============================================= = INTERNATIONAL NEWS #290 - Nov 16, 1999 = ============================================= --> SOUTH AFRICAN GAY BAR BOMBED Nine people were injured Nov. 7 in Cape Town, South Africa, when a pipe bomb exploded at the gay Blah Bar. The blast, which blew out the doors and windows, happened just past midnight, the bar's busiest period. Four of the patrons' injuries were serious. "For the first couple of seconds after the explosion there was complete silence," customer Gary de Klerk told reporters. "Everybody just went into a state of shock. Then people started panicking and ran around screaming." Police Captain Mark Romburgh told local media: "At this stage indications are that it was a pipe bomb, which makes this look like another urban terror attack." --> ONTARIO POLITICIANS WILL BE OUTED When the Legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario amended 67 laws Oct. 25 to give gay couples all the rights of common-law opposite-sex couples, it also guaranteed that at least six members of the provincial parliament (MPPs) will be outed. That's because closeted MPPs now will be legally bound to disclose the names and assets of their domestic partners to the provincial Integrity Commissioner, whose records are publicly accessible. According to mainstream media reports, at least half a dozen MPPs will be affected. --> CANADIAN SCOUTS LAUNCH GAY TROOP Scouts Canada launched a troop in Toronto last week for gay and lesbian youth between ages 18 and 26. It is the city's 129th Scouting troop and the first of its kind in North America. Ten people have signed up. A second troop for gays aged 14 to 17 may also be created, officials said. "We wanted to offer a space where our members could come together from a common understanding and common experience of who they are," said troop Chair Bonte Minnema, a Women's Studies student at the University of Toronto. Gays are banned from Scouting in the U.S. --> COLOMBIAN COURT ORDERS DOMESTIC-PARTNER COVERAGE Bogota, Colombia's 26th Branch Civilian Court Nov. 3 ordered the Social Security Institute (SSI) to extend medical benefits to the male partner of a gay man who is covered by the national health- care system. Both men have AIDS and take an antiretroviral drug "cocktail." One man is covered by SSI because he is disabled. The other recently lost his job and health benefits, and then sought coverage on his partner's policy. At first, the men, who have not been named, were granted spousal coverage by the institute, but when they went to exchange their temporary ID cards for permanent ones, they were told the agency had changed its mind. According to local activists, the court's ruling marks the first time a Colombian judge has recognized a same-sex couple as de- facto spouses. --> PERTH CELEBRATES PRIDE Thousands of people jammed the streets of Northbridge in Perth, Australia, Oct. 30 for the city's 10th Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade. They were entertained by more than 50 floats, dykes on bikes, drag queens and even dancing gladiators. "The parade was absolutely unreal," spectator Kylie Walton, 24, told local media. "It's one of the best nights of partying you can have -- and look at the business it generates." --> BRITISH CHURCHES TO PUNISH ADOPTION AGENCY Thirty-seven Anglican churches will withhold their annual donations to the Church of England Children's Society in December to protest the agency's decision to lift its ban on adoption by gays. Roger Roycroft, a warden at St. John the Evangelist Church in Chelford, Cheshire, told local media: "Someone has to stand up and say they don't approve. We feel very strongly that traditional family values must be maintained and, since there is no shortage of families wishing to adopt, we find such political correctness something we have no wish to encourage." --> MANITOBA LEGISLATOR COMES OUT A member of the Canadian province of Manitoba's legislature has publicly said he's gay. In an interview with the gay publication Swerve, New Democrat Jim Rondeau of Assiniboia said: "I'm not openly gay, but I'm not in the closet. I don't hide what I am. ... I'm not embarrassed. If I was straight, I wouldn't advertise it." --> PAKISTANI TRANNIES KILL CUSTOMERS Four transvestite prostitutes in Lahore, Pakistan, have admitted killing 14 customers and raping or robbing 150 others -- most of them policemen or servicemen. The transvestites said the men were gang-raped if they refused to be anally penetrated, and if they resisted the rape, they were killed. --> NEW ZEALAND TO BAR HIV-POSITIVE IMMIGRANTS New Zealand will ban HIV-positive immigrants beginning July 1. "We can't afford to save the world," said Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere. "I feel this is a very valid form of discrimination." Immigrants, refugees and people wanting to live in New Zealand for more than two years will be required to test HIV-negative before arrival. Of the 105 people who tested positive in New Zealand in 1998, 43 were refugees. -end-