============================================= = INTERNATIONAL NEWS #294 - Dec 13, 1999 = = (c) Rex Wockner = ============================================= --> CZECH REPUBLIC REJECTS PARTNERS BILL The Czech Republic's lower house of parliament rejected a gay registered-partnership measure Dec. 2. It would have granted gay couples the rights of matrimony except for adoption rights. The vote was 91 to 69. Another, similar bill is expected to be introduced soon as pro- gay legislators continue their efforts. --> BRAZILIAN GROUP MURDERS GAYS The Brazilian anti-gay group Acorda Coracao (Wake Up, Dear) has murdered its sixth victim, the EFE news agency reported Dec. 5. The killers operate in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Nova Iguacu and reportedly shout "Wake up, dear" before killing their prey. Gay organizations are warning gays to travel in groups of at least three people after dark, and police have increased patrols around gay bars and discotheques. --> TORONTO SCHOOL BOARD EMBRACES GAYS The Toronto District School Board is helping sponsor a poster campaign that tells students it's OK to be gay. The posters will appear in subway stations and at all schools with students in 7th grade or above. Board Chairman Gail Nyberg told the Toronto Sun, "We have an obligation to address the needs of all our students." Meanwhile, the board's Dec. 8 meeting was disrupted by anti-gay Muslims protesting the district's proposed anti-homophobia policy. "What [gays] do is not normal," said protester Idrahin El-Sayed, president of the Toronto District Muslim Education Assembly. "We don't want it pushed on our kids and we won't stand for it to be in our schools." The protesters eventually calmed down and left. --> AMELIE WALLOPS MUGGERS French lesbian tennis pro Amelie Mauresmo decked three muggers on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in early December. "I was terrified but I didn't let it show," Mauresmo told London's The Mirror. "I screamed at them to go away but they surrounded us and moved in. One pulled out a knife, so I used my elbows to knock two of them to the ground, then punched the third one as hard as I could in the face. One of them managed to tear a gold chain from my neck which upset me because it was a present from someone I am very fond of." Mauresmo was walking on the beach with girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon when the attack occurred. Club Med security officers failed to snag the thugs. --> GAY SAMURAI MOVIE PREMIERES Famed Japanese director Nagisa Oshima returned from a 13-year hiatus Dec. 6 with a gay-themed samurai movie, Gohatto. "The samurai in this movie were a group of men who were intently involved in the business of killing," Oshima said. "I think that in this extremely intense situation, for love to live among the members, whether it is homosexual love or not, seems to be entirely natural." --> WINNIPEG GAY BATHHOUSE DESTROYED The King and Alexander Steam Baths in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, was destroyed by fire Dec. 8. The 3:30 a.m. blaze also destroyed other businesses in the historic building -- a dim sum restaurant, barber shop, fireworks store and tailor shop. Five near-nude patrons were rescued from the rooftop by police. Police said the fire was set by bathhouse customer Devon Sean Carriere, who they charged with arson and disregarding human life. "Our information was, he was a client at the time of the fire," homicide detective Tom Anderson told the Winnipeg Sun. "The motive isn't something we'd talk about." --> UKRAINE GAY GROUP REGISTERED After months of bureaucratic delays, the Ukrainian gay group Our World was officially registered Nov. 30, the first gay group to achieve such status. A group spokesman thanked Amnesty International for helping flood the Department of Justice with letters supporting the registration. --> TATCHELL CLEARED Prosecutors Dec. 10 dropped charges against British gay leader Peter Tatchell for his attempted citizen's arrest of homophobic Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Oct. 30 in London. Tatchell faced up to 18 months in prison for using threatening, abusing and insulting words and behavior and for assaulting a police officer during the attack on Mugabe's motorcade. The Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case. Lesser charges against the other protesters also were dropped. Tatchell commented: "The official reason given for dropping the case was 'insufficient evidence.' But the Crown had lined up 18 police officers to testify against us, and had 15 minutes of film footage from Sky News. The real reason was not insufficient evidence, but that the evidence favored our defense. It did not substantiate the charges against us." --> LATVIAN GAYS PICKET Ten members of Latvia's Homosexuality Information Centre (HIC) picketed the Inter-Governmental Conference of the European Union in Helsinki, Finland, Dec. 10, in protest against Latvia's proposed entry into the EU. In a letter distributed to attendees, HIC said Latvia does not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, does not recognize gay relationships, explicitly bans gay marriage, and subjects gays to "a state-supported campaign of hatred, intolerance and social exclusion, aimed at presenting them as 'parasites' and 'cripples' of society." A 1998 resolution by the European Parliament declared that countries seeking EU membership should not discriminate against gays and lesbians. --> IN BRIEF * Forty lesbians formed Sri Lanka's first lesbian organization Dec. 5 in Colombo. It is called Companions. * The Web site of the Indian gay magazine Bombay Dost has been upgraded to include "chatrooms, gay video clips, recipes for gay single men, escort services, masseur services, advice, coming out stories and much much more." The URL is http://www.bombay- dost.com. -end-