Washington Blade - October 19, 2001

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Government ministers from more than 30 nations in the Asia-Pacific region concluded a conference Wednesday by committing themselves to the fight against the AIDS epidemic. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the 33 ministers who attended the Asia Pacific Ministerial Meeting -- held alongside the Sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific -- would encourage the further development of national action plans on AIDS prevention, care and treatment. "We all have a common goal: to address the threat of HIV/AIDS, the shadow of which is lengthening over our region," Downer said in a joint session of the two summits. "No country can claim to be safe from the reach of this epidemic. Every single day of last year saw about 3,000 [people] newly infected with HIV in our region." The five-day congress saw 3,500 lawmakers, health professionals and AIDS workers discussing ways to combat the spread of the disease through Asia, and better ways to provide care and treatment to those already affected.

S. African company allowed to produce AIDS meds

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has granted a generic drug manufacturer a license to produce and market three key AIDS medicines in South Africa, a Glaxo official said Sunday. Under the deal, to be officially announced Monday, the South African company Aspen Pharmacare would be allowed to sell its versions of the widely used AIDS drugs AZT, 3TC and Combivir to the public health system and to nonprofit groups in South Africa, the official told the Associated Press, on the condition of anonymity. The deal does not allow Aspen to sell the medicines to any other countries in Africa. The issue of access to AIDS medication has grown since more than three dozen drug companies, including Glaxo, sued the government of South Africa over a law many said would allow the government to import or produce generic versions of the drugs over the companiesÆ objections. The companies dropped the suit in April under tremendous public pressure.

Australian coupleÆs marriage declared valid by court

SYDNEY, Australia -- A couple has won a legal battle to have their marriage declared valid after the husband, a female-to-male transgendered person, was declared legally male by the Family Court, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported.

Justice Richard Chisholm confirmed that the marriage was valid and that the definition of "man" should be based on contemporary thinking. The federal attorney general had opposed the case and argued that the husband was not a man under marriage law and the decision should be based on whether a person was male at birth. Chisholm said there was no persuasive reason to assume, for the purposes of marriage, that "if a person is a male or female at birth, the person must be a male or female at the date of the marriage." In 1998 the husband was issued with a new birth certificate showing his sex as male. In 1999 the couple was issued a certificate of marriage by a marriage celebrant. The attorney general disputed the validity of the marriage certificate.

Colombia S.C. orders same-sex conjugal visits

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Friday ordered prison authorities to make the necessary accommodations to allow gay prisoners to have conjugal visits. "An intimate visit for people in custody is not limited to heterosexual couples," the court wrote in its ruling. The ruling came as the result of a lawsuit filed by a female prisoner serving a 17-year sentence in the Pereira prison, 175 miles west of Bogota. The prisonerÆs partner was recently released from the same prison.

Canadian trustee wins settlement in lawsuit

WINNIPEG, Canada -- A lesbian school trustee accused of promoting a gay agenda has received an apology from a radio station as part of a settlement in a defamation suit, the Canadian Press reported. Kristine Barr sued a radio station after two DJs criticized her on air in 1999, accusing her of promoting a gay agenda and attempting to recruit children. Barr supported an effort for a school division to address homophobia in the schools, her lawyer told the Canadian Press. Barr released a document she received from the radio station saying the station apologizes "without reservation for several incorrect allegations or imputations that were made about her" by radio hosts Gerald Fast and John Collison. "This apology sends a strong message to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community," Barr said. "We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect at all times and can counter the myths and stereotypes that are perpetuated about us."

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