Three hundred lesbians and some drag queens marched through Tokyo's popular Shibuya neighborhood Oct. 10 in the nation's first dyke march.

According to Agence France-Press, they could not resist the humor in turning the national Sports Day (taiku no hi) into Dyke Day (daiku no hi).

According to the Australian daily The Age, the women banged drums and blew whistles as k.d. lang blasted from a sound system. Some marchers wore dark-blue suits and others wore rainbow flags.

"The lesbian community here is hardly visible," said spokeswoman Maria Miho Hiramatsu. "The problem with lesbians in Japan is that they are connected with pornography. The image of lesbians follows men's ideas of what women are which is very different from women's ideas of what women are."

The man who three weeks ago forced Costa Rica's government-run health-care system to provide antiviral drugs to people with AIDS died of the disease Oct. 12.

"I have been very brave," William Garcia, 29, told friends two days before his death.

In late September, the Supreme Court ordered the socialized medical system, Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), to buy anti-HIV "cocktail" drugs for Garcia and, a few days later, for three other people who had filed similar suits.

Garcia had presented the court with prescriptions for AZT, 3TC and Crixivan that CCSS refused to fill. He also provided proof he had paid the required 23 percent of his salary into the health- care system during the years he was employed.

CCSS continues to claim the drugs don't work, have debilitating side effects and are too expensive.

Costa Rica, population 3 million, is prosperous by Latin American standards. About 300 people, mostly gay men, need the anti-HIV drugs right now, according to activists.

Singapore banned Janet Jackson's new album, Velvet Rope, last week due to lyrics about homosexuality, battery and abuse, a local newspaper reported.

The action was taken by the Controller of Undesirable Publications.

According to a review in the Los Angeles Times: "While exploring the challenges and rewards of intimacy Jackson drops a few hints that nasty boys aren't her only interest.

"One interlude finds her flirting with a girlfriend, and on a delicate version of the Rod Stewart chestnut 'Tonight's the Night' she leaves the original lyrics intact, suggesting that the object of her affection may be female."

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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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