QUEBEC
CITY,
Canada
(AP)
—
The
gay
leader
of
Quebec’s
separatist
party
resigned
last
week,
just
over
a
month
after
his
party
finished
poorly
in
an
election
in
the
French-speaking
Canadian
province.
Under
Andre
Boisclair
in
March
elections,
Parti
Quebecois
fell
to
the
lowest
level
of
popular
support
in
decades.
The
party
had
promised
to
hold
a
quick
referendum
to
pull
Quebec
out
of
Canada
if
it
won.
Boisclair’s
position
was
further
weakened
because
of
a
recent
spat
involving
Quebec’s
separatist
leader
in
Ottawa
—
Gilles
Duceppe
of
Bloc
Quebecois
—
who
is
viewed
as
the
front-runner
to
replace
Boisclair.
Boisclair
became
the
first
openly
gay
person
to
head
a
political
party
in
Canada
when
Parti
Quebecois
voted
him
as
its
leader
in
2005.
He
was
criticized
after
admitting
he
used
cocaine
as
a
cabinet
minister
in
the
1990s
and
was
viewed
as
a
thin-skinned
political
lightweight
who
could
not
handle
criticism.
He
suggested
he
was
forced
out.
“I
gave
the
best
of
myself
in
this
position
but
the
current
conditions
don’t
allow
me
to
do
this
anymore,”
Boisclair
said.
Rome
‘Family
Day’
rally
draws
anti-gay
crowds
ROME
(AP)
—
With
grandparents
and
children
in
tow,
tens
of
thousands
of
families
gathered
in
a
Rome
piazza
to
voice
their
opposition
to
a
government
bill
that
would
give
many
legal
rights
to
unmarried
couples,
including
gay
ones.
The
“Family
Day”
rally
May
12,
drawing
hundreds
of
thousands
of
demonstrators
in
total,
was
organized
by
lay
Catholic
groups
and
family
associations.
While
the
demonstration
was
endorsed
by
Italian
bishops,
neither
the
Vatican
nor
the
Italian
bishops’
conference
is
formally
behind
it.
The
demonstrators
were
entertained
by
singers,
speakers
and
even
a
brief
video
featuring
the
late
John
Paul
II
in
a
1988
speech
about
the
need
to
protect
family.
Premier
Romano
Prodi’s
Cabinet
passed
the
legislation
at
the
center
of
the
debate
last
February,
and
the
bill
now
requires
parliamentary
approval.
The
proposed
legislation
would
grant
legal
rights
to
unmarried
couples
who
live
together,
including
hospital
visits
and
inheritance.
It
does
not
legalize
gay
marriage,
as
was
done
in
other
European
countries,
such
as
Spain.
Methodist
bishop
calls
for
respect
for
gays
in
Singapore
SINGAPORE
(AP)
—
A
former
Methodist
bishop
has
called
for
greater
understanding
and
respect
for
gays
in
Singapore,
where
recent
public
debate
has
questioned
whether
homosexuality
should
be
decriminalized.
“We
know
that
the
differences
will
exist,
we
only
...
plead
for
mutual
respect
and
not
for
condemnation,”
Rev.
Yap
Kim
Hao,
who
in
1968
became
the
first
Asian
bishop
of
the
Methodist
Church
in
Singapore
and
Malaysia,
said
at
a
May
10
dialogue
on
homosexuality
and
the
church.
The
dialogue,
believed
to
be
the
first
between
the
mainstream
Christian
church
and
the
gay
community
in
Singapore,
was
organized
by
the
gay
social
outreach
arm
of
the
nondenominational
Free
Community
Church.
It
was
attended
by
more
than
350
people,
including
representatives
from
major
Christian
denominations
and
members
of
the
general
public.
The
dialogue
follows
rare
public
debate
about
homosexuality
in
Singapore.
Pakistani
court
orders
arrest
of
transgender
groom
and
his
bride
LAHORE,
Pakistan
(AP)
—
A
Pakistani
court
ordered
the
arrest
of
a
couple
who
married
last
year
after
a
team
of
doctors
concluded
the
groom
was
really
a
woman,
despite
a
sex-change
operation,
officials
said
last
week.
The
case
casts
a
rare
public
spotlight
on
transsexualism,
which
along
with
homosexuality
and
cross-dressing
are
considered
taboo
in
conservative
Pakistan.
The
Lahore
High
Court
issued
the
warrant
May
9
after
medics
charged
with
examining
31-year-old
Shumail
Raj
submitted
their
report,
Mohammed
Sharif,
a
judge
at
the
court,
told
the
Associated
Press.
Ejaz
Bhatty,
a
senior
doctor
who
led
the
team,
said
Raj
told
the
medics
he
had
consulted
a
doctor
16
years
ago
after
noticing
that
his
voice
had
changed
and
that
he
was
sprouting
facial
hair.
The
doctor
recommended
gender
reassignment
surgery
and
operated
twice
on
Raj,
removing
breasts
and
uterus,
Bhatty
said.
However,
the
court
medics
concluded
that
“all
the
evidence
supports
that
the
person
in
question
is
a
woman,”
he
said.
Sharif
said
Raj
himself
had
brought
the
issue
before
the
court
last
week,
giving
a
sworn
statement
that
he
was
a
man
and
complaining
that
his
wife’s
relatives
and
police
were
threatening
them
with
“dire
consequences”
if
they
didn’t
divorce.
U.S.
conservatives
organize
social-issues
conference
in
Poland
NEW
YORK
(AP)
—
Many
prominent
anti-gay
U.S.
...
