MAY 22 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
Global
ews notes
■■ from around the nation & globe
International >
Real lover was a gay Nazi
LONDON, England — He is one of the
great romantic heroes. In Michael
Ondaatje’s book “The English Patient,"
Laszio Almasy is a once-dashing count
who lies bandaged in a
hospital bed tormented
by severe burns and the
memory of his dead
lover. That is the fiction.
A book to be published
will detail the real life of
Laszio, played by Ralph
Fiennes in the film
based on the novel,
who was a very differ- laszio Almasy
ent character. He was not a count and he
did not have an affair with a beautiful
married Englishwoman. His true lover did
die tragically but he was a Nazi soldier
killed by a landmine. The real story of
Almasy has been fascinating people since
Ondaatje’s Booker prize-winning novel
was published in 1992. Interest was
intensified by Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-
winning film, in which Almasy steals soci
ety beauty Katharine Clifton, played by
Kristin Scott Thomas, from her husband,
played by Colin Firth.
Taiwan's first gay minister
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Presbyterian
priest has become Taiwan’s first open
ly gay Christian minister. Tseng Shu-
min was ordained a minister in the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church. "We should give him blessings
and encouragement,” ruling
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
parliamentarian Hsiao Bi-khim told
reporters before she participated in the
ceremony. “Hopefully basic human
rights would be respected here in
Taiwan.” Domestic gay groups wel
comed the event, which Chan Ming-
chou from the Taiwan Gay and Lesbian
Association described as a “milestone”
in the improvement of human rights on
the island. The DPP government has
been pressing for the enactment of a
Human Rights Basic Law which
enshrines the right of homosexual cou
ples to adopt children, among other
provisions, including abolishing the
death penalty.
Gay marriage lows strengthened
BERLIN, Germany — Germany’s so-
called gay marriage laws have been
strengthened following a ruling by the
nation’s federal labour court. In handing
down its judgment, the court said that
public employers must pay the same loca
tion allowances to homosexuals regis
tered in a life partnership (officially known
an ‘Eingetragenelebensgemeinschaft’) as
married. In their ruling, the judges indicat
ed that they did not see a difference
between a registered life partnership and
marriage when it came to remuneration in
the public service with the court accepting
that a ‘Eingetragenelebensgemeinschaft’
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also meant family status. A leading mem
ber of the parliamentary Green Party,
Volker Beck hailed the judgement as a
“big breakthrough.” The judgement fol
lowed a case brought by a male nurse
who claimed the higher location
allowances paid td his married colleagues.
Conservative lawmakers in parliament
have refused to accept provisions of the
gay marriage law, so that it falls short of
equality with heterosexuals in some
major areas, notably taxation. The law is
also important for gay foreigners who
wish to live in Germany. A piece of paper
saying you are a part of an
‘Eingetragenelebensgemeinschaft’ can
guarantee an unlimited residence permit
(unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis) and
help with arranging a work permit.
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