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SOURCE: CP Wire Service, August 28, 1998
Gay Pride Week stirs controversy in Regina

REGINA (CP) -- For the second time in a decade, a political storm is
brewing in Regina over proclaiming a Gay Pride Week.
Nine years after flip-flopping on the question, city council looks set
once again to clear the way for a declaration.
But with opposition mounting, Regina threatens to become the latest gay
rights battleground, following in the footsteps of communities like
Fredericton, N.B., and Hamilton, Ont.
Things began heating up last Monday when council took the first step
toward amending a bylaw that blocks the mayor from making controversial
proclamations.
The change involves adding a clause stating that the bylaw is subject to
the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, which bans discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation.
Coun. Bill Gray, the only councillor to vote against the amendment on
first reading, spoke out strongly against the move.
"I'm a homophobic and that's the way I am, and I'm never going to
change," Gray told the Regina Leader-Post.
"I have never supported that (homosexual) cause and I never will."
However, Mayor Doug Archer said the amendment simply states a fact of
law.
"There are no legal options," he said. "Clearly, local bylaws cannot
override provincial or federal legislation."
The Prairie city first grappled with the issue in 1989 when council voted
to let the mayor proclaim Lesbian and Gay Pride Week.
Politicians later wilted under intense public pressure and decided to
reverse the declaration, but they were unable to get the unanimous support
required.
Instead, they introduced a bylaw that blocked the mayor from approving
proclamations for various reasons, including sexually sensitive subjects.
The matter then lay dormant until this year when a gay rights group
raised it again.
Archer said the difference today from 1989 is that the province toughened
its human rights legislation in 1993.
The city solicitor has since told the mayor that council is now bound to
approve a Gay Pride Week request.
While opposition hasn't been as loud as it was nine years ago, that could
change before council considers the matter again Sept. 21.
Besides Gray, prominent businessman Frederick Hill has come out against
the amendment and there are sure to be others.
That doesn't worry Nils Clausson of the Regina Lesbian and Gay Pride
Committee.
"I think it has rather been to our advantage to have Coun. Gray become so
obnoxious in his bigotry because it tends to discredit the opposition,"
Clausson said.
"It has made the anti-gay faction look a bit silly and ridiculous."
Regina isn't the only city grappling with the issue. A human rights
tribunal in New Brunswick is currently deliberating on a complaint against the
mayor of Fredericton.
Brad Woodside has refused for almost 10 years to proclaim Gay Pride Week
despite repeated requests from the city's gay community.
Woodside said he doesn't want to be perceived as endorsing a lifestyle
which he believes most Fredericton residents disapprove of.
Woodside's lawyer told a human rights inquiry last month that forcing the
mayor to do something that goes against his beliefs violates the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.
Mayors in the Ontario cities of Hamilton and London took similar stands
and ultimately lost before human rights inquiries.
In both cases, the mayors, or the cities, had to make gay pride
proclamations and pay fines -- C$5,000 in the Hamilton case and C$10,000 in
London.

Movie linked to gay killing
By supreme Court reporter NORRIE ROSS

Herald Sun newspaper. Melbourne, Australia.
2sep98

A GAY man on trial for the murder of a stranger in a park told his ex-lover
the killing was like the Al Pacino movie Cruising, a jury heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Julian Leckie said Jamie Koeleman, 30, told the same friend he
felt no guilt and that he committed the murder to fulfil himself.

Mr Leckie told the [Victorian] Supreme Court Mr Koeleman said in the
confession the alleged victim, Francis Barry Arnoldt, 60, was performing a
sex act when the murder was committed.

Mr Leckie said Cruising was about a killer who picks up homosexuals and
lures them to their death.

"The theme of the movie appears to be a sexually driven urge to kill," Mr
Leckie said.

He said Mr Arnoldt's body was found with multiple stab wounds near a toilet
in Clifton Park, Brunswick, on October 8, 1991.

Mr Leckie said Mr Koeleman was introduced to an undercover policeman who
posed as a gay man with kinky sexual tastes.

Mr Koeleman confessed in secretly taped conversations to the policeman,
known as Mark Dolan, that he had murdered a middle-aged man, said the
prosecutor.

The accused also told the policeman that he experienced his most powerful
orgasm during the killing.

After he was arrested, Mr Koeleman told detectives he made up the story from
media reports and emphatically denied killing Mr Arnoldt.

Mr Koeleman, of McAllister Mews, Kensington, has pleaded not guilty to the
murder of Mr Arnoldt, of Melville Rd, Brunswick.

Defence counsel Sean Cash said Mr Koeleman made up a story, first to impress
his ex-lover, and then told it to the undercover policeman.

The trial before Justice Allan McDonald was expected to continue today.

ENDS.

IN NICARAGUA, PEOPLE WITH AIDS ARE EXCLUDED FROM MEDICAL ATTENTION

by Guillermo Murillo and Richard Stern

A short fact finding visit to Nicaragua has revealed the terrible plight of
People who live with AIDS in this Central American nation of 4 million
inhabitants.

Basically, people with AIDS in Nicaragua have little hope of receiving
treatment for their opportunistic infections, let alone the newer
anti-retroviral medications that, while not a cure, offer hope for
recovery. In Nicaragua you live as long as you can without medical
intervention, as if all the medical advances that have occurred in the last
15 years have not yet penetrated the Nicaraguan border.

What medical attention is available is through private non-governmental
organizations such as the Xochiquetzal Foundation. Agency director Hazel
Fonseca said that Xochiquetzal tries to buy medicines for opportunistic
infections, using fees it collects from the few patients who have the
ability to pay for services. But in all of 1997, just $7,000 was collected
for this program. There is a support group for patients who come to
Xochiquetzal, attended by about a dozen persons, two of whom had died the
week before we arrived.

The Nicaraguan government´s own AIDS Department Coordinator Dr. Roberto
Pao, openly acknowledged that the government will not treat with anybody
with AIDS, even if they are paid up members of the National Health
insurance program. AIDS is a on a list of conditions that are excluded
from government medical attention. A person with AIDS may try to get
medical attention for an infection, but must try to hide from health the
authorities the fact that they have the AIDS virus. This is not so difficult
since the government does not have the "reactives" necessary to test for the
presence of the virus.

There are only 170 officially diagnosed cases here, but almost everyone
agrees that there are hundreds of cases that have never been officially
reported. Many Nicaraguans leave the country to work in other parts of
Central America, where the rates of infections are much higher. When they
return, infected, there is little help available for them. Nicaragua shares
borders with Honduras, which has 10,000 cases and Costa Rica which has 1,300.

Paradoxically, a very progressive law has recently been passed by the
Nicaraguan leglislature which guarantees the rights of Nicaraguan People
Living with AIDS, but the law appears to have little impact on improving
conditions for people with AIDS. Discrimination and misinformation are
rampant. There is no hospice for men who have AIDS although a small program
has recently been opened which houses 4 women.

Nicaragua has been thrashed for the last 30 year by natural disasters, war
and political upheaval. The recently elected government of Arnoldo Aleman
appears to be trying to stimulate international investment and privatize many
government Agencies, including the health care system.

It would appear that any relief for Nicaraguans living with AIDS must come
from initiatives that would have to be taken by the International Community.
Leaders of both ONG´s as well as Dr. Pao, were strongly critical of the
lack of participation of the United Nacions organization for AIDS, UNAIDS,
in Nicaragua. The world health organization and Panamian Health
organization did spend $159,500 there in 1995 for a seminar for leaders of
the Nicaraguan religious sector held in the beachfront luxury resort of
Montelimar. Rita Arauz of Fundacion Nimehuatzin attended one of the
sessions and said that it was led by bible thumping religious fanatics
urging chastity.

Court grants gay man inheritance rights

February 12, 1998

BRASILIA — Brazil's highest court granted a homosexual inheritance rights
from his partner in a landmark ruling for Brazil, a spokesman for the court
said Wednesday.

The Supreme Court vote unanimously Tuesday in favor of businessman Milton
Alves Pedrosa, whose partner died in 1989 from an AIDS-related illness.

"A judge today cannot ignore that two people of the same sex become
involved,'' Supreme Court Judge Ruy Rosado said in an explanatory statement.
"Their sexual behavior may go against moral standards, but the civil union
between them is legitimate.''

Pedrosa will have rights to half the property of his partner, Jair Batista
Prearo, which includes an apartment the two men bought together.

The couple lived together for seven years.

However, Prearo's father claimed ownership of the apartment after his son's
death.

"It's the end of a struggle for my rights and against sexual prejudices,''
Pedrosa said in a statement published in local newspapers.

The decision comes as a bill to legalize same-sex marriages languishes in
the Chamber of Deputies amid fierce opposition from Catholic lawmakers.

The bill would recognize homosexual partnerships of both sexes in terms of
inheritance and social benefits and would give foreigners with Brazilian
partners a right to apply for Brazilian citizenship.

Transvestite Film Draws Militant Fire
12.42 p.m. ET (1742 GMT) December 15, 1997
Reuters / Fox News.

TEHRAN — A film about an Iranian who resorts to cross-dressing in an effort
to emigrate to the United States has come under fire from Islamic militants
opposed to the government's liberal policies permitting the screening.

Residents and newspapers said groups of militants over the past week
attacked cinemas showing the Iranian film "Snowman" in several cities,
including Isfahan, Shiraz and Rasht.

The daily newspaper Salam said a group of militants from the Ansar-e
Hizbollah (Supporters of God's Party) attacked viewers leaving a cinema in
Isfahan, including a disabled veteran from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The violence was the latest in a series of recent incidents across the
Islamic republic in which militants attacked cinemas showing the film.

The actions target attempts by the new moderate President Mohammad Khatami
to ease censorship and fly in the face of his stated policies to reinforce
the rule of law in Iran.

The black comedy, directed by Davoud Mirbaqeri and called Adam Barfi in
Persian, shows a man disguising himself as a woman with heavy make-up in the
hope of marrying an American and emigrating to the country of his dreams.

It has been attacked as immoral by the militants, despite its politically
correct ending in which the man falls in love with an Iranian woman and both
return to their homeland.

The daily Salam said militants in Isfahan tore down posters at the cinema
and stopped the screening of "Snowman."

"Although the film is authorized and is being shown in 22 cities throughout
Iran, the attackers threatened to set the cinema on fire so we were forced
to stop showing it," the manager of Qods cinema in Isfahan told Salam.

The film is being shown in 18 cinemas in Tehran alone, where tickets have
been sold out for several days in advance.

Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Ataollah Mohajerani authorized
the showing of "Snowman," which his predecessor had banned.

Asked about the incident in Isfahan, Mohajerani said police later detained
the troublemakers, who had acted illegally, and the cinema had reopened. He
said such incidents were good publicity for the film, Iran's top box office
hit this year.

But Salam on Saturday quoted Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, a moderate senior
cleric who leads Friday prayers in Isfahan, as criticizing police,
intelligence ministry and provincial officials for not putting a stop to
instances of militants taking the law into their own hands.

In related incidents, Salam said Ansar-e Hizbollah members stormed the
Guidance Ministry headquarters in Isfahan on Tuesday, threatening female
staff. The office's director-general had filed a lawsuit against the
intruders, it said.

The group also attacked the Sadr theology school in Isfahan the following
day, beating up two clerics and damaging the school, the paper said.

"We have identified the members of the group and informed the police," a
security official told Salam.

Ansar-e Hizbollah members have also recently attacked the offices of Salam
and Navid magazine in Isfahan, a library at Isfahan university, and the
houses of a clergyman and a university lecturer, the daily said.

AIDS tests under way at Britain's largest Army barracks
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nando.net
Agence France-Presse

LONDON (December 15, 1997 7:36 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Because of
fears that two women may have deliberately infected soldiers, military
authorities said late Monday that mass AIDS tests are being carried out at
Britain's biggest Army base.

It has been confirmed that two women civilians living near Catterick
Garrison in North Yorkshire, northern England, described by the Army as
"liberal with their affections", were carrying the virus that causes
acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The garrison has 5,500 military personnel, but at the moment only one
regiment is stationed at the base. Four regiments are on service in Bosnia
and two in Northern Ireland. The personnel in those regiments are understood
not yet to have been alerted.

Both written and verbal warnings urging soldiers at risk to take an
immediate test for the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) have been issued
to the servicemen.

"The advice given is that anyone who believes they may have been exposed to
risk should seek medical advice and if necessary arrange for confidential
testing to be carried out," an Army spokesman said.

Soldiers are being offered medical tests and counseling at a confidential
clinic within the garrison. More than 100 servicemen are believed to have
sought medical advice since a warning memo was issued on September 10.

The spokesman could not confirm speculation that one of the women believed
that she had been infected with HIV by a soldier and was on a revenge sex spree.

LONDON DAILY MAIL, October 27, 1997
MOST PEOPLE DO NOT WANT GAY SEX TO BE LEGAL AT 16
by Gaby Hinsliff, Political Reporter
Lowering the homosexual age of consent to 16 is opposed by more than
half the population, a survey reveals today.
Only 35 per cent of those polled wanted the gay age of consent lowered
to 16 with 53 per cent against and the rest unsure.
Nearly a third did not want homosexuals in the Armed Forces. A quarter
did not want them to become teachers, according to the HOP survey for
tonight's Panorama programme on BBC1.
Its findings come against a background of the Government's promise to
allow MP's a free vote on the age issue, which is a key demand of homosexual
campaigners, and suggest that the gay lobby is out of step with public
opinion.
Family campaigners last night seized on the results as a setback for the
gay lobby which, under New Labour, is confident of winning the age vote when
it is put to MPs next year.
But lesbian junion Minister Angela Eagle told tonight's Panorama that
Labour, which has four openly-gay MPs, will extend rights for homosexuals.
Citing the way the Government changed immigration laws last week to
allow gay foreign nationals the right to settle with partners in this
country, she said: "I think that you should watch this space and I think
that by the end of five years this Government will have made very
considerable progress."
Asked if Labour should legislate to give equal rights to same-sex
couples, the junior Environment Minister said it was happening anyway as a
result of European court rulings.
Miss Eagle, who "came out" a month ago, said she believed homosexuals
should have "the same civil rights, equal rights, partnership rights and the
right to be free from irrational discrimination."
The MP for Wallasey highlighted the case of a homosexual couple who were
together for 20 years. When one of them died, she said, the tenancy
agreement for the house they shared was taken away from the surviving
partner.
"I don't think that is a very humane way to behave," she added.
But Canterbury MP Julian Brazier, president of the Conservative Family
Campaign, said the mood outside the Commons did not favour the gay agenda and
that he would be voting against lowering the age of consent to 16.
"The majority of the public do not accept this premise that homosexual
acts are equivalent to heterosexual relationships," he said. "There is a lot
of bigotry in this argument -- a refusal to accept what other people say --
and much of it is coming from the gay community.
"There is a distinction to be made between victimising and persecuting
homosexuals, which I would never argue for, and on the other hand being
willing to give young people information about the dangers involved in
homosexual acts."
While Labour has pledged a review on homosexuals in the Services gay
activists are also demanding legislation to prevent discrimination and more
opportunities for adoption.
But former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Firkind told Panorama that
allowing gay couples to adopt would force children into what most people
still saw as an "unnatural situation."

GAY AUTHOR WINS ELECTION IN COLOMBIA

Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal, openly gay and well known author, and an Independent Candidate for the Governor of the Valle del Cauca Department in western Colombia (Capital City: Cali Population: some 2 million) has won Sunday's election by quite a fair margin. He had previously been elected Mayor of his small city in the same department (State).

SOURCE: The Sun-Herald newspaper, Sydney. 19th October, 1997.

PRANKSTERS MAY HAVE TAKEN STATUE.
By Brett Thomas and Jacqueline McArthur.

The Museum of Contemporary Art [in Sydney] was yesterday investigating
whether the theft of the controversial work 'Virgin in a Condom' was the
result of an end-of-year school prank.
An internal inquiry by the Sydney museum into Friday's incident will
consider that option along with the possibility that it was a deliberate act
of protest against the MCA, which received numerous complaints about the work.
"One of the thoughts is that the theft could have been a prank," said a
museum spokeswoman.
"The museum was full of school of school groups during the lunch hour, which
is the busiest time. It could have also been done as a serious protest - we
just don't know."
Museum security was increased yesterday in the wake of the theft, with
particular attention being paid to another piece of contentious art,
entitled 'Wrecked', a parody of the Last Supper which depicts a booze-up
featuring a half-naked stripper.
In fact, the CIA-like security guards, with their dark suits and
sophisticated communications systems, outnumbered patrons in the areas
housing both 'Wrecked' and the missing art work.
All that was left of 'Virgin In A Condom' was an empty shelf and a sign
saying "temporarily removed".
However, there is little likehood that the mural-sized 'Wrecked' could be
removed and a perspex shield prevents vandalism.
The MCA spokeswoman said the museum had received no calls following the
disappearance of the tiny work, by British artist Tania Kovats, and there
had been no threats of action against the piece before the theft.
She said that although the museum owned 'Virgin In A Condom', Ms Kovats had
been informed of the incident out of courtesy.
'Virgin In A Condom' had aroused the ire of religious groups.

SOURCE: The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. 18th October, 1997.
http://www.smh.com.au

STATUE STOLEN AS ART ATTACKS SPREAD TO SYDNEY.
By Nick Papadopoulos.

A statuette depticting a condom-covered Virgin Mary has been stolen from
Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in the wake of protests and this
week's cancellation in Melbourne of the controversial 'Piss Christ' exhibition.
"We were becoming anxious not just about that work but others in this
bizarre atmosphere of quite distorted public perception where people are
looking to (be outraged)," the stunned curator and director of the museum,
Ms Bernice Murphy, said yesterday.
The A$1,500 work, "Virgin in a Condom', by the young British artist Tania
Kovats, was ripped off its mounting between 1:15 pm and 1:20 pm yesterday,
despite the recent stepping-up of security including cameras.
This followed a "disturbing" interest in the piece in recent days - about 15
people had called the museum at Circular Quay to express their disgust.
Others were more direct and visited the museum, prompting a warning to
attendants to keep a close eye on the statuette.
"The little work quietly sat there barely noticed until this enormous
controversy in Melbourne erupted," said Ms Murphy.
"Suddenly - when we quietly had it on view with no particular incidents -
within a week the entire atmosphere to the exhibition had changed."
Last Sunday, the National Gallery of Victoria cancelled its exhibition by
the controversial artist Andres Serrano when two youths destroyed his
photograph of a cruifix immersed in urine.
It was the second attack on the work in as many days.
'Virgin in a Condom', which is 10.5 centimeters tall, is one of two works by
Kovats featured in the largest exhibition of British art to have come to
Australia.
"Our attendants have noticed people coming in and saying, 'Where is that
work?'," said Ms Murphy.
"Coming in specifically to find it, specifically to be outraged. And not
looking at anything else or not seeing another work by the same artist.
"Which is why we stepped up security, took special measures and had extra
surveillance."
On Thursday, the statuette, which is owned by the MCA, was secured more
strongly and a plan to encase it in transparent plastic was being
considered, contrary to the artist's intention to have it exposed.
Ms Murphy said 'Virgin in a Condom' certainly "challenged" audiences.
This was in keeping with the museum's mission to "deal with contemporary
creativity and evolving conditions of social change".
Staff at the museum spent yesterday afternoon interviewing attendents and
planned to watch videos taken by the surveillance cameras.
Police said yesterday they were investigating the theft.
Plans were also put in place for the museum's busiest period - this weekend.

SOURCE: The Sydney Morning Herald, newspaper. 4th October, 1997.
http://www.smh.com.au

RETAILERS CASH IN ON SLEAZE SPENDING.
By Andrew Hornery, Marketing Writer.

Described by one organiser as "Disney with a libido", tonight's Sleaze Ball
is expected to attract nearly 20,000 people and pump up to A$10 million
into Sydney's economy.
Attendance at this year's ball - with the theme of Atlantis - is tipped to
be well up on last year, when 16,000 people went to the sister party of the
Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
And well before the first mirror balls were dusted off and hoisted into
place at the Hordern Pavilion, the economic impact of this year's ball was
being felt all over Sydney.
Gyms, solariums, beauty parlours, fabric stores, hairdressing salons,
boutiques, hotels, cafes and restaurants catering to the gay market in
Sydney all report big increases in sales over the past fortnight.
There is even a commemorative CD selling for A$29.95.
The few remaining tickets, priced at A$70 each, are also expected to sell
early today.
The party's organisers, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Association,

[< http://www.mardigras.com.au > P O BOX 557, NEWTON, NSW 2042, AUSTRALIA.
TELEPHONE: + 61-2-9557-4332. FAX.: + 61-2-9516-4446
E-mail: < mardigras@mardigras.com.au > ]

estimates that 500 international visitors are in town for the party, along
with 1,500 from interstate.
Conservative estimates put Sydney resident's total spending for the party
and associated costs at around A$400 per head. International visitors are
expected to spend much more.
Businesses catering to the gay community have spent around A$500,000
advertising their products and services in the gay press in the lead-up to
Sleaze Ball.
It's all part of the annual ritual - look your very best, or at least your
very naughtiest, at any cost.
A sales assistant from the Oxford Street store the Toolshed said hundreds of
blue sparkling shorts had walked out at nearly A$60 a pair.
But even away from the gay community's "Golden Mile", corporate Australia
has been quick to cash in.
The second annual Gay and Lesbian Business and Lifestyle Expo is being held
today at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kings Cross.
Companies including Qantas [Airlines] are sponsoring the event, which
showcases products and services aimed at gay and lesbian consumers.
Last year more than 2,000 people attended.

29 September 1997
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release From Stonewall

STARS OF THE 1997 STONEWALL EQUALITY SHOW ANNOUNCED

This morning, and with only 1,000 tickets still available, Stonewall
announced the all-star line-up for The 1997 Stonewall Equality Show in
association with Virgin Megastores taking place on Sunday 26th October
at the Royal Albert Hall. The 1997 Show will be the U K's largest
annual ticketed event for lesbians and gay men.

This year's annual fund-raiser for the Stonewall Lobby Group will be
hosted by the one-off comedy team, GayTime TV presenter, Rhona Cameron &
media star, Graham Norton. The cast of mostly lesbian and gay performers
will include:

Acclaimed lesbian comedienne and chanteuse Jackie Clune and 20 dancers
'The country's best-loved actress', Dame Judi Dench
Stars of the first Equality Show, returning to top this year's Show, The
Pet Shop Boys
Fresh from her appearance in London's West End as Marlene Dietrich and
prior to a world tour, Sian Phillips
In her only London performance in 1997, Lily Savage, the BBC's new hot
comedienne
Singer, songwriter Jimmy Somerville
With their high kicks, sequins and feathers, the Sixties Tiller Girls.

Following the stunning success of last year's Show, this year's star-
studded evening will again culminate in an incredible finale followed by
an Official Post-Show Party.

In announcing the line-up for The 1997 Stonewall Equality Show in
association with Virgin Megastores, director Sir Ian McKellen added,
'Equality Show audiences enjoy surprises, so again we are keeping some
of the guests a closely guarded secret until the night itself. All
artists are giving their services and many of them will be performing
together for the first time. Our aim, as ever, is for unique
entertainment unavailable anywhere else.'

The Stonewall Lobby Group is the national civil rights group working for
legal equality and social justice for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
It works to combat discrimination and prejudice by pressing home the
case for change with MP's, the media, employers and a wide range of
social organisations.

Tickets for the 1997 Stonewall Equality Show in association with Virgin
Megastores and the Official Post Show Party may be purchased from the
Royal Albert Hall Box Office: 0171 589-8212. Prices range from 20 to
50 pounds. Official Post Show Party tickets 10 pound.

For further information contact John Nicholls at Stonewall on 0171 336-
8860 or 0973 350405.

Ends.

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0AA

Tel. 0171 336 8860
Fax. 0171 336 8864 Immig. 0171 336 0620

mark@stonewall.org.uk http://www.stonewall.org.uk

PRESS RELEASE No 58/97

30 SEPTEMBER 1997

OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL MICHAEL B. ELMER IN CASE C-249/96

Lisa Jacqueline Grant v South-West Trains Ltd

AN EMPLOYER'S REFUSAL TO GRANT A PAY BENEFIT IN RESPECT OF A COHABITEE
OF THE
SAME GENDER AS THE EMPLOYEE CONSTITUTES DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF
GENDER

_________________________________________________________________

Advocate General Michael B. Elmer recommended that the Court should
hold that a provision in an employer's pay regulations under which an
employee was granted pay benefit in the form of travel concessions
for a cohabitee of the opposite gender to the employee, but refused
such concessions for a cohabitee of the same gender as the employee,
constituted discrimination on the basis of gender which is contrary
to Article 119 of the EC Treaty.

BACKGROUND

Lisa Grant was an employee of South-West Trains whose contract of
employment included entitlement to certain free and reduced rate
travel concessions. Those concessions were also available to spouses
and dependents of employees. The relevant regulation provides
"Privilege tickets are granted for one common-law opposite sex spouse
of staff" provided that a meaningful relationship has existed for a
period of two years or more.

Mr Potter, who was Lisa Grant's predecessor in post, had in his time
made a statutuory declaration that a meaningful relationship had
existed between him and his female cohabitee for a period of two years
or more, and had on that basis obtained travel concession for her.

Lisa Grant made a similar application for travel concessions for her
female cohabitee, Jillian Percey, with whom she had lived for more
than two years, but her application was rejected on the ground that,
under the ticket regulations, travel concessions were not granted for
cohabitees of the same sex.

Lisa Grant then brought a case against South-West Trains before the
Industrial Tribunal, Southampton claiming that the refusal to grant
those travel concessions for her female cohabitee amounted to sex
discrimination when a male employee in the same circumstances would
obtain travel concessions for his female cohabitee. The Industrial
Tribunal stayed the proceedings and referred several questions to the
Court of Justice on the interpretation of Article 119 of the EC Treaty
and of the equal pay and equal treatment directives.

THE ROLE OF THE ADVOCATE GENERAL

The Advocate General, acting with complete independence and
impartiality, assists the Court by analysing the circumstances and the
legal issues arising in the case and makes a recommendation to the
Court on the answers which, in his view, it should give to the
questions submitted by the Industrial Tribunal. His recommendation is
not binding on the Court.

ADVOCATE GENERAL ELMER'S OPINION

The Advocate General first concluded that the questions referred to
the Court should be answered on the basis of Article 119 of the EC
Treaty and referred to the Court's judgment in case C-13/94 P v S and
Cornwall County Council [April 1996] concerning an employee who had
been dismissed after informing his employer that he intended to
undergo gender re-assignment. In the Advocate General's view the Court
had, in that judgment, taken a decisive step away from an
interpretation of the principle of equal treatment based on the
traditional comparison between a female and a male employee.

The Court's judgement in P v S technically concerned the equal
treatment directive but, because of its general character, it has
corresponding significance for Article 119 of the EC Treaty which sets
out the basic principle prohibiting discrimination based on sex. In
order to give effect to that principle the Advocate General stated
that it was appropriate to interpret Article 119 of the Treaty as
precluding forms of discrimination against employees based
exclusively, or essentially, on gender. He therefore concluded that
Article 119 of the Treaty covered all cases where, on an objective
assessment, there was discrimination based exclusively or essentially
on gender.

He then examined the question of whether or not there was gender
discrimination in the present case and pointed out that the ticket
regulations made no mention of sexual orientation of the employee or
cohabitee, and that the question of sexual orientation, under the
objective content of that clause, is thus irrelevant as far as
entitlement to the concessions is concerned.

However, the regulations made the concessions conditional on the
cohabitees being of the "opposite sex" to the employee. The
discrimination is therefore, under the objective content of the
provision, exclusively gender based. Gender was simply the only
decisive criterion in the provision. Thus the grant of the pay benefit
in question depended upon the gender of the employee, (inasmuch as
employees must be of the opposite sex to their cohabitees), and upon
the gender of the cohabitee (inasmuch as cohabitees mut be of the
opposite sex to the employee).

The Advocate General rejected the argument that that discrimination
was a consequence of the definition of "a common law spouse" and was
thus a family law issue which did not fall under the EC Treaty, since
neither in statute nor common law did that expression have any legal
significance in England. If the expression 'common law spouses'
referred exclusively to persons of different sexes, there would be no
reason to refer to a 'common law opposite sex spouse'. It was
South-West Trains itself which introduced that restriction, leading to
gender discrimination. Accordingly, in this case, gender
discrimination was not the result of family law legislation in the
Member State in question and for that reason outside the scope of
Community law.

He also found that the private conceptions of morality held by the
employer in question were irrelevant in this context, whether or not
they corresponded to those prevailing in the United Kingdom.
South-West Train's justification amounted, in reality, to nothing more
than saying that on the basis of its own private conceptions of
morality that employer wished to set aside a fundamental principle of
Community law in relation to some people because it did not care for
their life style.

Under the Treaty it is the rule of law in the Community that the Court
must safeguard; it is not its task to watch over questions of morality
either in the individual Member States or in the Community, nor does
it have any practical possibility of or mandate for doing so.

The Advocate General emphasized that there is nothing in either the EU
Treaty or the EC Treaty to indicate that the rights and duties which
result from the EC Treaty, including the right not to be discriminated
against on the basis of gender, should not apply to homosexuals, to
the handicapped, to persons of a particular ethnic origin or to
persons holding particular religious views. Equality before the law is
a fundamental principle in every community governed by the rule of law
and accordingly in the Community as well. The rights and duties which
result from Community law apply to all without discrimination and
therefore also to the approximately 35 million citizens of the
Community, depending on the method of calculation used, who are
homosexual.

Finally he re-affirmed that Article 119 of the EC Treaty could be
relied upon by individuals in national courts and that it was
therefore for national courts to ensure that the disadvantaged group
of employees was treated in the same way as the favoured group.

This press release is an unofficial document solely for the use of the
press. It is available in English only. For further information or
for a copy of the Opinion please contact Tom Kennedy, telephone 00352
4303 3355, or Gillian Byrne, telephone 00352 4303 3366 or send a fax
to 00352 4303 2500.
__________________________________________________________

[Court of Justice]
__________________________________________________________

SOURCE: The Herald Sun newspaper, Melbourne.
24th September, 1997.

GAY GROUP DUMPS INSPECTOR.
A Victoria police chief inspector has been dumped from the force's only
homosexual suport group.
The Police Lesbian/Gay Liaison Committee droped Chief Inspector John Winther
from its eight-member group on Monday night after accusing him of
misreporting their views on homosexual issues to force command.
Committee chief executive officer Dolf Boek said the senior officer's
involvement in a police media press release issued on Friday had revealed
his role on the committee as an adversary.
ENDS. > [Report # 2 follows >>>>]
SOURCE: The Age newspaper, Melbourne. 24th September, 1997.
http://www.theage..com.au

GAY-POLICE RELATIONS SLIPPING: COMMITTEE.
By Jason Koutsoukis,
crime reporter.

Relations between Victoria Police and the gay and lesbian community were at
a 10-year low, the secretary of the Police Lesbian-Gay Liaison Committee
said yesterday.
A specially convened meeting of the committee on Monday night voted to
suspend the committee's sole police representative following criticism of
the committee by police command.
The committee's secretary, Mr Dolf Boek, said Victoria Police had acted
improperly last week by deciding to disclipine two police officers who had
spoken out against negative comments about gay and lesbian police officers
by the [Victorian Government] Police Minister, Mr Bill McGrath.
In February this year Mr McGrath said he had great reservations about gay
and lesbian police officers and said they did not have his imprimatur.
Two members of the police Gay and Lesbian Police Employees Network, Senior
Sergeant David Trueman and Inspector [Ms] Jill Wood, publicly criticised Mr
McGrath's comments.
Last week the Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner, Mr Neil O'Loughlin, said
the force was entitled to discipline its members for speaking to the media
and rejected Mr Boek's criticism.
"The force is a disciplined organisation, and as such expects its members to
adhere to its media policy as set out in the Operations procedure Manual,"
Mr O'Loughlin said.
"The force has the right to discipline any membetr who clearly breaches this
policy," Mr O'Loughlin said.
Mr O'Loughlin said Mr Boek's criticism of the police did not represent the
views of the committee.
But Monday's meeting passed a motion affirming Mr Boek's right to speak to
the media on behalf of the committee and supported the press release Mr Boek
issued on 19 September.
The committee also passed a motion stating that the committee members did
not need the authorisation of the committee's sole police represenative
before expressing opinions on behalf of the gay and lesbian community.
"The PLGLC, being aware of Chief Inspector John Winther's authorship in the
Victoria Police media release of 19 September, 1997, admonish him for his
misrepresentation of the PLGLC to Victoria Police Command," the motion stated.

STONEWALL DIARY - SEPTEMBER

SATURDAY 23 - MONDAY 25 AUGUST - Manchester Mardi Gras.
We have a float in the parade and a stall in the market area. We need
help getting postcards signed over the weekend and would appreciate any
assistance.

THURSDAY 28 AUGUST Immigration Group social, 8pm upstairs at the
Yard, 57 Rupert Street, Soho

MONDAY 1 SEPTEMBER Equality 2000 meeting 7pm at the Stonewall
Office. Open meeting for all those who want to be involved in the
Equality 2000 campaign

SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER Stonewall Immigration Group general meeting, 2pm
University of London Union, Malet Street

SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER Stonewall Parenting Group meeting

WEDNESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER Stonewall Pensions Group meeting, 6:30pm at the
Stonewall Office. All welcome.

THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER Stonewall Immigration Group social meeting 8pm
at the Yard, 57 Rupert Street

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0AA

Tel. 0171 336 8860
Fax. 0171 336 8864 Immig. 0171 336 0620

mark@stonewall.org.uk http://www.stonewall.org.uk

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ILGA EUROPE CONFERENCE, LONDON, 9th -13th OCTOBER 1997

We are writing to give further information about the 19th ILGA European
Region Conference, to be held in London from 9th to13th October, and to
invite groups in the Region which are full members of ILGA to submit
proposals and nominate candidates for election to the ILGA Europe
Executive Board for 1997/1998.

You should have already received some information about the Conference
in a mailing from UNISON, which is hosting it. The UNISON mailing
included registration forms, scholarship application and cr=E8che forms,
and a copy of the ILGA Europe constitution adopted at the 18th European
Regional Conference held in Madrid, together with a copy of the European
Union Action Plan.

PROPOSALS TO THE CONFERENCE
The Regional Conference determines the policies of ILGA Europe and
guides the work of the Executive Board within the framework of the
constitution. Proposals to the Conference, which can be submitted by
full members in the Region and by the Board, should be appropriate for
consideration at such a conference.

Full members are therefore invited to submit proposals, which need to be
received by the Board by Monday 1 September. Proposals may be sent by
post, fax or e-mail (please see further details below), and should
clearly state the name of the organisation submitting the proposal, and
the name of the person(s) submitting the proposal on behalf of the
organisation.

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Elections will take place at the Conference for the ILGA Europe
Executive Board which will hold office until the following Conference.
There are a total of 8 (eight) places on the Board, consisting of 4
(four) women and 4 (four) men, and candidates for election to these
places may be nominated by full members and by the Board.

Nominations are therefore invited from full members in the Region for up
to 4 women and up to 4 men to stand as candidates for election to the
Board for 1997/1998. All candidates must be individuals from full member
organisations, in accordance with the Constitution..

Full member organisations can nominate individuals from any full member
organisation in the region and are asked to fully consider the need for
the diversity of the membership in the Region to be reflected in the
composition of the Board, as stated in the Constitution, when deciding
on their nominations. .

Nominations need to clearly state the organisation submitting the
nomination, and the name of the person submitting the nominations on
behalf of the organisation, together with the name of each candidate
being nominated, the organisation of which they are an individual
member, and whether they are being nominated for a woman's or a man's
place on the Board. Nominations may be submitted by post, fax or e-mail
(please see further details below) and must be received by Monday 1
September

AGENDA FOR THE CONFERENCE
The agenda for the conference will include consideration of:

the Executive Board's report on work undertaken since the Madrid
Conference

proposals, including proposals from the Board on the working programme
for 1997/98

new standing orders

a financial report and draft budget

There will also be elections for the Executive Board and for the
region's representatives on the new ILGA World Executive Board
established at the World Conference held in Cologne in July.

We will be sending a further mailing to members, by mid-September, which
will include the Board's report, draft standing orders, proposals, and
the financial report.

EUROPEAN UNION ACTION PLAN
A copy of the ILGA Europe Action Plan for the promotion of equal
opportunities for lesbians and gay men by the European Union was
included in the UNISON mailing. The Board is particularly grateful for
the assistance of members of Egalite in producing this, following
discussions at the Madrid Regional Conference.

We are enclosing a separate letter which explains the purpose of the
Plan, and particularly seeks the support of some member organisations
through considering presenting proposals for projects for some specific
parts of the plan. The Board would appreciate comments and responses
from members to the Plan and the Board's suggestions for following it up
through the development of project applications..

EUROPEAN UNION FUNDING PROGRAMMES
We enclose a copy of an excellent report setting out information on
European Union Funding Programmes, which was researched and written by
Anneke whilst working for COC, the Dutch national lesbian and gay
organisation, last year. The report was presented to the Regional
Conference in Madrid in December but we are now circulating it more
widely as part of our work to provide information to members and to
encourage the submission of project applications to follow up the Action
Plan.

ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS
Proposals for motions and nominations for candidates in the Board
elections should be sent to the Executive Board as follows:

POST ILGA EUROPE EXECUTIVE BOARD
c/o Mark Watson
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London, EC1R 0AA

FAX ILGA EUROPE EXECUTIVE BOARD
c/o Mark Watson
+44 (0)171 336 8864

E-MAIL ieboard@seta.fi

Enquiries about registration or any other information about attendance
at the Conference should be directed to
Kursad Kahramanoglu
UNISON
Civic House

PARTNERSHIP LAW IN BRAZIL

WE ASK FOR SUPPORT: *URGENT ACTION*
The Religous Right managed to postpone the votation for the Partnership Law.
They want to make it coincide with the Pope's visit to Brazil in October. They
think it will make the legislators more inclined to listen to the religious
right's position against partnership. *We still can revert this*.

There is a chance that tHe bill is voted in August. Therefore we urge that
you send polite letters or faxes in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese,
SUPPORTING the partnership law to the following politicians:

* Dep. Inocencio Oliveira, fax: 55-61-318-2928
* Dep. Paulo Heslander, fax: 55-61-318-2207
* Dep. Geddel Vieira Lima, fax: 55-61-318-2612
* Dep. Jose Anibal, fax: 55-61-318-2624

snail mail:

Dep.Inocencio Oliveira
Gabinete 928
Camara dos Deputados
Brasilia - DF
CEP 70160-900
Brazil

Dep.Geddel Vieira Lima
Gabinete 612
Camara dos Deputados
Brasilia - DF
CEP 70160-900
Brazil

Dep. José Aníbal
Gabinete 624
Camara dos Deputados
Brasilia - DF
CEP 70160-900
Brazil

Dep. Paul Heslander
Gabinete 207
Camara dos Deputados
Brasilia, DF
CEP 70160-900
Brazil

A longer list to fax is at the end of this file.

In your letter you might stress the important principle of *separation*
between
citizenship and government FROM religious issues, which should be a private
choice: religious beliefs shound't be an excuse to deprive citizens from their
rights. Citizenship is independent, more general than religious preferences.

...

The legislator who authored Brazil's gay-partnership bill,
Workers Party Deputy Marta Suplicy, says:

"The bill assures rights to inheritance, succession, welfare benefits,
joint-income
declaration, right to nationality in case of a foreign partner and joint
income in
order to buy a house."

"We strongly urge that you and your organization help us in this initiative
which is pioneer in
South America and which if approved will enable thousands of gay and lesbian
couples in Brazil
to have access to equal rights which are currently denied to them under
existing legislation.
If approved, the law will also serve as an important precedent for the whole
region, possibly
stimulating similar social changes in other Latin American and Caribbean
countries."

The measure passed a Senate committee in December by a vote of 11-5.

For a long list of legislators to lobby, e-mail Suplicy at
msuplicy@solar.com.br.

...

Fax Numbers -
Address them as: Mr. or Ms. Deputy

Genésio Bernardino 55-61-318-2571
Geraldo Pastana 55-61-318-2933
Gerson Peres 55-61-318-2330
Gervasio Oliveira 55-61-318-2574
Gilney Viana 55-61-318-2376
Gilvan Freire 55-61-318-2442
Giovanni Queiroz 55-61-318-2534
Gonzaga Mota 55-61-318-2919

Israel Pinheiro 55-61-318-2373
Itamar Serpa 55-61-318-2286
Ivan Valente 55-61-318-2671
Ivandro Cunha Lima 55-61-318-2605
Ivo Mainardi 55-61-318-2212

Maria Elvira 55-61-318-2350
Maria Laura 55-61-318-2475
Maria Valadão 55-61-318-2520
Marilu Guimarães 55-61-318-2440
Marinha Raupp 55-61-318-2614

June 12, 1997 - Page 14

GAY CANADIAN GETS MARRIAGE LEAVE

OTTAWA, (UPI) -- A Canadian Public Service Staff Relations Board has
ruled that Halifax resident Ross Boutlier is entitled to marriage leave from
the federal government despite the fact his spouse is of the same sex.

Board chairman Yvon Tarte says in his ruling, "the granting of such
family-related leave in situations such as the one I am faced with in this
case, merely recognizes the fact that the homosexual community possesses the
right to establish families in pursuance of their sexual orientation." In
addition, Tarte says he recognizes that marriage has "traditionally been
limited to unions between men and women," a principle consecrated in case
law, but he says, "The law is never static."
--------------------------------------------

4 June, 1997

Equality 2000

Stonewall will be launching its Equality 2000 campaign on Wednesday 25th
June at 11am outside the House of Commons. The campaign includes a
million postcards from lesbians, gay men and bisexuals which we want to
send to Tony Blair, stating that we want Equality by the year 2000. We
want to be part of Tony Blair's new inclusive and democratic society.
Before the millennium ends lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are
determined to achieve their equal place in society:

equal before the law,
with equal protection from discrimination,
equal recognition as partners,
equal recognition as parents and of, course,
the repeal of Section 28.

The campaign has five demands and will be represented by a five pointed
star. On the 25th June we will have a large star with a clock in the
centre which will countdown to the year 2000. We hope to have 5 'stars'
to turn the clock on.

Equality 2000 will be a large campaign and we need people with ideas and
enthusiasm to help with all areas of the campaign. If you would like to
be involved please join us at the next meeting which will be on Monday
23rd June at 7pm in the Stonewall Office. All welcome.

We also need people to help with the design and production of the
materials for the launch and for Pride. There will be a design and
production meeting on Wednesday 11th June at 7pm in the Stonewall Office
and then a production meeting on Saturday 14 June, again at the office
but at 2pm. If you are interested please call either myself or Sally at
the office for more details.

We will also be having a meeting for Pride volunteers on Thursday 26th
June at 7pm in the Stonewall Office. Stonewall will have a general HQ
and four satellite stalls around the park.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager

Diary for June

Wednesday 11th June - Design and production meeting, 7pm Stonewall
office

Saturday 14th June - an afternoon making materials for the launch, 2pm
Stonewall

Sunday 15 June - Stonewall Parenting Group meeting, 2pm.

Friday 20 June - Equality for All, one day conference in Edinburgh

Saturday 21 June - Pride Scotland

Saturday 21 June - Stonewall Immigration Group meeting, ULU, Malet
Street, 2pm

Sunday 22 June - Stonewall Immigration Group Sports Day, 2pm Regents
Park

Monday 23 June - Equality 2000 meeting, 7pm Stonewall office

Wednesday 25 June - LAUNCH - EQUALITY 2000, 11am House of Commons

Thursday 26 June - Pride Volunteers meeting, 7pm Stonewall office

Saturday 28 June - Europride, Paris

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0AA

URGENT ACRTION REQUIRED
NEXT IMMIGRATION MEETING - 17 MAY
IMMIGRATION SOCIAL EVENING - 22 MAY
IMMIGRATION SPORTS DAY - 22 JUNE
DRAFT LETTER TO MP RE IMMIGRATION POLICY

15 MAY

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED - New Labour, New Policy?
Under New Labour we expect the policy regarding same-sex couples in the
immigration rules to change, however if we want the change to happen in
the next few months we are going to have to put pressure on the new
administration. We have written to the new Ministers suggesting that
the common-law spouse policy be re-introduced with provision for same-
sex couples, this could be introduced very quickly by the Minister. In
the longer term we have asked for provision in the immigration rules.
We have requested that current applications should be able to avail
themselves of this policy.

However we have also asked that until a decision on a policy has been
reached all pending cases are put on hold. Therefore cases listed for
appeals should be adjourned and no further refusals should take place.
The Minister has today stated that the Home Office will not oppose
adjournments in cases at appeal. If you your case is coming up for
appeal you should get your solicitor to apply for an adjournment. The
Minister has confirmed that the policy is under review.

We need as many people as possible to write to their MP (if you are not
sure who your MP please phone the office) setting out their own
circumstances, if applicable, and asking their MP to write to Jack
Straw, reminding him that he stated that the policy would be changed. I
have enclosed a draft letter which should be personalised with your own
details. (If you can avoid copying the text exactly it will have more
impact) It would also be very useful if you could send us copies of the
replies.

Next immigration group meeting - Saturday 17th May - 2pm the Yard

Immigration Social evening - Thursday 22nd May - 8pm the Yard
We are trying to arrange more social evenings were it is possible for
members of the group to meet for a drink and chat. It is hoped that
these will form the basis of the foreign partners support network.

Immigration Sports Day (or picnic in the park). - Sunday 22nd June - 1pm
We will meet in Regents Park at 1pm.

Please write to your MP today.
Yours sincerely,

Mark Watson, Chair
Stonewall Immigration Group

DRAFT LETTER to MP

[If you are affected by the immigration issue please personalise with
your details if you are not affected please also write - every letter
counts!]

[DATE]
[Your Name]
[Your address]

[MP]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear

[Congratulations on your appointment, victory etc.. (if appropriate)]

[I am in a relationship with [?] a [?] national and we have been
together for [?] years.. details of your case - if you have applied,
under appeal or will apply in the future]. Under the Conservative
government lesbian and gay relationships were not recognised under the
immigration rules and many lesbian and gay couples, [such as ourselves],
faced separation because of this injustice

The Labour Party however have had a long standing commitment to equality
and we were particularly heartened when Jack Straw stated before the
election that:

"We will seek to give couples in long term stable relationships fair
treatment under evaluation procedures which will establish whether a
relationship is genuine. This applies to same-sex and heterosexual
couples." (19 February 1997)

Obviously the new government are going to be very busy but we hope that
this issue can be resolved at an early date because of the enormous
impact it has [on our lives] the lives of those affected. I would
therefore be very grateful if you could write to the Home Secretary on
our behalf asking him whether he will be introducing a policy shortly.
We understand that the current position is that the policy is the same
as it was under the Conservative administration (cases are refused
because there is no provision in the immigration rules - regardless of
length and commitment of the relationships) and cases are still being
refused.

We understand that it would be very easy for the Minister to re-
introduce the common-law spouse policy (which was withdrawn by the last
government) extending its provision to lesbian and gay couples. In the
longer term it would be desirable if there was provision in the
immigration rules.

Yours sincerely,

[your name]

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0AA

Tel. 0171 336 8860
Fax. 0171 336 8864

Immig. 0171 336 0620

mark@stonewall.org.uk

http://www.stonewall.org.uk

URGENT ACRTION REQUIRED
NEXT IMMIGRATION MEETING - 17 MAY
IMMIGRATION SOCIAL EVENING - 22 MAY
IMMIGRATION SPORTS DAY - 22 JUNE
DRAFT LETTER TO MP RE IMMIGRATION POLICY

15 MAY

Next immigration group meeting - Saturday 17th May - 2pm the Yard

Immigration Sports Day (or picnic in the park). - Sunday 22nd June - 1pm
We will meet in Regents Park at 1pm.

Please write to your MP today.
Yours sincerely,

Mark Watson, Chair
Stonewall Immigration Group

DRAFT LETTER to MP

[If you are affected by the immigration issue please personalise with
your details if you are not affected please also write - every letter
counts!]

[DATE]
[Your Name]
[Your address]

[MP]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear

[Congratulations on your appointment, victory etc.. (if appropriate)]

The Labour Party however have had a long standing commitment to equality
and we were particularly heartened when Jack Straw stated before the
election that:

Yours sincerely,

[your name]

Mark Watson
Campaigns Manager
Stonewall
16 Clerkenwell Close
London
EC1R 0AA

Tel. 0171 336 8860
Fax. 0171 336 8864

Immig. 0171 336 0620

mark@stonewall.org.uk

http://www.stonewall.org.uk

Reprinted from the March/April 1997 issue of
NACLA Report on the Americas.
(For subscription information, E-Mail to nacla-info@igc.apc.org)

[Amy Lind teaches sociology and Latin American Studies at
Brown University]

Like many gay-pride marches throughout the world, last year's
Gay/Lesbian/Transvestite/Transsexual Pride March in Buenos
Aires was held on June 28 to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall
riots in New York City. Some 1,500 people, representing over
22 organizations from diverse regions of the country, were
present--almost double the number of participants in the
previous year's march. In many respects, this turnout was an
expression of the growing political visibility of sexual
minorities in Argentina. While only a small number of gay-
rights organizations existed in Argentina--as in other Latin
American countries--just two decades ago, today a broad range
of organizations have emerged, reflecting the diverse
experiences, types of oppression and political activism of
sexual minorities.

Many of the marchers in Buenos Aires, fearful of the
consequences of "coming out," wore masks or partially covered
their faces as they marched through the downtown streets of
the capital city. The need felt by many demonstrators to
conceal their identities highlights the contradictions of
becoming politically visible for sexual minorities in Latin
America. On one hand, the demonstrators publicly manifested
their pride--and anger--as they walked to the Congress from
the Plaza de Mayo, an important public place for political
expression in Argentina. The marchers also showed their
growing discontent with Argentine laws and institutional
practices which legitimize police brutality against gay men,
lesbians, transvestites, transsexuals and other sexual
minorities. It is precisely because of this violence,
however, that many of those who protested in the streets were
cautious about publicly revealing their identities.

Yet, while risks remain for gay and lesbian activists who
engage in open protest, people are increasingly willing to
take them. Pride marches have been organized in other
countries, most notably in Mexico and Brazil. And throughout
Latin America, gay and lesbian nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) have played important roles in launching educational
campaigns and in monitoring human rights abuses against
sexual minorities.

While many progressive groups have supported this growing
activism of Latin America's gay and lesbian community, the
increased visibility has also triggered a backlash against
gay-rights organizations. Police brutality has increased over
the past few years, as have measures harassing sexual
minorities, such as raids of gay and lesbian bars.
Paramilitary groups have become more visible in their self-
styled morality campaigns to "clean the streets" of
"disposable" sectors of the population, including gays and
lesbians as well as transvestites, transsexuals, male
prostitutes, street children and other social "undesirables."
Systematic, accurate documentation in recent years by gay-
rights groups has highlighted the scope of the problem--and
has provided a basis for local organizations to develop
alliances with like-minded organizations in their cities and
in other regions and countries.

Only a few countries, including Nicaragua, Ecuador and Chile,
have laws which criminalize homosexual practices. In some
cases, these laws have existed for decades, but in others,
new anti-gay laws or legal campaigns have emerged. In
Nicaragua, for example, the conservative government of
Violeta Chamorro passed an anti-sodomy law in 1992 which
mandates prison sentences of up to three years for "anyone
who induces, promotes, propagandizes or practices in
scandalous form sexual intercoure between persons of the same
sex." Such legislation serves as "a constant threat,"
according to a recent report by the Inter-Church Committee on
Human Rights in Latin America, "allowing the police to
intimidate, abuse and extort lesbians, gays and
transvestites." And in Guadalajara, Mexico, although no
national law criminalizes homosexuality, the governing right-
wing National Action Party (PAN) passed a local ordinance
last December which outlaws "abnormal sexual behavior." The
origins of the ordinance date back several decades, but this
new version has received public attention because it renews
the legal power of the local police to arrest homosexuals,
and it makes extra-legal police practices like extortion more
likely to occur.

Elsewhere in Latin America, existing laws designed to uphold
"public morality" are being applied with renewed vigor
against sexual minorities. For example, police in Peru have
used laws against prostitution to arrest transvestites and
male sex workers. Last January, under the guise of a campaign
to crack down on prostitution known as "Operation Thunder,"
Peruvian police detained over 300 people in a series of raids
on gay nightclubs.

A similar wave of police raids of gay and lesbian bars and
nightclubs threatened Argentine sexual minorities in 1995 and
1996. While no law in Argentina specifically criminalizes
homosexuality, the police have resorted to a number of other
legal instruments to harass individuals they consider
"dangerous." For example, police edicts, which are not laws
as such, but regulations set in place nearly 50 years ago,
and applied at the discretion of the Argentine police, have
been used extensively to harass sexual minorities. The "Edict
Against Public Scandals," which punishes those "who disturb
with flirtatious remarks" and prohibits "public exhibition of
persons wearing or disguised with clothes of the opposite
gender," has been used to arrest gay men, lesbians and
transvestites. The "Edict Against Public Dancing" punishes
any proprietor who "allows men to dance together."
Individuals arrested under these edicts have been held by
police for up to 30 days and fined. The Buenos Aires group,
Gays for Civil Rights (Gays D. C.), says that it documented
331 complaints of arrest under the edicts in 1995--twice the
number of complaints documented over the two-year period
between September, 1992 and September, 1994. More than 50
transvestites and transsexuals were arrested every night in
Buenos Aires in 1995 and the first half of 1996, according to
the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC), a non-profit organization based in San Francisco.
In a single sweep last February, 160 people were arrested
under the charges of cross-dressing and prostitution.

More brutal forms of repression against sexual minorities
have also risen alarmingly over the past few years,
especially in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Paramilitary groups and "social cleansing" death squads claim
to be taking justice into their own hands by "disposing" of
those viewed as "dirtying" the social fabric of society. In
Brazil, the Gay Group of Bahia (GGB) has documented more than
1,200 cases of assassinations of lesbians, gay men and
transvestites since 1982. The group says that at least 12
anti-gay death squads operate in various parts of the
country, including the "Group for Hunting Homosexuals" in
Belem do Para and a neo-nazi skinhead group in Sao Paulo
whose members wear t-shirts saying "Death to Homosexuals."
And in Colombia, 39 groups have engaged in "social cleansing"
activities, according to activist Juan Pablo Ordonez,
including the groups, "Death to Dangerous Homosexuals" and
"Death to Homosexuals."

The common denominator of the so-called "disposables" is,
according to Ordonez, their poverty. In this sense, the
problem of human rights abuses against sexual minorities is
directly related to issues of class and race. More often than
not, it is homosexuals, prostitutes, or transvestites who are
poor or members of racial or ethnic minorities who are
targeted and who suffer the most brutal forms of violence and
discrimination. Death-squad activities occur in the context
of a more general hatred and fear of any group deemed an
"other" by the dominant society. Left-wing insurgent groups
supposedly fighting for social justice have also adopted the
dominant society's hatred of sexual minorities. The Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), which was considered
defunct in Peru until last December's hostage-taking at the
Japanese ambassador's residence, killed at least three gay
men in Pucallpa and Tarapoto in 1990, saying homosexuals are
"anti-revolutionary" and "products of capitalism."

The oppression of sexual minorities is closely linked to
other forms of class, race, ethnic and gender oppression.
Indeed, upper-class gay men and lesbians, who often enjoy the
protection that their social status bestows, are less likely
to be the target of such violence. Although homosexuality was
by no means condoned during the military rule of Gen. Augusto
Pinochet in Chile, upper-class gay men's clubs that aligned
themselves ideologically with the Pinochet regime were
relatively unaffected by the military curfews that regulated
the daily lives of most Chileans. Such protection is not
always assured, however, as recent events in Peru suggest.
Shortly after announcing his "self-coup" in April, 1992, in
which he closed Congress and suspended the Constitution,
President Alberto Fujimori announced a restructuring of the
foreign service, arguing that the Peruvian government was
threatened by corruption and political dissent from within.
Fujimori referred to homosexuality as one form of
"subversion" which the state needed to eliminate, and several
gay members of the foreign service were expelled from their
long-held jobs.

Legal and extra-legal practices which deny the human rights
of sexual minorities--including the basic right to life--are
often premised on the notion that homosexuals are a "danger"
to society. Because homosexuality is perceived as a threat to
what is considered the foundation of nation-building--the
family--it is seen as a threat to "preserving the nation."
Such notions of the family as the basic building block of
society, to be preserved at all cost, are at the root of many
military and formal democratic government projects, as well
as what social critic Jean Franco has referred to as the
"gender wars" launched by the Catholic Church in recent
years. In the case of right-wing military governments,
national-security doctrines and other state military policies
have served to institutionalize a repressive heterosexist
order. Similarly, the traditional left has often criticized
both women's and gay-rights movements for "dividing" the
family and, therefore, the revolutionary movement.

An important strategy of activist groups has been to
challenge age-old stereotypes about homosexuality and sexual
difference as these stereotypes become the bases for laws and
repressive political practices. Pointing out how the state
and legal system seek to control the seemingly most natural,
intimate, private aspects of people's lives provides a
powerful critique of the traditional view that the family is
a nonpolitical, purely private institution.

Sexual minorities have attempted to carve out alternative
political spaces which challenge these moralistic premises of
both the right and the left. Obviously, many of the gay-
rights groups in existence today have their roots in the
anti-authoritarian and human rights struggles of the 1970s
and 1980s, as well as in the burgeoning women's movement, the
organized left and other popular struggles. But because Latin
American societies have so thoroughly stigmatized homosexuals
as "sexually deviant," they and other sexual minorities have
felt the need to develop their own organizations.

This has led some gay activists to abandon the left, partly
because of their past experiences of being marginalized
within leftist political parties and organizations. Many of
these activists have been key to the formation of autonomous
networks of NGOs defending and promoting gay rights. The
Homosexual Movement of Lima (MHOL), for example, which was
founded in 1983, has become an important institution
representing the rights of gays and lesbians in Peru. It has
played a crucial role in monitoring human rights abuses
against sexual minorities and in providing support for sexual
minorities and for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Some gay activists have nevertheless continued to work in the
loosely defined left while struggling for gay rights. In
Nicaragua and Brazil, for example, gay-rights groups have
successfully gained the support of conventional leftist
parties for specific initiatives. The Sandinistas, for
example, supported Nicaragua's gay-rights groups in opposing
Chamorro's sodomy law, which they saw as unconstitutional.
The Workers' Party (PT) has also challenged anti-gay
legislation in Brazil.

What has emerged through this historical process is a variety
of new human rights and political agendas. Increasingly,
local groups have participated in regional and international
networks and conferences, thereby developing a more adequate
network to respond to processes of violence as well as
overcoming some of the isolation felt in the act of local
organizing. Funding for human rights and HIV/AIDS-related
projects for gay and lesbian NGOs has contributed to this
institutional strengthening, as has the sheer dedication of
activists to build local coalitions and transnational
networks. While much needs to be done to build trust among
organizations and to develop more effective, shared agendas,
recent trends point in the right direction. In response to
the dramatic rise in murders of male prostitutes and
transvestites in Ecuador, for example, gay activists have
sought to make links between prostitution laws and violence
against gays and lesbians. Other groups have also sought to
end the marginalization of transvestites and transsexuals in
the broader struggle of sexual minorities, as in Argentina's
pride march.

Many activist groups have also begun addressing complex
questions of homophobia in relation to broader processes of
violence and discrimination in Latin American societies. In
practice, however, this is not an easy task. Much has yet to
be done to further enable communication among individual
organizations and, most importantly, to work towards creating
social spaces in which homophobic attitudes and oppressive
legal and political structures can be transformed. Some
hopeful signs have emerged recently. Activist protests in
Argentina helped get the police edicts repealed this past
August, ending a wave of repression against sexual
minorities. An antidiscrimination clause was also introduced
in the city's legislation, making Buenos Aires the first
Latin American city with legislation forbidding
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In Chile,
it is likely that the Senate will approve a liberalization of
the Sodomy Law so that it applies only to persons under the
age of 18, despite a Senate committee recommendation to
uphold the law. Local activists would not consider this a
total victory, since it would constitute an age of consent
for homosexuals that is higher than that permitted for
heterosexual relations, but they still see it as a step
forward because it would decriminalize sodomy for adults.

Regional and international networks have been formed as well,
thus creating a stronger institutional base for activists to
document abuses and challenge specific legislation and
processes of violence. Many organizations throughout the
region are now members of the International Lesbian and Gay
Association (ILGA), the first international gay-rights
organization to gain consultative status with the UN. ILGA
activists have worked closely with Amnesty International,
IGLHRC and several regional organizations to introduce sexual
orientation into the UN human rights frameworks. ILGA, which
started out as an umbrella organization of gay and lesbian
organizations in Europe, now has a membership of over 300
organizations from over 70 countries, and has encouraged
members from Latin America, Africa and Asia to assume
leadership positions within the organization. Peruvian
activist Rebeca Sevilla, former director of MHOL, was ILGA's
co-secretary general between June, 1992 and 1995.

More than ever before, Latin American gay and lesbian
organizations are acting simultaneously on several levels--
locally, regionally and internationally--to bring the rights
of sexual minorities to the forefront and to place pressure
on national governments to reform discriminatory state
policies and laws. This was evident in the strong presence of
regional activists at the 1994 UN Human Rights conference in
Vienna and the 1995 UN Women's Conference in Beijing. And it
is evident in the growing presence of organizations like the
Mexican lesbian-rights group called the Closet of Sor Juana,
which has played a major role in pushing for
antidiscriminatory legislation and in including sexual
minorities in human rights agendas at local and international
levels. Increasingly, people are willing to take the risk of
"coming out." While violence and homophobia persist, the
public decision-making arena is sure to be transformed by the
presence of gay and lesbian organizations which have emerged
from the closet to challenge homophobia and traditional
moralistic views of sexual identity.

British Prime Minister Blair Appoints Diverse Cabinet to Lead New Government
A Record Five Women and First Blind and Openly Gay Men Named as Secretaries
By Fred Barbash, Washington Post Foreign Service
LONDON, ENGLAND The Washington Post, May 4, 1997 (excerpt)
-- Britain's new prime minister, Tony Blair, completed most of his cabinet appointments today, and while there were no surprises, there were
many firsts: He appointed a record five women, a blind man, an openly gay man
and a foreign secretary who writes racing columns on the side...

...Other appointees include David Blunkett, who is blind, as education and
employment secretary; Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam as Northern Ireland secretary;
Chris Smith, who is openly gay, as national heritage secretary...

..."Something happened yesterday," he said of Blair's landslide victory.
"People said we need a fresh start. . . . They said, `Let's work together for
the common good, to build a more civilized society.' These are spiritual
concepts. Listening to Blair talk after his victory -- that was a spiritual
message."