Rex Wockner

International News

by Rex Wockner - SGN Contributing Writer Eurovision attendees fear anti-Gay attacks Far-right groups in Serbia reportedly have threatened to harm the throngs of Gay people who typically travel to attend the campy Eurovision Song Contest. The 53rd extravaganza will be in Belgrade this year because Serbian singer Marija Serifovic won last year's contest, which was held in Helsinki. Forty-three countries have entered the contest, which culminates May 24. The European Pride Organisers Association has been pressuring the European Broadcasting Union to guarantee the safety of Gay attendees, but is dissatisfied with the response it has received. In a letter to EPOA Human Rights Coordinator Kurt Krickler, the EBU's executive supervisor for the contest, Svante Stockselius, said: "The EBU does not separate our fans into groups based on their religion, colour, sexual preferences or others. We have a guarantee for the safety of delegations, press and fans issued by the president of Serbia. This guarantee includes all." Krickler wrote back: "We are not really convinced and reassured by the guarantees of the Serbian authorities, including the Serbian president, given to the EBU. & EPOA wants to stress that we will certainly also hold the EBU accountable and responsible if homophobic incidents of violence occur during and immediately after the ESC as we have explicitly warned you well in advance of the specific situation and the exceptional homophobic attitudes in Belgrade and Serbia. The EBU could hardly pretend they were not alerted and aware of the danger and likelihood of homophobic attacks during the ESC." In an earlier letter to Stockselius, Krickler cited a "poor record of human rights in Serbia in general and regarding the human rights of Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) people in particular." "In June 2001, the first Gay pride march in Belgrade was brutally attacked by a huge violent crowd of nationalist extremists and hooligans; dozens of people were left massively hurt and injured in the streets while the police failed to provide adequate protection," Krickler said, providing a YouTube link to bolster his assertion. Egypt jails more men for debauchery Egypt sent five more men to prison April 9 for "habitual practice of debauchery." The men, arrested in an ongoing crackdown mostly on HIV-positive people, will spend three years in jail followed by an additional three years when they will have to stay at the police station nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The men were abused, tortured, made to confess and force-tested for HIV after their arrests, according to human-rights groups. Their lawyer has lodged an appeal with Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation. In January, four other men were imprisoned for a year on the same charges. Aussie TV anchor comes out Veteran Melbourne, Australia, TV anchorman Peter Hitchener, 62, came out April 6 in an interview with the Sunday Herald Sun. "Given that we are on private issues of private life, I am choosing to share with you today that part of my life that I have not spoken about before: that I am Gay," Hitchener said. "That is part of who I am and with that disclosure, or acknowledgment, I just also need to say I am still the person I was yesterday. I am still the same person and I remain committed to my job and my family and my service and so on. "I have never been asked about it before," Hitchener said. "There is never a right time, or an easy time, to talk about these personal issues, but this is the right time to say it and to move on." Hitchener's boss, National Nine News news director Michael Venus, said the network fully supports Hitchener's move. "I am acutely aware of how difficult a decision this has been for Peter," Venus said. "Indeed I know he has agonized over it for a very long time. But it is a decision which has our full support and in no way diminishes his standing as one of Australia's pre-eminent broadcasters." Euro court trans decision on Lithuania is final Lithuania must implement a process for allowing and funding sex-change operations or pay 40,000 euros ($63,600) to Transsexuals who seek the surgery so they can go to another country to get it, the European Court of Human Rights said April 9. The determination came in the case of "Mr. L." from the city of Klaipeda. The 29-year-old was prescribed hormone therapy in 1998 but denied further therapy in 1999 because it was not clear she would have access to a sex-change operation. She continued the therapy on her own and, in 2000, had her breasts removed. Then, in 2003, a law granted Transsexuals the right to gender-reassignment surgery when medically possible, but additional measures that were needed to implement the law were never adopted, and medical facilities to carry out a full female-to-male sex-change operation apparently do not exist in Lithuania. "It took a few years of efforts for the ECHR to protect her right to change sex, as stipulated in the Civil Code," Mr. L.'s lawyer, Henrikas Mickevicius of Lithuania's Human Rights Monitoring Institute, told the Baltic Times. "The irresponsible conduct of politicians has already cost a lot and may still have a higher price to Lithuanian taxpayers." Police raid Lambda Istanbul Cultural Center A dozen plainclothes police officers raided the Lambda Istanbul Cultural Center April 7. They stayed for two hours, rummaged through everything, and took away documents containing financial and membership information. The center later learned it had been under surveillance after someone accused it of procuring Transgender sex workers and sharing in their earnings. Lambda denies any such activities and says it will take legal action against the city. The organization is in the midst of another court case over its right to seek official status after the mayor said the group should be shut down because it threatens family values and public decency. The group has said it will take that case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. Meanwhile, on April 8, the Labrys GLBT community center in Bishkek, capital of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, was raided by police who reportedly claimed it was an illegal cruising location. After an extended standoff and the arrival of reinforcements from both sides, the incident ended without any official action. A play-by-play of the incident is online. See tinyurl.com/46z9k7. Hundreds protest Norway's same-sex marriage plans Several hundred people marched through central Oslo April 12 in opposition to the Norwegian government's plan to legalize same-sex marriage. Norway has had a registered-partnership law that gives Gay couples the same rights as marriage since 1993. A report in the Aftenposten newspaper said many of the protesters were Christians and Muslims. The government's minister of children and equality, Anniken Huitfeldt, has said letting Gay couples marry "won't weaken marriage as an institution; rather, it will strengthen it." "Marriage won't be worth less because more can take part in it," she told Aftenposten. The law would permit same-sex couples to marry in churches, adopt children and receive state-funded medical assistance in getting pregnant. It is expected to pass Parliament before summer. Full marriage is open to same-sex couples in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and Massachusetts. Numerous nations have civil-union or registered-partnership laws that grant same-sex couples some, most or all rights and obligations of marriage. With assistance from Bill Kelley

picture above: Kurt Krickler; picture below: Marija Serifovic

by Rex Wockner - SGN Contributing Writer "I don't know what will happen professionally & that is the fear, but I guess I can't really be concerned about what will happen, because it's my truth. There is this desire in L.A. to wonder who you are and what's been blaring for me for the last three years is how can I be most authentic to myself - so this is the first time I am speaking about it [being Gay] in this way." -Actor Luke MacFarlane, who plays Scotty Wandell, character Kevin Walker's boyfriend on ABC-TV's Brothers & Sisters, to Toronto's Globe and Mail, April 15. The newspaper said the couple will marry in the May 11 season finale. "The Gay press may feel like I'm not giving them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all times. Obviously, when you've got limited amount of time, you've got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. & But I haven't been silent on Gay issues. What's happened is, I speak oftentimes to Gay issues to a public general audience." -Barack Obama to Advocate.com, April 10. "I have been clear about my interest in including gender identity in legislation, but I've also been honest with the groups that I've met with that it is a heavy lift through Congress. We've got some Democrats who are willing to vote for a non-inclusive bill but we lose them on an inclusive bill, and we just may not be able to generate the votes." -Barack Obama to Advocate.com, April 10. "I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn't be equal because there's a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it. I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I'm operating." -Barack Obama to Advocate.com, April 10. "We will push on and bring full marriage equality to New York state. And when we have done that, we're going to do more. We're going to protect young people from bullies. We're going to protect against the discrimination of people in the transgender community, and we're going to fight for decent and affordable health care for all citizens in this state. If you will join with me, and if we work hard enough, we can change the face of New York, which will be the catalyst to changing national policy." --New York Gov. David Patterson addressing the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leadership Awards dinner April 7 in New York City. "Well, first of all, I think that it would never happen in California because I think that California people are much further along with that issue. And, number two, I will always be there to fight against that, because it would never happen. I think we need a constitutional amendment so that foreign-born citizens can run for president, but not about Gay marriage. That's a total waste of time." -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention April 11 in San Diego, in opposition to a probable November ballot initiative aimed at amending the state Constitution to permanently ban same-sex marriage. "It's wonderful to be here at the Log Cabin Republicans national conference & because, I mean, let's be honest, it's fun to be here. When I see this great enthusiasm, I said to myself: 'What happened to all of you? Where were you when I opened up Hercules in New York?' That movie went in the toilet." -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking April 11 in San Diego. "[The Republican Party] is making a big mistake by being so extreme. But it's not the people within the party whose fault that is. It is the system that is wrong. & How could it be a big problem to get Democrats and Republicans together? I sleep with a Democrat every night!" -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention April 11 in San Diego. "[M]y biggest criticism of the Republican Party has always been that we have lost a lot of members of the Republican Party here in California [including] Gays and Lesbians. [W]e need to go and be a party that is more inclusive. & That's the power we have to get inside the party and to create the changes, rather than just complaining about it. & The Gay and Lesbian movement, and the members, can have a tremendous impact." -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention April 11 in San Diego. "Why stop there?" -California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention April 11 in San Diego, in response to a Gay conventioneer who exclaimed, "Arnold, I loved all your movies. & Take your shirt off!" "I'm such a big ol' bulldyke, it would have been impossible for me to hide it. I mean, when I was doing stand-up, was I going to go out onstage and talk about my boyfriend? Everyone would go, 'Hey big dyke - why are you talking about your boyfriend?' So being out was basically being who I am." -Comic/singer/actress Lea DeLaria to the Kansas Gay magazine Liberty Press, April issue. "I've never been one of the Gay darlings; I've always been one of the pariahs. Myself, Sandra Bernhard and Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall, we're all very good friends and we all consider ourselves to be Gay pariahs. One year, in a pride parade, we put ourselves in a cage and put a sign on it saying 'Gay pariahs.' We thought it was hilarious, but again, people just got really mad about it. You know - get a sense of humor." -Comic/singer/actress Lea DeLaria to the Kansas Gay magazine Liberty Press, April issue. "I used to think that you could blog and you could sort of say anything and nobody would know, but really everybody knows." -Friend-of-Gays comedian Margaret Cho to the Portland, Ore., Gay newspaper Just Out, April 4. "I'm totally addicted [to MySpace]. I read it completely myself and nobody believes it. Whenever I look at my messages, they're like, 'Hey Tori's assistant, can you help me answer this question or ask Tori this?' And I always have to answer back, 'Hey, it's actually me!'" -Actress Tori Spelling to Philadelphia Gay News, April 11. "I think that the 'born Gay' thesis is a crock. P.C. ideology is usually simplistically social constructionist, but when it comes to Gayness, biology currently rules the roost. Of course it makes no sense. As I have written in the past, homosexuality is an adaptation, the product of a multitude of social and psychological factors. I believe we are all born with a capacity for Bisexual expression, which may or may not evince itself, depending on circumstance." -Writer Camille Paglia in her Salon.com column, April 9. "There's A's and there's B's. The A's are guys like me, the B's are homosexual faggots with dirt on their fingernails that transmit diseases." -Canadian federal Tory MP Tom Lukiwski caught on a 17-year-old amateur videotape unearthed April 3 by an opposition political party. Lukiwski said of the recording: "I am sorry. I am ashamed." "It would be bad to ask a person if he is homosexual or not, because this has nothing to do with his responsibilities. I believe that if the person has the moral, ethical, psychological and physical capacity to be a police officer, it doesn't matter what his preference is or what he does at home in his free time." -Panamanian National Police chief Rolando Mirones speaking on local radio April 3. "All countries that love freedom, democracy and liberty should refuse to host the Olympic torch and boycott the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Athletes should wear Tibetan flags during their events and on the podium when they collect their medals." -Leading British Gay activist Peter Tatchell, who blocked a bus carrying the Olympic torch April 7 in London. "I hope Gay people realize their special gifts. There is a reason why Gay people are numerically over-represented in many creative fields. We have myriad destinies related to making the world more beautiful and compassionate. Being outsiders to mainstream culture gives us a unique perspective. To survive, Gay people have had to realize that some social rules are dead wrong - like whom we can or cannot love. That empowering lesson can help us find our own voices." -Photographer Tom Bianchi to the Palm Springs Gay magazine The BottomLine, April 11. With assistance from Bill Kelley

picture top - Luke Macfarlane; picture bottom - Lea DeLaria