SGN Page 9

Wockner

Wockner - by Rex Wockner
POLISH GAYS MARCH DESPITE BAN Some 2,500 GLBTs marched in Warsaw, Poland, June 11 even though Mayor Lech Kaczynski banned the Gay Pride parade. Kaczynski had said he opposed both propagating Gay orientation and holding the event on the same day Warsaw unveiled a monument to anti-Nazi hero Gen. Stefan Rowecki. Around 300 anti-Gay protesters hurled eggs and shouted slurs at the marchers. Ten people were arrested and three were injured, including a policeman. Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tomasz Nalecz joined a GLBT rally outside Parliament. FORMER SOCCER STAR COMES OUT A former Uruguayan soccer star, who also played for teams in Venezuela, Guatemala and El Salvador, came out of the closet in the June issue of Gay Barcelona magazine. It is only now that being Gay is in fashion, Wilson Oliver Elías told the magazine. We are on the TV soaps, publicity ads, in all media. Society has begun to understand that Gays are normal, regular people. Oliver said his mother is OK with his sexuality but his father isnt. One day my mother, as I came home from one of my trips as a player, said to me, You know, someone came and told me you were Gay. And I said, Well, Mom, and what did you say in return? And, amazingly, she said, Well, if its not a daughter-in-law itll be a son-in-law! Thats when I found my mother accepted me, something that gave me a great deal of peace. But with my father its different, we dont talk to him. He is part of a rigid society and a culture where machismo is exacerbated. Oliver now lives in Barcelona with his partner. SINGAPORE BANS CIRCUIT PARTY Singapore has banned the large Gay circuit party Nation after allowing it the past four years. Police refused a permit for the event, calling it contrary to public interest in general. The party, which is organized by Fridae.com, will be moved to Phuket, Thailand. It is scheduled for Nov. 4-6, sponsored by Motorola and Subaru. Phuket province Gov. Udomsak Assawarangura said he welcomes the event. Eight thousand people attended last years party, 40 percent of them from overseas. They pumped an estimated $6 million into the Singaporean economy. FRENCH VENUES CANCEL CAPLETON CONCERTS Targeted by Gay activists, numerous French concert venues have canceled performances by Jamaican dancehall singer Capleton because of his violently anti-Gay lyrics. France has strict laws against hate speech. Other venues have requested that Capleton sign a pledge not to bash Gays during his French appearances. His lyrics include: Shoulda know seh Capleton bun battyman [You should know that Capleton burns queers]. Dem same fire apply to di Lesbian [The same fire applies to Lesbians]. Seh mi bun everything from mi know seh dem Gay [Say, I burn everything as long as I know that theyre Gay]. All boogaman and sodemites fi get killed [All queers and sodomites should be killed]. CZECH PM SUPPORTS PARTNER BILL Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said June 12 that he supports a proposed same-sex registered-partnership bill and wants his partys members in the Chamber of Deputies to vote for it. It is a good law, Paroubek, a Social Democrat, said. The Gay and Lesbian League had requested Paroubeks support for the bill shortly after he was appointed prime minister in April. A similar measure was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies in February, by a single vote. GUADALAJARA GAY RADIO PROGRAM DUMPED Guadalajara University in Mexico has terminated the Guadalajara Gay Radio program that aired on the campus radio station, Reporters Without Borders said June 13. It is hard to imagine a radio programme still being censored for such archaic reasons as sexual discrimination in the 21st century, the press freedom organization said. This type of...violation is a dangerous step backwards. Guadalajara University Radio director Carlos Ramírez Powell told program host Miguel Galán that higher-ups ordered him to ax the show as part of a politically motivated overhaul of the stations programming. GAYS SET GROUP HUG RECORD A new world record for the largest group hug was set during Hamburgs Gay Pride parade June 11. Despite rain and cold, 16,000 people embraced for 10 seconds, besting the previous record of 5,117 set last year by Canadian high-school students. About 22,000 people attended the parade, police said. CANADA SEES FIRST MILITARY GAY WEDDING Canadas first military same-sex marriage took place at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in Nova Scotia last month, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. This couple had been waiting a very long, long time, said base head chaplain Lt.-Cmdr. David Greenwood, who declined to provide the mens names. I think there was a sense that many people thought they would never have seen something like this in their lifetimes and not in a negative way, but in a positive way. Eight of Canadas 13 provinces and territories have granted same-sex couples access to ordinary marriage. In two of the remaining jurisdictions New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories court cases are under way to change the laws there, which will leave only Alberta, Nunavut and Prince Edward Island without Gay marriage. BRITISH COLUMBIA SEES FIRST GAY DIVORCE British Columbia saw its first Gay divorce June 15. It is one of eight Canadian provinces and territories where courts have legalized same-sex marriage. In granting the divorce, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow declared the Divorce Acts heterosexual definition of marriage unconstitutional. Only the Marriage Act had been reworded earlier.