Entertainment News
2005-12-20
Elton John calls
for international gay rights
Elton John said
forming a civil partnership with longtime lover David
Furnish in England this week will be "the happiest day
Elton John said
forming a civil partnership with longtime lover David
Furnish in England this week will be "the happiest day of my
life." But, the pop star added he will feel sorry for the
many gay couples who live in countries that prohibit
such unions.
"It has been a
long struggle for equal rights to gay people in
Britain, but now, in the 21st century, we have real civil
rights, tolerance, and final acceptance in our lives,"
John wrote in The Observer, a Sunday newspaper. "Next
Wednesday, on the happiest day of my life, when I celebrate
a civil partnership with David, I will be thinking,
however, about those less fortunate than we are. In
many countries, having a same-sex partner is still
outlawed."
Quoting Amnesty
International, John said an estimated 80 countries still
have laws that criminalize adult same-sex relations. He also
cited specific cases of abuse in countries such as the
United Arab Emirates, Jamaica, Uganda, Iraq, and
Poland. "Throughout history, gay people such as myself
and David have often been made scapegoats by those who
fear that we are a threat to the status quo," John said.
More than 600
same-sex couples plan to form civil partnerships in England
and Wales on Wednesday, the first day that such ceremonies
become possible; in the rest of the United Kingdom
civil unions will be performed beginning today in
Northern Ireland and Tuesday in Scotland. In order to
get the law passed that allows such unions, the British
government avoided potential opposition by avoiding the term
marriage. (AP)
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