In Italy's regional elections, for which voting was held yesterday and today, Silvio Berlusconi's governing coalition has apparently suffered a huge defeat.
The elections brought more good news: in the region of Puglia, in the south of Italy, Niki Vendola--openly gay and a member of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista--has beaten the incumbent regional president who was a member of Berlusconi's party, Forza Italia.
This makes Vendola the most significant elected openly gay public official in Italy, which has up until now lagged behind most other Western European countries in electing gays to public office.
Blue states come through again Florida Blues
The New Hampshire state Senate has voted to allow women to buy emergency contraception without a prescription after unprotected sex. Gov. John Lynch supports the bill and will sign the measure if it passes the House. The bill would allow specially trained pharmacists to offer the so-called "morning after" pill, which is a large dose of birth control hormones that can prevent pregnancy if taken soon after unprotected sex. The federal Food and Drug Administration advisory committees last year recommended that the drug be made available over the counter, but an agency director said not enough information was known about the pill's use by young teenagers or how it would affect their sexual behavior. One legislator said: "I do not believe the punishment for youthful indiscretion for unguarded sex is to force young women to have an abortion or unwanted pregnancy." Another said: "Young boys can go get what they have to have. Young girls should have equal rights." Maine voted last year to allow pharmacists to dispense the contraceptives without a prescription - becoming the sixth state to do so.
This makes Vendola the most significant elected openly gay public official in Italy, which has up until now lagged behind most other Western European countries in electing gays to public office.
