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Council of Europe President is Anti-Gay

Pride Around the World (Continued)

By Rex Wockner
International Report

Council of Europe President is Anti-Gay

wschwimmer.jpg - 9.32 K Walter Schwimmer The new president of the Council of Europe is a homophobe, says Homosexual Initiative Vienna.

Walter Schwimmer was elected June 23 by a vote of 138-136 over Brit Terry Davis.

In 1996 in the Austrian Parliament, Schwimmer voted against repeal of Penal Code Articles 220 and 221 which prohibit gay organizations and positive information about homosexuality.

In 1996 and 1998 he also voted against repeal of the discriminatory age of consent for gay men, Article 209.

The Council of Europe is a grouping of 40 nations pledged to uphold human rights and cooperate in a variety of activities. Its judicial organ is the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. The court enforces the 1952 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Council is governed by the foreign ministers of its member states (the Committee of Ministers) and by representatives from national parliaments (the Parliamentary Assembly).
Pride Around the World (Continued)

Paris' pride parade attracted 200,000 people and 80 floats June 26, Agence France-Presse reported.

Marchers demanded parliament pass the twice-defeated Civil Solidarity Pact which gives gay couples many of the rights of matrimony.

More than 250,000 people turned out for Berlin's Christopher Street Day parade June 26, AFP said. Thousands also marched June 26 in Madrid, Zurich, and Arnhem in The Netherlands. The Dutch celebration moves to a different city each year.

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