As the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act took effect last month, Australian GLBT activists demanded that their government create a national civil-union scheme for straight and gay relationships.

“Certification is important when same-sex or heterosexual de facto couples are required to prove their relationship status in areas as diverse as child custody, … death benefits, passport applications or during a medical emergency,” said Australian Coalition for Equality spokesperson Kelly Pilgrim-Byrne.

However, a day later, Prime Minister John Howard said no way.

“I think marriage is for men and women. That’s why we amended the Marriage Act [to ban same-sex marriage],” Howard said. “That’s the common understanding of marriage in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and I would be opposed to the recognition of civil unions.”

At present, the state of Tasmania offers partnership registration and the Australian Capital Territory has announced plans to follow suit.

Czechs are more gay-friendly than Poles, Slovaks or Hungarians, a poll by the Public Opinion Research Center, Central European Opinion Research Group and Focus agency has found.

Forty-two percent of Czechs think same-sex couples should be allowed to get married, compared to 25 percent of Hungarians, 24 percent of Slovaks and 21 percent of Poles, the Czech News Agency reported.

Registered partnership receives higher marks, supported by 62 percent of Czechs, 42 percent of Poles, 39 percent of Slovaks and 36 percent of Hungarians.

Citizens of the four nations strongly oppose gay adoption: 84 percent of Poles, 77 percent of Slovaks, 72 percent of Czechs and 70 percent of Hungarians want to keep children out of same-sex families.

Not surprisingly, Czechs are more likely to report they know someone gay. Forty-three percent said so, compared to 30 percent of Slovaks, 14 percent of Poles and 8 percent of Hungarians.

The poll questioned 1,075 people over age 15. No margin of error was provided in press reports.

Eighty-three percent of South Korean lesbians say they’ve experienced discrimination, abuse or personal distress because of their sexual orientation, a survey by the Lesbian Rights Research Institute has found.

The organization questioned 507 lesbians in their 20s and 30s in the cities of Daego, Busan and Seoul, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

The women cited lack of emotional stability, impaired self-confidence, feelings of abnormality, conflict with families and friends, trouble at school or work, threats of being outed and sexual assault.

Additional findings included: 62 percent of those questioned figured out they were gay in their teens and 31 percent realized it in their 20s. Fifty-nine percent had dated men at some point.

“People in this society have a fixed and biased view that only heterosexuality is normal,” the institute said. “That prejudice is leaving lesbians exposed to both conflict and crime.”

Moscow’s first non-porn-oriented gay store has opened, Out Traveler reported in its January issue.

Indigo, located near City Hall, offers books, videos, DVDs and tchotchkes.

“We would like homosexuals to have the opportunity to obtain literature, films and gay souvenirs in one place without having to be afraid of the stares and condemnation from the homophobic public,” owner Ed Mishin told the gay.ru Web site.

The Russian Orthodox Church broke relations with Sweden’s state-funded Lutheran church on Dec. 27 because it blesses same-sex couples who have registered their partnership, mosnews.com reported.

The Church of Sweden Assembly voted 160 to 81 in favor of the policy Oct. 26.

“We have received with great disappointment and grief the news that not only does the Lutheran Church of Sweden not oppose so-called homosexual marriages, but has even ruled to establish an official blessing ceremony,” the Russian church’s Holy Synod stated. “[T]he testimonies of the Holy Writing leave us no doubt that homosexuality is considered a sin and ‘confusion.’”

Sweden has offered registered partnerships – which bestow nearly every right and obligation of marriage – since 1995.

Lithuanian Member of Parliament Irena Degutiene of the Homeland Union party reportedly will begin collecting signatures in hopes of amending the nation’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage, the Lithuanian Gay League reported.

Some other MPs have denounced the move as unnecessary, saying same-sex marriage already is unconstitutional or, at the least, prohibited by the Civil Code.

Neighboring Latvia banned same-sex marriage constitutionally on Dec. 21, when President Vaira Vike-Freiberga signed legislation that had passed Parliament by a vote of 65 to 6, with 9 abstentions.

The 23rd World Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association will take place in Geneva from March 27 to April 3.

The confab will coincide with the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which repeatedly has voted down or refused to consider resolutions supporting equal treatment for gays and lesbians.

Five ILGA pre-conferences will deal with transgender rights, religion and sexual orientation, women’s health, men’s health and GLBT workplace rights.

For more information, visit www.ilga-world-conference-2006.ch.