Gast trial postponed to Nov. 15
By CONNIE PARISH, Times Staff Writer


Sandy Clarissa Gast, who was scheduled to have her day in court today, will now have to wait until November.

Her trial before District Judge Frederick Stewart was delayed until Nov. 15 at the request of prosecutors.

But it won't be a jury that will decide whether she was guilty of false swearing when she applied in February for a license to marry Georgi Somers.

Instead, the decision will be made by a judge. Stewart in April denied the motion for a jury trial and determined it would instead be a trial to the court.


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Transgender Man's Case Tests U.S. Immigration Law
Saying his sexual(sic) identity may put him in peril in El Salvador, Luis Reyes-Reyes seeks refuge under the Convention Against Torture.
By Ann M. Simmons, Times Staff Writer


Luis Reyes-Reyes says he fled El Salvador to escape persecution, and if immigration officials determine those fears are legitimate, he could be granted asylum in the United States under the Convention Against Torture.

But Reyes-Reyes, 42, is not looking for traditional political asylum. As he and his lawyers put it, he fears returning to his homeland because, for much of his life, he has lived as a woman.
     
   
 The question before immigration officials is whether Reyes-Reyes will be among a small number of transgender immigrants who have been granted asylum because their sexual identity could put them in peril in their homelands.

Reyes-Reyes won a temporary reprieve from deportation after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that an immigration board in San Pedro did not consider his case under the proper legal standard.


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Hundreds protest Iraq war
By LINDA BRILL / KING 5 News


SEATTLE - Nearly 500 antiwar demonstrators showed up in downtown Seattle Saturday to protest against U.S. plans to storm Fallujah.

Seattle police escorted the marchers through downtown. There were no major scuffles, damage or violence.


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Rejected EU commissioner to form Christian lobby
By Bruce Johnston
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH


ROME — Rocco Buttiglione, the European commissioner-designate rejected by Brussels because of his Catholic views on abortion and homosexuality, plans to form a religious lobby group to "battle for the freedom of Christians" in Europe.