Gay teacher sacked for being HIV positive
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


A gay schoolteacher is taking his former employers to court, claiming he was sacked after revealing his HIV status.

Anthony Neary, 41, says he was fired from Hertfordshire's Egerton-Rothsay School after telling the headmistress
he was HIV positive. He says the decision to sack him came despite previous talk of pay rise and promotions.

Additionally, he says the move came after a bitter feud with other members of staff, with the teaching staff splitting into two warring camps.

He told an industrial tribune this week that this led to rumours being circulated about his relationship with headmistress Nicci Boddam-Whetham, despite him being gay.


~

Same-sex ruling today
Couple awaits decision
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER


Two ministers in the United Church could go down in the history books as the first same-sex couple to legally tie the knot in Manitoba. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Douglas Yard is expected to rule this morning that the province's definition of marriage is unconstitutional.


~

Former Archbishop backs anti-gay faction
Ben Townley, Gay.com UK


Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has led a service for conservative American Anglicans who are against the appointment of gay clergy.

Lord Carey, who retired as the head of the Anglican Church in 2002, was presiding over a ceremony in Virginia.


~

Michigan AG: Gay Couples Cannot Adopt
by The Associated Press


(Lansing, Michigan) The Michigan attorney general's legal opinion that same-sex couples married in Massachusetts cannot adopt a child together in Michigan has angered gay-rights advocates and others who said Wednesday it disregards children's best interests.

The opinion, written by Attorney General Mike Cox, said a same-sex marriage performed in another state is invalid in Michigan and therefore precludes that couple from obtaining a joint adoption here.

"It's an anti-family opinion," said Beverly Davidson, president of the Coalition for Adoption Rights Equality, which supports same-sex adoptions. "There are a number of children in our state who need permanent homes. Limiting who can adopt them is a disservice."

While the Republican attorney general's opinion specifically addressed whether the state can recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts and whether those couples can adopt children in Michigan, critics worry that it further cripples gays' rights and their ability to adopt.


~

Anti-Gay Groups Call For Boycott Of Proctor & Gamble
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Cincinnati, Ohio) Conservative Christian political groups are calling for a boycott of Proctor and Gamble after the consumer products company urged its workers to support the repeal of an anti-gay charter amendment in Cincinnati.

In an open letter to all employees, the Cincinnati-based multi-national said "P&G joins a number of other major businesses, in the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, civic, religious and community leaders in supporting repeal."


~

India Surpasses S. Africa In AIDS Cases 
by Rajesh Mahapatra
The Associated Press


(New Delhi) India has the world's largest number of HIV-infected people, the head of a top international AIDS-fighting fund said Wednesday, dismissing official figures.

"I don't believe in the official statistics. India is already in first place," said Richard G.A. Feachem, executive director of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Latest U.N. data show the HIV virus has infected 5.6 million people in South Africa and 5.1 million in India. But Feachem said he and many other experts believe India's actual figure is much higher, surpassing South Africa's.

The official estimate leaves out many people in this vast country of 1.03 billion who could be carrying the virus without knowing or reporting it, he said.


~

Uruguay soccer coach under fire for homophobia


URUGUAY football coach Jorge Fossati came under fire Wednesday after stating that he would never call up a homosexual player to the national side.

Fossati, 53, said in an interview in the Uruaguayan daily El Pais: "Sincerely I believe that a homosexual player should not be in a professional group.

"There are certain norms that have to be safeguarded. A gay player would be a disrupting influence among men.

"He has very different habits from the other 25," he added.

His comments have led to a storm of protest from Uruguayan associations favourable to sexual diversity.


~

Activists Continue Fight to Decriminalise Homosexuality
Ranjit Devraj


NEW DELHI, Sep 16 (IPS) - While the Delhi High Court dismissed this month public interest litigation seeking to quash laws dating back to colonial times that make homosexuality a punishable offence, human rights activists have sworn to continue seek legal avenues to decriminalise gay sex between consenting adults.

''We plan to ask for a review of the Sep. 1 dismissal by the High Court or even approach the Supreme Court,'' Tripti Tandon of the Lawyers Collective, a well-known voluntary agency told IPS.

Tandon said on Wednesday the dismissal was largely technical with the court holding that there is ''no cause for action'' and that the petition seemed to have been filed ''just for the sake of testing the legislation.''

The Lawyers Collective had in December 2001 filed the original petition in the Delhi High Court along with Naz Foundation that works with HIV/AIDS victims and runs one of two hospitals for those affected by the disease in New Delhi.


~

Councilors debate allowing Scout event
By Brian Lockhart
Staff Writer


NORWALK -- When Cub Scoutmaster Greta DeAngelis asked city officials last night for a permit to hold a recruitment drive at Shady Beach, she had no idea it would land her in the middle of the debate over the Boy Scouts of America's policy barring gay members