Obama allows entry of HIV in the U.S., prohibition in force for 22 years

Rio de Janeiro is named best gay destination in the world

"Church separates rather than unites"

But for the church, homosexuals are like Jews, drug addicts or as concepts of civil marriage or divorce realities that the clergy has always been difficult to assimilate or not accept at all.

Portugal will be the next country to take this step towards justice, equality and appreciation of citizenship?

The climate is temperate continental Portugal and varies from south to north warmer cooler and rainy. In the southern summer runs from March to October with temperatures up to 35 º C and sea water at 24 ° C. The north has more rainfall and lower temperatures (but rarely below 0 ° C on the coast, the interior can be more harsh), the sea water between 15 C and 20 ° C. The coastal climate is milder than the climate of the interior. There is snow sometimes in February in the mountains of north and center.

In the Azores the temperatures are mild, but there are frequent rains in the winter.

Madeira is a tropical (still with heavy rains of winter) there is a big difference between the area of Funchal due to less rainfall than the rest of the island.

The rest of the country's gay community lives are more modest but, increasingly, with the exceptions of note openly LGBT bars in places like Porto, Mira, Guimaraes and the Algarve parties Hit the gay themes in Povoa de Varzim and some groups in Madeira and São Miguel. Unfortunately the islands homophobia still present with a tendency for media connect homosexuality with the various scandals of sexual abuse that has happened in recent years.

Porto is more conservative and serves as a meeting point of many industries in the north of the country, yet there are some cool bars frequented. Since 2001 the city also has its Porto Pride (first Saturday of July) with over 2000 participants and of the contributions is allocated to a public hospital in the city. In some years several events have been organized GLBT dates close to Porto Pride in 2006 and will be held the first public march through the streets.

Lisbon is a great metropolis where are concentrated most business services and trade. Because of its population consists of people from different parts of the country the pressure on the LGBT community is smaller, thereby encouraging participation in public life, emphasizing the good relations of the municipal council with the various associations. The Festival of Gay and Lesbian (in September) and the Pride Festival (Saturday near June 28) are the biggest GLBT events.

In recent years, homosexuality has begun to be a theme increasingly accepted by the Portuguese, appearing several times in TV series and movies.

During the discussion in Parliament on unmarried couples in 1998 all the opinion polls indicated that the majority of them were in favor (with smaller margins) for extending the same to homosexuals, and in March 2001 the law was changed to include couples the same sex.

However the country is conservative and with a strong influence of the Catholic Church, which means that coming out is not an easy task.

Moment there are still no effective legal means to prevent discrimination because of sexual orientation. Although there is an explicit reference since 2003 in the Labor Code on sexual orientation discrimination in employment through the application of the same is not clear

Portugal is located on the western edge of Europe, occupying a rectangular area 220 by 560 miles. It has a very diverse landscape from the plains of Alentejo in the south to the mountains and natural park further north.

The island of Madeira with 55 by 22 kilometers is about 480 km from the Portuguese coast, with lush vegetation and cliffs just across the island.

In the Azores the 1300km of the coast have 9 islands with mild climate.

The population is 10 million habitants, 10% of which are in Lisbon, and 300 thousand live in Porto. Since compulsory education includes two foreign languages the majority of the population under 40 years understands and speaks English, many speak French, some German. Spanish is understood by everyone though prefer to speak Portuguese

TV: Will Smith in the shoes of a homosexual

Desperate Housewives, and according to rumors in the intricacies of Hollywood, will have a visit, Will Smith had for some specialized magazines as being one of the sexiest Hollywood, it must pass one of the episodes in the role of a homosexual.

This will have an involvement with one of the male characters, and womanizer, Gabriella's husband, Mr. Solis.

Let us hope that Portugal can see a brilliant actor like Will Smith in a role still misunderstood by many.

As a new community on Ning for HIV who speak Portuguese. On 27 October the project was begun a social networking site Lusophone directed Seropositive including specialized groups for the African Portuguese speaking, Brazil and Timor-Leste.

The network is also open to all those who care about and that somehow relate to the issues that concern them. Dedicated especially to socialization among HIV-positive people from diverse backgrounds, sexualities and genders, this site covers all kinds of topics from the discordant relationships, feelings of social exclusion of HIV, issues related to health, social, sex, marriage gay and in general reflected in the life version of those who live on this side.

The address is http://positivopt.ning.com/

USA: Miss California is against gay marriage, but like premarital sex

PORTUGAL: Prime Minister defends marriage

In the debate on the program of government, José Sócrates came to defend the adoption of equality in civil marriage. The Prime Minister announced that come forward soon with a proposal to allow marriage for gays and lesbians, and that the Assembly of the Republic is the place to approve the measure.