French mayor urges others to wed gays
  From:Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - A mayor suspended for conducting France's first gay marriage has agreed not to marry any more homosexual couples for now, but is urging other politicians to do so in his absence.

Noel Mamere, a top Greens party politician who once ran for president, wed two men this month in the south-western town of Begles where he is mayor. The Interior Ministry said on Tuesday Mamere was being suspended for one month for breaking the law.

"While the suspension is in force, I will not carry out any new marriages between two people of the same sex," Mamere told Le Monde newspaper in an interview on Wednesday.

"But I recommend that all elected officials who have supported homosexual marriage follow the example set in Begles."

The Greens party has called on other mayors to celebrate "a maximum of gay marriages as quickly as possible".


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Gay GOP group rips Rep. Gard
Calls on him to quit post
By Anita Weier


Gay and lesbian Republicans, angered by remarks by Assembly Speaker Gard at a recent state party convention, have told him he is a "liability" to the party and should step down as speaker.

The Log Cabin Republicans group sent a letter to Gard asking him to publicly retract a statement he made during a speech at the state Republican Convention in May.

"During your speech you had reported that the state Assembly voted in favor of the resolution amending the Wisconsin Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman," James McFarland, political director of the Log Cabin Republicans of Wisconsin, wrote to Gard June 1.

"At the end of your speech, you called upon the Republican delegates to assist you in making sure this amendment is enacted because, in your words, 'there are a lot of people out there who think that people should be able to marry whoever they want, or whatever they want.'


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CoD Demands Nujoma Apology Over Gay Claims
The Namibian (Windhoek)
Tangeni Amupadhi


THE Congress of Democrats (CoD) have asked President Sam Nujoma to retract his accusation that opposition party leader Ben Ulenga had engaged in homosexual activities, saying the statement has caused grief to his children.

"We are appealing to the President to withdraw the statement. If he loves children", said CoD Secretary General Ignatius Shixwameni, "the President should have the courage to withdraw the statement " because it was " tormenting" Ulenga's children.

Shixwameni was responding to a question during a press conference at the CoD head office yesterday.

The CoD leader said, " the President is highly irresponsible calling " Ulenga a gay person, in spite of the fact that he was married and had a family.