| Ken condemns police ‘failures’ at Estonia gay pride march
The Mayor of London has added his voice to the criticism of police and politicians who failed to protect gay and lesbians from attack during a gay rights parade in Estonia.
Ken Livingstone slammed the authorities in the capital, Tallinn, calling their lack of action inexcusable.
Having permitted the parade, and being aware of the potential for violence, Tallinn City Council and the city's police should have taken all reasonable steps to robustly defend the fundamental human rights of those taking part, the Mayor said in a statement today.
At last weekends gay pride march around 15 people were injured after being attacked by groups of skinheads with sticks and stones while celebrating the countrys third gay pride event.
This follows a series of far-right attacks on gay rights events across Eastern Europe and Russia.
A queer's history of Ottawa Pride
Exploding from 50 participants to 50,000 per year, the story of Ottawa Pride illustrates that growing up ain't easy. What started as a scenic barbecue in 1986 has grown into a weeklong 100-odd-event juggernaut, a cornerstone of Ottawa's gay community.
While Ottawa's Pride may not be the million-go-go-boy march that other cities boast of, many people are proud that Ottawa's Pride Parade has remained accessible and community based. .
Germany issues “tolerance” plea to gay community amid Pope ...
Germanys gay community has been urged to show tolerance to the Pope as he begins a tour of his country of birth tomorrow.
Pope Benedict XVI, referred to as Papa Ratzi in Germany, begins a six day tour of his native Bavaria on Saturday where he will visit the state capital of Munich and the village of Marktl am Inn where he was born in 1927.
The pontiff is known for his highly conservative attitude to homosexuality and has repeatedly spoken out against gay marriage, but Munich mayor, Christian Ude, has pleaded with the gay community to show tolerance for the moral positions of the Catholic Church.
The mayor of Munich is a Social Democrat who has worked for gay rights and has served as patron for the Christopher-Street-Day parades, a gay pride event, every year since 1994.
Black Pride alleges lack of support from AIDS groups
As In the Life Atlanta prepares to host its 10th annual series of events for Black Gay Pride, organizers criticized an alleged lack of support from local AIDS agencies for the Labor Day weekend festival. "The most disturbing part is we accommodate majority black gay men, high risk, and we can not get a majority of Atlanta AIDS service organizations to come to the plate," ITLA board member Greg Smith wrote in an e-mail to Southern Voice. As the official organizer of Black Gay Pride, In the Life Atlanta sponsors a series of cultural, educational, social and political events from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4, including a two-day "Taking Pride in Healthy Living" conference at the Sheraton Midtown Colony Square, ITLA’s host hotel. Of the 11 sponsors currently listed on the group’s website, three are HIV organizations: AIDS Survival Project, Atlanta-based National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities, and PAUSE (Promoting Awareness of HIV Using Safer Sex Education), a program of the Georgia Department of Human Resources.
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