Verdicts were handed down March 15 in the retrial of 50 Egyptian men charged with habitual debauchery.
As in the earlier trial, 21 of the men were convicted and 29 were acquitted.
They were arrested in May 2001 at a gay discotheque and elsewhere in Cairo. Following an international outcry from human-rights defenders, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak declared the first trial invalid, saying it took place in the wrong kind of court.
The new sentences are harsher than the earlier ones. The men will be jailed for three years at hard labor, unless the convictions are overturned on appeal.
Since the 2001 arrests, gay groups, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and other human-rights organizations have accused Egyptian officialdom of an array of ongoing anti-gay abuses including witch hunts, entrapment (especially via the Internet), arbitrary arrest, lengthy imprisonment without trial, and torture.
HOUSE OF COMMONS VOTES TO REPEAL SECTION 28
Britain's House of Commons voted March 10 to repeal Section 28 of the Local Government Act which bans local governments from promoting homosexuality and prohibits schools from teaching that homosexuality is acceptable.
The vote was 368 to 77. At least 70 Tory MPs didn't vote.
The measure now moves to the House of Lords.
Section 28 was enacted by the Tory government in 1988 and repealed locally in Scotland in 2000. It states: 'A local authority shall not (a) intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality; (b) promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.'
REPORT: RUSSIAN MILITARY TO BAN GAYS
Starting July 1, the Russian military will no longer draft drug users, HIV-positive people or persons with personality, emotional or behavioral disorders, including people with an 'untraditional sexual orientation,' the chairman of the Central Military Medical Commission, Maj. Gen. Valery Kulikov, told the Interfax news agency March 13.
The restrictions were approved by the government Feb. 25.
Explaining the ban on gays, Kulikov said: 'This is not a medical matter. The classification of diseases by the World Health Organization does not include such a disease. The new rules are based on international norms. So we are not calling this a diagnosis. However, people [of untraditional sexual orientation] suffer some psychological changes, while people with personality disorders are not eligible for the draft in compliance with medical examination rules for servicemen.'
BRITISH MP COMES OUT
British Member of Parliament Clive Betts, who represents Attercliffe, Sheffield, England, came out Feb. 25.
Betts, 53, told The Star: 'I think in the end I am going to feel I am easier with myself, more comfortable, and will not have to keep wondering whether people are speculating and whether any relationship I do have now or in the future becomes the subject of prurient interest in a way that is unhelpful to me doing my job.'
He added: 'I think the fact that public figures have come out shows the public that there are people in responsible positions who are gay and helps perhaps to remove the stigmatization.
'People have been tremendous in their reactions,' Betts said. 'No one has said it will affect their relationship with me and how they work with me, and I'm extremely grateful for that. People have been very supportive.'
He said he is dating a man in his 20s.
Another newspaper, The Sun, quickly revealed that Betts' boyfriend is Brazilian 'rent boy' Jose Gasparo, 20, who worked for an escort agency and is still pictured on its Web site. The paper said the two men have known each other for only two months, during which Betts hired Gasparo to work in his House of Commons office.
'[Betts] has signed the £100-a-hour rent boy as a research assistant and is trying to get him a Commons pass,' the Sun said. 'The relationship has sent shockwaves through security circles.'
£100 is about $157.
Betts later told The Star that Gasparo has given up both prostitution and the Commons job, and that the two will continue their relationship.
Britain has had 12 other openly gay or bisexual MPs, 10 of whom remain in office.
TATCHELL BLOCKS BLAIR'S LIMO
Leading British gay activist Peter Tatchell halted Prime Minister Tony Blair's limousine March 12, urging him to 'Arm the Kurds' so they can overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The incident occurred near the Royal Academy on Piccadilly where Blair met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
'Tony Blair is dragging our country to war without any parliamentary or public debate on the alternative option of arming [Iraq's] Kurds and Shias to enable them to overthrow the butcher of Baghdad,' Tatchell said.
The incident was considered a serious breach of security. The Special Branch, Prime Ministerial Protection Squad and police took nearly two minutes to clear Tatchell from in front of the vehicle.
Tatchell was charged with 'breach of the peace' and 'suspicion of causing criminal damage to the Prime Minister's car' (because the limo's license plate was left hanging by one screw.) He was released after six-and-a-half hours and will find out April 3 if the government will press charges.
Among his many human-rights abuses, Saddam Hussein introduced the death penalty for homosexuality in 2001.
KNIFE MAN LUNGES AT t.A.T.u.
A knife-wielding man lunged at the Russian lesbian-themed band t.A.T.u. during a concert in the Czech Republic in late February.
Bodyguards tackled the man as he headed for singers Julia Volkova, 18, and Lena Katina, 17.
According to Sky News, the girls have had bottles and a knife thrown at them in the past as they performed.
'There have been incidents but there is no point worrying that you are going to get killed when you go on stage,' said Volkova.
The girls' current single, 'All The Things She Said,' has hit No. 1 around the world and the video has been banned by Britain's BBC and ITV1 because Julia and Lena passionately kiss and make out throughout the clip.
The girls have repeatedly suggested they are lovers, but Russian journalists claim both have boyfriends whom they keep hidden so as not to endanger the band's lesbian image, which is seen as advantageous.
Speaking to the British lesbian mag Diva in its March issue, Katina stated: 'So you want to hear that we are sleeping together, that we are fucking every night? Of course we do!'
Later, she said: 'This is the message [of our video]: We wanted to say that everybody shouldn't be afraid of their feelings. If it's real feeling, why not? If you love, it doesn't matter if girl loves girl, or boy love boy or something, or girl love boy. It's just love and we shouldn't be afraid of this crowd's opinions. Stupid things.'
't.A.T.u.' is an abbreviated form of the Russian phrase 'that girl loves that girl' ('Ta lyubit tu').
