Mugabe: No gay rights in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s president says gay rights will not be protected in a constitution being drawn up under a power-sharing deal.

State radio quoted President Robert Mugabe saying that Western rights groups have called for constitutional reforms to include gay rights. He calls that “insanity.”

Same-sex sexual acts are illegal in Zimbabwe. Mugabe once described homosexuals as “lower than pigs and dogs.”

Condemnation of gays is common in Africa. Ugandan lawmakers have proposed imposing the death penalty on some gays.

In Africa, only South Africa has legalized same-sex marriage. Even there, the gap between the liberal constitution and social attitudes can be wide.

Religious groups address AID discrimination

Religious groups meeting at The Hague discussed in late March how to help the global fight against AIDS by preventing victims from becoming social outcasts.

Canon Gideon Byamugisha, an Anglican priest from Uganda, said the way his church treated him after he discovered he had HIV should set an example for the rest of the world.

“They reacted with support and understanding,” he said in a telephone interview. “There were sections who were annoyed and disappointed I was HIV-positive, but a big number opted to give me the love, care and support I needed.”

Earlier this month, Byamugisha was among a delegation that delivered a petition signed by 500,000 people to Uganda’s parliament calling on lawmakers to reject a proposed law that would impose the death penalty on some gays. Byamugisha said the bill teaches intolerance and hatred and is counter to the constitution’s anti-discrimination laws.

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Google, Yahoo criticize Australian Internet filter

Internet giants Google and Yahoo have criticized Australia’s proposal for a mandatory Internet filter, calling it a heavy-handed measure that could restrict access to legal information.

Their statements, among 174 comments from the public submitted to the Australian Department of Communications on the filtering proposal, come amid a struggle between Google and China over censorship-free content.

Lucinda Barlow of Google Australia called the Internet blocking measures of Australia and China “apples and oranges,” but also said her company was deeply concerned about Australia’s proposal because of its mandatory and sweeping nature.

If adopted into law, the screening system would make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among the world’s democracies, and the proposal has put the country on the Reporters Without Borders annual “Enemies of the Internet” list.

Google’s Barlow told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the proposal raised the possibility of banning politically and socially controversial material and went beyond filters used in Germany and Canada, which block child pornography and, in Italy, gambling sites.

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Couples celebrate historic weddings in Mexico City

Two glowing brides in matching white gowns and four other same-sex couples made history in Mexico City earlier this month as they wed under Latin America’s first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was a guest of honor at the weddings of Judith Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda and the other couples who tied the knot in a city building, despite harsh criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and a campaign against the measure by President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party.

Vazquez, a 45-year-old small-business owner, and Castaneda, a 33-year-old psychologist, signed and put their thumbprints on the official documents. Then they sealed their union with a kiss amid cheers from family and friends gathered in the colonial-era building’s courtyard, decorated with calla lilies, banners with the colors of Mexico’s flag and a sign that read “Tolerance, Liberty, Equality, Solidarity.”

“This is the mark of freedom,” said Vazquez, raising her thumb.

Vazquez said she and Castaneda have considered themselves married ever since they moved in together six years ago.

“The difference today is that the state will recognize it,” she said while getting her hair done at home before the wedding. “This is a victory for all. …For us this is a day of celebration.”

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