New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark declared Sept. 17 that her husband, Dr. Peter Davis, is not gay after Investigate magazine ran photos taken from TV footage that showed him being hugged and kissed by a man.

It turned out the man was openly gay Ian Scott, an old family friend who had thrown his arms around Davis when Clark and Davis arrived at the Labour Party campaign headquarters the night of her 2005 re-election.

“I would describe him [Scott] as being one of an inner circle of Auckland friends whom we have, and all of them will be falling over themselves laughing today at this kind of rumor,” Clark said. “My husband was not particularly happy with Ian’s hugging of him at the time, but that happened and there is nothing more to it.”

Clark said Davis is “absolutely not” gay and denounced the suggestion as “schoolboy smutty rumors.”

Scott told the Sunday Star-Times that the magazine’s treatment of the video stills was “bullshit.”

“I am not his gay lover. He is not gay,” Scott said.

Thousands of Christians marched in several South African cities Sept. 16 against the government’s plan to pass a civil-union bill that would give same-sex couples the same rights as married people.

The marches were organized by the African Christian Democratic Party, which wants to see the Constitution amended to “protect” traditional marriage.

The civil-union bill was introduced in response to a Constitutional Court ruling that gave legislators until Dec. 1 to end the Marriage Act’s discrimination against same-sex couples.

If lawmakers do not take satisfactory action by that date, the court said the Marriage Act automatically will be construed to allow same-sex marriage.

Two male members of Spain’s air force got married in Seville Sept. 15.

Spain is one of five nations where same-sex couples have access to traditional marriage.

Privates Alberto Linero Marchena and Alberto Sánchez Fernández tied the knot at City Hall, in uniform, before friends and family.

Mayor Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín conducted the ceremony, commenting, “This is not just your wedding. You symbolize millions of people who are not here and suffer from homophobia.”

More than 100 Indian authors, actors, filmmakers, journalists, academics, lawyers and others issued an open letter Sept. 16 calling for legalization of gay sex.

Led by writer Vikram Seth, the group called the 145-year-old ban “archaic and brutal.”

They said it has been used to “persecute, blackmail, arrest and terrorise sexual minorities” and “has spawned public intolerance and abuse, forcing tens of millions of gay and bisexual women and men to live in fear and secrecy, at a tragic cost to them and their families.”

The law also has been utilized by authorities to scuttle HIV-prevention activities, they noted.

The signatories included Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen and Booker prizewinner Arundhati Roy.

Known as Section 377, the statute punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” with up to 10 years in prison.

In February, the Supreme Court remanded a case seeking to overturn the law back to the Delhi High Court, which had dismissed it on a technicality.

The high court ordered that the case be considered on its merits and that the Delhi court rule on the law’s constitutionality. A hearing is set for October.

The thrice-canceled Jerusalem WorldPride Parade is now scheduled to take place Nov. 10.

It was canceled last year because the police said they were preoccupied with a planned evacuation of Jews from Gaza. It was canceled twice this year, once because police said they were preoccupied with Israel’s war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and then again after police said they would be preoccupied with the Jewish New Year holiday season.

On Sept. 18, responding to a complaint by organizers, the High Court of Justice put its foot down, chose a date, told the police to cooperate, and ordered the city to support the event with funding.

The Filipino gay group Ang Ladlad registered in Manila Sept. 15 to run a candidate for Congress in 2007.

Chair Danton Remoto told local media the group wants to “reclaim the rights we have lost from centuries of homophobia and discrimination.”

Ang Ladlad means coming out. The Manila Bulletin said it comes from the word “magladlad,” which means “to unfurl the cape that used to cover one’s body as a shield.”

Members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights and other Euro MPs launched a project Sept. 13 to combat homophobic behavior in schools.

Among other moves, they unveiled a report on social exclusion of GLBT youth produced by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Youth and Student Organization and the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

The report included results from a survey of 700 GLBT youth in 37 European nations which found that 61 percent have experienced prejudice and discrimination at school, 51 percent at home and 30 percent among their friends.