Iranian denial

Ok... I know it seems very weired, but do you remember one of the first posts on this blog? Yes, it's right! It was about Iran and its peculiar way of eliminating homosexuals. This is weired because the President of Iran, as you must be aware, was in USA. He was invited by University of Columbia and said something extraordinary... Take a look.

So, people laughed... I didn't. Certainly he is right because he might have killed everybody who was gay in Iran. That man, who is obviously a villager who raised power for being fanatic islamist, makes me remember some spokeman of Saddam Hussein. Do you remember that funny guy telling about the fantastic power of Irak and the fantastic victory against America? He was always denying Irak's defeat. Mr. Ahmadinejad is an evil man. But what makes him diabolic is his truly ability of create a world and a country that doesn't exist. He denies the existence of homosexuals in Iran with the same horrible smile he uses when he denies the Holocaust, with the same sarcasm he wears in his lips when he denies a dictatureship in that country... He is a dissimulation. He could at least admit he his a dictature who doesn't like jews, gays, americans, and everything who his not according to the Qu'ran. This way of facing the world is oldfashioned. But specially, this way of facing the world makes me believe world is, despite of everything, becaming a worst place.

In the memory of those men and women who were killed in the Islamic Republic of Iran for not being heterosexuals.

BCN

Barcelona is famous for its architecture and its night life, but during the day there are more things to see on the streets than beautiful buildings. Take a look.

Queer Lisboa 11

It's today the openning session of the Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Since its foundation, in 1997, the Lisbon Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (LGLFF) has always conceived itself as an artistic and cultural event, open to everybody, far from any sense of ghetto, to where frequently events of this nature are thrown into. In a Gay and Lesbian Film Festival the compromise must be sealed, not only with its theme, but also with Film, given that this festival is made for cinema lovers, be them gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or not. The Festival program is conceived for all, regardless of identities or lifestyles.

Official website: Queer Lisboa 11

Football

It might be strange but there are better things than just soccers legs to see in a stadium. Going to football is no more a straight and viril activity. Women and gays already conquered stadium as well... and, as you can see in the pictures below, there are not just guys running with a ball but also working for TV stations. This happened by chance: my sit was one of the best and I was just in front of this overmuscled cameraman. The score was 2-2. Who cares?

Summer Time 4

One of the best things about Summer is to watch Dante's Cove on DVD.

Iowa's Gay Marriage Ban Overturned

Good news for North-american gays living in Iowa. Article from Associated Press.

A Polk County judge on Thursday struck down Iowa's law banning gay marriage.

The ruling by Judge Robert Hanson concluded that the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and he ordered the Polk County recorder to issue marriage licenses to six gay couples.

"This is kind of the American Dream," said plaintiff Jen BarbouRoske, of Iowa City. "I'm still feeling kind of shaky. It's pure elation, I just cannot believe it."
Camilla Taylor, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay rights organization, said the ruling requires "full equality for all Iowans including gay and lesbian Iowans and their families."
"The Iowa Constitution has lived up to its promises of equality for everyone," she said.
Gay couples from anywhere in Iowa could apply for a marriage license from Polk County. The process takes three days, however.
Polk County is expected to appeal the ruling to the Iowa S upreme Court.
County Attorney John Sarcone said the county would immediately seek a stay from Hanson, which if granted would prevent anyone from seeking a marriage license until an appeal could be heard.
The case will be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, which could refer it to the Iowa Court of Appeals, consider the case itself or decide not to hear the case.
Des Moines lawyer Dennis Johnson represented the six gay couples who filed suit after they were denied marriage licenses. He called the ruling "a moral victory for equal rights."
Johnson argued that Iowa has a long history of aggressively protecting civil rights in cases of race and gender. He said the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Legislature passed in 1998, contradicts previous court rulings regarding civil rights and should be struck down.
Johnson called the Defense of Marriage law "mean spirited" and said it was designed only to prohibit gays from marrying. He said it violates t he state constitution's equal protection and due-process clauses.
Lambda Legal, which spearheaded a same-sex marriage drive across the country, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the gay and lesbian couples in Polk County District Court on Dec. 13, 2005.
Roger J. Kuhle, an assistant Polk County attorney, argued that the issue is not for a judge to decide.
Rachel Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, which opposes gay marriage, said the decision will be appealed.
"We're very disappointed and will pursue to the next level of courts," she said.
In his ruling, Hanson said the state law allowing marriage only between a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
"Couples, such as plaintiffs, who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage... by reason of the fact that both person comprising such a couple are of the same sex," he said.
The judge said the state law banning same-sex marriage must be nullified, severed and stricken from the books and the marriage laws "must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage..."
State Sen. Ron Wieck, R-Sioux City, said he was surprised by the ruling and promised the Legislature would take another look at the issue.
"We'll look at something we can do legislatively," Wieck said.
House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, said the judge's ruling only illustrates the need for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
"I can't believe this is happening in Iowa," he said. "I guarantee you there will a vote on this issue come January."
Sarcone, the Polk County attorney, said the arguments in the case were similar to those made in litigation around the cou ntry.
"I know Judge Hanson took a lot of time with it," Sarcone said. "He made his decision and we respectfully disagree."
Kate Varnum, another plaintiff, said she was elated but expected more legal battles.
"I don't expect this to be the last one," said Varnum, of Cedar Rapids.

Summer Time 3

One of the best things about Summer is running... or watch Word Championships in Athletics on TV...

Photo is from the Greek athlete Anastasios Gousis on IAFF World Championships in Athletics 2007, Osaka.