CANBERRA,
Australia
—
Australia’s
Prime
Minister
is
expected
to
announce
a
new
policy
to
make
discrimination
against
same-sex
couples
there
illegal,
the
Age,
an
Australian
news
agency
has
reported.
Details
and
a
timetable
on
the
proposal
were
not
spelled
out
by
the
Age,
but
it
cited
“mounting
speculation”
that
Prime
Minister
John
Howard
would
announce
the
changes
which
the
Age
said
included
access
to
a
partner’s
pension,
tax
breaks
and
Medicare
safety
net
thresholds.
The
Age,
which
didn’t
cite
its
sources,
said
Howard
isn’t
expected
to
overturn
his
2004
legislation
that
bans
gay
marriage.
Advancing
gay
rights
before
the
next
election
could
result
in
a
Christian
backlash,
the
Age
said.
Howard
is
the
leader
of
the
country’s
Liberal
party.
The
move
to
end
same-sex
discrimination
is
expected
to
be
bipartisan,
the
Age
said.
TAIPEI,
Taiwan
(AP)
—
Thousands
of
gay
rights
supporters
marched
through
Taiwan’s
capital
Saturday,
hoisting
rainbow-colored
flags
symbolizing
their
movement.
The
demonstrators
—
some
dressed
as
brides
and
grooms,
others
as
nurses
and
sailors
—
wove
their
way
through
one
of
Taipei’s
busiest
shopping
areas
on
their
way
to
a
plaza
in
front
of
the
city
government
building.
They
marched
in
groups
under
banners
of
different
colors.
Some
women
wore
military
uniforms.
Many
other
demonstrators
waved
white
and
pink
balloons.
Saturday’s
march
was
the
fifth
annual
gay
parade
in
Taipei.
Organizers
said
about
7,000
participated,
up
from
last
year’s
2,000,
attended
the
event.
VATICAN
CITY
(AP)
—
A
Vatican
official
suspended
after
being
caught
on
a
hidden
camera
making
advances
to
a
young
man
said
in
an
interview
published
Sunday
that
he
is
not
gay
and
was
only
pretending
to
be
gay
as
part
of
his
work.
In
an
interview
with
La
Repubblica
newspaper,
Monsignor
Tommaso
Stenico
said
he
frequented
online
gay
chat
rooms
and
met
with
gay
men
as
part
of
his
work
as
a
psychoanalyst.
He
said
that
he
pretended
to
be
gay
in
order
to
gather
information
about
“those
who
damage
the
image
of
the
Church
with
homosexual
activity.”
Vatican
teaching
holds
that
homosexual
activity
is
a
sin.
“It’s
all
false;
it
was
a
trap.
I
was
a
victim
of
my
own
attempts
to
contribute
to
cleaning
up
the
Church
with
my
psychoanalyst
work,”
La
Repubblica
quoted
Stenico
as
saying.
Vatican
spokesman
Rev.
Federico
Lombardi
said
Saturday
that
the
monsignor
had
been
suspended
pending
a
Vatican
investigation.
Stenico
is
a
top
official
in
the
Vatican’s
Congregation
of
the
Clergy.
The
Vatican
acted
after
officials
recognized
Stenico’s
office
in
the
background
of
a
television
program
on
gay
priests
that
was
broadcast
on
Oct.
1
on
La7,
a
private
Italian
TV
network.
Stenico,
who
claims
to
be
straight
but
celibate,
was
secretly
filmed
making
advances
to
a
young
man
and
asserting
that
gay
sex
was
not
sinful.
CARACAS,
Venezuela
—
A
Venezuelan
legislative
committee
voted
last
week
to
lower
the
voting
age
and
protect
gay
rights
as
the
country’s
president,
Hugo
Chavez,
plans
to
rewrite
its
constitution,
according
to
a
Bloomberg
report.
If
approved,
the
proposed
legislation
would
allow
Venezuelans
to
gain
the
right
to
vote
at
age
16
(it’s
now
18)
while
discrimination
based
on
sexual
orientation
would
be
outlawed,
the
report
said,
citing
a
statement
on
the
National
Assembly’s
web
site.
The
legislative
committee
will
send
the
proposed
changes
to
the
full
assembly
this
week.
A
15-day
discussion
period
will
follow,
the
report
said.
From
there,
a
national
referendum
will
follow,
possibly
before
year’s
end.
SINGAPORE
—
Singaporean
celebrities
are
rapping
for
a
repeal
of
a
law
that
makes
gay
sex
a
criminal
offence,
according
to
a
report
by
the
Khaleej
Times,
an
English
newspaper
in
Dubai,
one
of
the
United
Arab
Emirates.
The
celebrities,
most
straight,
appear
in
a
video
posted
on
YouTube
in
support
of
a
Singaporean
legislator’s
push
to
repeal
a
law
making
gay
sex
a
criminal
offence,
activists
told
the
Times
last
week.
“Repeal
it!”
the
celebrities
urge
in
the
video
which
ends
with
the
words:
“It’s
not
just
a
gay
thing.
It’s
about
equality.”
Member
of
Parliament
Siew
Kum
Hong
will
present
a
petition
Monday
to
coincide
with
debate
on
the
most
extensive
amendments
to
the
city-state’s
penal
code
in
22
years,
the
Times
said.
The
petition
urges
abolishing
part
of
the
penal
code
that
makes
sexual
acts
between
men
a
crime
punishable
by
up
to
two
years
in
jail.
A
proposed
bill
that
would
legalize
oral
and
anal
sex
between
straight
couples
is
being
considered
but
a
law
that
bans
“gross
indecency”
among
gay
men,
which
dates
to
the
days
of
British
colonial
rule,
is
still
on
the
books.
