MEXICO CITY BARS SHUT DOWN
Police have closed down numerous Mexico City gay bars and clubs in recent weeks, including El Taller, Anyway, Factory, The Doors, Blush, 14, and Bar Zoo.
The venues in the city's upscale Zona Rosa neighborhood have been accused of "irregularities" in their operating permits.
On May 22 and 23, more than 300 gay demonstrators blocked the street in front of El Taller, perhaps Mexico City's most well-known gay bar.
According to www.sergay.com .mx, neighborhood government head Dolores Padierna is responsible for the closures.
" [ It is ] part of a campaign in which she intends to close down every meeting place of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," the Web site said.
CANADA TO TEST IMMIGRANTS FOR HIV
Canada will test immigration applicants for HIV, Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said June 12.
Some HIV-positive applicants may be allowed into the country if it is determined they will not burden the government healthcare system with "excessive" costs, she said.
EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS GAY
PARTNERSHIPS
Swedish gay couples married under the nation's registered-partnership law do not get spousal benefits when one of them goes to work for the European Union bureaucracy in Brussels, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) ruled May 31.
"The term 'marriage' means a union between two persons of the opposite sex," the court declared.
Sweden's partnership law grants registered couples more than 99 percent of the rights and obligations of marriage. In the Netherlands, gay couples can marry under the same laws as heterosexuals, which could present a greater challenge to the EU should a Dutch couple seek benefits.
"We consider this judgment to be wrong and not acceptable," said Jackie Lewis, co-chair of ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. "It disregards the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights adopted in Nice in December 2000. Article 21 of the Charter prohibits discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. With its narrow interpretation, the ECJ also sets a problematic precedent for same-sex registered partners and spouses who want to move freely within the European Union without losing the legal rights and protection they enjoy in their home country."
200 MARCH IN
MONTERREY, MEXICO
More than 200 people marched in Monterrey, Mexico's first gay-pride parade May 26.
They carried signs demanding respect, equal rights and an end to homophobia.
"Being gay is not a perversion," read one sign. Others said: "We are not delinquents," "Police abuse and detentions must stop immediately," and "We demand legislative changes that fight discrimination of all types."
In front of the Catholic cathedral, the marchers chanted, "The church is homophobic."
The parade circled the city's Grand Plaza and ended on the steps of City Hall where participants sang the national anthem and released hundreds of multi-colored balloons.
A few spectators shouted anti-gay insults but the majority was supportive.
"We are demanding our rights like all other citizens," Maria Aurora Mota, director of the Oasis Center for Sexual Diversity, told local media. "We seek the right to health and work. We want to make ourselves visible to society. These events have been taking place throughout the world and now the gay/homosexual movement of Monterrey is strong enough to decide to organize this action."
AIDS SURGE IN EASTERN EUROPE
HIV infections are increasing dramatically in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, said experts attending the region's first AIDS conference June 13 in Warsaw.
Confirmed cases have almost doubled since 1999 to 700,000. Unreported infections are believed to be a much higher number.
Most cases are among drug addicts who share needles. Twenty-seven nations attended the conference.