By Rex Wockner
International News
Report
21st Euro Conference
Targets
European Institutions
 ILGA Members at Pisa
Photo: Arcigay
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A
Europewide ban on anti-gay discrimination was the top priority of
the 100 delegates who attended the 21st European Conference of the
International Lesbian and Gay Association October 21-24 in Pisa,
Italy.
The European Commission is expected to adopt a package of
legislative measures this month aimed at implementing Article 13 of
the European Union's Amsterdam Treaty, which calls for a ban on
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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However, the Commission proposals apply only to employment while
ILGA supports extending protections to the areas of public accommodations,
social security, sports and education.
Further, ILGA said, Article 13 itself needs to be strengthened
during the revision of EU treaties next year to give the European
Parliament more power to determine the details of anti- discrimination
laws.
ILGA-Europe also elected a new board: Nico Beger of Germany, Adrian
Coman of Romania, Isabelle Cruette of France, Tatjana Greif of Slovenia,
Steffen Jensen of Denmark, Kurt Krickler of Austria, Jackie Lewis of the
United Kingdom and Alberto Volpato of Italy.
Next year's ILGA-Europe conference will be in Bucharest, Romania,
hosted by the gay group ACCEPT.
Ontario Equalizes Homosexuals
| Under
the leadership of Conservative Premier Mike Harris, the Legislature
of the Canadian province of Ontario amended 67 laws Oct. 25 to give
gay and lesbian couples every right accorded common-law opposite-sex
couples.
The move followed a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last May
that gave Ontario six months to treat gay and straight couples
equally. The case, which declared the province's definition of
'spouse' unconstitutional, involved an alimony dispute between two
lesbians.
In the end, the Legislature did not redefine "spouse" but
instead inserted the words "same-sex partner" into every relevant
statute. |
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In a very unusual move, no record was kept of how individual
legislators voted.
Ontario May Institute
Transgender
Education
An October 24 report from the Canadian province of Ontario's human-
rights commission urges the government to educate citizens on
transvestites and transsexuals.
"Coming out can trigger discrimination and mistreatment," said the
report, entitled Toward a Commission Policy on Gender Identity. "For these
reasons, public education about gender identity is crucial to both
transgendered and non-transgendered people."
The document says there are several myths that need to be
eradicated, including: transsexualism is unnatural, failing to identify
oneself as a transsexual is deceptive, male-to-female transsexuals are men
until they have a sex-change operation, and transgendered people are part
of the gay community.
Ontario, population 11 million, has up to 458 transgendered males
and 106 transgendered females, the report said.
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