Washington Blade - November 19, 2004

LONDON - Artists banned from this year's Urban Music Awards are under fire for their anti-gay lyrics from a new generation of reggae stars, the Evening Standard reported. Savannah, a dance-hall act that won best reggae artist, told the newspaper, "We're keeping it clean. We don't want to hate anybody. We're the younger generation, and we're trying to bring love where others did not. Reggae music is about love. We think everybody has the right to live their lives." Artists Beenie Man and Vybz Cartel were taken off the list of nominees for best reggae act as police hone in on Jamaican proponents of so-called "murder music," which incites hatred of gays, the Standard reported. Authorities began investigating such musicians' lyrics after David Morley, 37, was killed by a gang on London's South Bank, the newspaper reported. Gay rights activists say the popularity of dance-hall music is linked to the rising numbers of gay bashing incidents in Britain, according to the Standard.

Homophobia in Jamaica spikes amid HIV/AIDS rise, group claims

KINGSTON, Jamaica - New research by Human Rights Watch details the increase in anti-gay violence in Jamaica amid growth of the nation's HIV/AIDS epidemic, Human Rights Watch said in a press release this week. The report, "Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence & Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Epidemic," is being released as Caribbean leaders meet to discuss HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination from Nov. 22-24 in St. Kitts/Nevis, officials said in the news release. Violence and discrimination against people living with and at high risk for HIV/AIDS, particularly men who have sex with men, is on the rise, according to the report. Many Jamaicans believe that the disease is specific to gays and sex workers whose "moral impurity" makes them vulnerable to it, the Human Rights Watch study found. Widespread homophobia, in turn, hinders access to HIV prevention information, condoms and health care for Jamaicans who need it, the report shows.

Nazareth same-sex couple case sets new precedent for couples

NAZARETH, Israel - A Nazareth District Court ruled this week that same-sex partners are eligible to be considered common-law spouses under inheritance law, setting a new precedent in Israel, Ha'aretz reported. Voting 2-1, the three-judge panel decided that a man who maintained a joint household for some 40 years with his partner, who died in 2000, may inherit the deceased man's apartment even though the decedent did not have a will, according to Ha'aretz. The men, known in court as I.M., 77, and his late partner S.R., met in the early 1960s while working at the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Ha'aretz reported, and S.R. bought an apartment in 1972 where they both lived. S.R. died four years ago without formally leaving the apartment to his partner and without any close family members as heirs, so his property would be transferred to the state according to Israeli law, Ha'aretz reported. But I.M.'s request to family court to recognize him as the common-law spouse of S.R. was granted upon appeal to the district court, the news agency reported.

Irish judge says lesbian couple can try to have marriage legally recognized

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - An Irish lesbian couple who wed in Canada can seek to have their union legally recognized in Ireland, a judge has ruled in a case he predicted would have deep consequences for this predominantly Catholic country. High Court Justice Liam McKechnie said lawyers representing Ann Louise Gilligan and Katherine Zappone had presented an arguable case that merited a full hearing, likely to take place next year. Gilligan and Zappone - who married in British Columbia in September 2003 within months of the legalization of same-sex marriage there - are the first gay couple in Ireland to go to court to seek state recognition of a foreign marriage. The case is also a legal first for Europe, where Belgium and the Netherlands already allow same-sex marriages and several other nations grant gay couples similar tax, inheritance and child-rearing rights as husbands and wives have. Britain and Spain plan to follow suit soon.

British lawmakers reject extending civil partner benefits to siblings

LONDON - Representatives from all political sides last week decried an attempt by Tories to give siblings who live together the same legal rights as gay couples, the Guardian reported. MP Edward Leigh repeatedly was heckled as he outlined his proposals to let brothers and sisters who live together on a long-term basis to register as civil partners, the newspaper reported. Lawmakers attacked the proposed amendment, set for a vote as early as last week, and alleged it is an attempt to sidetrack the government's civil partnerships bill, the Guardian reported. Without Leigh's changes, the measure offers same-sex couples legal rights and pensions similar to rights that married heterosexuals enjoy, according to the newspaper. Leigh denied that he is trying to derail the partnerships proposal, the Guardian reported. "I cannot understand, ... given that homosexual couples are going to have these rights, why people are so violently and strongly opposed to extending these same rights to siblings," Leigh said.

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