JERUSALEM
(AP)
—
An
ultra-Orthodox
Jew
stabbed
and
wounded
two
marchers
in
the
annual
Jerusalem
Gay
Pride
parade
last
week,
the
most
serious
in
a
series
of
incidents
involving
opponents
of
the
gay
and
lesbian
gathering.
Opponents
tried
to
stop
the
march
by
throwing
a
stink
bomb
at
the
starting
point,
but
several
thousand
marchers
paraded
through
the
center
of
Jerusalem
anyway,
braving
shouts
and
insults
from
protesters,
mostly
young
ultra-Orthodox
Jews.
“Homo
sex
is
immoral,”
read
a
sign
carried
by
one
protester.
The
march
proceeded
despite
the
violence.
“It
took
many
years
for
Jerusalem
to
have
the
Gay
Pride
parade,”
said
one
participant,
39-year-old
Moshik
Toledano,
“but
once
it
happens,
it
makes
no
difference
if
the
ultra-Orthodox
come
here
and
try
to
stop
it.”
Organizers
called
off
an
international
gay
festival
set
for
late
summer
because
of
Israel’s
planned
pullout
from
the
Gaza
Strip
and
part
of
the
West
Bank
around
the
same
time.
But
they
decided
to
go
ahead
with
the
annual
local
march,
despite
opposition
from
Orthodox
Jews,
who
have
a
strong
presence
in
the
city.
LONDON
—
Ken
Livingstone,
mayor
of
London,
last
week
joined
gay
rights
advocates
in
denouncing
officials
in
the
city’s
Bromley
borough
for
saying
they
won’t
perform
ceremonies
for
same-sex
couples
who
register
under
the
Civil
Partnership
Act,
the
Bromley
Express
reported.
In
a
letter,
Livingstone
urged
the
Bromley
council
to
reconsider
its
opposition
and
“discriminatory”
policy.
“As
Bromley
allows
marriage
ceremonies
between
men
and
women
as
a
matter
of
course,
they
are
discriminatory
when
they
refuse
to
allow
same-sex
couples
to
hold
ceremonies
when
they
register
their
relationship
under
the
Civil
Partnership
Act,”
Livingstone
said
in
the
letter,
the
Express
reported.
“The
Department
of
Trade
&
Industry
has
issued
guidance
on
civil
partnerships
encouraging
gay
couples
to
hold
ceremonies
as
part
of
their
registrations.
It
is
extraordinary
that
a
London
council
should
be
so
mean-spirited
as
to
deny
couples
such
a
ceremony
on
what
should
be
one
of
the
happiest
days
of
their
lives.”
LONDON
(AP)
—
Bob
Geldof
took
time
out
Saturday
from
preparations
for
the
Live
8
concert
in
London’s
Hyde
Park
to
urge
Gay
Pride
marchers
in
the
capital
to
support
initiatives
to
end
poverty.
“Between
what
you
people
are
doing
and
the
people
in
the
park
are
doing
and
the
people
around
the
world,
we
are
going
to
stop
one
vast
oppression
of
a
vast
minority,”
Geldof
told
marchers
gathered
in
London’s
Pall
Mall.
“When
you
walk
around
London
today,
think
of
them,
think
of
the
people
in
Africa.”
Some
30,000
people
were
expected
to
join
the
march.
Among
those
in
the
crowd
was
Tris
Reid-Smith,
30,
editor
of
the
Pink
Paper,
a
popular
gay
publication.
“I
think
it’s
really
nice
that
as
the
gay
community
wins
more
of
its
own
struggles,
we
can
look
beyond
ourselves
and
try
to
think
how
we
can
help
other
people
around
the
world,
both
gay
and
straight,”
he
said.
BRUSSELS
—
A
new
poll
finds
that
many
adults
in
Belgium
think
that
gay
and
lesbian
couples
should
not
raise
children,
Angus
Reid
Global
Scan
reported.
In
its
poll,
La
Libre
Belgique
found
that
54
percent
of
respondents
oppose
allowing
gay
couples
to
adopt
children,
while
46
percent
support
such
a
proposal.
Belgium
legalized
same-sex
marriage
in
2003,
and
a
Federal
Parliament
justice
committee
began
to
analyze
proposals
on
adding
legislation
to
allow
same-sex
partners
to
receive
second-parent
adoptions.
Kathleen
van
Brempt,
Flemish
equal
opportunities
minister,
said
earlier
this
year
in
an
op-ed
piece
that
“12
percent
of
[Belgian]
children
grow
up
in
gay,
lesbian
or
bisexual
families
already”
via
in-vitro
fertilization
and
women
who
are
mothers
before
marrying
a
same-sex
partner.
The
La
Libre
Belgique
study
surveyed
2,000
adults.
PRAGUE,
Czech
Republic
(AP)
—
An
American
gay
men’s
chorus
planned
a
concert
in
Prague
in
support
of
legislation
that
would
legalize
same-sex
partnerships
in
the
Czech
Republic.
Jiri
Hromada
of
the
Gay
Initiative
said
the
Boston
Gay
Men’s
Chorus
would
give
a
concert
in
the
Czech
capital’s
famous
Rudolfinum
concert
hall
on
July
1,
at
the
end
of
their
European
tour.
The
110-men
chorus
included
songs
by
Richard
Strauss,
Antonin
Dvorak
and
George
Gershwin
at
its
concert,
an
event
to
show
support
for
proposed
legislation
that
would
grant
some
legal
rights
to
same-sex
partners,
Hromada
said.
Earlier
this
month,
parliament’s
lower
chamber
agreed
to
discuss
such
a
law,
but
it
was
not
immediately
clear
when
the
final
vote
on
the
proposal
could
be
expected.
If
passed,
the
legislation
would
allow
couples
who
register
their
union
with
authorities
to
enjoy
rights
in
areas
such
as
inheritance
and
health
care
that
are
similar
to
those
granted
now
to
heterosexual
married
couples.
