Durban Gays Protest Mugabe

Mugabe loathes homosexuals. He has said: "[They are] repugnant to my human conscience ... immoral and repulsive. ... Animals in the jungle are better than these people because at least they know that this is a man or a woman. ... I don't believe they have any rights at all. [Gay sex is] an abomination."

Gay Aussie Film is Mainstream Hit

The new Australian movie Head On -- which depicts a day in the life of a young gay Greek man and includes explicit gay-sex scenes -- is a box-office smash in the suburban multiplexes of Melbourne and Sydney, reports Melbourne Star Observer.

The film was third in box-office takings after its first week of general release, trailing Armageddon and Sliding Doors.

French Partnership Law On-Deck

France's Socialist government said September 2 it will grant cohabiting couples -- gay or straight, romantic or not -- most of the social and fiscal rights of matrimony.

The "Civil Solidarity Pact" will be presented to the National Assembly October 9.

Couples will sign up with a court clerk rather than at the local registry office to avoid the appearance that gay matrimony has been legalized, officials said.

The new law likely will prohibit adoption and government-funded artificial-conception procedures for gay and lesbian couples.

President Jacques Chirac's conservative Rally for the Republic party opposes the pact, calling it "a decisive step toward the creation of a substitute for marriage and a parody of the family."