Fridae

Filipino gay couple marry in communist jungle camp
In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, two members of the communist rebels, the New People's Army (NPA), were married on February 4 in a jungle camp by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The story has been widely reported in the international media after it first appeared in the February 7 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer which identified the couple as 54-year-old Ka (comrade) Andres, an education instructor, and 21-year-old Ka Jose, a city-based revolutionary activist to be deployed in the countryside. They couple who had met three years ago in the NPA camp walked under an archway of assault rifles after signing their "wedding contract" exchanging vows in a heavily guarded ceremony before local villagers, friends and comrades in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao.

During the "wedding," sponsors draped a sequined CPP flag around the couple's shoulders. The flag was held in place by a long, beaded cord, which also went around the couple and the sponsors - symbolising that their marriage would be made stronger with the help of comrades and the masses. Both held a bullet and each other's hands, which represented their "commitment to the armed struggle."

Military officials have however dismissed the marriage as propaganda and claimed the marriage to be a sham intended to encourage gay people to join the rebel group.

Pro-Gay, a gay rights group supported the group's decision to allow the marriage and challenged the devoutly Catholic President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to "enact laws and policies that formalise the equal citizenship of gay and lesbian Filipinos� Instead of calling homosexual marriages as immoral, the government should be taking steps to follow the example of the NPA by legalising domestic partnerships and honouring gay families."

The NPA, the 8,000-strong guerrilla arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has waged an insurgency since 1969 in which at least 40,000 have been killed, said a Reuters report.

POST/READ COMMENTS

Sweden to consider gay marriage
Sweden is the latest country to discuss the issue of gay marriage, with the government announcing it is to launch a report into whether same sex nuptials should be legalised.

According to a local newspaper, a group consisting of members of the major political parties will look into whether the country should offer its lesbian and gay residents the right to marriage. It is thought that it will also study the process of introducing same-sex unions around the world.

However, the panel has so far not consulted with the country's lesbian and gay organisations, focusing instead on religious communities and politicians.

Sweden already has a system of civil unions, similar to the U.K.'s Civil Partnership Act and French civil union laws (PACS), available to same-sex couples.

Fiji to review gay laws
The Fiji Law Reform Commission has said on Friday that laws governing homosexual conduct will be reassessed as part of reviews of the Penal Code this year.

The Penal Code outlaws sodomy, both in private and public places and if caught, men face a five-year jail term. The 1997 Constitution however guarantees the rights of people of all sexual orientation, including gays.

Chairman of the Fiji Law Reform Commission, Alipate Qetaki, said the law could either be changed or retained. "The Fiji Law Reform Commission will be reviewing the Penal Code (Cap 16) this year."

"One of its task is to consider the present laws governing homosexual conduct in Fiji and the need to change or retain the same," he said.