Aug 05, 2005   | COMMENTS     

MOSCOW — The mayor’s announcement that authorities will never allow a Gay Pride march to take place in the Russian capital prompted gay activists to say they will sue the mayor if such an event is refused, MosNews.com reported. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said that although no formal request to conduct such an event has been received by City Hall so far, any such request will be denied “to protect the feelings of Muscovites, who would definitely oppose such an event,” he said. In response, GayRussia.Ru stated on its Web site, “Moscow Mayor has once again revealed his true homophobic self.” The mayor’s statement was a response to an announcement by Russian gay and lesbian activists that they will apply for a permit to hold Pride celebrations next May in Moscow. Nikolay Alekseyev, leader of GayRussia.Ru, said the date for Pride is May 27, in observance of the 1993 anniversary of the abolition of laws against homosexuality. Both Alekseyev and lesbian activist Evgeniya Debryanskaya said they will sue the mayor in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if their petition for the Pride event is denied.

Members of Congress urge probe into execution of Iranian gay teens
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trio of representatives in the U.S. Congress has urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to investigate the recent execution of two gay teens in northeastern Iran. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Rice urging the U.S. State Department to “do everything it can to clarify the circumstances of this case.” According to the letter, reports indicate that two teens, ages 16 and 18, were held in prison for 14 months, severely beaten with lashes and then hanged in public for homosexual activity with each other. Some human rights groups have disputed the report that the two were executed for being gay and claim the teens were hanged for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy. The members of Congress noted that Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace laureate, joined worldwide condemnation of the hanging of the two teens. Schakowsky, Frank and Lantos urged the U.S. government to condemn Iran for its national policy that allows persecution of citizens based on sexual orientation and to hold the Iranian government responsible for condoning the torture of gays.

Official: Ireland may be next to adopt same-sex union rights
DUBLIN — Senior government officials said Ireland may soon adopt legal recognition for lesbian and gay couples, according to media reports. Many political observers speculate that the nation’s leaders will draw up proposals for laws to recognize same-sex couples in the next few months. The mainly Catholic country’s minister for justice last week said the question of new rights for gay couples is one “of ‘how,’ not ‘if.’” Lawmakers are expected to consider a move similar to Britain’s Civil Partnership Act rather than full gay marriage, as was recently approved in Spain, another predominantly Catholic country. Activists previously have accused Ireland’s government of stalling the debate on civil unions for gay Irish couples after a parliamentary debate was postponed, according to news reports.

Catholic Poland more tolerant of gays: poll
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Tolerance of gays has grown in predominantly Roman Catholic Poland amid increasing media coverage and public debate of a once-taboo issue, a new survey suggested last week. Some 46 percent of Poles believe gay couples should have the right to civil unions with the same legal and financial benefits as married couples, up from 34 percent in April 2003, according to a poll by the CBOS agency. “Different political groupings, particularly on the left and center, [have] put forward the idea that such a civil union should be part of the law,” said Michal Wenzel, a CBOS researcher. “Apparently the public has increasingly been accepting of such a legal solution.” Still, 72 percent of Poles oppose legalizing traditional marriage for gay couples.

Some Scottish registrars object to same-sex ceremonies
Scotland’s first same-sex ceremonies are due to take place in December, but resistance has emerged from some registrars who object to conducting the ceremonies on moral grounds, according to a BBC report. Stonewall Scotland, a gay rights group, told BBC that local authorities should provide the same facilities as they do for heterosexual couples getting married. Under the new rules, same-sex couples can register their partnerships with the local council and claim the same rights as married couples, who are currently offered a ceremony to mark the occasion with family. But at least one Scottish council has already indicated that it will not offer the same ceremony for gay partnerships.