Oct 19, 2007   | COMMENTS     

New gay rights rumored to be planned by Australian leaders

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Prime Minister is expected to announce a new policy to make discrimination against same-sex couples there illegal, the Age, an Australian news agency has reported. Details and a timetable on the proposal were not spelled out by the Age, but it cited “mounting speculation” that Prime Minister John Howard would announce the changes which the Age said included access to a partner’s pension, tax breaks and Medicare safety net thresholds. The Age, which didn’t cite its sources, said Howard isn’t expected to overturn his 2004 legislation that bans gay marriage. Advancing gay rights before the next election could result in a Christian backlash, the Age said. Howard is the leader of the country’s Liberal party. The move to end same-sex discrimination is expected to be bipartisan, the Age said.

Gay rights supporters hold march in Taiwan capital

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Thousands of gay rights supporters marched through Taiwan’s capital Saturday, hoisting rainbow-colored flags symbolizing their movement. The demonstrators — some dressed as brides and grooms, others as nurses and sailors — wove their way through one of Taipei’s busiest shopping areas on their way to a plaza in front of the city government building. They marched in groups under banners of different colors. Some women wore military uniforms. Many other demonstrators waved white and pink balloons. Saturday’s march was the fifth annual gay parade in Taipei. Organizers said about 7,000 participated, up from last year’s 2,000, attended the event.

Vatican City priest says he was only pretending to be gay

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Vatican official suspended after being caught on a hidden camera making advances to a young man said in an interview published Sunday that he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work. In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico said he frequented online gay chat rooms and met with gay men as part of his work as a psychoanalyst. He said that he pretended to be gay in order to gather information about “those who damage the image of the Church with homosexual activity.” Vatican teaching holds that homosexual activity is a sin. “It’s all false; it was a trap. I was a victim of my own attempts to contribute to cleaning up the Church with my psychoanalyst work,” La Repubblica quoted Stenico as saying. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Saturday that the monsignor had been suspended pending a Vatican investigation. Stenico is a top official in the Vatican’s Congregation of the Clergy. The Vatican acted after officials recognized Stenico’s office in the background of a television program on gay priests that was broadcast on Oct. 1 on La7, a private Italian TV network. Stenico, who claims to be straight but celibate, was secretly filmed making advances to a young man and asserting that gay sex was not sinful.

Venezeula may add gay rights to its constitution

CARACAS, Venezuela — A Venezuelan legislative committee voted last week to lower the voting age and protect gay rights as the country’s president, Hugo Chavez, plans to rewrite its constitution, according to a Bloomberg report. If approved, the proposed legislation would allow Venezuelans to gain the right to vote at age 16 (it’s now 18) while discrimination based on sexual orientation would be outlawed, the report said, citing a statement on the National Assembly’s web site. The legislative committee will send the proposed changes to the full assembly this week. A 15-day discussion period will follow, the report said. From there, a national referendum will follow, possibly before year’s end.

Celebrities in Singapore rap to end gay sex ban

SINGAPORE — Singaporean celebrities are rapping for a repeal of a law that makes gay sex a criminal offence, according to a report by the Khaleej Times, an English newspaper in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates. The celebrities, most straight, appear in a video posted on YouTube in support of a Singaporean legislator’s push to repeal a law making gay sex a criminal offence, activists told the Times last week. “Repeal it!” the celebrities urge in the video which ends with the words: “It’s not just a gay thing. It’s about equality.” Member of Parliament Siew Kum Hong will present a petition Monday to coincide with debate on the most extensive amendments to the city-state’s penal code in ...