Budapest Pride draws wide support
Embassies from 13 countries including the United States issued a joint statement expressing support for the Budapest Pride Festival, which culminates with a march in the Hungarian capital Sept. 5.
The statement from embassies on four continents calls for respect for human rights and the rule of law at the Budapest march. It references the joint statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity delivered at the United Nations Gender Assembly last December.
The Budapest Pride festival, which began in 1997, was marked by antigay and anti-Semitic violence in 2007 and 2008. This year, the extreme right-wing party Movement for a Better Hungary announced in June that it would stop the Sept. 5 march “by all means necessary.”
In addition to the statement from the embassies, Budapest police and city officials have pledged to protect the marchers.
Germany court confirms adoption
The Federal Constitutional Court in Germany has confirmed that gay and lesbian people can adopt their partners’ children, overturning a previous ruling.
The country’s highest court rejected the argument that allowing the female partner of a child’s mother to adopt would undermine the rights of the other biological parent.
A recent study revealed that 6,600 children in Germany are being raised by gay and lesbian parents. However, gay or lesbian people or couples could not adopt children they are not related to.
Gay and lesbian couples can register their partnerships and their rights include most of those of marriage, including stepchild adoption, but they are denied the same tax benefits.
Lesbian PM ranks on Forbes list
Iceland prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has made Forbes magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” list, becoming the only openly gay woman on the magazine’s annual list.
The recently released list ranks top executives from powerful conglomerates such as Avon, PepsiCo and Kraft Foods, as well as high-profile politicians from around the world including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Philippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and German chancellor Angela Merkel, who tops the list for the fourth time in a row.
Sigurdardottir is Iceland’s longest-serving parliamentarian and, in February, she became the island nation’s first female leader and the world’s first openly gay head of state.
Her leadership is instrumental in leading Iceland out of economic ruin. The worldwide financial crisis hit the country early and especially hard after its three largest banks collapsed.
Sigurdardottir ranked 75th on the magazine’s power list.
Uruguay approves gay-adoption bill
Lawmakers in Uruguay have approved a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt.
Despite opposition from Uruguay’s Roman Catholic Church and some of the political opposition, the 99-seat Chamber of Representatives on Aug. 27 passed the bill 40-13, with the remaining members absent.
It goes next to the Senate, which approved an earlier version of the bill in July but must now vote again on modifications.
If it becomes law, Uruguay would be the first country in Latin America to allow adoption by gay and lesbian couples.
The law is supported by socialist President Tabare Vazquez’s Broad Front coalition, which has already legalized gay civil unions and ended a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces.
Lesbian couple still trying to marry
A lesbian couple in Russia has accused the authorities of using “any excuse” to obstruct their legal case for gay marriage.
The court postponed hearing a complaint from the gay couple over a refusal to let them marry.
Judge Natalya Zhuravlyova postponed the hearing Aug. 26, claiming the couple had failed to turn up.
Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko arrived a few minutes after the hearing ended and said they had been held up in traffic. They then kissed for the photographers who were in court to cover their case.
“There is enough homophobia in this country. We are no different from any other couple,” Shipitko said.
Their lawyer told the court that the way the trial was conducted was a disgrace.
The couple plans to marry in Canada later this year.
Soccer coach draws gay ire
A leading LGBT-rights group in Italy has condemned comments by the country’s football coach about gay players.
Arcigay said LGBT people “don’t want to be afraid anymore” after a series of attacks in Rome, including an arson attack on a gay club.
The coach of the Italian national football team, Marcello Lippi, said in an interview released Aug. 26 that in ”the current climate,” it would be impossible for two of his players to be in a gay relationship.
“Imagine how a homosexual couple in football would be perceived,” he said. “Even if socially most people would support and understand such a situation, it would nonetheless become magnified and eventually would be viewed negatively.”
In a statement on its Web site, Arcigay said: “Words like these fortify the prejudice that homosexual relationships are more dirty and unspeakable, uttered by a person who plays an educational role model for millions of Italian boys playing soccer and believe sport as a model of social and cultural life.”
On Aug. 25, arsonists targeted the nightclub Qube, home of the LGBT Muccassassina festival. It was empty at the time.
A few days before, a gay couple was assaulted near Rome’s gay village. One was stabbed and remains in serious condition.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].