NAMIBIAN GAYS MARCH
Hundreds of gays and others staged a protest march in Windhoek, Namibia, April 28 to denounce President Sam Nujoma's virulent attacks on gays.
According to wire-service reports, 20 organizations joined the demonstration, which was organized by the Southern African Human Rights NGO [non-governmental organization] Network.
In recent outbursts, Nujoma has said: "See to it that there are no criminals, gays and lesbians in your villages and regions. ... Definitely it's against God's will. It is the devil at work. How can a man marry a man or a woman marry a woman?"
He also has said: "In Namibia we don't allow lesbianism or homosexuality. ... We will combat this with vigor— we will make sure that Namibia will get rid of lesbianism and homosexuality. ... Police are ordered to arrest you and deport you and imprison you. ... Those who are practicing homosexuality in Namibia are destroying the nation. Homosexuals must be condemned and rejected in our society."
LOTTERY FUNDS GAY PRIESTS GROUP
Britain's National Lottery Community Fund has funded a group which campaigns for recognition by the Church of England of gay priests' romantic relationships.
The group Changing Attitude, which has 286 members, received about $180,000.
The Right Rev. Michael Bourke, Bishop of Wolverhampton, supports the grant.
"I believe in equality between gay people and straight people in the church," he told Birmingham's Evening Mail. "Some people may say that homosexuality is contrary to some passages in the Bible on face value, but I think it is no more contrary than the ordination of women or slavery."
The grant has been denounced by some senior members of the church's ruling council and some conservative politicians.
AUTHOR DISSES
GAY MARRIAGE
Lesbian author Jane Rule, who wrote the book that was made into the classic lesbian film Desert Hearts, has denounced the drive to legalize gay marriage, Vancouver's Xtra! West reported.
"I've worked long and hard in the gay movement, and I don't like the energy that's being spent on this," Rule said.
In Canada, where Rule lives, gay/lesbian couples who live together more than a year now must declare themselves before the government as common-law spouses, whether they want to or not, and take on a number of legal marital obligations.
"Over the years when we have been left to live lawless, a great many of us have learned to take responsibility for ourselves and each other, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, not bound by the marriage service or model but singularities and groupings of our own invention," Rule said.
"To be forced back into the heterosexual cage of coupledom is not a step forward but a step back into state-imposed definitions of relationship. With all that we have learned, we should be helping our heterosexual brothers and sisters out of their state-defined prisons, not volunteering to join them there."
60% OF GAY OTTAWANS
FEEL SAFE
A survey by the Canadian province of Ontario has found that 60 percent of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender residents of Ottawa, the nation's capital, feel safe and accepted in the city, the Ottawa Sun reported April 24.
The poll questioned 825 people.
BELARUS MAGAZINE IS UNBANNED
The State Publishing Committee of Belarus has unbanned the monthly gay magazine Forum Lambda Review.
The committee had revoked the publication's registration on March 3, claiming it "was registered as an educational and cultural publication but has been running erotic content for more than a year now."
Publisher Edward Tarletski fought back, filing a complaint with the nation's highest court. "Forum Lambda has never been any more explicit than Men's Health," he said.
The revocation was lifted just as the court began consideration of the case.
Meanwhile, Forum Lambda Review's Internet provider, the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), has given the magazine two weeks to find a new Web hosting service and e-mail provider, Tarletski said. The company said it will no longer host "public organizations."
"Unofficially," says Tarletski, "a reliable source in IREX informs us that the administration made the decision about rejecting Web-hosting and e-mail service under pressure from the Belarusian government. ... The IREX administration also thinks that our site contains pornography."
The Web address was
http://www.irex.minsk.by/~gayforum.
MSN UK ADDS GAY LIFESTYLE CHANNEL
MSN UK (the Microsoft Network) is adding a gay channel in July.
Gay.uk.net and Queercompany.com will provide content.
"MSN's biggest Harris Online Poll in January showed that gay and lesbian e-commerce activity outstrips that of non-gay Web users," MSN UK Business Marketing Manager Matt Whittingham told www.revolution.haynet.com .
Copyright © 2001 Lambda Publications Inc. All rights reserved. Lambda publishes Windy City Times, The Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community, Nightlines, Out Resource Guide, Clout! Business Report, Blacklines and En La Vida. 1115 W. Belmont 2D, Chicago, IL 60657; PH (773) 871-7610; FAX (773) 871-7609. Web at outlineschicago.com E-mail feedback to outlines@suba.com!
