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         =   INTERNATIONAL NEWS #288 - Nov 01, 1999  =  
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--> ONTARIO EQUALIZES HOMOSEXUALS

Under the leadership of Conservative Premier Mike Harris, the
Legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario amended 67 laws
Oct. 25 to give gay and lesbian couples every right accorded
common-law opposite-sex couples.

The move followed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last May that
gave Ontario six months to treat gay and straight couples
equally. The case, which declared the province's definition of
'spouse' unconstitutional, involved an alimony dispute between
two lesbians.

In the end, the Legislature did not redefine "spouse" but instead
inserted the words "same-sex partner" into every relevant
statute.

In a very unusual move, no record was kept of how individual
legislators voted.


--> ONTARIO MAY INSTITUTE TRANNY EDUCATION

An Oct. 24 report from the Canadian province of Ontario's human-
rights commission urges the government to educate citizens on
transvestites and transsexuals.

"Coming out can trigger discrimination and mistreatment," said
the report, entitled Toward a Commission Policy on Gender
Identity. "For these reasons, public education about gender
identity is crucial to both transgendered and non-transgendered
people."

The document says there are several myths that need to be
eradicated, including: transsexualism is unnatural, failing to
identify oneself as a transsexual is deceptive, male-to-female
transsexuals are men until they have a sex-change operation, and
transgendered people are part of the gay community.

Ontario, population 11 million, has up to 458 transgendered males
and 106 transgendered females, the report said.


--> EURO CONFAB TARGETS EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS

A Europewide ban on anti-gay discrimination was the top priority
of the 100 delegates who attended the 21st European Conference of
the International Lesbian and Gay Association Oct. 21-24 in Pisa,
Italy.

The European Commission is expected to adopt a package of
legislative measures this month aimed at implementing Article 13
of the European Union's Amsterdam Treaty, which calls for a ban
on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

However, the Commission proposals apply only to employment while
ILGA supports extending protections to the areas of public
accommodations, social security, sports and education.

Further, ILGA said, Article 13 itself needs to be strengthened
during the revision of EU treaties next year to give the European
Parliament more power to determine the details of anti-
discrimination laws.

ILGA-Europe also elected a new board: Nico Beger of Germany,
Adrian Coman of Romania, Isabelle Cruette of France, Tatjana
Greif of Slovenia, Steffen Jensen of Denmark, Kurt Krickler of
Austria, Jackie Lewis of the United Kingdom and Alberto Volpato
of Italy.

Next year's ILGA-Europe conference will be in Bucharest, Romania,
hosted by the gay group ACCEPT.


--> VIETNAM BANS HIV CARRIERS FROM SOME JOBS

Vietnam's Labor Ministry banned HIV carriers from working in
hotels, kindergartens, restaurants, health-care centers, beauty
shops, vaccine-production labs and cosmetic-surgery facilities on
Oct. 25.

The ministry said there would be no mass-testing program but that
people already known to be infected would have to leave their
jobs.


--> ISTANBUL POLICE TARGET TRANSVESTITES

Baton-wielding police in Istanbul, Turkey, routinely chase 
transgendered prostitutes into a highway where they are being hit
by cars, the Washington Post reported Oct. 25.

The trannies ply their trade along the E-5 highway which links
Istanbul and Ankara.

"We know of at least four transvestites who died this year after
police ran them onto the road," said activist Demet Demir. "There
is a systematic campaign to wipe us out."

The trannies moved to the E-5 after local Police Chief Suleyman
Ulusoy launched a campaign against them in 1994 in the Bohemian
Beyoglu neighborhood. Ulusoy's officers arbitrarily detained and
beat the girls, cut their phone lines, and hacked down their
apartment doors with axes, the Post said.


--> ZIMBABWEAN GAYS SEEK CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION

Members of the group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe testified
before the nation's Constitutional Commission Oct. 24 seeking a
ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in the
country's new constitution.

Some commissioners shouted "Satanists!" as the GALZ members spoke
but Commission Chairman Justice Chidyusiku ruled that gays and
lesbians were allowed to make their presentation.

"What I want to say is that it is possible to be black, gay and
Zimbabwean," testified Chesterfield Samba, 24. "People should
stop equating us with Satanists as I heard some of you shouting.
A sexual orientation clause should be included in the
constitution not to make us a special group but as
acknowledgement [that] we are discriminated against and live in
fear of being victimized by society."


--> ONTARIO CITY HAS OPENLY GAY DEPUTY MAYOR

The deputy mayor of Richmond Hill, Ontario (located just north of
Toronto with a population of 80,000) is an open lesbian, Xtra!
reported Oct. 21.

Janet Mabley, 44, told the paper: "I'm not perfect, but being out
and being deputy mayor shows younger people that it's okay to be
yourself. It's important to be out because there is nothing to be
ashamed of.

"I advise others to be true to yourself, to be honest with
yourself. I'm much happier than I have been in years and years.
It might be cliche, but there's nothing queer about loving
someone."

Mabley plans to run for mayor in November 2000.


--> SAUDI PEDOPHILE BEHEADED

A Saudi man who kidnapped and raped a four-year-old boy was
beheaded Oct. 26 in the southwestern town of Abha, the official
SPA news agency reported.

Zafer bin Zafer al-Ahmari was the 93rd Saudi executed this year.
The death penalty applies for murder, rape, drug trafficking,
armed robbery and the renunciation of one's religious faith.

                         -end-