Jul 11, 2003   | COMMENTS     

TORONTO (AP) — British Columbia has become the second Canadian province to allow same-sex marriage under a court ruling. Two men were wed shortly after Tuesday’s ruling in Vancouver. The decision by the province’s Court of Appeal further increased pressure on the Canadian government to follow through with plans to rewrite federal law that defines marriage as between man and woman. An Ontario court issued a similar ruling last month, leading to more than 250 same-sex couples obtaining licenses to marry in Toronto. British Columbia’s Appeal Court earlier ruled in favor of same-sex marriages, but gave the federal government a year to draft a new law redefining marriage. Gay rights groups then asked the court to reconsider the one-year delay after the Ontario ruling. The three-member B.C. Appeal Court panel said Tuesday it was unaware of any opposition to lifting the one-year delay. “It is also apparent that any further delay in implementing the remedies will result in an unequal application of the law between Ontario and British Columbia,” the decision said.

Saudis lift block on gay Web site
SAUDI ARABIA — The Saudi Arabian government, which outlaws homosexual behavior, has lifted its Internet blocks on a Web site designed for gay Middle Easterners according to Gay.comUK. GayMiddleEast.com was blocked by Saudi officials who ignored repeated e-mails and faxes requesting that the blocks be removed. The Web site’s manager, A.S. Getenio, suggested that the Saudi government may have eventually complied with the requests to avoid a publicity scandal in the United States, where it is currently investing millions of dollars in an advertising campaign to improve the country’s image. “The ad campaign is designed to portray the kingdom as a peace loving, modern and enlightened state,” Getenio told Gay.com. “We at [GayMiddleEast.com] hope that the Saudi authorities will leave the site unblocked and accessible to our readers, and that this is not a temporary move that will be reversed as soon as their ad campaign is over.”

Singapore government now hiring gays
SINGAPORE — Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong announced recently that the government had reversed its previously exclusionary hiring policy toward gays, according to an article in the Straits Times. “In the past, if we know you’re gay, we would not employ you,” Tong told the Straits Times. “But we just changed this quietly. We know you are. We’ll employ you.” The Straits Times calls the new policy “disclose and we won’t bother” — in contrast to the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — because the government would prefer to have employees who are open about their sexual orientation to avoid the potential of blackmail. The policy, which is standard with many Singapore firms in the private industry, is simply a statement of non-discrimination, but it seems not to provide protection beyond hiring, a fact the prime minister said will take care of itself with time.

Gay Cyprus man denied driver’s license
CYPRUS — Because he was described on his military discharge paper work as having “psychological problems,” a gay Cyprus man was denied a drivers license, according to Gay.com U.K. Military service in Cyprus is compulsory for all men, but common practice grants homosexuals an exemption from this requirement. However, there is no category of discharge based on sexual orientation, and the paperwork typically cites psychological reasons, including personality disorders or neuroses. The Cyprus ombudsman, Iliana Nicolaou, said the Defense Ministry on the island should change its policy and list the discharge under “medical reasons” so homosexuals can avoid undue prejudice. “Specifically, during the handling of these matters it must be taken into consideration that the sexual choices of these people attract social and moral skepticism, and consequently the voluntary or involuntary lack of action on the part of the authorities to regulate matters concerning homosexuals while at the same time they are subjected most of the time to daily discrimination,” Nicolaou said.

Britain’s transsexuals win the right to marry
LONDON — Britain’s government has granted its estimated 5,000 transgendered citizens who have undergone a medical sex change operation the legal right to marry and have their gender changed on their birth certificate, according to a report in the Guardian. The Constitutional Affairs Department plans to announce a bill to bring the changes ...