Despite an earlier court statement to the contrary, an authoritative official body has now said that nonresidents of Spain will be allowed to marry a same-sex Spanish partner in Spain regardless of whether the nonresident’s home nation allows gay marriage.Spain legalized full same-sex marriage on July 3.
The Junta de Fiscales de Sala, a board of lawyers that assists the fiscal general del Estado, who is similar to a national attorney general, issued its decision July 26.

However, the decision does not necessarily bind local marriage officials, who can refuse to perform such a marriage. Should such a refusal occur, it could lead to a binding court ruling on the matter.The question of whether two foreigners of the same sex can get married in Spain apparently has not been addressed yet.

More Lesbians Than Gay Men Marry In Canada
Initial statistics on same-sex marriage in two Canadian provinces show that more female than male couples have gotten married—even though gay men outnumber lesbians.Same-sex marriage became legal everywhere in Canada on July 20, but has been legal in some provinces and one territory for up to two years.

Lesbian couples account for 63 percent of same-sex marriages in Saskatchewan and 57 percent in British Columbia—despite the fact that Statistics Canada says only 46 percent of Canadian homosexuals are women.

According to Saskatoon’s StarPhoenix newspaper, nobody can explain the numbers. Theories cited include the fact that Canadian lesbians are five times more likely than gay men to have children living with them who need legal protections, and that women are acculturated to dream of their wedding day. Meanwhile, in Alberta, one of Canada’s most conservative provinces, marriage commissioners have been told they don’t have to marry same-sex couples if they don’t want to.

The provincial government likely will add additional commissioners to guarantee that everyone who wants to marry will be able to. Calgary, the province’s largest city, has 26 marriage commissioners, but many smaller communities have only one. The opt-out clause does not apply to registries, the government offices that issue marriage licenses.

Activists Call For Gay-Bar Security   Saying three of its members have received death threats from Islamic fundamentalists, the U.K. gay direct-action group OutRage! is calling on gay bars to begin bag and body searches of customers. “Gay venues could be bombed by Islamic terrorists,” said OutRage! leader Peter Tatchell. “Muslim fundamentalists have a violent hatred of lesbians and gay men. They believe we should be killed.”

Tatchell said he, campaign coordinator Brett Lock and the group’s Muslim-affairs spokesperson, Aaron Saeed, have been warned that they are on a “hit list” and will be “beheaded” and “chopped up” in accordance with “Islamic law.”

“Just you wait and see,” one caller told Tatchell. “The punishment for sodomy is death.” The threats began after OutRage! stepped up its campaign in defense of gay Muslims fleeing attempted “honor killings” in Algeria, Iran, Palestine and the U.K.

Police identified the phone number from which the threats came, but it was a prepay mobile phone that could not be traced.

2,442 Gay Couples Have Married In Belgium

There have been 2,442 same-sex marriages in Belgium since it became the second nation to extend full marriage rights to gays in 2003, according to new Interior Ministry statistics. That is about three percent of the nation’s total marriages during that time period.

Some observers believe the percentage will rise once Belgium OKs adoption by same-sex couples. Full marriage also is available to same-sex couples in Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Massachusetts. Foreign couples are welcome to marry in Canada, and there are no waiting periods except in Quebec.

Taiwan Police Raid BarTaiwanese police raided the gay nightclub DX Club July 24 and arrested 13 people on drug charges, the China Post reported. More than 300 people were searched. “Besides finding ecstasy pills all over the dance floor, police were also amazed to discover many tiny blue Viagra pills,” the Post said.

Anglican Gay Priests Can Marry But Must Not Have SexWhen Britain’s civil-partnerships law comes into force in December, gay Anglican priests will be allowed to get hitched but they must remain chaste, the church said July 25.Anglican leaders said the policy is the only way both to abide by the law and follow church doctrine.The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement accused the church of “double dealing, duplicity and disregard for decency.”

“The Bishops’ Statement betrays contempt, once more, for lesbian and gay relationships and should be rejected as unloving, unpastoral and unworkable,” said General Secretary Richard Kirker. “At a time where lesbian and gay people—yet alone lesbian and gay Christians—are looking to the church to affirm their families and to help build stability and provide a safe space for them, the church spits in their face.”

The worldwide Anglican Communion has been brought to the brink of schism over the issue of gay clergy—after the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire elected an openly gay bishop and the Anglican Church of Canada’s Vancouver-area diocese began blessing gay relationships.

German Police Keep Lists Of Gays 

German gay activists are screaming foul after media revealed that state police in three states keep lists of gays and gay meeting spots, Deutsche Welle reported.

Computer programs allow officers in Bavaria, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia to categorize suspects as homosexual and crime scenes as “locations frequented by gays and lesbians.”  Gay MP Volker Beck said the practice reminds him of the “pink lists” kept by the Nazis.
The gay police group VelsPol noted that one such program, Police Integration Procedures System (IGVP), lists “location frequented by homosexuals” right next to “peepshow,” “brothel” and “prostitution area.”

Philippine Supremes Rule For Lesbian MothersThe Philippines’ Supreme Court ruled last month that an allegedly lesbian mother can keep her child—possibly the first such ruling in the nation. The decision overturned a Court of Appeals ruling granting custody of the four-year-old boy to his father, Crisanto Gualberto, who claimed his wife Joycelyn is gay.

“To deprive a wife of custody, the husband must clearly establish that her moral lapses have had an adverse effect on the welfare of the child or have distracted the offending spouse from exercising proper parental care,” the court said.

Two Gay Books Thrive In Poland
Despite the nation’s less-than-gay-friendly reputation, two new gay-themed books have become “hits,” Radio Polonia reported July 26. Three Men in Bed by Bartosz Zurawiecki tells the story of a burned-out guppie attempting to escape the rat race and its values.Lubiewo by Michal Witkowski features “old queens who had the time of their lives under communism” and are having trouble adapting to life in the capitalist marketplace, said the author.q