Gay Today: World

Olympic Gold Champ
Becomes an Activist

Swiss Ban Discrimination

International Transgender
Lobby Group Forms

By Rex Wockner
International News Report

Olympic Gold Champ Becomes an Activist

Gay Canadian Olympic gold medalist Mark Tewksbury has become an immigration activist.

Tewksbury's lover, Swiss actor Benjamin Kiss, is attempting to stay in Canada by applying for residency based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds -- the only option available to same- sex couples -- and Tewksbury says that's discriminatory.

Mark Tewksbury

"I'm standing up for the right thing, for people to be treated fairly, for a certain standard of ethics to be involved in processes, and to ensure that everybody in this country has the same basic human rights," he told Xtra.

"Changes are needed right across the board. ... I'm in a same-sex relationship. I'm finally out and very open and proud of my relationship, and I want that relationship to be legitimized formally.

"I will take this as far as I can," he said. "This is my life."

Swiss Ban Discrimination

Swiss voters approved a new constitution April 18 that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation via the phrase "way of life," the gay group Pink Cross announced.

Article 8, paragraph 2 prohibits bias based on race, gender, age, language, social standing, way of life, religion, ideological or political conviction or handicap.

Gays lobbied for inclusion of the phrase "sexual orientation," but had to settle for "way of life" and an accompanying explanation that gays and lesbians are included in the phrase's purview.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Canadian Olympian Comes Out

Germany: Transvestite Mayor Ousted

4 Nations Protect Lesbians & Gays Constitutionally

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Other countries that ban anti-gay bias via their constitutions include Canada, Ecuador, Fiji and South Africa.

International Transgender Lobby Group Forms

Transgender activists will gather in Washington, D.C., May 25-27 to create Gender Freedom International (GFI), the first U.S. organization dedicated to promoting international transgender human rights.

The group has a specific mission: to work with other international human-rights groups to leverage governmental reforms abroad by influencing U.S. foreign policy.

"Why should transgender activists in the U.S. be concerned with conditions abroad?" asked GFI President Sarah Fox. "By most accounts, transgendered people in the United States live terrible lives, enjoying basic human rights in only a few scattered regions. They are undoubtedly the most viciously and relentlessly persecuted minority in American society, living their lives in fear and dealing with hate crimes, denial of services, and employment discrimination on a regular and frequent basis. However life for a transperson in the U.S. is remarkably good compared to life for many transpeople abroad."

For further information, e-mail gfi@gender.org.