Pictured Out Hungary pol: Free Democrat
Klára Ungár.Hungarian pol comes out
A veteran party leader in Hungary's governing coalition, Free Democrat Klára Ungár, came out March 10 on the TV talk show Strucc.
'It is simpler for me to say that I am homosexual rather than having others saying this to me,' Ungár, 46, said.
A former member of Parliament, Ungár now serves on the Free Democrats' management committee and is a party spokeswoman.
Saudi 'gay wedding' party raided
Saudi Arabian police arrested 110 men at a 'gay wedding' party in Jeddah, the Al-Wifaq Web site reported March 17.
The report said security forces raided a wedding hall after receiving a tip and found the men dancing and 'behaving like women.'
Seventy-seven of the men reportedly used influential connections to secure their release while 33 appeared in court March 16 to face charges.
Under Saudi law, gay sex can be punished with flogging, imprisonment or death.
White South Africans tour Black pubs
This year's gay-pride festivities in Cape Town, South Africa, included a pub crawl by white gays in the nearby black townships, the BBC reported March 8.
Five minibuses of gay white folks visited three gay-friendly 'shebeens' in the townships.
'Being black and gay is a very different place to being white and gay in Cape Town,' said Juanita Jacobs, one of the pride organizers. 'This year we decided to take Pride into the townships to engender understanding. ... A lot of people don't come out to these areas because of fear.'
Black gays can find it difficult to visit the bars in Cape Town's gay village due to the expense of transportation, cover charges and drinks.
Chief constable apologizes for slur
The chief constable of North Wales, Richard Brunstrom, apologized for calling gays 'queer,' the BBC reported March 12.
Brunstrom used the word during an internal department meeting, was challenged on it by one of his officers, and immediately apologized, the report said.
The Gay Police Association said it was 'shocked and disappointed' at Brunstrom's 'abusive and insulting language.'
'His words will have affected the confidence that his lesbian and gay staff and the gay communities in North Wales he serves have in him,' the group said. 'He should act quickly to demonstrate that this error of judgment is not indicative of a homophobic culture within his force.'
New Zealand reconsiders treatment of de facto couples
When New Zealand's Civil Union Act comes into force next month, the idea had been to treat married, civil-unioned and de facto couples the same under the law.
But now that's changed due to concerns that closeted same-sex de facto couples may not want their closet doors knocked down by the government.
De facto couples are couples who have never married or entered a civil union but live in a partnership nonetheless.
According to the New Zealand Herald, same-sex de facto partners will escape being treated as couples for social-welfare purposes for two years as officials mull the problem.
The extension also is designed to allow de facto couples to 'reorganize their affairs,' the Herald said.