Washington Blade - April 26, 2002

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian children will be taught about how to avoid AIDS for the first time starting in September, the head of the country's AIDS program said Monday. In an Islamic nation where talk of anything related to sex is largely taboo, the Education Ministry previously shunned proposals to include AIDS awareness in schools. But Bahram Yeganeh, head of the National Committee to Fight AIDS, said a rapid increase in the number of Iranians infected with the AIDS virus persuaded education officials to support a public awareness campaign. "This is a new revolution for Iran, a great step forward to contain spread of a disease more dangerous than a bomb,'' Yeganeh said. Materials for high school students describe methods of infection, including sexual intercourse. Condom use is mentioned, but the emphasis is on abstinence. By January, there were 3,340 HIV-positive individuals registered in Iran, nearly double the 1999 rate. The total number of Iranians infected is estimated at more than 19,000, Yeganeh said.

U.K. pair united in first register office ceremony

MANCHESTER, UK -- Carl Howard, 39, and Stephen Brayshaw, 33, on April 20 became Britain's first gay couple to undergo a marriage-style ceremony in a registrar office, according to Ananova.com. Gay couples in London can sign a partnership register, but Manchester is the first city to offer ceremonies by official registrars. Howard and Brayshaw exchanged vows in front of some 80 supporters. The couple bemoaned the lack of basic rights of a married heterosexual couple. "We have just stood in the same room as the heterosexual couple who were married 20 minutes before us," Howard said. "Like them we stood in front of a registrar and exchanged vows and signed the register but our relationship is not officially legal and is not recognized except by the City of Manchester." Brayshaw said they are not activists. "We are here today to make a public declaration of our love and commitment," he said. "If people think we are making history, then that's great. But it's not our prime concern."

Botswana first African country with national AIDS meds program

GABORONE, Botswana (AP) -- Botswana had no choice but to begin a nationwide program to provide AIDS medicine, said Festus Mogae, the country's president. "We are the most hideously affected country in the world, and we had to do something about it,'' Mogae said during an April 9 news conference. An estimated 19 percent of Botswana's 1.7 million people are infected with HIV. About 38 percent of adults have the virus, the highest infection rate in the world. Botswana is one of the first countries in Africa to commit to a public program providing AIDS drugs. The program began early this year, and 250 people are being treated a hospital in the capital, Gaborone, while another 800 are on a waiting list because of a shortage of doctors as AIDS kills off skilled workers, Mogae said. The government plans to open three more program sites across the country by July, providing AIDS drugs to an estimated 19,000 people by the end of the year.

Australian leader threatens to overturn fertility rights for lesbians

CANBERRA, Australia -- Prime Minister John Howard said April 19 that evidence indicates children are more fulfilled if they grow up in a traditional family unit of a mother and father, The Age newspaper reported. The remarks came one week before the Australian government will introduce legislation to overturn a High Court decision that upholds the right of single and lesbian women to access fertility treatment. "Where you have a situation where you are deliberately creating a situation where a child will not have the opportunity of a father, we think that's bad policy," Howard said, according to the newspaper. On April 18, Australia's High Court unanimously upheld a 2000 court ruling that found laws restricting access to in vitro fertilization on the basis of marital status were inconsistent with the Federal Sex Discrimination Act. Amendments to overturn that ruling could come as early as next week, Howard said. A spokesperson for the state Attorney General in Tasmania has said he will reject Howard's plan, if passed.

Three Canadian teens charged in anti-gay attack

LONDON, Ont., Canada -- Three students were arrested and charged with assault after an April 12 bullying of a gay peer over his sexual orientation, reported the London Ontario Free Press. Police charged three males for the incident that allegedly occurred after a dance. Principal David Brent of South Secondary School -- where two of the boys attend and one is a former student -- said the school won't tolerate any hate-motivated crime. "Our policy is zero tolerance for any of those type of things," Brent told the Free Press. A sophomore who witnessed the incident said, "He wasn't doing anything, just standing there saying, 'Leave me alone.'" Police said the three suspects continued to threaten the victim and punched him several times. Neither the victim's nor the offenders names were released by police.

From staff and wire reports
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