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NEWS & LETTERS, April 2002 

Queer Notes

by Suzanne Rose

International demonstrators from Amnesty International and Al-Fatiha, which represents gay Arabs, handed out leaflets at a Washington luncheon hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. They were protesting the presence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The leaflets condemned Mubarak and the Egyptian government over the arrests and trials of 42 gay men at a boat party on the Nile last summer. Twenty-three of the men have been sentenced to hard labor. The protesters also condemned the Bush administration for failing to raise human rights concerns at a previous meeting with Mubarak.

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A Toronto judge spent two hours criticizing Toronto police for violating the rights of women during a raid on a lesbian bathhouse. Saying they were acting on a complaint that illegal activity was taking place, five male officers entered the Club Toronto baths. The male officers went through the five-story building for over an hour, despite the fact the women were in various states of undress.

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The employment rights of British gay men and lesbians could be severely compromised if the government goes ahead with plans to exempt religious groups from proposed legislation outlawing discrimination in the workplace. The new legislation covers sexuality, religion, age and disability. The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association says that thousands of jobs controlled by religious bodies could be denied to "out" gays and atheists.

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