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Loading ...Report: French police spy on gays ahead of Papal visit
09.03.2008 6:29pm EDT
(Paris) French police are spying on LGBT and HIV/AIDS group ahead of next week’s visit by Pope Benedict XVI, a prominent Paris newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Among the groups under surveillance is ACT UP, an outspoken critic of the Vatican’s refusal to accept condoms as a means of preventing HIV/AIDS, according to Le Figaro.Other groups which oppose Rome’s position on gay marriage and civil unions are also said to be under surveillance by France’s anti-terror squad, which also is keeping an eye on suspected al-Qaeda sympathizers.
Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit France from Sept. 12-15. He will be in Paris and Lourdes.
Some 6,000 police and other security forces will guard the pope and prevent demonstrators from getting close to him.
French authorities are anxious to avoid a repeat of the condom shower that greeted the Pope in Sydney, Australia, in July.
The Vatican believes abstinence, not condoms, are most effective in preventing HIV/AIDS. Last year it issued a statement calling condoms risky and unsafe.
The pope also has been a harsh critic of same-sex unions, most recently blasting the California Supreme Court for striking down that state’s ban on gay marriage.
In April, gay Catholics and other LGBT groups demonstrated against the papal marriage stand during Benedict’s visit to the US.
“The Vatican believes abstinence, not condoms, are most effective in preventing HIV/AIDS. Last year it issued a statement calling condoms risky and unsafe.”
When battling any fatal pandemic it is important to use ALL effective measures, not merely the MOST effective measure.
The unnatural state of celibacy is not the base line against which risk should be measured. Since condoms reduce risk from unprotected sex, it is entirely irresponsible, a lie leading to others’ deaths, nearly homicide, to say otherwise.
Etant que Sarkozy est le President de France ce n’est pas dificile d’imaginer ce manque du respect pour les droits civils. La France et les francais aiment faire voir comme le pays sur l’haut chemin mais la verite est que les memes abuses qu’on experience aux etats-unis sont presents dans la Republique Francaise.
Je peux seulement esperer que la France corrige cet erreur, d’avoir elu ce maudit cave Sarkozy, quand Delanoe decide de mettre sa candidature pour la Presidence. Vous les francais doivent mieux decider le destin de votre propre republique, si vous voulez juger les autres, particulier les etats-unis.
(desole pour le manque des accents_