IGLA Meets with
European Union Presidency

Members of the International Lesbian and Gay Association met with representatives of the presidency of the European Union July 13 in Vienna to urge passage of Europe-wide anti-discrimination protections.

"It was indeed a very fruitful meeting held in a very positive atmosphere," said Jackie Lewis, co-chair of ILGA-Europe "We got the impression that the Austrian presidency will try to include a broad anti-discrimination perspective in its general human-rights approach."

Specifically, ILGA wants to see implementation of proposed Article 13 (which bans discrimination on numerous grounds) in the new consolidated EU treaty. Austria holds the presidency of the 15-nation European Union for the second half of 1998.

Poland: City Bans Warsaw Pride

Forty people gathered in Warsaw, Poland's Castle Square July 12 to protest the city's refusal to OK a gay-pride celebration for that day and location.

They called on President Aleksander Kwasniewski to establish a minority-rights committee, and then quickly dispersed.

Forty skinheads stood nearby chanting "Kill the queers."

Other pride events included the opening of the city's first gay center and parties at gay bars.

Zimbabwe Confronts AIDS in Prisons

Zimbabwean Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said July 15 he may let inmates' wives visit them in prison for sex in order to reduce the HIV-transmission rate behind bars.

He is also considering distributing condoms in jails.

Seventy-two percent of Zimbabwean prison deaths are from AIDS. More than 200,000 Zimbabweans have died of the disease and 1.5 million of the nation's 12 million citizens are infected with HIV. About 700 people die of AIDS complications every week.