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Today’s Headlines
NH Governor Signs Law Legalizing Civil Unions for Gay Couples
Men Charged With Injecting Others with HIV

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, May 30 (UPI)

Four men are in custody in the Netherlands, suspected of deliberately injecting homosexual men with HIV-infected blood. The attacks occurred in the town of Groningen, Expatica News and ANP said Wednesday. Police say the men met their victims in Internet chatrooms and lured them to sex parties. The victims allegedly were drugged with GHB and then injected with the HIV-infected blood. Five victims between the ages of 25 and 50 have reported to the police so far. Officials say they believe there are more victims out there. The suspects, three of whom are homosexual, are charged with premeditated grievous bodily harm and face up to 16 years in prison.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

CONCORD, N.H. (AP)

Gay couples in New Hampshire will able to join in civil unions starting next year under a bill Gov. John Lynch signed into law Thursday.

“We in New Hampshire have had a long and proud tradition taking the lead and opposing discrimination,” Lynch said. “Today that tradition continues.”

Couples entering civil unions will have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as married couples. Same-sex unions from other states also would be recognized if they were legal in the state where they were performed.

Several Northeastern states already offer civil unions.

Massachusetts alone among the U.S. states allows gay marriage. Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Maine, as well as California and Washington allow either civil unions or domestic partnerships, and Oregon will join the list with New Hampshire in January. Hawaii extends certain spousal rights to same-sex couples and cohabiting heterosexual pairs.

 

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Today’s Headlines
Australian Gay Bar Can Bar Heterosexuals
Israel Politicians Decry Gay Tourism Ads
‘Teletubbies’ Eyed for Pushing Gay Agenda

WARSAW, Poland, May 29 (UPI)

A Polish children’s rights official has called for an investigation into whether children’s TV series Teletubbies promotes homosexuality. Ewa Sowinska, spokeswoman for the Polish government’s children’s rights department, said her suspicions were particularly raised by Tinky Winky, the purple character with a triangle on his head, the BBC reported Tuesday. I noticed he was carrying a woman’s handbag, she said. At first, I didn’t realize he was a boy. The program has described Tinky Winky’s accessory as a magic bag. Sowinska ordered psychologists in the country to analyze the show and determine whether it promotes a homosexual lifestyle and whether it should be broadcast on public television. The Polish government has taken steps toward outlawing the promotion of homosexuality among children. The European Union condemned a recent announcement from the Polish Education Ministry that it plans to fire teachers seen to be promoting homosexuality. Tinky Winky came under similar allegations in the United States not long after it debuted on U.S. public television. The Rev. Jerry Fawell, writing in the National Liberty Journal, said, the character is purple — the gay pride color — and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the gay pride symbol. The program’s producers denied putting sexual innuendo in a children’s show.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

JERUSALEM, May 29 (UPI)

Some Israeli politicians have sharply criticized a campaign aimed at promoting gay and lesbian tourism in Jerusalem. The Pink Jerusalem campaign, which features photographs of gay and lesbian couples at tourist attractions and historic sites in the city, was created by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Homosexuals and Lesbians organization together with the country’s Tourism Ministry, Ynetnews reported Tuesday. I unequivocally reject the attempt to focus a state-sponsored campaign on a delusional minority that suffers from a normative defect, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai said. Jerusalem and Amsterdam are the same for these people. Therefore, those who fail to recognize Jerusalem’s holiness had better stay away from it. Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the campaign was designed by his predecessor, Abraham Hirchson. He said he did not agree with the decision. Benyamin Elon, a member of Knesset from the National Union party, said Aharonovitch told him the photos were published without his knowledge and his office has been instructed not to continue the campaign.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)

A gay bar has won the right to turn away heterosexuals and even lesbians to provide a non-threatening atmosphere for the men partying inside.

A tribunal in Australia’s southern Victoria state granted Melbourne’s Peel Hotel an exemption to equal rights laws, saying it was needed to prevent “sexually based insults and violence” aimed at the pub’s patrons.

In her findings, the tribunal’s deputy president, Cate McKenzie, said Monday that to allow large numbers of straight men and women and lesbians into the bar could “undermine or destroy” the convivial atmosphere that the Peel Hotel sought to create for gay men.

McKenzie said there was evidence some straight patrons were going to the bar to use the predominantly gay customers as a form of entertainment.

“To regard the gay male patrons of the venue as providing an entertainment or spectacle to be stared at, as one would at an animal at a zoo, devalues and dehumanizes them,” she was quoted by News Ltd. newspapers as saying.

The pub will now be able to advertise that it will turn away straight people, and its door staff will be able to ask people whether they are gay before allowing them inside.

Australia’s Equal Opportunities Act bars discrimination for race, religion or sexuality, but exemptions are allowed.

The head of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission applauded the decision.

“These exemptions exist to protect groups in the community who are subject to being treated less favorably, or treated unfairly compared with other groups,” she told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Tuesday.

“In this case, what we know is that there are many options for heterosexuals males to enjoy a safe, social environment.”

 

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Today’s Headlines
Spanish Bridal Shop Caters to Gay Men
Gay Rights Foes Begin Signature Campaign

SALEM, Ore. (AP)

With little fanfare, a coalition of social conservative and church groups began rounding up petition signatures last week hoping to derail two gay rights measures passed by the Legislature.

Their aim is to give voters in November 2008 a chance to repeal a domestic partnership law to give gays and lesbians most of the benefits of marriage under state law along with another new law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The social conservatives see it as a resumption of a battle that began in the November 2004 election, when Oregon voters adopted a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Others, however, say the issues are different this time around, and that public attitudes about gays and lesbians are shifting.

They point to what happened last November in Arizona. Voters in that politically conservative state rejected a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, making Arizona the first state to turn down a gay marriage ban at the ballot box.

Nathaniel Persily, a professor of law and political science at the University of Pennsylvania, said the issue became “highly politicized” in 2004 - a presidential election year - when voters in Oregon and 10 other states adopted bans on same-sex marriage.

Since then the furor over the issue has subsided, Persily said.

“Most people are still uncomfortable attaching the word ‘marriage’ to same-sex relationships,” he said. “But our research shows most Americans are willing to have some legal recognition for same-sex relationships that falls short of marriage.”

Opponents of Oregon’s new laws say those measures, particularly the domestic partnerships law, go against what Oregon voters wanted when they approved the 2004 ban on gay marriage.

“It’s just marriage by another name,” said state Rep. Linda Flores, a Clackamas Republican who is backing the effort to repeal the two laws. “The Legislature is trying to overturn the will of the voters. That’s the frustration that I’m hearing from a lot of people.”

All sides predict the gay rights opponents will be able to gather the 55,179 signatures needed to refer each of the measures to the November 2008 ballot. It’s also expected to spark one of the most expensive - and some say nasty - campaigns the state has seen in years.

There’s a lot riding on the election for Tim Smith and Kent Kullby, a same-sex couple from Eugene who plan to register as domestic partners under the new law.

“We want what other Americans already have - full legal equality. Nothing more, and nothing less,” Smith, who owns a small business, said in a recent interview.

A spokeswoman for the state’s leading gay rights group said public opinion polls done for the group indicate a majority of Oregonians support giving same-sex couple rights and protections similar to marriage - but not full-on marriage at this point.

Still, Basic Rights Oregon spokeswoman Melissa Chernaik said gay rights groups here and nationally are prepared for an expensive election campaign to defend the political gains they achieved in the Oregon Legislature this year.

“It’s been 34 years in the making,” Chernaik said, referring to gay rights bills that were first introduced in the Legislature in 1973. “Folks are not going to be willing to let those laws die without a huge fight.”

The vote is likely to bring out lots of voters on both sides for what’s already expected to be a high-turnout presidential election next year.

Kevin Mannix, a former state lawmaker and Republican gubernatorial contender, said he’s convinced the 2004 gay marriage amendment helped drive up Republican voter participation in that year’s presidential election. Nearly 90 percent of registered Republicans voted that year, compared with 85 percent in 2000.

“There were a number of our voters who were particularly motivated by that issue,” Mannix said.

Independent pollster Tim Hibbitts said he thinks the domestic partners law, as well as the anti-discrimination measure, might be upheld by Oregon voters if gay rights backers can persuade people those measures are not an end-run around the 2004 gay marriage ban.

“Gay rights backers are on some reasonable ground in hoping that voters will differentiate between gay marriage and domestic partnerships,” Hibbitts said.

Either way, he said Oregon could be in for a high profile, multimillion-dollar campaign.

“If these get on the ballot, you can expect it to be very emotional and very nasty,” Hibbitts said.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

BARCELONA, Spain, May 28 (UPI)

A Spanish businessman says his soon-to-open designer bridal shop is a first for Europe — a wedding clothes emporium aimed specifically at gay men. Santiago Porrero of Barcelona said his shop, called By, will feature custom-made suits — some inlaid with 22-carat gold — selling for between $2,000 and about $8,000, The Independent reported Monday. The shop, which opens its doors for the first time this week, also will offer a variety of designer rings, boxer shorts, bathrobes and other accessories for both homosexual and heterosexual nuptials. We saw there was a gap in the market for gay men, though we are not only aiming for homosexuals, Porrero said. It is called By because each person can have a unique creation by one of our designers. There will only be one of these suits in the world. Porrero said he began planning the business after the Spanish Parliament legalized gay marriage in 2005. I saw the opportunity to do business after the law was approved. I didn’t know of any other country that had a shop or boutique for gay weddings, he said. It was obvious that gays, who also marry, needed their own bride shop.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

 

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Today’s Headlines
Gay British Pianist Banned in Hanoi
Gay Rights Activists in Clash in Moscow
Scottsdale Home of Fetish Prom

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 26 (UPI)

Scottsdale, Ariz., once thought of as a haven for Republican golfers, is host city to the Fetish Prom, and some city officials are not happy about it. Scottsdale has been trying for a hipper image, with ads aimed at gays and lesbians — and the campaign may have turned into a case of be careful what you ask for, The Arizona Republic reported. About 1,000 bondage and fetish fans were expected to attend the event Saturday, along with vendors of whips and other appliances. The prom follows the Lingerie Bowl, a faux football event in which the players are women in bras and panties. Scottsdale also got some unwanted publicity when Mayor Mary Manross tried to convince a restaurant called the Pink Taco to change its name — which happens to be a slang term for the female sexual organ. Just when you thought we had hit bottom, City Councilman Ron McCullagh told the Republic, referring to the Fetish Prom.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

MOSCOW, May 27 (UPI)

Gay rights activists trying to raise support for gay pride parades were beaten and pelted with eggs and garbage, then arrested in Moscow Sunday. The activists were trying to deliver a petition to the city’s mayor, demanding the right to hold parades, when protesters began beating them and chanting, Moscow is not Sodom, the BBC reported. Moscow police arrested British gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell, GayRussia leader Nikolai Alexeyev and Marco Capatto, an Italian member of the European Parliament who said he was kicked by an anti-gay protester and then arrested when he demanded police protection, the BBC reported. Itar-Tass said the activists had been warned against mounting any kind of demonstration Sunday, which was the 14th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has called homosexuality satanic and said he never will allow gay rights’ parades in his city, the BBC said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

HANOI, Vietnam, May 26 (UPI)

British concert pianist Stephen Hugh will not perform in Vietnam because officials there were concerned about his writings on religion and homosexuality. Alcoholic beverage company Hennessy withdrew its invitation for to the award-winning musician to play in Hanoi after Vietnamese authorities refused to grant the event a license because they thought it would be a security risk, The Telegraph reported Saturday. It is believed an official from Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture looked at Hough’s Web site and saw an article he wrote for a religious magazine, The Tablet, in which he criticized the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. The pianist, who is gay, said Hennessy had withdrawn its offer in order to prevent potentially tense situations with the regime and to safeguard Hough’s personal safety, the British newspaper said. The engagement was booked six months ago and everything was going ahead with negotiating the fee and travel expenses, Hough said. Yesterday I found out that the Ministry for Culture and Information had been to my Web site and had decided that they could not guarantee my personal safety.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 24 (UPI)

The incoming mayor of Cambridge, England, and her domestic partner have both gone public with the news that they used to be men. Mayor-elect Jenny Bailey and former City Councilor Jennifer Liddle met 15 years ago as they were going through sex change operations, The Telegraph reported. They went public with their transgender stories when a local newspaper approached them. So many more things define me than being transgender, Bailey told the Telegraph I certainly do not want it to eclipse being mayor. If it damages the Cambridge mayoralty I will be so upset. I’m so proud of Cambridge. It’s an honor to be mayor.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International