assawarangura said he welcomes the event.
Eight thousand people attended last year's party, 40 percent of them from overseas. They pumped an estimated $6 million into the Singaporean economy.
French venues cancel Capleton concerts
Targeted by gay activists, numerous French concert venues have canceled performances by Jamaican dancehall singer Capleton because of his violently antigay lyrics.
France has strict laws against hate speech.
Other venues have requested that Capleton sign a pledge not to bash gays during his French appearances.
His lyrics include: 'Shoulda know seh Capleton bun battyman [ You should know that Capleton burns queers ] . Dem same fire apply to di lesbian [ The same fire applies to lesbians ] . Seh mi bun everything from mi know seh dem gay [ Say, I burn everything as long as I know that they're gay ] . All boogaman and sodemites fi get killed [ All queers and sodomites should be killed ] .'
Czech PM supports partner bill
Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said June 12 that he supports a proposed same-sex registered-partnership bill and wants his party's members in the Chamber of Deputies to vote for it. 'It is a good law,' Paroubek, a Social Democrat, said.
The Gay and Lesbian League had requested Paroubek's support for the bill shortly after he was appointed prime minister in April.
A similar measure was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies in February, by a single vote.
Canada sees first
military gay wedding
Canada's first military same-sex marriage took place at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in Nova Scotia last month, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
'This couple had been waiting a very long, long time,' said base head chaplain Lt.-Cmdr. David Greenwood, who declined to provide the men's names. 'I think there was a sense that many people thought they would never have seen something like this in their lifetimes—and not in a negative way, but in a positive way.'
Eight of Canada's 13 provinces and territories have granted same-sex couples access to ordinary marriage. In two of the remaining jurisdictions—New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories—court cases are under way to change the laws there, which will leave only Alberta, Nunavut and Prince Edward Island without gay marriage.
Gays set hug record
A new world record for the largest group hug was set during Hamburg's gay-pride parade June 11.
Despite rain and cold, 16,000 people embraced for 10 seconds, besting the previous record of 5,117 set last year by Canadian high-school students. About 22,000 people attended the parade, police said.
Guadalajara gay radio program dumped
Guadalajara University in Mexico has terminated the Guadalajara Gay Radio program that aired on the campus radio station, Reporters Without Borders said June 13.
'It is hard to imagine a radio programme still being censored for such archaic reasons as sexual discrimination in the 21st century,' the press freedom organization said. 'This type of ... violation is a dangerous step backwards.'
Guadalajara University Radio director Carlos Ramírez Powell told program host Miguel Galán that higher-ups ordered him to ax the show as part of a politically motivated overhaul of the station's programming.
'Wedding' in Notre Dame Cathedral
Twenty members of ACT UP/Paris staged a mock gay wedding inside Notre Dame Cathedral June 5. They chanted, 'Pope Benedict XVI, homophobe, AIDS accomplice.'
The group was attacked by security personnel, and a priest was injured in the ensuing mêlée.
'They are savages ... barbaric, odious and scandalous,' the priest, Patrick Jacquin, told Agence France-Presse. 'I was pushed to the ground and trampled, kicked in the neck. It's a scandal for these people to lash out at me and the pope.'
An ACT UP spokesman blamed the violence on the church security team's tactics.
Romania sees first pride parade
Romania's first GayFest Parade went ahead as scheduled May 28 despite efforts by the Bucharest mayor's office to ban it.
Local officials reportedly backed down under pressure from Romanian President Traian Basescu who reportedly received thousands of angry e-mails orchestrated by Metropolitan Community Churches and others.
About 500 people marched, protected by riot police. Passers-by booed and yelled insults, including 'Get out of Romania' and 'Homosexuality is a sin.'
Police detained several members of the New Right organization when they tried to cross police lines and attack the marchers.
'We want to show people that we exist and that we are not afraid,' George Iacobescu of the gay group Accept told Reuters.
'We are very happy with our first historic march, which has allowed us to show ourselves to the world in broad daylight,' added Accept leader Florin Buhuceanu, in comments to Agence France-Presse.
Zanzibarian clerics stressed about increased homosexuality
Muslim clerics on the island of Zanzibar, which is part of the nation of Tanzania, are upset over an alleged increase in homosexuality among young people.
Meeting May 27, dozens of imams denounced the alleged trend.
'The youths involved in gay and lesbian business have been increasing in coastal areas such as Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar,' said cleric Maalim Mziwanda Ahmed. 'The government in collaboration with the mufti's office must do something.'
The clerics blamed the supposed trend on Western tourists allegedly enticing Zanzibarian youth.
Last year, Zanzibar enacted its own gay-sex ban, on top of Tanzania's ban. Gay-male sex is punished with up to 25 years in prison and lesbian sex with up to seven years in prison.
Toronto unveils
gay statue
Several hundred people turned out in Toronto's gay neighborhood May 28 for the unveiling of a statue of openly gay 19th-century city magistrate Alexander Wood.
'We wanted to do a public art project,' Dennis O'Connor of the Church-Wellesley Village Business Improvement Area told the Canadian Press news service. 'We chose him because he has a connection to our community, and [ to ] this particular spot.'
In 1827, Wood, who is considered one of Toronto's founding fathers, purchased the land around Church and Alexander streets where the 2.5-meter statue now stands.
'People who have lived in this neighborhood have known and heard about him over the years ... but it's never been mainstream,' city Councilor Kyle Rae told CP. 'This now becomes part of all of everyone's knowledge.'
Wood was mockingly known as 'Molly,' a derogatory term for homosexuals. In 1810, he got ensnared in a gay-sex scandal and fled to Scotland for two years to avoid sodomy charges. He returned to Toronto in 1812, once the fuss had died down, and continued his work without any trouble.
Spaniards support same-sex marriage
Sixty-two percent of Spaniards support recently passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, an Instituto Opina poll has found.
The bill also legalizes gay adoption, which 43.4 percent of respondents support and 44.8 percent oppose.
Pollsters quizzed 1,000 adults by telephone on May 12. The poll's margin of error is 3.1 percent.
The first same-sex weddings should occur by autumn.
In the Central American nation of Panama, meanwhile, a Dichter & Neira poll published by La Prensa newspaper May 23 found that only 7.9 percent of those questioned are supportive of same-sex marriage. It is opposed by 78.8 percent, while 12.4 percent said they don't care one way or the other.
The poll also found 89.4 percent of the population opposed to abortion. Pollsters interviewed 1,216 adults and reported a margin of error of 2.9 percent.
Costa Rican Catholic hierarchy backs benefits
Costa Rica's Catholic Church Episcopal Conference has come out in support of legislation to grant gay couples many of the rights and obligations of marriage.
'If at the juridical level there are certain rights granted to other persons and these also can be granted to them [ gays ] , I don't see any problem with that,' said conference President Monsignor Francisco Ulloa.
Areas covered by the proposal include inheritance, health insurance and property rights. The bill, drafted by the Center for Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights in Central America ( CIPAC ) , was presented to the Legislative Assembly May 26.
'Discrimination is present in the succession processes where, in case of a death without a will, real estate passes to blood relatives,' CIPAC noted. 'This lack of legal recognition also impedes obtaining other benefits such as pensions and immigration status.'