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Sapphite News: Greece
News in Greek the first Greek e-news page, reporting about our own issues and concerns !!! in the Sapphites pages since 2001 (english page since spring 2003) |
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Latest Sapphite News The first two future-weds couples are a lesbian couple in Athens and (probably) a gay couple in Thessaloniki. Their names are not publicly announced, to protect them from the homophobic yellow-press part of the local media negative exposure. Our best wishes to them !!! According to local press articles starting to appear in late February in Athens daily papers, the greek government is preparing a poor excuse for a discrimnating co-habitation contract. The bill is supposed to target at making existing non-married heterosexual couples "face their responsibilities", possibly especially conserning taxes and anything else they will have to pay more as a couple (as in a couple's tax-exempt income is less than that of two individuals), and it does not seem to be anything close to any self-respecting registered co-habitatio arangement, as it is reputed that the basic way of braking the contract is "when one or both the participants get married", without any mention that in the cases that one of the participants is getting married (obviously to someone else), they at least should inform the other part in writting before their marriage !!! It does not seem like anything interesting to any real person at this point, still un-contitutional and against every international human rights declaration even to think about drafting a bill discriminating agaist part of the population. Please send your relevant complaints to the competent Greek ministry of justice [grammatia @ justice.gov.gr] about this planned legislative discrimanation against homosexual couples. more.. and to the coresponding email addresses & fax numbers you will find in the Athens municipality site and the competent EXPERTS RELEASE GROUNDBREAKING PRINCIPLES ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS Call for Action Worldwide Against Discrimination and Abuse (New York, NY, March 26, 2007) The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, released today by a group of 29 international human rights experts, is a collection of groundbreaking international legal principles on sexual orientation, gender identity, and international law that charts a way forward for both the United Nations and governments to ensure the universal reach of human rights protections. the full principles : http://yogyakartaprinciples.org/ This is greek law 3500/06 about home violence, published on the government paper FEK 232A' on 24.10.2006 and valid 3 months later. * The Sapphites were in the 6th Antiracism Festival @ Rethymno, Crete, on the 23/24th weekend. This was our 4th consecutive year there. We can't stop being gratefull to the organisers for their hospitality and support. This time it was not a lonely sapphite at all, there were friends and lesbian couples visiting a lot and releiving me of my duties to have a snack and visit other stands. They went so far as to pose for an unknown photographer, smiling ear to ear, not even thinking of asking where will those photos appear ! Looks like they're almost ready to start their local group.. * This year on the "first-screening nights", the Athens film festival, there was a queer cinema section for the first time! We were lucky to be able to see "Go Fish" (1994, by Rose Troche, 1994) on Tuesday, Sept. 21 and Desert Hearts (1985, by Donna Deitch) on Monday, Sept. 25. Two of the lesbian classics that usually stay distant myths for the greek sapphites. I was lucky to be able to see only the first one, and it was so cool being in a 90% lesbian filled cinema, watching a lesbian-only setting on screen, then being around a lesbian-only audience having beers and chating very happily around the bar in the inteval .. it was like you just went out of the lesbian room in the film for just ten minutes, into the other lesbian room filled with more familiar faces.. It was just too great. After the end of the film the women were just hanging around the cinema exit, nobody seeming eager to leave.. I don't know for so long, I had promiced the lady I was escorting to take her home early, and we had to catch the last train.. so I guess we broke the spell. * We regret to announce the loss of another of our too few activists. Patra Serafimidoy death was announced on July 22nd, 2006. Patra has been a great worker with feminist and lgbt groups in Salonica. We hope the Sympraxis and POEK-Salonica groups in both of which she was a distinguished worker, will issue some more informative announcement. We already miss her too. * The Athens Antiracism festival was held at "platia Protomayas", next to the Evelpidon courts area, Friday, June 30 to Sunday July 2nd, with exceptional participation & attendance. *** The open public Athens Pride 2006 was held on Saturday, June 24, on the same Klaythmonos sqr. & the same march to the parliament & back, just like last year, with the expected success of some more participation, despite the fewer public anouncements precceding it. See some photos online in our club, @ http://clubs.pathfinder.gr/sappho/9478?album=168084... (you don't really need to download the greek fonts if you're offered to...) ** The Greek LGBT community lost one of the most active members, Vangelis Giannelos, a member of AKOE 1987-1989 and a founding member of EOK since 1989. We bid him last farewell on Monday, May 22nd, 5pm, at the Zografou Cemetery, in Athens. *** Homophobic fears about " A new European Union directive will oblige Greece to treat all registeredor married same-sex EU couples as traditional husband-and-wife couples " !!! Athens News, 14/04/2006, page: A15 - Article code: C13178A151 (our emphasis on the title above) www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13178&t=11&m=A15&aa=1 Our comment: - The notion of the "bad EU" enforcing "poor Greece" to take various "unheard of" measures.. and to pay huge fines when "bravely" refusing to.. is the typical local lore about everything the local government/s are not really eager to promote, no mater how long before they have fully accepted and signed it. All major media support this fairytale. The same fairytale "explains" the EU fines paid by the taxpayers money for misconducts made by officials on all levels. This all the average citizent knows about the EU and social programs and equal rights and all .. The EU is always "enforcing' us, and then fining us. It is a real wonder that about half the population still thinks it's good for us to be a member state. It should be really beneficial to Greece and probably other heavily indebted countries to make such fines payable by the individuals whose illegal activities resulted in the fines. They have probably made more money that the fine costs during their years in office anyway.. This one is also common knowledge of the Greek people. We plead the EU desision-makers to try and make human rights and european citizents rights education compulsory, at least in high-schools, as the local ministry or religion (controlling education), will never permit this. ** Greece does not want gays in its armed forces - Η Ελλάδα δεν θέλει ομοφυλόφιλους στο στρατό - (in english) - (AFP, 28 March 2006 ) http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=6756 www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?... www.hipforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-157071.html www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu/PressClips/06_0328_FrancePresse.htm all last accessed Sept. 2006 |
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| this page started on 2 October 2003
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