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Tim's Blog – September 2008 Archive (61)

Argentina:- Reinaldo gets collagen lips and comes out

The popular press in Argentina were fascinated by the marriage of Reinaldo Waveqche and his bride Adelpha Volpes. She was 84, a mere 58 years older than he was. A month later she died. She left everything to Reinaldo, including a pension of 2900 pesos a month which allows him to scrape by, as he puts it.

A year or so on, and Reinaldo has faced the cameras on a TV chat show. Now… Continue

Added by Tim on September 30, 2008 at 20:22 — No Comments

USA:- Huge sadistic celebration another marker of America’s steep moral decline

That's how Americans For Truth, which describes itself as a national organization devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda, described last weekend's Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. Peter LaBarbera, its president, was suitably outraged again this year (again) as thousands of people took advantage of the fact that nudity and decency laws were not… Continue

Added by Tim on September 30, 2008 at 15:00 — No Comments

France:- Vatican rejects ambassador because he's gay

When countries appoint ambassadors to The Vatican, the appointments are at the pleasure of the Pope. France's nomination of seasoned diplomat Jean-Loup Kuhn-Delforge is apparently not going down well with the pontiff and his team, reputedly because he's an openly gay man.

So it looks as though the Sarkozy government will have to look for yet another candidate. So far France has been without an official representative at The… Continue

Added by Tim on September 30, 2008 at 11:00 — 1 Comment

Taiwan - Big turnout for Taiwan's "Run the Rainbow Way" gay pride event in Taipei

Even rain from Typhoon Jangmi couldn't stop the Run the Rainbow Way parade in Taipei from becoming Asia's biggest gay pride event on Saturday. Organisers say that more than 18,000 people took part. View a slideshow of pictures on the Taiwan LGBt Pride web site.

Added by Tim on September 29, 2008 at 19:00 — No Comments

Canada:- Vancouver man victim of gay-bashing

Police in Vancouver are officially classing the attack on a Vancouver man in the early hours of Saturday morning as a hate crime. According to this report in The Vancouver Sun, Jordan Smith, 27, had been holding hands with a male friend as he walked down the 900 block of Davie Street just after midnight Saturday.

"A group of four or… Continue

Added by Tim on September 29, 2008 at 12:30 — No Comments

USA:- Want to go to a porn star's wedding?

Gay porn star Brent Everrett is marrying boyfriend Steve Pena at a family ceremony on October 3rd (taking advantage of California's gay marriage legislation), but he's invited his fans to turn up at a big party in San Diego later that evening.

He's also put a link on his… Continue

Added by Tim on September 28, 2008 at 23:00 — No Comments

Australia - Parliament edges closer to granting gay partnership rights

It was only a few days ago that singer Darren Hayes was telling journalists in his home country Australia he wished that his marriage to partner Richard Cullen was recognised there.

"....more than anything as a sign of reciprocal respect for Richard....I think it's something that would happen with this current government,… Continue

Added by Tim on September 28, 2008 at 22:09 — No Comments

USA:- Google opposes California gay marriage ban

In the internet giant's official blog, Co-founder and President of Google, Sergey Brin takes the unusual step of stating that the company is firmly against Proposition 8, the proposed California constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

"....while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government… Continue

Added by Tim on September 28, 2008 at 0:10 — No Comments

USA:- Matthew Shepard memorial unveiled at Wyoming university

It's not uncommon to dedicate a bench to the memory of someone: but this one is particularly special. The Matthew Shepard Foundation has given this new bench to the University of Wyoming in memory of the gay student beaten and left to die by his homophobic attackers, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

Matthew Shepard died died on the 12th October 1998, five days after he was found brutally beaten and tied to a fence… Continue

Added by Tim on September 27, 2008 at 22:00 — No Comments

Spain:- Gay groups furious as senior Catholic again compares gays to murderers

A senior figure in the Madrid D¡ocese of the Catholic Church in Spain has caused outrage amongst the country's gay groups by his comments on the TV show El Intermedio. Interviewed about the controversial (as far as the church is concerned) Citizenship Education programme in schools, which calls for respect for gays and sexual… Continue

Added by Tim on September 27, 2008 at 17:00 — No Comments

USA:- Tom Ford on McCain, Sarah Palin, gay rights and gay marriage

"It's more the mind-set that worries me: anyone who is anti-gay rights shows an intolerance of other humans and their needs, so what worries me more is how that mind-set would filter into other issues."

I may not be a great fan of Tom Ford (even if he does make Daniel Craig's suits), but he's more coherent than many in the fashion industry on gay issues, and clearly not pleased by the Republican presidential pairings views on the… Continue

Added by Tim on September 27, 2008 at 12:00 — No Comments

Spain:- Alejandro Sanz wins legal case over gay libel

One of the Spanish-speaking world's biggest stars, Alejandro Sanz, has won around 30,000 euros in damages from newspaper El Mundo over allegations published nearly a decade ago. The case has wound its way through Spain's notoriously slow legal system as far as the Supreme Court.

Of course, in 2008, being gay here in Spain is officially seen as nothing shameful, so the judges have done cartwheels to go out of their way to make clear that… Continue

Added by Tim on September 26, 2008 at 19:03 — No Comments

Cameroon:- A gay community living in fear

When gay protestors staged a demonstration outside the Cameroon High Commission in South Africa earlier this year it wasn't over an isolated incident. Being gay in Cameroon makes you liable to a 5-year prison sentence and/or a fine. And being a gay prisoner isn't pleasant.

"Some of the prisoners called us ugly women and faggots all the time. They'd say you shouldn't be alive. They'd hit us and throw water at us. We were tortured.… Continue

Added by Tim on September 26, 2008 at 18:45 — No Comments

Germany:- New gay TV channel to launch in November

A new free-to-air German-language TV channel aimed at the gay community goes live on November 1st, broadcast via Astra. Called Timm, it will offer a range of programming from 18.00 - 24.00 during the week, with longer hours at weekends. There'll be a mix of entertainment and factual programming - here's an example of the latter, a report about a holiday centre for people living with… Continue

Added by Tim on September 26, 2008 at 17:13 — No Comments

Gay Travellers Network Update - upgraded email features this weekend!

This weekend, we're planning to bring you some great new features which should make it even more simple and enjoyable to use the Gay Travellers Network . The look of our email and internal mail system is being completely re-designed to be easier to understand and use.

Your mail inbox will now look much more like the rest of the network, and you'll access it from the envelope icon in the box where you sign in on the top right of this… Continue

Added by Tim on September 25, 2008 at 22:30 — No Comments

Spain:- Bisexual Visibility Day a success

Gay rights organisations in Spain are pleased with the coverage received for the country's first Bisexual Visibility Day, which saw events in various cities across the country. Two national TV networks broadcast special programmes and news interviews.

Rubén Lopez, a spokesperson for the organisers, pointed out that "homosexuals as much as heterosexuals tend to marginalise bisexuals for different reasons, in that if we're homosexual we accuse them of being… Continue

Added by Tim on September 24, 2008 at 20:10 — No Comments

Argentina:- First gay man receives state widower's pension

Alfredo Pascal is 81, and lived with his partner José Miguel Castro for 47 years, although they were a couple for longer, an astonishing 59 years in all. José died in 1996, and then the fight for the pension began. A Supreme Court ruling in his favour means that Argentina's state Social Security system will now have to pay pensions to surving members of gay relationships who can produce evidence in the form of house deeds, joint bank accounts… Continue

Added by Tim on September 24, 2008 at 19:34 — No Comments

USA:- Gay history turns a page with the death of John Burnside

The name of John Burnside may not mean much to many, but he was one of the pioneers of the modern gay liberation movement, and made a major contribution to the thinking and debate about how we want to live as gay men. He died a few days ago aged 91. The picture above comes from a shrine set up in his memory at the junction of 18th and Castro… Continue

Added by Tim on September 24, 2008 at 19:09 — No Comments

USA:- What does it mean if McCain's Chief of Staff is gay?

That's one question bloggers and others across the US seem to be wrestling with as rumours and reports suggest that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's right-hand man is gay and in a long-term relationship with another man. As Michael Signorile in his excellent posting on The Gist puts it

Does he see his own chief… Continue

Added by Tim on September 23, 2008 at 12:00 — No Comments

Chile:- 30 gay candidates to fight local elections in the capital

Gonzalo Cid is just one of a group of gay men and lesbians who are fighting for seats on the council in Santiago in Chile. Most of the 30 or so who have put their names forward are linked to conventional parties, but others - like Gonzalo - are standing as candidates for diversity. The elections take place on October 26th.

Gonzalo has a real chance of winning his election - he's a… Continue

Added by Tim on September 22, 2008 at 22:00 — No Comments