Subject: [euroletter] EuroLetter 63
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 22:39:10 +0200 (METDST)

EURO-LETTER 

No. 63					September 1998

The Euro-Letter is published on behalf of ILGA-Europe - The
European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association
by Gay and Lesbian International Lobby in co-operation with The
Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians. Editors:
Steffen Jensen, Ken Thomassen, Peter Bryld, Lisbeth Andersen and
Soeren Baatrup.  

Contact to Euro-Letter: 
E-mail: [email-masked] 
URL: http://www.steff.suite.dk 
Fax: +45 4049 5297 Tel: +45 3324 6435 Mobile: +45 2033 0840 
Mail: c/o Steffen Jensen, Gl. Kongevej 31, 4.th, DK-1610 Copenhagen V, Denmark 

You can receive Euro-Letter by e-mail by sending an empty message to  
[email-masked]  
and from no 30 onwards the Euro-Letters are available on the Internet at 
http://www.steff.suite.dk/eurolet.htm  and at
http://www.france.qrd.org/assocs/ilga/euroletter.html 

*********************************************************

IN THIS ISSUE

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS URGENCY RESOLUTION ON EQUAL RIGHTS
FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS IN THE EU
THE FULL TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION
ILGA-EUROPE'S REPORT "EQUALITY FOR LESBIANS AND GAY MEN" NOW
AVAIABLE IN SPANISH

Documents relating to ILGA-Europe can be found at ILGA-Europe's
homepage http://www.steff.suite.dk/ilgaeur.htm

An update of the Survey on the Legal Situation for Gays and
Lesbians in Europe can be found at
http://www.steff.suite.dk/survey.htm

A description of partnership laws and other laws regarding
same-sex partners can be found at 
http://www.steff.suite.dk/partner.htm

Consolidated versions of the basic treaties of the European
Union including amendments from the Amsterdam Treaty can be
found at this web-site:
http://ue.eu.int/Amsterdam/en/traiteco/en1.htm

**********************************************************

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS URGENCY RESOLUTION ON EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS
AND LESBIANS IN THE EU

17 September 1998, the European Parliament adopted with a
majority of 110 against 89 votes (6 abstentions) a resolution
reaffirming the Parliament's defence of the human rights of gays
and lesbians. The resolution was motivated by the refusal,
during the past few months, of the Parliaments of Cyprus,
Romania and Austria to bring their anti-homosexual legislation
in line with European human rights standards as demanded both by
the EP in various previous resolutions and by the human rights
organs of the Council of Europe.

In this resolution, the EP firmly expressed its refusal to "give
its consent to the accession of any country that, through its
legislation or policies, violates the human rights of lesbians
and gay men". The countries concerned are Cyprus, Romania,
Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Lithuania.

The Commission has been called upon to take into consideration
respect and observance of the human rights of gays and lesbians
when negotiating the accession of applicant countries.

Additionally, the EP calls upon Austria to immediately repeal
Article 209 of the penal code, which provides for a
discriminatory age of consent for gay men, and to immediately
provide for an amnesty for, and the release from prison of, all
persons jailed under this law. This is especially embarrassing
for Austria since this country is currently holding the
presidency of the EU for the second half of 1998.

"The adoption of this resolution is a big success for the
European lesbian and gay movement", comments Kurt Krickler,
co-chair of ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the
International Lesbian and Gay Association, who followed the
debate and vote in Strasbourg on Thursday. "After a similar
motion for a resolution had failed last July due to the lack of
support from the Socialdemocratic group in the EP, ILGA-Europe
and member groups in most of the 15 EU countries had carried out
a joint and obviously effective lobbying campaign towards the
Socialdemocratic members of the EP in the various countries so
that the PSE group in the EP finally changed its mind. We are
especially grateful to the liberal group (ELDR) and the Green
group which was courageous enough to retable the motion after
the failure in July, and also to those groups which joined the
motion, e.g. the the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, the
radical group (ARE) and the PSE.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION

JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (Rule 47)

tabled by the following Members:
Swoboda and Berger, on behalf of the PSE Group
Frischenschlager, Watson, Thors and Plooij-van Gorsel, on behalf
of the ELDR Group 
Ojala, Gonz lez µlvarez, Guti‚rrez D¡az, Vinci, Pailler and
Eriksson, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group 
Voggenhuber, Lindholm and Roth, on behalf of the V Group
Dupuis, on behalf of the ARE Group

replacing the motions by the following Members:

Frischenschlager and others, on behalf of the ELDR
Group	(B4-0824/98)
Roth, Lindholm and Voggenhuber, on behalf of the V
Group	(B4-0852/98)

On equal rights for gays and lesbians in the EC

- having regard to its resolution of 8 February 1994 on equal
rights for homosexuals and lesbians in the EC1, calling on the
Member States to apply the same age of consent to homosexual and
heterosexual activities alike (para 6),

- having regard to its resolution of 17 September 1996 on respect
for human rights in the European Union (1994)2, demanding the
elimination of discrimination and unequal treatment of
homosexuals, especially in view of unequal age of consent
provisions (paragraph 84),

- having regard to its resolution of 8 April 1997 on respect for
human rights in the European Union (1995)3, repeating the demand
for the repeal of unequal age of consent provisions (para. 136)
and explicitly urging Austria to repeal her age of consent law
(para. 140),

- having regard to its resolution of 17 February 1998 on respect
for human rights in the European Union (1996)4, reiterating its
demand to the Austrian Government to repeal the unequal age of
consent provision in the Austrian penal code (para. 69),

- having regard to its previous resolution on sexual orientation,
discrimination and the human rights of homosexuals in Romania,

- recalling the Copenhagen accession criteria for candidate
members, in particular the requirement to respect human rights,

A. having regard to Recommendation 924/1981 on discrimination
against homosexuals adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, recommending the Committee of Ministers to
urge all Member States to apply the same minimum age of consent
for homosexual and heterosexual acts (para. 7 ii),

B. having regard to the decision of the European Commission of
Human Rights, adopted on 1 July 1997, in Application No.
25186/94 (Euan Sutherland) against the United Kingdom, finding
"that no objective and reasonable justification exists for the
maintenance of a higher minimum age of consent to male
homosexual, than to heterosexual, acts and that the application
discloses discriminatory treatment in the exercise of the
applicant's right to respect for private life under Article 8 of
the Convention" (para. 66), and concluding that an unequal age
of consent provision is "a violation of Article 8 of the
[European Human Rights] Convention, taken in conjunction with
Article 14 of the Convention" (para. 67),

C. considering that, for reasons of credibility towards the
applicant countries when demanding from them the observance of
human rights, EU member states such as Austria need to repeal
their own legislation discriminating against lesbians and gay
men, in particular existing discriminatory age of consent
provisions,

D. noting that the following applicant countries, with which the
EU has already started the accession negotiation process, still
have legal provisions in their penal code that seriously
discriminate against homosexuals: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia,
Hungary, Lithuania, and Romania, 

E. deploring the insufficient law reform voted upon by the
Parliament of Cyprus on 21 May 1998, replacing the total ban on
male homosexual acts by a series of other discriminatory
provisions, including a higher age of consent,

F. deploring the refusal of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies on
30 June 1998 to adopt a reform bill presented by the Government
to repeal all anti-homosexual legislation provided by Article
200 of the penal code,

G. regretting the refusal of the Austrian Parliament to vote for
the repeal of Article 209, the higher age of consent provision
for gay men, on 17 July 1998, thus knowingly ignoring both the
decision in the Sutherland case and the urgent demands towards
Austria expressed by the European Parliament in its
abovementioned resolutions of 8 April 1997 and 17 February 1998,

H. welcoming with great satisfaction the recent law reforms in
this field in Finland and Latvia as well as the positive 22 June
1998 vote of the UK House of Commons on repealing the unequal
age of consent provision for gay men though, regrettably, this
was subsequently overruled by a vote in the House of Lords,

I. considering that Article 13 EC as amended by the Amsterdam
Treaty, once ratified, will empower the Council to take
appropriate measures to combat discrimination based on sexual
orientation,  

J. confirming that it will not give its consent to the accession
of any country that, through its legislation or policies,
violates the human rights of lesbians and gay men,

K. whereas, according to official statistics, there are still
every year approximately 50 reports to the police, 30 criminal
proceedings and judicial inquiries and 20 convictions under
Article 209 of the Austrian penal code which provides a minimum
penalty of six months' imprisonment and a maximum sentence of
five years' imprisonment,

1. Calls on the Austrian Government and Parliament to
immediately repeal Article 209 of the Penal Code and to
immediately provide for an amnesty for, and the release from
prison of, all persons jailed under this law;  

2. Calls on all applicant countries to repeal all legislation
violating the human rights of lesbians and gay men, in
particular discriminatory age of consent laws; 

3. Calls on the Commission to take into consideration respect
and observance of the human rights of gays and lesbians when
negotiating the accession of applicant countries;  

4. Asks the Commission in particular to examine, in its review
of the CEEC due before the end of this year, the human rights
situation of gays and lesbians in these countries;  

5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the
Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of
Austria, Cyprus, and Romania, and the Secretary-General of the
Council of Europe. 

ILGA-EUROPE'S REPORT "EQUALITY FOR LESBIANS AND GAY MEN" NOW
AVAIABLE IN SPANISH

A Spanish translation of the report, cf. EuroLetter 61, is now
avaiable at ILGA-Europe's web site:

http://www.steff.suite.dk/ilgaeur.htm

Steffen Jensen
E-mail: [email-masked] 
http://www.steff.suite.dk
Tel. +45 3324 6435 or +45 2033 0840  Fax: +45 4049 5297

______________________________________________________________________

Subscribe, unsubscribe, opt for a daily digest, or start a new e-group
at http://www.eGroups.com -- Free Web-based e-mail groups.
From [email-masked]  Mon Sep 21 18:46:29 1998
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 18:45:14 -0700
To: [email-masked]
From: Eros Publishing <[email-masked]>
Subject: Press Release

ISSUE #8, September 21, 1998
BEYOND THE EDGE CAFE
FETISH GAZETTE
FETISH GAZETTE
FETISH GAZETTE

an occasional newsletter about fetish (and other) activities at
BEYOND THE EDGE CAFE
703 E. PIKE
SEATTLE, WA  98122
206-325-6829
[email-masked]
www.powerotic.com/BTE/

"Old rituals call us to the place we started out, the edge"
Madeline DeFrees "Shadegrown Tobacco" 

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The cafe ownership change is a month in the past.  I'm getting some much
needed rest and having fun exploring a new relationship (I love poly
relationships).  While I do miss seeing some of you on a regular, daily
basis, I have seen more of you lately because I can now attend fetish
nights.  I also have more time to invest in keeping the cafe kinky.  SSMUT
is quite entertaining and thought-provoking and the BTE University promises
to be educational and fun.  We have lots of parties and events planned for
this fall and winter.  Change is scary, but without change, there is no
growth.  

While we know that we aren't the end-all-be-all of the kink community we
have become an important resource and hope to continue.  Look at our
calendar at the end of this newsletter.  It has grown and looks to continue
growing.  Ralph is committed to keeping the cafe the community living room
and is working on a few upgrades that will enhance your enjoyment of the
cafe.  The cafe is not just one person or a couple of person's.  The cafe
is all of you.

I want you to know how much I appreciate your continued support of BTE. I
am constantly in awe of this tribe I belong to.  Thank you all.

Allena

WOMEN'S PARTY THIS COMING SUNDAY

Beyond the Edge Cafe will be hosting our monthly play party this coming
Sunday, September 27.  This month it is women only.  Cost is $15, which
includes dinner and play.  The evening starts at 6:00 PM and goes until at
least midnight.  If you are interested in attending and haven't attended a
Sunday party before please e-mail Allena at [email-masked].  If you
have attended Sunday parties in the past and plan to attend this one,
please RSVP to the cafe or Allena.

OCTOBERS ARTIST:  CHARLIE DANIELS

Leather Alterations-- A showing of modified photographs of people, events
and things connected to the Seattle Leather Community, by Charlie Daniels.
 Starts October 1st at Beyond the Edge Cafe.

Charlie has been involved in the Seattle Leather Community for about five
years now, and has been taking pictures of people and events in and around
the community for about  three. His interest in photography goes back to
high school.   

He has always wanted to work with hand-colored or tinted photographs, but
always believed that keeping all those little bottles of inks and dyes in
one place was beyond his organizational skills.   So he built a computer
with plenty of RAM and Photoshop instead, and now he is very happy.

Sources of  influence and inspiration include Annie Leibovitz, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the person who scribbled with
pastels all over the photographs of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on
the original Saturday Night Live.

Charlie has had some experience and education in photography, printing,
graphic design and video production, but firmly believes that credentials,
while nice to have, have little or no bearing upon one's willingness or
ability to inflict art upon society.

BTEU'S NEXT CLASS:  ELECTRICITY!

Doug House, who many of you know as Dragon, will be coming down from
Vancouver BC to give a workshop on electricity.

Dragon has given over 150 workshops on subjects including SM101, BDSM
Etiquette, safety, electrical play, suspension, bondage, device
construction, terror (a personal favorite), breath control, wax play,
sensory deprivation, mummification, intubation, temporary and permanent
piercings, bloodsports, and ponygirl (another favorite).

He has enjoyed electrical play as part of his BDSM lifestyle for over 15
years.  Dragon's current electrical toy collection includes 8 TENS units, 2
shock-boxes, cattle prod, new and antique violet wands, and numerous
interface devices.

Dragon was introduced to BDSM at the age of 17 by an older woman and is now
enjoying his 25th year in the scene.  He has been active in the Vancouver
community for many years.  His credentials include:  founding Member of
NLA:BC (now defunct); operator of  The Other Side (privately held BDSM
Club, operating in Vancouver, that replaced NLA:BC; operator of PLAYRZ, an
invitation-only experienced players BDSM Club operating in Vancouver;
consultant to Vancouver Police Department and B.C. Coroner's Office on BDSM
matters. Classified as a "Professional Witness"; co-owner of Purgatory,
currently under construction, soon to be Vancouver's first permanent,
legally-licensed BDSM/Fetish club. (Opening for Mack VIII, October, 1998);
Member, Triskeli Guild, Bellingham, Washington; 1/3 of 3D (Diabolical
Devices for Damsels), along with J.G. Leathers and J.L. Gord (3D is three
guys with far too much time on their hands, who sit around designing, then
making, really diabolical BDSM devices); co-founder of the Mack McKinnon
Fetish and Fantasy Memorial Weekend. 

For those of you who may be interested, Mack VIII is being held October
23-25, 1998. Info at (604)582-9033, or Internet users may check
www.angelfire.com/bc/mackviii or e-mail [email-masked] 

FETISH DINNER: A SPANKING SUCCESS

Saturday night's Fetish dinners continue to be popular with all types of
customers.  Last Saturday's dinner was especially fun.  Seven so called
vanilla guests held a party for a young man's 30th birthday.  The group had
discovered us by our website and thought that we would be "entertaining".
They were right!

Not only did the birthday party get an incredible dinner, the birthday boy
was treated to a rendition of "Happy Birthday Mr. President" by a visiting
drag queen and for dessert, he happily bent over for his birthday
spankings, presented by yours truly.

Not only are Saturday's Fetish Dinners a place for romance and play but
also a great place to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.  If
you let us know in advance, we gladly give spankings and present the
birthday boy/girl with a souvenir of his/her evening.  Birthday parties can
be held upstairs or downstairs. There is a minimum seating of 8 to reserve
the downstairs for a private party.  Also, please give us plenty of notice
as the dungeon fills up fast for dinner. 

OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES NEEDED

Ralph is looking for old Fetish/Kink magazines and books with pictures for
a collage project he is working on.  He plans to cover the cafe tables with
kinky photos.  If you have old magazines, pictures, books etc. that you are
willing to part with, please drop them by the cafe.  Also, if you have
books that you would like to donate to our in-house fetish library, please
drop them off.

HALLOWEEN IS COMING!

We will be having two Halloween parties this year.  The first will be our
Last Sunday of the Month party, on October 25th.  This is our normal
private party and RSVP's are required.  There will be dinner and play as
usual and also a prize for the best costume that fits our theme:  COME AS
YOU AREN'T.  This has been our theme for the last few parties and we have
had some amazing costumes.  Costumes are not required to attend the party
and you don't have to fit the theme, unless you want to compete for a prize.

On October 31 we will also have a Halloween party during Fetish Night.
Again, there will be prizes for costumes.  The categories will be:  Best
Kinky Costume, Best Non-Kinky Costume and Best Costume made out of Safe Sex
supplies.  (I personally will be handing out a prize for the best Catholic
School Girl Costume in the R-rated Bathroom around 1am.)

Look for more information in the next week or so.

BTE ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Beyond the Edge Cafe will be celebrating its 3rd birthday on November 15th.
 We want to invite everyone to an all day open house and a play party that
evening.  There will be ongoing demonstrations throughout the day, both
upstairs and down and a pansexual play party from 6pm on. 

Look for more information in the next week or so.

UPCOMING EVENTS IN OCTOBER AT BEYOND THE EDGE

October 1, Thursday  Artist Reception for Charlie Daniels.  Leather
Alterations-- A showing of modified photographs of people, events and
things connected to the Seattle Leather Community.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

October 1, Thursday  Julie & Ken   Join clarinetist Julie and pianist Ken
for an evening of music from the 30's & 40's.
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM  No Cover Tips Appreciated

October 2, Friday  SSMUT (Seattle Sado-Masochism Unabashed Talk)  A
facilitated, roundtable discussion about B/D, S/M and other sexual
alternatives and an opportunity for anyone to talk about their experiences
or ask questions.  SSMUT strives to provide an atmosphere where
philosophies can take form and be shared.
7:30 PM to 11:00 PM

October 6, Tuesday  The Women's Welcoming Committee.  A meeting for all
women interested in BDSM.  Especially geared for women new to the
community.  WWC meets upstairs the first Tuesday of every month.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

October 7, Wednesday  SPECTRUM  A discussion group for all female-born,
male identified persons. SPECTRUM meets the first Wednesday of every month.
7:00 PM

October 8, Thursday  An Evening With Brian Alec Thom  Join us for an
evening of piano music by Brian Alec Thom.
5:00 PM to 9:00 PM  No Cover  Tips Appreciated

October 9  BTE University  To Be Announced
Join us for our newest event.  Workshops preceding the Friday Night Fetish
Parties.  
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM  $3 to $5

October 9  Friday Fetish Night.  Join us for another night of play. $5.00
9:30 PM to 1:30 PM
 
October 13, Tuesday  The Men's Welcoming Committee.  A meeting for all men
interested in BDSM.  Especially geared for men new to the community.  The
MWC meets upstairs the second Tuesday of every month.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

October 15, Thursday  Julie & Ken   Join clarinetist Julie and pianist Ken
for an evening of music from the 30's & 40's.
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM  No Cover Tips Appreciated

October 16, Friday  "Non-Hormone, Non-Op" discussion group meets every
third Fri of the month and welcomes all male-identified folks who were born
female, with a focus on living without fully transitioning.  They
are developing a topic list and folks can contact Mike at [email-masked]
for more info.
7:00  PM to 9:00 PM

October 22, Thursday  Julie & Ken   Join clarinetist Julie and pianist Ken
for an evening of music from the 30's & 40's.
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM  No Cover Tips Appreciated

October 23  BTE University  Hands On  Ivy and Michael will give a vaginal
fisting demonstration and discuss techniques and safety.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM  $3 to $5

October 23  Friday Fetish Night.  Join us for another night of play. $5.00
9:30 PM to 1:30 PM

October 25, Sunday  Private Pansexual Halloween Play Party.  Dinner and
Play for $15.  Prizes for the best costume portraying our theme COME AS YOU
AREN'T.  Call Allena for more information and to make reservations.
6:00 PM until Midnight

October 27, Tuesday  No Safeword Writer's Group. The No SafeWord Writers
Group (NSWG) exists to provide mutual support for our members literary
efforts.  Support is in the form of critique and commentary on each others
work, information about publishing opportunities and discussion of issues
facing writers.  Our focus is erotic writing - but we welcome anyone who
writes.  The only requirement is to write and be respectful of others. For
more information contact Ambrose McNibble at: [email-masked].
6:30 PM until ?  free

October 27, Tuesday  SOS (Sister's of Sin) Social club for women who are
into BDSM.  Monthly planning meeting.
7:30 to ?

October 28, Wednesday  F to M Support Group
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

October 29, Thursday  Heather Alexander  Celtic Musician with an attitude!  
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM No Cover Tips appreciated

October 31, Saturday  HALLOWEEN PARTY  Prizes and treats and hopefully lots
of tricks.  Join us and our neighbor Edge of The Circle Books for a grand
Halloween party. Different events will be happening all day, cumulating in
a Fetish Halloween Party with prizes for costumes.

Every Thursday we host a "twisted twelve step" for our friends in recovery.
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Every Saturday Night we hold our Fetish Dinners from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  
Reservations recommended.  Call the cafe for more information.

Every Saturday Night from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM we have Fetish Night.  $8.00
Call the cafe for more information.

TWO OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS

November 15, Sunday  Beyond the Edge Cafe will be celebrating its third
birthday with an all day open house and a pansexual play party that
evening.  Stay tuned for more details.

December 31, Thursday  New Years Eve Play Party.

Beyond The Edge Cafe also caters, both in-house and on site.  Try out our
"Breakfast in Bed For As Many Can Fit in a Bed" catering special.

We have space for rent, for both meetings and play.  Call the cafe for more
 information. 

OUR WEBPAGE is www.powerotic.com/BTE/
E-mail to [email-masked]

http://www.wolfenet.com/~aubrey/aubrey.htm