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.
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
—
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.
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.
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
within
the
next
10
days.
It
will
include
laws
that
will
prevent
employers
from
knowing
an
employee’s
sexual
history
and
that
anyone
who
has
undergone
a
sex
change
procedure
will
be
recognized
as
the
sex
they
identify
with
after
the
operation.
Insurance
companies
will
also
be
told
to
treat
transsexuals
as
the
sex
they
identify
with
and
will
allow
men
who
change
their
identity
to
women
to
begin
collecting
on
the
state
pension
at
the
age
of
60.
