Washington Blade - June 7, 2002

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- An estimated 400,000 people Sunday danced and marched through Sao Paulo Sunday in what was billed as Latin America's biggest Gay Pride parade. Gay Pride day was officially opened by Sao Paulo's left-leaning mayor, Marta Suplicy, who in a brief speech said she was proud of being the mayor of a city that serves as a showcase for gay civil rights. Waving rainbow flags and dancing to the sound of disco and techno beats, the multitude of gay men, lesbians and transgendered people marched some three miles for a show at the Praca da Republica, a downtown square that is home to many gay bars and clubs. Organizers attributed the huge turnout to the presence of heterosexuals who sympathize with the gay rights movement. "Heterosexual couples are here with their children because they don't want them to grow up with prejudice," said Beto de Jesus, president of the Association for GLBT Pride.

Israeli court delays funding decision for Gay Pride parade

TEL-AVIV, Israel -- Plans for a Gay Pride celebration in Jerusalem hit a snag with a High Court ruling on Monday delaying a decision on an appeal by gays to order the city to help fund the parade, according to the newspaper Ha'aretz. Plans for the Gay Pride parade brought quick condemnations from some Orthodox Shas legislators, including Nissim Ze'ev, who said Monday that gays could turn Israel into an AIDS-infested "second Africa," according to the newspaper. In the court decision, justices ordered government officials to prepare a document showing the municipality's level of participation in other marches and parades. The judges said that if their ruling went in favor of gay appeal, they would receive retroactive funding for the parade. Jerusalem city officials agreed Monday to provide security fencing and flags for the parade, set for Friday. "Like all other communities in the city, we also have the full right to express ourselves publicly," said Hagai Elad, an organizer of the parade.

Canadian province grants gay employees pension rights

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Alberta has given in on same-sex benefits, extending equal pension rights to the partners of gay employees throughout its civil service, according to the National Post. The Progressive Conservative government had been one of the last holdouts, knowing that a healthy proportion of its supporters oppose extending benefits to same-sex partners. But with court decisions against its position mounting, Alberta passed an amendment that will provide permanent benefits to the partners of gay public employees in cases where the government worker dies first. "There are people who the courts have indicated need to be included in pension plans, to have the same rights as other people," said Dave Hancock, the justice minister. "Our laws don't provide for that, and if we hadn't made this provision, then the law would have interpreted 'spouse' more broadly." The change will affect six different pension plans that cover about 200,000 employees.

Gay pick-up spots in Australia targeted for safe-sex program

CHELTENHAM, Australia -- Gay men who use pick-up "beats" in Port Phillip will learn how to avoid physical attacks through a new training program, according to the Port Phillip Leader. The Victorian AIDS Council is recruiting people who frequent known pick up spots for training under a new version of its Beat Outreach Program. The move follows several assaults in known gay cruising areas this year. AIDS Council executive director Mike Kennedy said physical safety was one of the key concerns of the program. "What this is doing is saying, let's take people from the environment, give them a set of skills, put them back in and change the way in which that happens for everybody," Kennedy said. Previous outreach programs involved volunteers talking to men in cruising areas about safe sex, but this version aims to change the beat culture from within, he said. The program is also going on-line for the first time, with users of chatrooms learning how to keep safe when meeting potential partners in person.

Bono, U.S. official wrap up Africa tour

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Irish rock star Bono visited an Ethiopian hospice and orphanage run by missionaries May 30, one of the last stops of their African tour. "This is a place of love and joy," O'Neill said. "This is a place where all pretense is gone and all human beings are together and everyone is treated with dignity and respect." The hospice treats more than 700 people with infectious diseases, including AIDS, while the orphanage is looking after more than 200 children with mental and physical disabilities. Bono cajoled O'Neill into making the tour to see for himself how important debt relief, fair trade and effective aid are to Africa. As many as 3 million Ethiopians are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, giving one of the world's poorest countries the third largest infected population in the world.

From staff and wire reports
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