2007 Gay Indianapolis Pride
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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.
Marching for love
JERUSALEM - For 10 days, Dror Danani was called to northern Israel to fight with thousands of other reserve soldiers in the Israeli army's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The start of the Aug. 14 ceasefire aimed at ending the five-week old conflict meant Danani, 29, could return home to Jerusalem and his normal job as a manager at an upscale hotel. But he says his greatest challenges as an openly gay man don't come on the front lines, as one might expect -- he spent two years fighting in Lebanon from 1995 to 1997 -- but on the streets and in his own community in Jerusalem. "I have a rule that I never tell lies about myself," says Danani at a central Jerusalem cafe, recalling the first time he came out to his fellow soldiers and commander. "One day they asked me if I had a girlfriend, and I said, 'No, I have a boyfriend,' because I did at the time.
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