Anti-Luzhkov protesters arrested in Moscow
Three pro-gay protesters were arrested June 27 outside the European Commission office in Moscow during a picket by 25 people urging the European Union to revoke Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's right to travel in the 25-country bloc.
The protesters said Luzhkov doesn't deserve to visit the EU because he has twice banned Moscow's gay pride parade, calling it 'satanic.'
Police halted the protest and arrested its apparent leaders even though the activists had a permit for the event. They were charged with 'breach of a street demonstration order.'
'The formal reason [ for the police action ] was the construction which had suddenly appeared in front of European Commission office just a day ago,' said gay activist Nikolai Baev. 'The police argued it could not protect demonstrators in this situation. ... There was no construction technique, just two holes digged on a huge and enclosed area. Perhaps this 'construction' will disappear in few days as suddenly as it appeared.'
The picket had received approval from city officials on June 25. The individuals who requested the permission were not known to the city as gay activists. But the media then reported that the picket was related to Luzhkov's anti-gay actions. On June 26, the organizers received phone calls from officials saying the picket could not be held due to street construction. On June 27, the authorities announced they could not guarantee the safety of the protesters. On June 28, at the picket itself, police then produced a document banning the event.
'Activists applied [ for ] this picket as a demonstration which formally was not related to the Moscow gay community,' said Baev. 'Among picket organizers was no one who was known by the homophobic authorities as gay or lesbian activist. Therefore the picket was originally approved in such an easy way. But as soon as mass media announced the picket as a demonstration of LGBT people, the Moscow authorities decided to cancel the rally. ... This is a very clear example of homophobic discrimination which is practiced by the Luzhkov administration.'
The picketers did manage to deliver a letter to the European Commission office demanding that Luzhkov's EU visa be revoked. Addressed to EC President José Manuel Barroso, the letter detailed Luzhkov's 'homophobic ... violations of freedom of assembly.'
For the past two years, attempts to stage banned pride events in Moscow have ended in violence and bloodshed. Full stories on the mêlées are at tinyurl.com/2nkl7p and tinyurl.com/2lt8pl.
Canadian Anglicans won't bless
same-sex couples
The bishops of Canada's Anglican Church voted 21-19 June 24 against giving dioceses the option of allowing priests to bless same-sex marriages.
To be approved, the measure needed majority support in separate votes by three groups at the General Synod meeting in Winnipeg: the bishops, the clergy and the laity. The latter two groups voted in favor of same-sex blessings. The clergy vote was 63-53 and the laity vote 79-59.
Paradoxically, the synod also declared that blessing same-sex marriages does not conflict with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada. And the newly elected leader of the church, Halifax Bishop Fred Hiltz, voted for gay blessings.
'How long must this conversation continue?' Hiltz asked. 'On the one hand, we said it is a matter of doctrine, but not creedal—that is, not essential to one's salvation, shall we say. But on the other hand, the church is not prepared ... to proceed immediately with the blessing of same-sex unions.'
In the larger context, the entire worldwide Anglican Communion is teetering on the brink of schism because of strong and prolonged disagreements over whether to treat gays the same as straight people.
The U.S. wing of the communion, the Episcopal Church, is in a particularly precarious position because it does allow same-sex blessings and, in 2004, it horrified church conservatives by electing an openly gay and partnered bishop in New Hampshire, an act that effectively tossed red meat to homophobes in developing nations with large Anglican churches, such as Nigeria.
The Anglican mother church, the Church of England—and the Anglican Communion spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams—seem to be trapped between the warring factions and have been unable to make anyone happy.
Canada is one of six nations where gay couples have access to full civil marriage.
New Buenos Aires mayor was
once anti-gay
Newly elected Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri once told a daily newspaper that gay people are sick.
In a 1997 interview with Página/12, Macri was asked if he'd accept gay players on the Boca Juniors soccer team he owns.
He answered: 'This situation hasn't come up. It's a complicated situation. It's a sickness. This is not a 100 percent healthy person. ... It's an undesirable deviation.'
The interviewer responded that seeing homosexuality as a sickness is 'a bit of an old-fashioned idea.'
And Macri replied: 'Would you be happy if your son were homosexual? Please. The world has made us so we join with a woman. Why are we going to join with a man?'
By last month, however, Macri had moderated his stance. Answering a candidate questionnaire from the organization Argentina Homosexual Community, Macri said, 'Society as a whole needs public campaigns that discourage and condemn all types of violence and discrimination, and that includes sexual orientation.'
But Macri was otherwise very cautious in answering several specific questions, choosing to speak against discrimination in general and not committing to any other specific actions on behalf of GLBT people.
Civil-union bill
introduced in
Costa Rica
Opposition lawmakers introduced a same-sex civil-union bill in Costa Rica June 19.
It would grant spousal rights in areas such as inheritance, bereavement leave and medical decisions.
The bill's sponsors, from the Citizens Action Party and Social Christian Unity Party, said they couldn't predict whether the measure would pass.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
