For the first time, a gay leader spoke in the Argentine Congress' Lost Step's Hall last month. Rafael Freda addressed a gathering of reporters, politicians and labor-union leaders, denouncing the Catholic Church's recent call for all gay teachers to be fired.

The church is upset that the teacher and flight-attendant unions have extended spousal benefits to gay employees' lovers and that the government is paying death pensions to same-sex partners.

ECUADORIAN GOVERNOR FIGHTS GAY-SEX BAN

The governor of Ecuador's Azuay province, Felipe Vega de la Cuadra, has come out forcefully against the nation's ban on gay sex -- one of only three such laws in Latin America.

In June, provincial police raided a gay bar in Cuenca and arrested 14 men, sparking the city's first gay protest march by 40 people a few days later.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association wrote Vega de la Cuadra denouncing the raid and he replied: "In my capacity as foremost authority of the province, I have taken the necessary measures to avoid such events being repeated. The provincial chief of police and the National Police have been cautioned and advised of rules of behavior which will not give rise to denials of human rights in similar circumstances.

"By the same token, I wish to state that this authority shall respect people's liberty of ideology, religion and sexual choice. The events of the first half of June have served to raise awareness of the fact that gay groups have equal rights amongst the people of Cuenca. I have spoken personally with these gay groups and they are aware of my position with regard to this regrettable repression. Regarding Article 516 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes homosexuality, our provincial representatives in Parliament are taking the necessary steps for its elimination."

Article 516 punishes gay sex with four to eight years in prison.

Cuenca, population 300,000, is 180 miles southwest of Quito in a high Andes valley. The nation's third-largest city, it has been called the "Athens of the Andes" for its tradition of achievement in scholarship and the arts. It is home to three universities and numerous museums and research and cultural organizations.

Chile and Nicaragua are the other Latin American nations that ban homosexuality. Nicaragua recriminalized gay sex after the leftist Sandinistas were ousted from power in 1990.

Support for Ecuadorian gays can be routed through Movimiento Ecuatoriano Lesbico-Gay, Triangulo Andino, Albis Cruz y Orlando Montoya, Casilla Postal 17-21-1404, Quito, Ecuador. Phone/fax: 011-593-2-223298. E-mail: legas@fedaeps.ecuanet.net

MOSCOW BAR RAIDED

Armed and camouflaged Moscow police raided the gay club Chance last month and beat and arrested 40 people for allegedly being under the influence of illegal drugs.

According to a correspondent, the arrestees were forced to sign documents containing "fake drug-test results." Then "bleeding people were displayed before cameras for six to eight hours."

During that time the detainees were denied access to water and toilets and were insulted with comments such as, "You are fags not humans, and you deserve to be killed."

According to gay activists, no drugs were found on any of the people arrested and several of the victims took independent drug tests the next day to prove their innocence.

According to one activist, the "Russian gay community is assuming that this action was just a 'cleaning action' before [the] 850th anniversary celebration of Moscow, when everyone who is different gets into [the] category of people who ha[ve] to be removed from the city -- and homosexuals are in this category."

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Rex Wockner's Weekly International News dating back to mid-1994 is fully searchable at http://www.wockner.com

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