BRITAIN TO STAMP OUT WORK DISCRIMINATION
Big corporations and the Confederation of British Industry have launched a campaign to end anti-gay discrimination at work, The Observer reported Oct. 14.
They are worried about lawsuits stemming from new European Union rules that protect gay workers from harassment and job discrimination.
"It's imperative that we attract, recruit and retain people who really are the very best," Paul Rodgers of IBM, one of the campaign sponsors, told the newspaper. "There are also lots of gay and lesbian decision makers running big businesses and we want them to do business with us too."
Other sponsors of the "Diversity Champions" campaign include the BBC, GlaxoSmithKline and Marks & Spencer, The Observer said.
CANADA WANTS TO COUNT GAYS
Statistics Canada wants to count the nation's gays.
The agency has launched a study in Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal to assess if the time is right to pop the question and to determine how to phrase it.
A similar study in 1993 found that many gay Canadians were not ready to fess up to their sexual orientation.
"We're looking at the feasibility of asking questions about sexual orientation," Viviane Renaud, senior analyst for Statistics Canada, told the Globe and Mail. "We recognize it's a sensitive topic."
Canada's 2001 census, the results of which are not yet available, gave couples the option of ticking off "same-sex partners" to describe themselves but made no attempt to count non-coupled gays.
URUGUAY CONSIDERS GAY RIGHTS
Uruguay's Chamber of Deputies will soon debate an amendment to the penal code that bans discrimination and moral, physical and psychological violence based on sexual orientation or sexual/gender identity.
It was approved unanimously by the Constitution and Codes Commission and sent to the full chamber for a vote. Should it pass, it will advance to the Senate.
The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission urges activists worldwide to e-mail all 99 members of Uruguay's Chamber of Deputies, urging them to support the measure. For details, visit www.iglhrc.org .
