Fridae

Judge overrules California ban on same-sex marriage
In a landmark decision, a San Francisco judge ruled on Monday that a California state law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling followed litigation over San Francisco's decision last year to allow gay marriage; the 4000 same-sex marriages performed during that time were however eventually ruled invalid by the California Supreme Court.

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer concluded that the ban violates equal-protection rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry and constitutes discrimination the state can no longer justify.

"The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional," he wrote. Simply put, same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before."

He also compared the ban to archaic laws that once blocked interracial marriage or promoted "separate but equal" segregation.

Meanwhile, opponents of gay marriage have vowed to appeal this and other rulings and to put the issue on the ballot in California.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who authorised more than 4,000 same-sex marriage licenses some 13 months ago, was pleased with Monday's ruling, but said that the issue is not settled.

"I know this is a long fight," said Mayor Newsom. "I'm not naive to the challenges that lie ahead of us, so while I'm ecstatic, to be quite frank about the decision, I'm also cognizant of the challenge ahead."

Some opponents of gay marriage hope to bypass the courts and are working to place a constitutional amendment on the California ballot to prohibit same-sex unions. In the 2004 election, voters in 11 states have backed measures against gay marriage and 21 states are considering changes to their constitutions to ban it.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said he expects the case to make its way to the California Supreme Court.

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Local gay-rights advocates defend Taipei bookstore owner
Gay rights activists on Monday denounced prosecutors for bringing charges against a Taipei bookstore owner for selling erotic magazines, saying that the government's censors were clearly treating gay and lesbian books and magazines unfairly.

In 2003, Keelung Customs officers confiscated more than 200 magazines imported by Gin Gin's bookstore and in the same year, Keelung District prosecutors went to the bookstore and took away more than 500 magazines including His, a local gay publication and some that are legally published in Hong Kong. Adult magazines are wrapped and marked with clear warning signs any books or magazines containing such adult material and are not available to people under 18 years of age.

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Josephine Ho, an advisor to the Gender Sexuality Rights Association and dean of National Central University's English Department, disagreed with the censors' decision.

"Reviews of the magazines by the Publication Appraisal Foundation suggested that those nude photos may cause normal people to conduct improper sexual behavior, and that erect penises shown in the magazine are unnatural, which is ridiculous," she said.

"Besides, I have no idea why an erect penis, which is a normal sexual response, is considered unnatural," Ho said.

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Saudi executes gay lovers for killing Pakistani
Two men in Saudi Arabia were executed on Sunday for beating to death a Pakistani man who saw them in a "shameful situation," the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement issued by the official Saudi Press Agency. The ministry said the two men were executed in the northern town of Arar, close to the border with Iraq.

The pair, Ahmed al-Enezi and Shahir al-Roubli, ran over Malik Khan in their car, beat him on the head with a rock and set fire to his corpse "fearing they would be exposed after the victim witnessed them in a shameful situation."

The phrase "shameful situation" is used to refer to homosexual acts, a criminal offence in Saudi Arabia and seen as a sin against Islam and prohibited in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations. In Saudi Arabia, homosexual acts can be punished by flogging or prison terms.

Saudi Arabia has put to death at least 21 people so far this year. At least 35 people were executed last year and 53 in 2003. Most were convicted of drug smuggling.

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