 |
 |
|
Jerusalem Opens a Gay and Lesbian Community Center Canada to Extend Same Sex Partners Survivor Pensions India's Gays Form National Network |
|
By Rex Wockner
International News Report Belarus: Russian Orthodox Church Organizes Anti-Gays
An anti-gay conference in Minsk, Belarus, entitled "The
Pernicious Consequences of International Projects of Sexual
Education" was attended by numerous government officials March
11-12.
Organized by the nation's Russian Orthodox Church and the European Humanitarian University, the confab attracted, among others, the chairman of the Constitutional Court and the health minister.
Jerusalem Gets a Gay and Lesbian Community Center Jerusalem's first gay/lesbian center opened downtown March 18. Orthodox gays, lesbian feminists, Arabs and secular Jews attended the ceremony, organizers said. "This is a step out of the closet for Jerusalem's gay and lesbian community," said Jerry Levinson, one of the facility's founders. "We are not intimidated by the city's intolerance; rather, we intend to change this. Every gay and lesbian person in the Jerusalem area will find a safe and welcoming haven at the center. "It will serve lesbian settlers from the occupied territories, gay teenagers from area high schools, Haredi Jews from ultra-orthodox neighborhoods like Me'a She'arim, university students, Arabs from East Jerusalem and persons of every faith." Among the center's projects are a phone info line, study and support groups for religious gays, a gay youth group, an anonymous HIV testing center, an Amnesty International cell, and a speakers' bureau. Canada to Extend Same Partners Sex Survivor Pensions
The Canadian government will introduce in Parliament this month a
plan to extend survivor pensions to same-sex partners of
government employees.
In addition to bureaucrats, the plan will cover members of the armed forces and persons who work for government corporations, such as railroads. Polls show Canadians support equal workplace benefits for gays by a large margin. India's Gays Form National Network Gays in India formed a national network -- called LGBT India -- at the Second Indian National Gay Conference held last month in Hyderabad. "This was necessary as networking at the personal level leaves a lot to chance and to personal likes and dislikes," said spokesman Ashok Row Kavi. The group will create a "pink digest of friendly doctors, psychiatrists, hotels, STD clinics, HIV testing centers, ayurvedic and Unani practitioners and sympathetic religious leaders in every city where visible gay groups exist," Kavi said. For further information, e-mail lgbt_india@hotmail.com. |
