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| International News - November 10, 2003 |
- 4,000 MARCH IN BUENOS AIRES Wockner November 10, 2003
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About 4,000 people joined in Buenos Aires, Argentina's
12th gay-pride parade Nov. 1, marching from the Plaza
de Mayo to Congress.
A scuffle broke out between cops and marchers at the
Metropolitan Cathedral, seat of Argentine Roman
Catholicism, when demonstrators spray-painted the
building with graffiti reading "Church =
dictatorship", "Rapist priests" and "Nazi priests"
while chanting, "Here is the repression of the Holy
Inquisition."
"We're not attacking the faith but rather the attitude
of the church of meddling in our beds and our
elections," said activist Lohana Berkins.
Newspaper editorial writers denounced the vandalism
and Archbishop Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
commented: "In a pluralistic society when minority
groups express themselves, it would be logical that
they do so respecting the religious sentiments of the
majority.
"We hope it is understood that when we express our
doctrines around sexual conduct, we do so within the
standard of truth we believe, but never without an
attitude of respect and understanding toward
individuals."
- PANAMANIANS STAGE FILM FEST Wockner November 10, 2003
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The Association of New Men and Women of Panama staged
the nation's first GLBT film festival Oct. 28 to Nov.
2, screening six movies three times each to around 200
people per showing.
The films were Go Fish (USA); Urbania (USA); The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
(Australia); Don't Tell Anyone (Peru/Spain); Krámpack
(Spain); and Burnt Money (Argentina/Spain/France/Uruguay).
The event was held at an out-of-the-way theater on the
campus of the University of Panama.
"We consider this festival to have been a huge
success," said correspondent Javier Rodríguez. "At the
very least, it will be a yearly event."
- BELGIAN WEDDING NUMBERS RELEASED Wockner November 10, 2003
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One hundred thirty-nine same-sex couples have gotten
married in Belgium since it became the second nation
in the world to redefine matrimony last June.
The number represents only weddings that took place in
the cities of Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Charleroi,
Ghent and Ličge. A few weddings may have occurred in
smaller towns, said the gay group Holebi, which
gathered the figures.
Antwerp saw the most gay weddings, 64. Same-sex
marriages constituted 4.7 percent of all Belgium
marriages between June and September.
The Netherlands extended full marriage rights to
same-sex couples in 2001, and the Canadian provinces
of Ontario and British Columbia did so this past
summer. Canada has no residency requirement for
marriage. Foreign same-sex couples can travel to the
two provinces, buy a license, and marry the same day.
- FAGG'S COFFEE AD NOT OFFENSIVE Wockner November 10, 2003
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New Zealand's Advertising Standards Complaints Board
has dismissed complaints against a billboard for
Fagg's coffee that called it "the great straight
coffee" and said it is "not as Ponsonby as the name
suggests."
Ponsonby is Auckland's gay district.
The board said the ad did not cause serious or
widespread offense.
A spokesman for Fagg's said the ad is not contrasting
"straight" with "gay" but rather "straight" with
"pretentious."
"The tagline for Fagg's, 'the great straight coffee',
is simply that -- we are a straightforward,
straight-up-and-down coffee -- a coffee consumers know
they can trust for its quality but also for its
simplicity and down-to-earth approach," Marketing
Manager James Ford told GayNZ.com.
"The Ponsonby headline is also a reflection of the
above logic," he said. "Ponsonby is well-known as
being the cafe capital of NZ but is also known for
being sometimes a bit pretentious -- we are suggesting
that Fagg's coffee is certainly of a quality that you
would expect to get at a Ponsonby cafe, yet you can
enjoy it in a more relaxed setting -- at home or
somewhere other than Ponsonby."
NZGay.com writer Chris Banks commented: "But Ponsonby
is well-known among people, coffee drinkers or not, to
have very gay connotations. Linking Ponsonby with a
coffee called Fagg's, and then labeling it a
'straight' coffee ... are we expected to believe this
is all just some strange coincidence?"
- JUSTICE SUPPORTS GAY COUPLES Wockner November 10, 2003
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The first woman appointed to Britain's highest court,
a section of the House of Lords known as the Law
Lords, supports extending marriage rights to same-sex
couples.
"My present view is that there is a strong case for
introducing a legal commitment between people who are
unable to marry, principally gay and lesbian
partners," Lady Hale told The Independent.
The 12 law lords are the court of final appeal for the
full United Kingdom on points of law in civil cases,
and for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in
criminal cases.
- ANGLICAN COMMUNION BEGINS TO DISINTEGRATE Wockner November 10, 2003
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The worldwide Anglican Communion -- 70 million
Christians in 164 nations -- began disintegrating Nov.
3, the day after the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch
of Anglicanism, consecrated openly gay and openly
non-celibate Gene Robinson as the bishop of its New
Hampshire diocese.
National Anglican churches in Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and
Nigeria either declared themselves no longer in full
union with the Diocese of New Hampshire, no longer in
full union with the entire U.S. Episcopal Church, or
unwilling to recognize Robinson's bishopric.
"The Devil has clearly entered the church," said the
head of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Archbishop
Benjamin Nzimbi. "God cannot be mocked."
Archbishop Peter Akinola, head of the Church of
Nigeria (Anglican Communion), stated: "The
overwhelming majority of the Primates of the Global
South cannot and will not recognize the office or
ministry of Canon Gene Robinson as a bishop. We
deplore the act of those bishops who have taken part
in the consecration, which has now divided the church
in violation of their obligation to guard the faith
and unity of the church."
Seventeen million of the world's 70 million Anglicans
live in Nigeria.
The head of the Episcopal Church of Egypt and North
Africa, Bishop Mouneer Hanna Anis, declared: "Those
who participated in the consecration of this gay
bishop are considered among the violators of the
teachings of the Holy Book, and therefore, they have
become dissociated with Jesus' church. Homosexuality
is a clear sin."
Southern Cone of America Anglican leader Bishop
Gregory Venables warned: "The United States have
declared independence. I think the chances of
consensus are very slim."
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