In Brief

MELB MAN CHARGED OVER -˜CONVERSION PARTIES’

A Melbourne man has been accused in court of hosting conversion parties, in an effort to increase the city’s HIV-positive gay community, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Michael Neal, a 48-year-old gay man from Coburg, has been charged with 122 offences relating to 16 men he had sex with over a six-year period without disclosing his HIV status. The court heard this week Neal had organised gay sex parties with the intention of transmitting HIV, and thereby increasing the number of HIV-positive men he could have unprotected safer sex with. Neal has denied the claim.

UK MPS PASS GAY ADOPTION LAW

New legislation outlawing publicly funded adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples was passed by one of the UK houses of parliament this week. The legislation would force all adoption agencies to cease discrimination against would-be adoptive parents, regardless of sexuality. According to The Independent, the legislation has been slammed by Catholic adoption agencies, some of which have threatened to close rather than follow the new rules.

ELTON JOHN TOO GAY FOR THE CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago may ban Elton John from headlining at the third annual Plymouth Jazz Festival for being openly homosexual. The island republic has laws that prevent admitted prostitutes and homosexuals from entering the country. Archdeacon Philip Isaac decried the star’s lifestyle: His visit to the island can open the country to be tempted towards pursuing his lifestyle. Organisers insist the concert will go ahead.

LIBERAL CANDIDATE IN POSTER BIFF

Two candidates for the seat of Sydney, Liberal Edward Mandla and independent Malcolm Duncan, have given statements to police regarding a confrontation over telegraph posters reported in The Daily Telegraph. In his statement Duncan said he felt Mandla come up behind me and thrust his upper right thigh into my bottom and between my legs. On reflection I think he may have been aiming at my testicles. Mandla has rejected the allegations, claiming Duncan was a serial pest who had been tearing down posters willy-nilly.