“Side by Side,” the first gay film festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, was blocked from starting Oct. 2 by city officials who declared the clubs The Place and Sochi, where the films were to be screened, to be fire hazards.

Originally, the festival was to take place in a state cinema house, which later backed out of the deal. Then the festival was moved to the private Pik theater, which then backed out as well.

“Russian authorities continue their policy of homophobia and arbitrary unlawful actions by preventing events organized behind closed doors in private places,” said leading Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev.

The festival was to offer 22 films and appearances by international filmmakers.

Participants in the recent Sarajevo Queer Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to receive death threats, says Amnesty International.

Three newspapers published the names of all the individuals who were injured in an attack on the festival’s opening night Sept. 24.

“Amnesty International is calling on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure that the organizers and the participants of the festival are efficiently protected against death threats and any other form of harassment,” the group said, noting that it “has received no reply from the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the request to carry out prompt investigations and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”

At least 10 people were hurt when dozens of hooded, bearded men shouting “Kill the gays” and “God is great” attacked attendees at the festival’s first event.

Some participants were dragged from cars while others were chased down the streets near the Academy of Fine Arts, site of opening festivities.

The incoming editor of the Finnish provincial newspaper Lapin Kansa says she was fired before starting work because management found out she is in a registered same-sex partnership.

Johanna Korhonen also says she was offered 100,000 euros (US$133,000) to keep quiet about the situation.

However, Alma Media CEO Kai Telanne said the company terminated Korhonen because she failed to reveal that her partner is involved in politics.

Reports said Korhonen’s spouse was running for a seat on the City Council in Vantaa, a city of 190,000 people near Helsinki.

Korhonen countered that the political issue was irrelevant if the couple was moving hundreds of miles to the Lapland capital of Rovaniemi for Korhonen’s new job.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen said she was shocked by Korhonen’s firing.

The Roman Catholic Church has been thwarted in its plan to move the remains of influential 19th-century English Cardinal John Henry Newman from his joint grave with his male housemate of 30 years to a church in Birmingham, in preparation for making him a saint.

When the grave was dug up, there was nothing left there but a brass plate, handles and some red tassels. Newman died in 1890.

Gay activists had objected to the move because Newman had written in his will, “I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St. John’s grave – and I give this as my last, my imperative will.”

The activists had suggested the decision to move Newman’s remains was based on a desire to obscure evidence of his rumored homosexuality prior to canonization.

When St. John died, Newman wrote, “I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband’s or a wife’s, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or anyone’s sorrow greater, than mine.”

The European Commission is planning to file a complaint against the Czech Republic over its failure to include the EC anti-discrimination directive in its national law.

Among much else, the directive mandates protections for GLB people in areas such as employment, education, health care and social benefits.

The Czech Republic is the only member nation of the European Union not to have taken the step, which should have been completed before the country joined the EU in 2004, said the Czech News Agency (CTK).

Failure to implement the directive – which passed Parliament once but was vetoed by President Vaclav Klaus – could result in a large fine levied by the European Court of Justice, CTK said.

Gold-medal diver Matthew Mitcham told the Sydney Morning Herald on Oct. 8 that he is sad he was the only out gay man at the Beijing Olympics.

“I was actually very surprised I was the only out male at the Olympic Games,” he said. “It’s a little bit sad, I think, because statistically there should be a lot more but, you know what, it’s each to one’s own. I’m not going to pressure anybody else to come out of the closet because it’s their own choice. But I’m proud to be there, proud to be that one that lots of other people can look up to.”

Some 10,500 athletes took part in the games. Mitcham’s gold-medal dive received the highest score in Olympic diving history.

Assistance: Bill Kelley