Several public figures joined an Oct. 4 protest in London against Iran’s ongoing harassment and executions of gay men. They included actor Jeremy Sheffield, rap star Q Boy, comedian Scott Cappurro, “Big Brother” contestant Josh Rafter and gay MP Chris Bryant. The action outside Iran’s embassy also received letters of support from Boy George, actor Simon Callow and “Little Britain” TV star Matt Lucas.

“We are here to condemn Iran’s execution and torture of gay men, and to demand international action against the tyrannical Iranian regime,” said protest co-organizer Peter Tatchell of the gay direct-action group OutRage!.

“The international community should issue an ultimatum to Iran: either respect human rights or face economic sanctions. There can be no normal relations with an abnormal regime that executes gay people, unchaste women, Muslims who renounce their faith and political, religious and ethnic minorities.”

Two gay teens were hanged in the Iranian city of Mashad on July 19. The government claimed they raped another boy, but “underground gay groups inside Iran tell us that the two teenagers were lovers,” said Tatchell.

OutRage! says its inside sources report that “the Iranian government routinely makes up false allegations – such as rape, drug-taking and spying – to discredit the people it executes and to discourage public protests.”

There are no plans to stage Lithuania’s first Pride parade anytime in the foreseeable future, but that didn’t stop 50 anti-gays from protesting the very notion of such a parade on Sept. 30.

Supported by several large Christian denominations, the demonstrators gathered in Vilnius’ Europe Square in hopes of fending off a future “attack by homosexuals,” they said in a statement.

They carried signs that read “Down with homophiles” and “No to gay marriage.”

The people of Spain oppose the opposition Popular Party’s plan to file suit to undo the nation’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage, a poll has found.

Sixty percent of 1,000 adults questioned on Oct. 1 called the move “a negative development.” Only 29.9 percent said it was “a positive development.” The rest were unsure or didn’t answer the question. The poll’s margin of error was 3.1 percent.

Poland’s probable next prime minister defamed gays Oct. 3. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz – selected by the victorious parties in the recent election as their candidate for prime minister – told Newsweek that homosexuality is “unnatural.”

“The family is natural and the state must stand guard over the family,” he said. But, he added, “I don’t care if someone is a homosexual or not, and even if I found out something like that, I wouldn’t judge a person differently than on their actions alone. But if that person tries to infect others with their homosexuality, then the state must intervene in this violation of freedom.”

Marcinkiewicz would become prime minister after appointment by the president and confirmation by parliament.

A federal court in Rosario, Argentina, ordered the country’s largest union-operated health care organization, the Obra Social de Empleados de Comercio y Actividades Civiles (Retail and Store Personnel Union Health Care Organization), to extend coverage to a member’s same-sex partner in early October.

Judge Sylvia Aramberri declared that “the dynamics of social life require that the laws regulating human conduct adapt to the variations that operate within it to prevent reality from overflowing the legal norms.”

She said her ruling was based on the national Constitution, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Oct. 6 that there should be no gay parades in the city-state because people would disapprove.

“I don’t think we’re homophobic,” Lee said, answering a question at a Foreign Correspondents Association event. “Homosexuals are people like you and me. But there’s some segment of Singaporeans who vehemently disagree with that and we have to be aware of that.

“Gay pride – well, you can do that in Sydney, in London, in San Francisco. But I’m not sure if I want to do that in Singapore. I think it would be offensive to a large number of Singaporeans and will be very divisive. … It is not a wise thing to do.”

Beirut has its first gay magazine, the Daily Star reported Oct. 10. Barra (Out) is published quarterly by the gay organization Helem.

Helem coordinator Georges Azzi told the Star that Lebanon is the only Arab country where gays can find refuge and that Helem is the “first Arab non-governmental organization openly fighting for their rights.”

Lebanon punishes “unnatural sexual intercourse” with up to a year in jail.

Several hundred Croatian GLBTs signed an ad placed in two large daily newspapers on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day, Reuters reported. The ad, titled “We don’t want to hide anymore,” ran in the Jutarnji List and Vecernji List newspapers.

But despite the headline, the ad’s signers used only their first names.

“This is a symbolic coming out, but it shows that gays in Croatia are mustering courage to fully reveal their identities,” Dorino Manzin of the gay group Iskorak (Step Out) told the wire service.