International Gaze

The head of Canada’s Anglican Church appealed earlier this month to hundreds of bishops, priests and lay people to not let the thorny issue of same-sex unions further divide the church or take on the rancor of the past.

The Rev. Fred Hiltz, the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said June 4 at the opening of the General Synod that he hopes the meeting will produce a pastoral statement on the issue that could lay out the church’s position on same-sex blessings.

Portugal’s conservative president said he is reluctantly ratifying a law allowing gay marriage, making the predominantly Catholic country the sixth in Europe to let same-sex couples wed.

President Anibal Cavaco Silva said he would not veto the bill because majority liberal lawmakers would only overturn his decision. The country must focus instead on battling a crippling economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty, he said.

Malaysia’s first gay-themed movie could hit cinemas within months, its producer said, after government censors eased restrictions that have stifled the film industry here for decades.

Although the Malay-language movie – “Dalam Botol” or “In A Bottle” – won’t have explicit sex or even kissing, its screening would be a huge step forward for freedom of popular media in this Muslim-majority country that many fear is coming under the influence of Islamic conservatism.

Scottish rock singer Annie Lennox has become a spokesperson for the United Nations agency fighting HIV/AIDS.

As UNAIDS goodwill ambassador, she pledged to address the “daily brutality faced by millions of women and girls” suffering from the disease.

Millions of LGBT people jammed several of Sao Paulo’s main avenues for the 14th annual gay Pride parade in South America’s largest city.

Dancing to music blasting from sound trucks June 6, they condemned homophobia and demanded equal rights. They also said they would push candidates in this year Brazil’s presidential election to support their cause.

A Brazilian archbishop said adolescents are “spontaneously homosexual” and in need of guidance, while society at large is pedophile.

Archbishop Dadeus Grings – a conservative priest who has made controversial statements in the past – told the O Globo newspaper at a Brazilian bishops’ conference that society’s woes are being reflected in the sex abuse scandal enveloping the Roman Catholic Church.

The salmon-colored building has seen better days. Paint peels from the moldy facades. Pieces of cardboard, newspaper and plastic cover the many missing windows – not worth replacing, because the neighborhood kids, who know this as “the gay building,” will just smash them again.

The two-story building in Kayseri’s Fez Kichak neighborhood has become an informal halfway house for Iranian gays fleeing torment in their homeland and hoping to make it to the West.

AIDS awareness groups June 5 protested a ban by the world soccer body FIFA on distributing health-related information and condoms at World Cup stadiums and fan events.

An alliance of 10 leading South African HIV/AIDS organizations said FIFA has not permitted civic groups to set up booths and small “wellness centers” at FIFA-controlled venues.

Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world.

Madieye Diallo’s body had been in the ground for only a few hours when the mob descended with shovels on the weedy cemetery in Senegal. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of Diallo’s elderly parents.

Opponents of Lithuania’s first gay Pride parade threw smoke bombs and tried to break through a barrier May 8, but were stopped by police firing tear gas.

Later, protesters threw rocks and street signs at security forces and two Lithuanian lawmakers were detained after trying to climb the barrier.