Lead Stories
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
In January Cardinal Gustaaf Joos of Belgium declared that only 5 to 10 percent of gays and lesbians are genuinely so and that the rest are “sexual perverts.” In March the commissioners of Rhea County, Tennessee (site of the 1925 Scopes “monkey” trial), voted 8-0 to request a new state law allowing the county to charge homosexuals with crimes against nature, even though the Supreme Court declared similar laws in Texas unconstitutional last year. (The commission rescinded the vote two days later after heavy criticism.) Also in March the Georgia House of Representatives voted 160-0 for a bill prohibiting female genital mutilation after amending it to include a ban on any piercing of female genitalia, even for adult women. One sponsor of the amendment, Republican Bill Heath, was shocked when told afterward that some women seek such adornment: “What?” he said. “I’ve never seen such a thing.”
Government in Action
Istvan Kantor, also of Toronto, won one of Canada’s most prestigious arts awards in March. Called the country’s “leading shock artist” by the New York Times, Kantor is best known for his bloody performance pieces: in one, he caused a stream of his blood to flow from a vial in his anus into his mouth; a video work depicts performers killing cats and wearing the dripping carcasses on their heads. And according to a February BBC News profile, artist Shihan Hussaini of Madras, India, used his own blood to paint 56 portraits of actress-turned-politician Jayaram Jayalalitha in honor of her 56th birthday. Hussaini hired a nurse to help him draw the blood.
