Gay Today: World

21st Euro Conference
Targets European Institutions

Ontario Equalizes Homosexuals

Ontario May Institute
Transgender Education

By Rex Wockner
International News Report

21st Euro Conference
Targets European Institutions

ILGA Members at Pisa
Photo: Arcigay

A Europewide ban on anti-gay discrimination was the top priority of the 100 delegates who attended the 21st European Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association October 21-24 in Pisa, Italy.

The European Commission is expected to adopt a package of legislative measures this month aimed at implementing Article 13 of the European Union's Amsterdam Treaty, which calls for a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.

However, the Commission proposals apply only to employment while ILGA supports extending protections to the areas of public accommodations, social security, sports and education.

Further, ILGA said, Article 13 itself needs to be strengthened during the revision of EU treaties next year to give the European Parliament more power to determine the details of anti- discrimination laws.

ILGA-Europe also elected a new board: Nico Beger of Germany, Adrian Coman of Romania, Isabelle Cruette of France, Tatjana Greif of Slovenia, Steffen Jensen of Denmark, Kurt Krickler of Austria, Jackie Lewis of the United Kingdom and Alberto Volpato of Italy.

Next year's ILGA-Europe conference will be in Bucharest, Romania, hosted by the gay group ACCEPT.

Ontario Equalizes Homosexuals

Under the leadership of Conservative Premier Mike Harris, the Legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario amended 67 laws Oct. 25 to give gay and lesbian couples every right accorded common-law opposite-sex couples.

The move followed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last May that gave Ontario six months to treat gay and straight couples equally. The case, which declared the province's definition of 'spouse' unconstitutional, involved an alimony dispute between two lesbians.

In the end, the Legislature did not redefine "spouse" but instead inserted the words "same-sex partner" into every relevant statute.

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In a very unusual move, no record was kept of how individual legislators voted.

Ontario May Institute
Transgender Education

An October 24 report from the Canadian province of Ontario's human- rights commission urges the government to educate citizens on transvestites and transsexuals.

"Coming out can trigger discrimination and mistreatment," said the report, entitled Toward a Commission Policy on Gender Identity. "For these reasons, public education about gender identity is crucial to both transgendered and non-transgendered people."

The document says there are several myths that need to be eradicated, including: transsexualism is unnatural, failing to identify oneself as a transsexual is deceptive, male-to-female transsexuals are men until they have a sex-change operation, and transgendered people are part of the gay community.

Ontario, population 11 million, has up to 458 transgendered males and 106 transgendered females, the report said.