Badpuppy Gay Today

Thursday, 19 June 1997

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER'S WIFE TO ARGUE GAY CASE

The wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, attorney Cherie Booth, will argue a landmark gay-equality case before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg July 9.

She represents railway clerk Lisa Grant who is suing for spousal benefits for her lover.

According to the BBC, "the case could prove embarrassing for Tony Blair as the new government is set to fight a gays-in-the-military case later this year based on the same point of European law ... the European Equal Treatment Directive."

If Grant wins, employers throughout Europe will be barred from treating gay and straight employees differently. Grant's employer, South West Trains, provides reduced-fare tickets only to employees' opposite-sex spouses or partners.

The European Court of Justice is the supreme court of the European Union, 15 western European nations working toward unification.

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NAMIBIA'S GAYS ORGANIZE

Attacks from President Sam Nujoma have spurred gay organizing in Namibia.

The Rainbow Project is speaking out in the media and working to repeal the nation's sodomy law.

The group also has set up legal, cultural, counseling and sports committees. Some members hope to attend the Gay Games in Amsterdam next year.

"We have been very active in the last few months after many decades of hiding in the closet and suffering in silence," said spokesman Niko Kisting. "The response from the wider society has been very positive and supportive and even the [governing] Swapo [party] politicians have softened their tone somewhat although they still seem to deem it necessary to now and then denounce us publicly."

In getting organized, the group has made one startling discovery: Namibia's Labour Code already explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace.

In April, President Nujoma said gays "should not tamper or disturb our civil society by coming outdoors to do their business."

Last December he railed: "Homosexuals must be condemned and rejected in our society. All necessary steps must be taken to combat all influences that are influencing us and our children in a negative way."

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PAKISTAN TARGETED BY ANTI-TORTURE GROUP

The World Organization Against Torture (WOAT) is targeting Pakistan over the recent whipping of two males allegedly caught having sex in a public lavatory.

Mohammad Zaman, 38, a mosque worker, and Fahimullah, a 14-year- old student, were lashed publicly May 17 in Bara Bazar in Pakistan's western Khyber Agency, an area administered by local Afridi tribespeople.

Zaman received 75 blows and the boy got 32. They allegedly confessed to Maulana Abdul Hadi, head of Tanzeem Ittehad-e-Ulema- e-Qabail (TIUQ), the local Islamic ruling party, and to Afridi elders that they committed sodomy. Zaman allegedly paid Fahimullah 100 rupees ($3) to have sex with him.

The Pakistan government launched a paramilitary operation in August 1995 against the TIUQ following their establishment of a paramilitary force and an independent judicial system. TIUQ regained prominence earlier this year after the government extended voting rights to the tribespeople.

WOAT urges protest letters to Pakistani President Farooq Ahmad Leghari, Office of the President, Islamabad, Pakistan. Fax: 011- 92-51-811-390. And to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Office of the Prime Minister, Islamabad, Pakistan. Fax: 011-92-51-821-835.