Registered partnership bill published in Germany. The ministry of justice in Berlin has published the official bill for the registered partnership. It is a first draft and includes only some legal aspects. (Euro-Letter, no. 76/January 2000) 

Lithuanian penal code draft includes sexual orientation. Lithuanian Ministry of Justice published a revised version of the new draft Penal Code. Article 160 "Discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, sex, origin, religion or other group membership" provides for imprisonment of up to 3 years for "acts, which were aimed to prevent population group or its member to participate equally in political, economical, social, cultural or work activity because of their nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, origin, religion or other group membership". Although the authors omit "sexual orientation" in the article's title it is included in the text for the first time in the legal history of the country. It is expected that the new Penal Code will be adopted by the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) this year. (Euro-Letter, no. 76/January 2000) 

Former communist countries say no to registered partnership. Latvia's parliament rejected a gay registered-partnership bill. The bill, drafted by the national Human Rights Office, died in the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee which declined to send it to the full parliament. A similar bill on registered partnership for same sex couples was also rejected by the Czech Parliament on December 2, 1999, being opposed by a group of Christian Democrats. (Rex Wockner) 

The first sexual minorities conference in Yugoslavia. On January 20-23, the first sexual minorities conference was held in Novi Sad. The conference was organised by the New Age association, supported by the Dutch organisation Hivos, and had the motto: "Tolerance - live and let the others live too". Among the topics debated: the prejudice, isolation, violence and human rights violations with which sexual minorities are confronted in the countries of former Yougoslavia. (Nouvelles de Têtu) 

Lesson on civicism, in Toronto. The Toronto District School Board is helping sponsor a poster campaign that tells students it's OK to be gay. The posters will appear in subway stations and at all schools with students in 7th grade or above. (Rex Wockner) 

Discrimination in movies. This spring, the French director Francis Véber will start shooting on a new film, called "Le placard" ("The closet"). The film will feature some of the most important actors of the contemporary French cinema, like Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte and Daniel Auteuil. The main character, played by Daniel Auteuil, works in a big enterprise and is about to lose his job, when rumours begin that he is gay. As a matter of fact, he isn't, but his employer decides to keep him, in order to avoid being accused of discrimination. (Nouvelles de Têtu) 

Air France extends benefits. The most important airline in France, Air France, extended cheap spouse fares to gay couples who register under the nation's new partnership law. "Our aim is to treat our staff and our clients who have legally registered their partnerships the same as married couples," said a company spokesperson. Other French airlines and the national railroad already provide benefits to gay employees' partners. (Rex Wockner) 

British Army is available for gays. According to a statement by the Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, in the House of Commons homosexuality will no longer be a bar to service in Britain's armed forces. The statement follows the historic ruling from the European Court of Human Rights at the end of September where judges declared Britain's armed forces gay ban unlawful. Out of all the NATO Countries - Turkey is the only one that still bans gays and this is likely to be affected by last September's ECHR ruling. (Stonewall) 
 
 
  

At the end of this month we intend to finalise the plans for the organisation's strategy in the years to come. Our plans will pay a special attention to some of the threats which affect the life of sexual minorities in Romania, hence the activity of the organisation which represents them: anti-gay legislation, the homophobic attitude displayed by most Romanian politicians, the pressures exerted by the Orthodox Church on legislators, general public's lack of information regarding homosexuality, as well as a diminishing interest from the part of the international organisms, in what concerns the abolition of Article 200 of the Penal Code. It is an alarming reality. Given these facts, it seems to me that being a homosexual in Romania can be the worst nightmare. However, Romania of the year 2000 is no longer Romania of the first years after the revolution. Despite the discriminatory legislation, the ACCEPT activity is mainly dedicated to protecting the human rights of the gay community, through activism on a both national and international level. In Cluj (city in the NW of the country), a new gay association was founded, which fights all legal adversities in the attempt to promote the interests of the local gay community. We have yet other good signs, from other parts of the country. 

ACCEPT has gained material and informational resources. However, we lack human resources and time. The people to whom we dedicate our activity, the members of the gay community, are less involved in our projects and programmes than we had hoped for. In most of the cases, this happens because people are afraid to be identified as being gay or lesbian. Indeed, everybody can openly assume a gay identity in Amsterdam, Sidney or San Francisco. There are very few those who dare to do the same in Romania: to admit their homosexuality vis a vis their families, friends, society at large. For young people, living as a gay is even more difficult, as they lack the support of those of their age, as well as the support of those of an older generation. Gays over 40 cannot forget the frustrations, suspicion and terror that accompanied their everyday life, during the decades of communism. 

Gays over 60 are so isolated, that we seldom know them. However, everyone can decide to live a normal life today, even if his/her environment is far from being normal. This should be our main motivation, when we ask ACCEPT to represent our needs and expectancies. 

As a beginning, we should stop pretending being something else. People who do this are our heroes - and in ACCEPT they are the ones who help others to face the same problems they had faced once. No matter the consequences, we have to do the right thing.  

On January 14th, in Timisoara (city in the W of Romania) a new association was born: Free Life. Free Life is dedicated to fighting for the human rights of people belonging to sexual minorities. It has a provisory leadership, whose mandate will not exceed a year. 

Free Life Association's objectives are: 
» to develop an organisational structure, in order to obtain legal registration; 
» to extend the association, by attracting new members, in order to meet the legal number of members needed for the registration; 
» to elaborate the association's statute; 
» to gain the financial resources which would allow the creation of a coherent activities programme; 
» to make all the necessary steps, in order to be able to legally register the association, on a date no later than January 14, 2001. 

ACCEPT welcomes the creation of the Free Life Association and hopes that between the two organisations an efficient and lasting collaboration will start. Free Life members already offered their support in gathering signatures for the abolishing of Article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code. 

You are invited to contact the Free Life association by e-mail, at: 
free_life@usa.net  

In the World... 

The specialised organisations of UN (United Nations), WHO (World Health Organisation) and UNAIDS (Joined United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) informed on November 28, 1999, that they were estimating a number of 33.6 millions of HIV+ people around the World, by the end of 1999. The same organisations were estimating that among them, 5.6 millions, including 570,000 children below 15, had been infected in 1999 only. This figure equals to 15,000 people infected daily: one person gets infected every 5 seconds! 
According to these statistics, 2.6 millions people died of AIDS in 1999. A comparison between annual statistics show that 1999 was the year with the biggest number of AIDS victims, despite the fact that prevention programmes had been initiated in all the countries, on an unprecedented level. 
Figures also show that the average age when the virus is contacted is 25 and that the carrier usually dies before reaching 35.  
The situation of other STD is in no way more encouraging. 32 to 34 persons out of a thousand carry syphilis, and 62 million people have gonorrhoea.

Statistics provided by the Romanian Health Ministry show that in Romania, more than 10,000 people are HIV+. Among them, 6,000 already have AIDS. Specialists say that behind each HIV+ person there are other 10 that have not been detected yet, which brings us to around 100,000 HIV infected people.  
 The Health Ministry also states that the contamination among children has been stopped. F>  

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Transfer interrupted!

eath was registered in Romania.  
Studies underwent by several Romanian NGOs, which are involved in HIV prevention programmes show that, even though young people prove a high level of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and other STD, high-risk behaviours remain quite frequent. The most frequent of them is unsafe sex (sex without a condom). The raised number of STD-infected persons in Romania also demonstrates this reality.  
 The statistics cited above mentioned that among the homo/bi/transsexual people, the number of HIV infected persons was not significantly high. However, assuming one's sexual orientation when a person is found HIV+ cannot be considered a supreme proof, given the legal and social discrimination of sexual minorities in Romania. 
 These figures concern everybody. The HIV virus does not choose among people. All of us, either homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, transsexuals, heterosexuals, no matter our race, ethnic origin or age - we all face the same danger.  
We must all protect ourselves. Al least for the sake of life, of our friends, of our families. Let's be careful; let's USE A CONDOM!

New Folders  Alexandru Dudu    The ACCEPT HIV infection/AIDS Preventing Programme offers its beneficiaries two new folders: "Ghidul voluntarilor din teren" ("Guide for out-reach volunteers") and "Eu fac sex protejat! Vrei sã ºtii de ce?" ("I have safe sex! Do you want to know why?").  "Guide for out-reach volunteers" is a practical guide, similar to the ones used by other organisations that work in the out-reach field, and adapted for the ACCEPT's particularities. The guide contains useful information for the volunteers involved in out-reach activities. "Out-reach" is a very comon concept when it comes to HIV/AIDS prevention. It includes all activities aiming to create a change, by: (1) an individual approach, that has the objective of a personal behaviour change and/or (2) a group-oriented approach, which operates at a larger scale, inducing a socio-cultural change.  The idea of out-reach is linked to the concept of peer group education. Technically speaking, a peer group is a collectivity of people who all have in common certain features - i.e., age, sexual orientation, or religion (Abercrombie, 1988). The peer group education is a method of promoting a certain idea, by transferring information or role-modelling. Peer educators have something in common with their target group - age, sexual orientation etc. (Brammer/Walker).  The "Guide for out-reach volunteers" was printed in 50 copies, mainly dedicated to ACCEPT volunteers. However, if you are interested in receveing it, you can ask it by phone, mail or at our office.  As for the folder "I'm having safe sex! Do you want to know why?", it contains information on the HIV transmission and testing and on the methods of safe sex. It will be distributed to people belonging to the target group of our project and is also available at our office.

Lights turn off slowly. The stirring in the hall is killed by a strange presentiment. When the last obstacle - the curtain - disappears... in the semidarkness of the stage, a man's silhouette emerges, gaining contour. Music seems to reflect his frame of mind - or maybe he is a reflection of the music. Nobody could surely say. 
 The man slowly moves around the stage, like in a dream, having the air of looking for something. And suddenly lights turn on, and the misty creature is completely changed. Without a warning, the dancer jumps high, so high that even the orchestra's conductor seems to hold his breath, for a short moment. A sequence of pirouettes and jumps, an attempt to set free the spirit and reach the sky. A perfect match between mimicry and jumps. An unnatural equilibrium in the air. A... Nijinski. 
 Yes, and the only one. We have to admit that there - and there have been - many really good dancers, dancers able to amaze the viewer. When looking at them, you can feel that your heart is jumping out of your chest. 
 There are many such dancers, yet very few are able to make you tremble with emotion. During his performances, Nijinski did that - for thousands of people. As an artist, he was somehow beyond the idea of subjectivity. People were captured in a sort of "immobility" in front of his genius; they were caught in the astonishment of having met the perfect artist - the total actor, God's marionette. 
 There had never been such jumps before him. He imposed them. He imposed himself to his public. He was a Titan of dance; his grace was anything but effeminate, his mobility was unusual for an ordinary man. The man was born for dance, lived through dance and died as in a dance - but what a dance... 
 Whether he was interpreting a prince in "Swan Lake" or in "Romeo and Juliet", a beggar, an evil spirit, a downcast or a dethroned king, in all the great masterpieces of the classical ballet, Nijinski was one with his characters. He wasn't dancing; he was living their lives. 
 Yet Nijinski was human. One could touch him and realise he was a human being, like everybody else. His huge professional abilities didn't cause him to be less human. And maybe dancing was not even a profession a for him - but a way to live his life... 
 However, his life was never that simple. Paradoxically enough, it was much easier for him to jump two metres high, to do an almost impossible revoltée or to spin 20 pirouettes in the same spot, than to solve his existentialist problems. 
 Although it is probably not an essential condition for the publishing of this article in this particular issue, Nijinski was gay. "So, what?" we would say nowadays. Nowadays, maybe, but in his days? Times were so much different. Ethics, attitudes, beliefs - they were all different... Should we blame all these for the way in which Nijinski lived his homosexuality? Were they fully responsible for his torture or the blame should be attributed to his personality? 
 Maybe you, the ones who read these lines, will be able to understand what really happened in this man's soul and mind. 
 Diaghilev: the name of a man Nijinski's homosexuality is synonymous with. His small universe, the one person who discovered him and drove him to the highest professional and personal accomplishments; the one person who destroyed him. 
 A great choreographer, a theatre master, Diaghilev re-created Nijinski. Diaghilev was the first to hold the scared, little ballet dancer in his arms. The boy who knew and felt he was different and who was struggling (like so many of us) between the contradictions and the uncertainties of his sexual and sentimental life. Diaghilev offered him the one thing Nijinski (like so many of us) desperately needed: his love. Or maybe not quite his love, but surely his attention. Nijinski's lonely, restless soul found a shelter in Diaghilev. Unfortunately, things gradually changed. The bright ballet dancer was more famous every day. He became more and more obvious for people who loved art and dance. On the other hand, Diaghilev was changing in an unbearable tyrant. He was suffocating Nijinski. He was taking charge of his life, of everything. Hence Nijinski's huge existential problems. All his life became a perpetual struggle to get rid of Diaghilev's influence. And in the same time, a perpetual return to the one who made him feel for the first time the shiver of being in the loved one's arms. Surprisingly enough, Nijinski never fully accepted his homosexuality. All throughout his life, his mind and soul were tortured by opposite tendencies, by desires and attitudes which he considered to be unfitted, immoral and totally unhealthy - while they were nevertheless part of him. 
 Although he never solved his huge existential dilemma, nobody could say whether Nijinski was unhappy or not. He was probably unhappy whenever he was not on the stage, as an artist, as a genius of dance. How satisfactory life on the stage must be when the two main characters happily embrace one another in the end! Happily? Was Nijinski happy, when he was holding his partners at the end of his performances? Was his Romeo really unhappy when he was killing himself on his beloved's tomb? We can only guess the answers to these questions. We can only imagine... 
 I don't how Nijinski was really like, either on stage or outside it. Nobody could. Except maybe Diaghilev, but he didn't seem to care. After one of his many escapes, Nijinski came home and caught him in bed with a new hope of dance, a young man to whom Diaghilev had generously offered his support. For Nijinski, it was the beginning of the end. 
 There is one more thing that should be said about Nijinski: one of the extreme acts he made while desperately trying to get rid of Diaghilev's influence was to marry a woman. Nobody could say whether he loved her or not. She, on the other hand, was fascinated by him. And their story didn't have quite a happy ending. Years after that, Nijinski's wife wrote a book, in the attempt to decipher a little bit of the mystery which had surrounded the proud prince of dance. A man who had been identified with Siegfried, veiled in misty robe, dancing with his arms crossed on his chest and his eyes focused on a point above - on a thing or a presence... maybe a divine one. 
 Was it a fatal occurrence for this prince of the lake, the fact that his swan had the same sex as his? Let's think about it. Nijinski's story speaks for itself - we just have to learn to see. 
 Look! It's Nijinski. He is jumping. He is twisting in the air. Once, twice, three times... What is he doing? Is he flying? Is it really happening? Is he still in the air? He is twisting. With so much power, with so much grace. He lands easily and firmly, astonishing and captivating the audience. In this moment, nobody can applaud. The same emotion keeps together dancer and viewers. 
 A genius, yet a human being, a homosexual, a prince, a beggar, the one and only Nijinski - God's marionette.  

Gay/Lesbian Celebrities 
Emilia Stere 

Charles Baudelaire, Gertrude Stein, Elton John, Michel Foucault, Freddie Mercury, Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Rock Hudson, Jean Cocteau, George Michael, Arthur Rimbaud, Tennessee Williams, Jean Paul Gaultier, Virginia Woolf, Walt Whitman, Andy Warhol, Byron, Cyril Collard, Colette... Anyone can provide endless lists of gay/lesbian celebrities. And anyone who does such a list ends by asking him/herself: is there anybody left? 
 Why do all those lists always seem alike? On the one hand, because they are always incomplete. We know more about artist; we know less - if anything - about scientists or politicians. We know even less about lesbians. We know about people abroad; we barely whisper about our co-citizens. 
 On the other hand, because they are nothing more than simple lists of names. They bring together people who have nothing in common, except a huge creative capacity and an exceptional life. And of course, a tiny detail - they love with a forbidden love. 
 However, from time to time we do need these lists - in order to make the narrow-minded understand the reasons for our fight.  

A few words about film director Pier Paolo Pasolini 
Georgeta Bondarencu 
ACCEPT's Psychologist 

He was born on March 5, 1922 in Bologna, an Italian town that has as its symbol the portico: an uninterrupted vestibule separates all the streets in downtown from the neighbouring houses; the round, strong, pink columns are all identical. You cannot tell the poor houses from the rich ones. Another special quality of the portico is that, under its cover, the difference between "me" and the "other" disappears. Everybody gives up the wish to be alone, for the pleasure to be together; personal life becomes an open book, all selfishness is erased. One loses one's identity, but gains a warm, pleasant feeling of friendship and solidarity. 
Pier Paolo Pasolini grew up within - and believed in - this legend of human brotherhood. He believed in his town, as in a special place, where reservation, isolation, personal identity, individual happiness and family selfishness were unknown entities. A place in which distrust, inquisitorial search over the other's private life, the habit - so frequently met elsewhere - of judging and convicting one's neighbour, were not part of the everyday social relations. He believed in this Utopia of a society without barriers. Was he already suspecting that loneliness, exile, and persecution will forever mark his destiny - or that one day, they would all turn their backs to him, that one day nobody would be there to give him a helping hand? 
 His whole life was a contradiction. His name was a contradiction: Pier Paolo. Peter and Paul. As if somebody could live under the protection of both those very different saints. Of Peter, who established Rome as the city of Pope and transformed Christ's learning in an authoritative religion. A daring yet narrow spirit, he was one of the twelve apostles and a personal friend of Jesus - he was a keeper of His message, which he respected to the letter, always working hard to build the Church, always paying attention to rites and hierarchy, a supporter of the middle, an enemy of the new. While Paul was the total opposite: restless, mystic, and excessive. As he had never met Jesus, he had no fidelity towards Scriptures; a wanderer insofar Peter was a sedentary. He travelled around the World and preached, sometimes violent, often unpopular - an impossible personality, even for his friends, more and more isolated despite his small flock of followers. Always trying to be a martyr and always trying harder, as he was approaching his goal. Once dead, people forgot him. He almost unknown during the Middle Age; no church chose him as a patron, no candle lights for him. No painting of him and no sculpture. Almost nobody was baptised with his name - until the 16th century. The Reform finally opens for him an era of prestige and authority. For Luther, who was enflaming the world with his passion and energy, Peter's spirit, his conservative caution, his sacerdotal pompousness, were not enough anymore. He invoked Paul's spirit once again, as his ardour and fanaticism matched his own energetic passion. Whenever a heresy - an excess of faith - threatens Church's routine, one image stands up: that of Paul, travelling across the world with a burning torch in his hand. An uncomfortable visionary in peaceful times, a providential fighter in times of thunder. And after the storm is over, Peter takes back his throne. He puts on his mitre and blesses the crowd that cheers him - he once again has greatness and power. 
The bravery; the loneliness; the poverty of Paul. 
 The certainty; the splendour; the success of Peter. 
 Tiredness, strenuous work, hunger, thirst, prolonged fasts, lack of clothes and prison: this was the life of the one who Pasolini unconsciously chose as a model. 
 Living in a period of huge social and political changes, from the years of fascism to those of red brigades' attacks, surviving the war and the social unrest, Pier Paolo Pasolini created through love and loved through creating. His literature and his films, as testimonies of a rebellious, provocative spirit, were never fully appreciated by his contemporaries. For what reason? Not only because he was a homosexual, but also because he was an acrimonious opponent of the new consumer society. 
 Here's the portrait of Pier Paolo Pasolini, according to a criminologist who, in fact, never met him: 
 "We know P. from his literary and film productions. A psychopathological analysis of his works could testify for a tendency to coprolalia. He is sexually abnormal, a pervert in the absolute sense of the term. P. is so deeply abnormal, that he consciously accepts his abnormality, as being unable to judge it as such. An exhibitionist, skeptofil pervert, a subject with abhorrent instincts, with serious sources of insecurity. Anyway, a miserable creature condemned to live unbalanced and to fail, like all those of his kind. Their unavoidable sufferings, their restlessness - do you think they explain these by their historical situation, by a normal fear of the police actions, by a equally normal fear of being black mailed, by the risk they take when cruising in train stations and under the bridges, by the need of keeping the secret in order to keep their jobs, or their parents' affection? Not at all: a socially dangerous individual will stay that way no matter what, because of his deep fear of women - and there is no healing for that."  

Gay Men are Glorious. Our presence on this planet is essential to the happiness, well being and creativity of the whole human race. 
 I first heard that saying about six years ago. It was a striking thought then. And it remains so now. At the time I first heard it, I thought it was quite a powerful, feel-good concept. It was still early days for me as I explored a relatively new-found confidence in my sexuality. I still do find it a powerful concept. Only now I believe it more than ever before. It is a fact. Read it again and the truth of that statement becomes stronger. Why? Well, for starters, it acknowledges our existence. Gay men exist. That in itself is reaffirming. It's good to be recognised, to be noticed. And we are "glorious". For glorious insert a whole host of words to suit your taste - magnificent, beautiful, brilliant, dazzling, gorgeous, divine... the list goes on, but you get the picture. It conjures up a sense of greatness and radiance. I quite like that myself. I think it's very fitting. Being "essential" too is not such a bad thing. We are indisposable to the greater swing of things on this planet. Take away any sizeable group of the population and things start to malfunction, to put it bluntly. On one level, it's a simple logic. Our society (and indeed the world) functions best when everyone is involved. Everyone has a role, a contribution to make. Collectively, we function most effectively when that contribution is maximized. (That's why equality makes so much sense - it enables everyone to contribute to their potential and ability.) However, on a more tangible level, it is worth remembering exactly who we are. 
 We are sons, fathers, brothers, friends, uncles, partners, work colleagues, neighbours. We have the same range (though possibly more diverse) of relationships with other people as everyone else. We are teachers, nurses, lawyers, firefighters, doctors, police officers, shop assistants, managers, surgeons, soldiers, receptionists, plumbers, builders, engineers, chefs, carers, designers, priests... 
 In short, we are fully paid up members of society and the world around us. Unfortunately, we are often invisible. However, we are there. Imagine if the homophobes and extremists really followed their logic to its stated conclusion. If we didn't pursue careers in our chosen line of work, simply because others felt we weren't fit for our job, the world would be a different place. Take away even one per cent of doctors or firefighters because they are gay and you begin to see the problem. Take away five per cent of the workforce and the impact becomes more than a little significant. (It's worth noting that if the church was serious about not having gay priests in its ranks they would, it's rumoured, be severely understaffed.) 
 Creativity? What does that really mean? Talent? Certainly. Imagination. Inventiveness. Inspiration. Ingenuity. Originality. Says it all really. As broad a definition of those words as you want it to be what gay men are. Without these qualities being present in our world, life would be a little dull and certainly unexciting. Gay men contribute their imagination, inventiveness, inspiration, ingenuity and originality as much as the dominant straight world they live in. Some would argue that we disproportionately offer our creative instincts to the world around us. I'll settle for an acknowledgement that we at least have an equal input to the creativity of the world we live in. Maybe more. What cannot be disputed is that on every level, gay men, through living their lives as gay men, make the world a better place. 
 Our presence on this planet is essential to the happiness, well being, and creativity of the whole human race. Gay Men are glorious. 
 Let's not forget that. Often against the odds and circumstances as well. We shine as stars in a big world. We don't have to be present in large numbers to do that. We do that by our presence. So at the end of the day the numbers don't really matter. What matters is that all gay men are able to be out and express themselves. It's not a question of quantity. And equality. So when the bigots and homophobes tell us we have no place in "their" society, remind them who we are. We teach their children, we nurse their wounds, we fight their fires, and we cook their meals. We aren't necessary special, we aren't that different. We're just glorious. 
 

Most modern discussion of the relationship of biological sex to gender presupposes that there are two genders: male and female, founded on the two biological sexes. But not all cultures share this essentialist assumption and even Western societies have not always embraced it. Bringing together historical and anthropological studies, Third Sex. Third Gender challenges the usual emphasis on sexual dimorphism and reproduction, providing a unique perspective on the various forms of socialisation of people who are neither "male" nor "female". The existence of a third sex or gender enables us to understand how Byzantine palace eunuchs and Indian hijras met the criteria of special social roles that necessitated practices such as self-castration, and how intimate and forbidden desires were expressed among the Dutch Sodomites in the early modern period; the Sapphists of eighteenth-century England or the so-called hermaphrodite-homosexuals of nineteenth-century Europe and America. By contextualizing these practices and by allowing these bodies, meanings and desires to emerge, Third Sex. Third Gender provides a new way to think about sex and gender systems that is crucial to contemporary debates within the social sciences.  

Like many other Romanian NGOs, ACCEPT ended 1999, finalizing its activity reports and project budgets. However, as any respectable gay group, staff members and volunteers of the Social Activities and Services Department organised a Christmas reunion, on December 27 1999. The occasion gathered more than 50 members, beneficiaries and volunteers. The organisers carefully prepared the three-hour program for the party - a program which, we hope, was enjoyed by everyone. 
 The party started at 6 PM. Voting ballots were given to all the guests, and they were asked to vote for the 1999 Gay Top. George Michael won the best male singer of the year; Madonna, the best female singer, while Tom Hanks walked with "The best actor of 1999". The votes for the best actress all went to Meryl Streep, and Philadelphia was unanimously considered the best film (even though it was not produced in 1999). 
 Around 7 PM the dance contest started, to which many couples ventured to participate. A jury (made of professional dancers and people with well-known music expertise), selected the music for the party. They chose classic tunes (waltz), society dance (rumba, cha cha cha, mambo) and Latino songs (salsa), as well as some of the 1999 best hits. The first prize was awarded to a gay couple who danced non-stop, with such a technique and elegance that they were obviously fabulous. 
 The "sweetest" moment of the evening was the cake brought by Daniel from Breaza, whom we want to thank again. 
 The hottest topic of discussion remained: "where do you spend this New Year's Eve?" Those who didn't have any arrangements for the occasion, were invited to share the fun with those who were organising parties. 
 At 9 PM the party ended and we all went to our homes. We will surely meet again this year, at the workshops. 
 It was a successful reunion... it really was!  

Yves Saint Laurent 

Y.S.L. is the perfect designer. The son of a wealthy business-man from Oran, Alger, of a French origin, he came to Paris with his mother to show his first sketches to the chief editor of Vogue, Michel de Brunhoff. 
 The latter encourages him, his parents do not oppose and, after graduation, the shy but ambitious kid starts attending classes at the tailoring course run by Clothiers Union Hall in Paris. The same year, 1953, he wins the Grand Prix of the French Wool Secretary Contest. In the spring of 1955 he shows Brunhoff a new set of drawings, terribly resembling the Dior collection, which had not yet been presented. Dior agrees to meet him and offers him a job. What more can one wish for when one's dream is to become a fashion designer? In 1957, when Dior died, Yves Saint Laurent became the designer of the Dior house and created, at only twenty one years old, six collections that had a huge success all over the world. In four years, he opened his own fashion house and left Dior, teaming up with Pierre Berge. Ever since he has triumphed almost every year, each time with completely new collections. He never hesitates to bring on the catwalk his exotic designs, inspiring himself from other ethnic cultures. At the same time he designs homage-collections, dedicated to well-known painters such as Mondrian, Velasquez, Picasso and others. In 1998 he celebrated his 40th year of activity in fashion design. 
 A three initial moniquer in his trademark, recognisable anywhere in the world. It's no wonder that so many breathlessly wait to find out who his successor will be. For a while, everyone mentioned Jean Paul Gaultier as his possible successor, but recently more and more voices tip the scale in favour of the English designer John Galliano. 
 Y.S.L.'s legacy will probably be a hard act to follow because, for the last 40 years, he had all the time to design almost everything.

L'enfant terrible of British fashion was born in Gibraltar, from a Spanish mother and an English father of an Italian origin. 
 Galliano began his career like Judy Garland in the film A Star is Born; the collection he presented for graduation represented after only a week of presentation, the Browns, the best fashion boutique in London. It was in 1990, when penniless, he organised the first fashion show in Paris. This young man unexpectedly paraded his luxury creations to an audience that expected from him, in the purest London tradition, the stereotypical character of the neo-punk, a rebellious and violent designer. 
 He was offered a job at Givenchy. Then he took over the management of the House of Dior, where he made his first collection of haute-couture. The launching of his collection coincided with the 50th anniversary of the original and provocative - for that time - New Look 1947 Dior. And Galliano was called to infuse this famous house of fashion with an even newer new look. 
 As always, he showed an eclectic style: hourglass shapes, clothes with high slits barely covered, for perfect bodies, lots of multicoloured beads in a traditional African style. 
 Galliano confesses that while at Dior, he respects all the features that imposed the Dior style. Nevertheless, he always adds a detail, a hem, and a piece of lace. Tickets to his shows are always at a premium. Season after season, the staging of his shows is becoming more and more elaborate. The décor changes from one show to another. 
 This happens because his fans expect more and better every time, while his critics, only wait for a misstep.

  

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Wrkshops 

Everybody is invited to the workshops organised at our office. You can apply for one or several of them, every working day. Participants' initiatives and suggestions are welcomed, as they will contribute to the assertion of a gay culture in the community. Workshops' members will have the opportunity to organise reunions, shows, exhibitions, dancing parties and to celebrate different events at our office. 
Creation workshop (promotional objects, interior design, gifts, symbols, fashion design and so on) - Monday (13-19), Tuesday (12-17.30), Wednesday (12-19), Thursday (12-17.30), Friday (12-17.30). Co-ordinator: Florin Radu; 
Music workshop (auditions, discussions, choir) - Friday (16-19). Co-ordinator: Daniel C.; 
Literary workshop - (we intend to edit a literary supplement of the ACCEPT newsletter) - Monday (17-19). Co-ordinator: Adrian Newell; 
Spiritual workshop - Tuesday (17-19.30). Co-ordinator: Florin Buhuceanu (President of ACCEPT); 
Theatre workshop (original drama, mime, puppets) - Wednesday (16-18). Co-ordinator: Mihaela A.; 
Dance workshop - Monday (17-19). Co-ordinator: Denis; 
"Our friends" workshop (meeting with friends and relatives of our beneficiaries, people, NGOs, companies, institutions who provide ACCEPT with donations or financial support, as well as with specialists) - Wednesday (17-19). Co-ordinator: Elena Mititelu; 
"Friends of nature" (for animal and plant lovers) - Wednesday (12-15). Co-ordinator: Cristi T.; 
Interpersonal relating workshop - Wednesday (18-19), Thursday (17-18). Co-ordinator: Georgeta Bondarencu, Psychologist of ACCEPT; 
English course - Thursday (18-19.30). Co-ordinator: Bogdan M.; 
Gastronomy workshop (Romanian and international recipes). Co-ordinator: Antonia Creteanu. 

We are also looking for two more co-ordinators, for the following workshops: 
Touristic workshop (touristic exchanges, one-day trips); 
Senior Club.

You are invited to contact the lesbians within ACCEPT on the Association's address - CP 34 -56 Bucuresti. 
Don't forget to mention: For Women's Group. (specificand pe plic "Pentru grupul de femei"). 

Attention! 
Following the decision of ACCEPT's General Assembly on June 5, 1999 ACCEPT's members shall pay a membership fee of ROL 60,000/year.  

 
The opinions published in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the point of view of ACCEPT. Your comments are more than welcome, whether you agree or not with the ideas in the newsletter. Writing for the newsletter does not in any way imply the sexual orientation of the author. We will be happy to receive your input and feedback at our address!  CP 34-56 Bucharest, Romania,  or  accept@fx.ro.

ACCEPT is a non-governmental, non-profit human rights organisation, registered in Bucharest. 
ACCEPT’s members are individuals of different sexes, nationalities and sexual orientations. 
ACCEPT’s mission is to create a better society for sexual minorities in Romania. 
ACCEPT’s goal is to change mentalities which refer to sexual minorities in Romania. 
ACCEPT’s vision is a society where one’s sexual orientation is just a mere human feature. 
ACCEPT’s objectives are: 
· defending by all legal means individuals impaired in their basic rights and liberties, as stated in the Romanian Constitution and international conventions ratified by Romania; 
· educating the society with respect to sexual minorities; 
· organising actions for the change of the legal framework, so that it shall respect the basic rights and liberties of sexual minorities; 
· collaborating with organisations which promote the interests of minorities; 
· developing services which will meet specific needs of sexual minorities in Romania.