(Nigeria) - The Nigerian parliament is once again dealing with a Bill prohibiting same sex marriage. This is the third attempt to pass such piece of legislation in Nigeria. We asked Davis Mac-Iyalla to provide us some more informations. Read more...
(Serbia) - The Serbian LGBT pride march Parada Ponosa, due to take place on Sunday in the capital, was banned today by the National Security Council. The Council announced it would forbid the pride march, as well as three far-right counter-protests that were planned tomorrow and Sunday. Read more...
(Russia) Gay and Lesbian Film Festival “Bok o Bok” which was supposed to take place in Saint Petersburg from today and last until Sunday finally did not open after Fire Department Inspectors closed the place due to problems with fire security. In a phone interview to Project GayRussia.Ru, Organiser of the festival Irina Sergeeva said that the clubs “The Place” and “Sochi” where the screenings of the films were supposed to take place, were closed due to fire security reasons. Read more...
(USA) - As part of Bibi's outreach to our communities, Bibi|SF will be hosting talks on various issues affecting queer South West Asian, North Africans (aka Middle-Easterners). Its first engagement is with Arsham Parsi of the IRanian Queer Organization on Thursday, June 26 at the SF LGBT Center. Read more...
(USA) - Gay human rights activists in San Francisco staged a speak out at the Russian consulate on May 16, in conjunction with IDAHO events around the planet. Before showing up at the consulate, the group sent emails to the staff explaining their reason for coming -- to press the government to grant parade permits to Moscow's Gay pride event. Read more...
(London) - Speaking at the London IDAHO event on 16 May, hosted by Amnesty International and the Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association, Peter Tatchell of the LGBT human rights group OutRage! challenged the UK asylum policy. Read more...
(EU) - Tomorrow the members of the European Parliament will debate and vote on a resolution “Progress made in equal opportunities and non-discrimination in the EU”. The resolution is based on a report produced by Elisabeth Lynne, MEP, and adopted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on 17 April 2008. The draft resolution clearly urges the European Commission to stay committed to the Commission’s work plan for 2008 and to come out with a proposal for one ‘horizontal’ anti-discrimination directive covering all grounds of discrimination, including sexual orientation. Read more...
(Moldova) - On Sunday, participants in the 7th Moldovan Pride were precluded from marching peacefully in support of anti-discrimination legislation and tolerance in the centre of Chisinau. Police did not guarantee the right to freedom of assembly. Large aggressive coordinated groups, including extremist religious groups, members of the neo-fascist movement “New Right”, and legionnaires blocked the bus with participants, forced the door, violently hit the windows, and attempted to remove the engine, while shouting “lets get them out and beat them up”. Read more...
(EU) - ILGA-Europe and TransGender Europe published the first comprehensive report on the experiences of health care by Transgender people in European Union. This report is a result of the largest and most comprehensive data collection on transgender people's lived experienced to date. Read more...
(UK) - A new website highlighting African heroes and achievers has included three prominent Gay Africans. "Gay Africans make up a part of the landscape of the continent and any member of the Gay community who has achieved something of merit deserves a place on our site. We welcome the submission of their biographies," said the website's creator, Kadija Traoré Bush, who is of is Malian and Beninoise heritage. Read more...
(EU) - Within the next couple of months, the fate of an EU directive protecting against discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion/belief in all areas of life will be decided by the European Commission and the European Council. At the moment, there are signs that this directive will not include sexual orientation, age and religion/belief. ILGA-Europe is calling on everyone to join its campaign to ensure that a comprehensive new EU anti-discrimination directive which protects against discrimination on all grounds and in all areas of life is proposed and adopted. Read more...
(UK) - The bus bearing the Olympic torch was today ambushed outside Selfridges department store in Oxford Street, London, by Gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage! Mr Tatchell ran in front of the bus carrying the Olympic flame. He held up a placard which read: "Free Tibet, Free Hu Jia." He shouted the same words as he ran along in front of the bus. The police wrestled Mr Tatchell to the ground, which delayed the bus briefly while he was removed to pavement. After questioning, he was later released without charge. Read more...
(EU) - European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg delivered its judgement in a landmark case on pension rights for registered same-sex partners (case of Tadao Maruko v. Versorgungswerk der deutschen Bühnen). The facts of the case are as follows: Mr. Maruko lived with his partner in a registered partnership. After his partner died the VddB, the pension scheme for German theatres, refused to pay him a survivor’s pension as such pensions were provided only for married partners. Mr. Maruko sued the VddB, and the Bavarian Administrative CourtMunich referred the case to the ECJ for interpretation of the 2000/78/EC Directive which established a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. Read more...
(UK) - George Galloway MP is accused of mouthing "the propaganda of the Iranian dictatorship" after he claimed on the Channel 5 TV talk show The Wright Stuff this morning that the boyfriend of Gay asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed for sex crimes (see full transcript below). The criticism comes from the Gay human rights group, OutRage!. Read more...
(Netherlands) - Mehdi Kazemi, a Gay asylum applicant from Iran, is in detention in the Netherlands. He is fighting attempts by the Dutch government to return him to the UK. Mehdi fled Britain and sought asylum in the Netherlands because the British government wants to deport him back to Iran. The Home Office bid to deport an Iranian Gay asylum seeker will put him at risk of arrest, imprisonment, torture and execution. Read more...
(Russia) - Russian Gay group "LGBT Rights" reports that it organized a flash-mob on February 23 (the 'Army Day' celebrated in the Russian Federation.) The participants marched through the Arbat street, waving rainbow flags and shouting 'Woman is a soldier, too! Equality knows no borders!' along with patriotic slogans. The action was apparently an attempt to confront the 'ordinary Russians' with homosexuality and transport a positive message to the fellow citizens without provoking a hostile response. Read more...
(Australia) - A new report reveals a steady undercurrent of hostility during and after large-scale Gay and Lesbian events. The University of Newcastle's Cultural Institutions and Practices Research Centre report titled "When the Glitter Settles: safety and hostility at and around gay and lesbian public events", shows 40 per cent of people attending these events had witnessed abusive or violent behaviour. Read more...
(EU) - He lived a marginalized and terrorized life as an Iranian homosexual in Iran; the burden of such a life became so strenuous that he finally left Iran for the UK with a student visa. Mehdi Kazemi is another Iranian Gay refugee who left his home country with the hope of securing a more dignified life for himself in the West; and yet he is another young refugee who sees his hopes for safety and human dignity fading in the face of European governments’ lack of respect for even the most basic human rights. The European governments claim to be the champions of human rights and democracy and condemn Iran frequently for its violation of human rights; and yet they willingly pave the road for the government of Iran to go ahead with its human rights abuses, and arrest and execute an identified Iranian Gay. Today, they sentence Mehdi to torture and possible death by deporting him to Iran, and tomorrow they issue statements commending this violent and unlawful act of execution. Read more...
(EU) - On 4-6 March 2008, ILGA-Europe, in partnership with Informational centre LEGEBITRA, a Slovene LGBT organisation, organises a conference on LGBT families in Europe. This conference is a contribution to the current Slovene Presidency of the European Union and aims at drawing attention to the lack of recognition and existing discrimination against LGBT families at European level. Read more...
(Jamaica) - A homophobic mob attack in Jamaica that left one man severely injured and another missing and feared dead shows yet again that authorities must take urgent action against violence and hatred, Human Rights Watch said today. This incident is the latest in a string of homophobic mob violence over the last year, including an attack on mourners in a church. Read more...
(EU) - One day last month, I gave a talk in Rome about how the supposedly liberal ideology of multiculturalism has made possible the spread in Europe of the highly illiberal ideology of fundamentalist Islam, with all its brutality and – among other things – violent homophobia. When I returned to my hotel, I phoned my partner back home in Oslo only to learn that moments earlier he had been confronted at a bus stop by two Muslim youths, one of whom had asked if he was Gay, started to pull out a knife, then kicked him as he got on the bus, which had pulled up at just the right moment. If the bus hadn’t come when it did, the encounter could have been much worse.
Note: Read more on Pajamas Media
(EU) - Today the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgement in a case of E.B. v France and said that exclusion of individuals from the application process for adoption of children simply because of their sexual orientation is discriminatory and is in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights. ILGA-Europe, FIDH (Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme), APGL (Association des Parents et futurs Parents Gays et Lesbiens) and the BAAF (British Association for Adoption and Fostering) were granted permission to take part in the proceedings as third parties. Read more...
(USA) - Mike Huckabee was condemned by 'Truth Wins Out' for comments to BeliefNet that compared homosexuality to bestiality. Huckabee showed a lack of character, by pandering to the lowest common denominator in his quest to win the South Carolina primary, according to 'Truth Wins Out'. Read more...
(UK) - “The 36% cut in NHS funding for HIV prevention work among Gay men in London has not been reversed,” said Gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage! “None of the local NHS trusts have said they will reinstate the cuts. “There have been some private assurances that funding will be restored but no official or public announcement. Moreover, these assurances are based solely on a recommendation that local NHS trusts reverse the reduction in funding. But the local trusts are semi-autonomous and under no obligation to implement the recommendations. Read more...
(Iran) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has learned today that despite an order by the Iranian Chief Justice to nullify his death sentence, Mr. Makvan Mouloodzadeh was executed in Kermanshah Central Prison at 5 a.m. this morning, Iranian time. Neither Mr. Mouloodzadeh's family or his lawyer were told about the execution until after it occurred. IGLHRC is still investigating the facts in this case. Read more...
(Australia) - Victorian human rights group, Civil Union Action (CUA), has welcomed the Victorian Government's announcement today to introduce new legislation in Parliament this week for a relationships register, but said the register should include equal substantive rights and the option for official ceremonies. MLA for Prahran, Tony Lupton, made the announcement via press release today. Mr Lupton chaired the working group that recently reported to the State Government on relationship recognition. Read more...
(Russia) - Nikolai Alekseev and 12 fellow Gays and Lesbians have been arrested this morning at 10am in Moscow while they attempted to vote at the "District Electoral Commission N° 165". They came to the place at 9.30 am. Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow who banned the last 2 gays prides, was planning to vote in the same place later in the day. Representatives of Gayrussia.ru reported that the police ‘suddenly broke into the place and took all the activists who were quietly voting.’ However, Lenta.ru reported that Nikolai Alekseev was arrested when he wrote ‘No to homophobes, no to Luzhkov’ on his ballot paper and started to demonstrate the bulletin to journalists. In Putin’s ‘guided democracy,’ spoiling the ballot papers is a silent form of protest by many: opposition leader Garry Kasparov has been reported writing ‘Another Russia’ over his ballot paper. Read more...
Saint Petersburg, Russia (PRWEB) November 30, 2007 -- In Fall 2008, Russia will host Side by Side ("Bok o Bok"), its first international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film festival. Taking place in Saint Petersburg, the festival will run from 2-5 October, 2008, with films and events at the historic Dom Kino House of Cinema, one of Europe's premier venues for quality world cinema. The event, which is expected to draw visitors from over 30 countries as well as major international sponsors, will give film enthusiasts of all persuasions the opportunity to enjoy the very best in contemporary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cinema. Over 4 days, Side by Side will showcase work from around the world including feature films, innovative independent films, documentaries, experimental and short films. Read more...
(Uganda) - East African Gay people came in peace to CHOGM to speak and were met by violent police officers. Ugandan and Kenyan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) speakers scheduled to give their addresses at the CHOGM Speaker’s Corner in Uganda today left after facing violence from the police and waiting for seven hours to be given entrance to the People’s Space. The People’s Space was designed „to provide opportunities to share in the diversity and richness of the Commonwealth people” and was specifically designated as a space open to all people. It was intended to give people „renewed energy to facilitate social change with a clear sense of building the future together.” The discrimination and violence carried out by police at the People’s Space today is an affront to basic human rights in Uganda. Read more...
(Poland) - This year’s traditional Equality March in Poznan took place on 17 November. The march started at Adam Mickiewicz Square in the center of Poznan. Right before the march the organizers received the Grizzly Award 2006 "for pioneering efforts for homo culture and solidarity in the face of exceptionally ferocious homophobia and for carrying out the successful festival in the face of threats and shadows of last year's violence". The award was handed over by Bill Schiller, the president of International Les Gay Cultural Network. Read more...
(Iran) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has learned that the Iranian Chief Justice, Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, has nullified the impending death sentence of Mr. Makvan Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year old Iranian citizen found guilty of multiple counts of anal rape (ighab), allegedly committed when he was 13 years old. The Iranian Chief Justice described the death sentence to be in violation of Islamic teachings, the religious decrees of high-ranking Shiite clerics, and the law of the land. Read more...
(UK) - Is Jamaica is the most homophobic country in the world? Does Jamaican reggae/dancehall murder music contribute to anti-Gay violence? Should concerts by murder music singers be cancelled? Stop Murder Music campaigners, Dennis Carney of the Black Gay Men’s Advisory Group, and Brett Lock of the Gay human rights group OutRage!, discuss with Peter Tatchell on doughty.gdbtv.com. Read more...
(Iraq) - Three out of five Gay safe houses in Iraq are closing down, due to a lack of funds to pay their rent and utility bills. The refuges were set up two years ago, to provide a place of safety for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Iraqis who have fled homophobic threats and attempts to kill them by religious fundamentalists and death squads. Previous appeals for solidarity didn't yield sufficient funding, leaving the activists desperate on how to bring the ends together to maintain the project. Read more...
(Belgium) - Trevor Cook joins the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) as new Executive Director made possible through the financial contribution of development agency HIVOS. ILGA is also supported by Oxfam Novib, SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and IBM, whose support has enabled the organization to grow. Read more...
(Iran) - Makwan Moloudzadeh, a 21 year old Iranian now faces the threat of execution. His crime is his sexuality, which is illegal under the Law of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many have been executed for sexual crimes such as extramarital and homosexual sex acts. Due to the legal processes and procedures of the Judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its complete lack of transparency, it is extremely difficult to access the documents, witnesses, testimonies, and other facts pertinent to the files of those accused, as a result of which it is almost impossible to verify the confessions, complaints,
evidence, and verdicts. Read more...
(Lithuania) - Delegates of ILGA-Europe annual conference experience first-hand discrimination and resistance in Vilnius, but are united and determined to work together for Europe of equality and respect. Over the weekend, almost 200 delegates from all over Europe gathered in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for the 11th ILGA-Europe’s Annual Conference. While the public event to display rainbow flag during the conference was banned by the Mayor of Vilnius and there was a demonstration against the conference, the delegates are determined to fight prejudice, discrimination and injustice. Read more...
(Lithuania) - On 25-28 October 2007, almost 200 delegates from all over Europe gather in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for the 11th ILGA-Europe's Annual Conference. While the Conference goes ahead, the Rainbow Flag public event planned by the Lithuanian hosts during the conference was banned by the Mayor of Vilnius. A legal challenge of the ban has been already initiated. Read more...
(USA) - Truth Wins Out called on the democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama to immediately distance his campaign from "ex-Gay" preacher and gospel singer Donnie McClurkin. Obama is scheduled to tour South Carolina with the controversial singer, even though McClurkin's mean-spirited rhetoric runs counter to the senator's conciliatory efforts, says TWO. Read more...
(Gibraltar) - Gibraltar's Gay and human rights organisation Equality Rights Group GGR stated today: "Following last week's announcement by Michael Cashman MEP, the Gibraltar Government's recent statement following Downing Street's agreement to intervene on the age of consent issue in Gibraltar is a sad case of psychological denial and desperate face-saving." It was reacting to a press statement by the Rock's Government repudiating a report published by the group last week regarding announcements that Gordon Brown had determined to take action on the age of consent in Gibraltar (16 for heterosexuals and 18 for Gay men). Read more...
(EU) - Georgia and Azerbaijan must stop discrimination and incitement to hatred and put in place an inclusive anti-discrimination law in line with Council of Europe and EU standards if they aspire to EU membership. This is according to the joint ILGA-Europe and COC Netherlands reports on the position of Gay people in the two South Caucasian countries. The comprehensive reports are the result of a joint fact-finding mission and reflect the vulnerable social and legal situation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders. They also reflect the position of national authorities and international organisations. Finally, the reports give a particular focus to lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people and give examples of human rights violations on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Read more...
Today is World Day against Death Penalty. This is also the first European Day against Death Penalty as proclaimed by the Council of Europe on 27 September 2007. The Council of Europe is the only region of the world de facto free from the death penalty as all its members have either abolished the death penalty or instituted a moratorium on executions. Belarus (outside the CoE) is the only country that still has the death penalty actively on its books. The death penalty is still carried out in other regions of the world and in seven countries the death penalty is applied for Gay people for the crimes of love. Read more...
(EU) - ILGA-Europe is very concerned that the Council of Europe has allowed itself to be used as a platform for an attack on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. Responding to a question following an address to the Parliamentary Assembly on 2nd October, the Christian fundamentalist leader justified his opposition to the Moscow Gay pride march on the basis that it was "propaganda for sin". Homosexuality was "an illness and a distortion of the human personality" comparable to kleptomania. His comments were met with applause by many of the Assembly members present, although some walked out in protest. Read more...
(Nepal) - Supreme Court of Nepal yesterday has heard the writ petition filed against the government of Nepal by Blue Diamond Society and three other organizations on 5th September 2007 , demanding to protect and defend LGBTIQ rights . The writ petition was heard by Honorable Judge Balaram K.C.and Honorable Judge Pawan Kumar Ojha. Advocates Bhuwan Prasad Nirula, Hari Phuyal, Prem Rai, Sharmila Dhakal and Rupe Narayan Srestha pleaded the case on behalf of the petitioners. Advocate Bhuwan Prasad Nirula highlighted on the institutional structure of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), its role on protecting rights of Gays, Lesbians and Metis and the problems faced by them. He effectively dealt on the queries of the bench about BDS and the concerned people. Read more...
(USA) - Donna Rose, a post-op Transsexual woman, has resigned from the Board of Human Rights Council in protest to the HRC's position on ENDA, the proposed US anti-discrimination law. In what appears a disgusting political horse trade, the bill has been recently modified in a way excluding Transgenders, with whole consent of the "leading" Gay US politicians. Donna Rose is a US-wide recognized speaker, educator, and advocate on transgender and transsexual issues. On HRC, she served as the co-Chair for Diversity, and on the HRC Business Council. The GRD publishes her entire statement below. Read more...
(Iran) - Upon monitoring the Iranian press reaction to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech and comments at the Monday forum hosted by Columbia University, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) discovered an odd disparity. The English version of the President’s official website (www.president.ir) provides a full and complete transcript of his speech and the Question & Answer segment where he claimed that homosexuality does not exist in Iran. However, the Persian-language transcript has excised both the question about treatment of lesbians and gay men in Iran and President Ahmadinejad’s soon to be legendary response. Read more...
(USA) - During a controversial talk at Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum on Monday, Iranian President Dr. Mahmood Ahmadinejad denied the existence of homosexuality in Iran: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. … We don’t have that in our country,” he claimed answering a question about the rights of Gay people in Iran. The reactions to this claim were a mixture of disbelief, anger and warnings not to join into militarist hystery. Read more...
(USA) - The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) today announced findings of its first US-wide campus climate survey focusing on how Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender students are treated because of their gender identity and expression. Some 651 students from across the USA responded to the 2007 Survey, many sharing personal experiences of feeling unsafe or excluded because they didn't meet expectations for masculinity or femininity. Read more...
(Canada) - Arsham Parsi, Executive Director of the Iranian Queer Organization, delivered a speech at Gozar Panel 'Silenced Voices' in Toronto on 16 September. He spoke of stonings and executions of Gay people in Iran, of the injustice and inequity, and manifold problems Iranian Gays face in exile. Sadly, many refugees are confronted by almost the same situation they met inside Iran since they are pressured by the Iranian diaspora community to live in a social ghetto. The GRD publishes here the transcription of the speech in its full length. Read more...
(USA) - With the start of the 2007-2008 television season, the number of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender characters on scripted network television in USA continues to decline, according to the research of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). The analysis shows that, inspite improved quality, with only 7 characters, the LGBT representations will equate only 1.1% of all series regular characters in the 2007-08 broadcast television schedule, a drop in numbers from 9 characters (1.3%) in 2006, respectively 10 (1.4%) in 2005. Read more...
(USA) - Equality California submitted some 15,000 petitions to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, urging him to sign the law that would recognize marriages of Gay couples. Exactly 14,766 Californians have signed EQCA's online petition supporting AB 43, the recently-passed marriage legislation that is on its way to the Schwarzenegger’s office. Gov. Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto the bill. Read more...
(USA) - The American Civil Liberties Union urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss a county judge's contempt order and jail sentence against a Lesbian mother. Earlier this year, Wilkinson County Judge John Lee Parrott ordered that the child Elizabeth Hadaway hopes to adopt be taken away for three months because Hadaway is a Lesbian, and now Hadaway is battling an order from the same judge that she spend as many as ten days in jail. Read more...
(UK) - Two Iraqi Gays have been granted asylum in the UK, in a court ruling overturning a previous decision of British authorities to deport them. The two men have survived attempted assassinations by Shia Islamist death squads in Iraq and were seeking refuge in United Kingdom, but their initial applications for asylum had been turned down by the Home Office, despite compelling evidence of anti-Gay persecution and threats to kill them. With the support of the Gay human rights groups OutRage! and Iraqi LGBT both men appealed against the refusal of asylum and won. Read more...
(Sweden) - By tradition EPOA, European Pride Organisers Association, holds its annual meeting in the city that is hosting the next Europride. Pride festival organisers from the whole of Europe come to Stockholm for the weekend in order to, among other things, choose who will arrange Europride 2010. Delegates come from Spain, Germany, Iceland, Switzerland, Poland and several other european countries. Read more...
(USA) - Truth Wins Out expressed gratitude to the Arcus Foundation for rewarding the organization with a $40,000 grant that will greatly help in the efforts to counter the ex-Gay industry. The gift was from The Arcus Gay & Lesbian Fund, which seeks to advance social justice by supporting efforts to promote human rights and policy change for equal rights for members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community. Read more...
(USA) - Researchers on the University of Pittsburgh have suggested giving antiretroviral drug tenofovir to uninfected individuals in order to protect them from HIV infection. The medicine has been tested on monkeys and proved to be very effective against a version of the HI virus. Tenofovir is a drug which is already used in AIDS treatment, and now it is reportedly being tested in humans for the specific purpose of preventive tratment. The US researchers claimed the suggested strategy of prescribing HIV medicine to healthy people could significantly inhibit the spread of HIV in Africa. Read more...
(USA) - The Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled that Gay couples do not have a constitutional right to marriage equality. The decision reversed a lower-court ruling that Maryland's ban on marriage for Gay couples violated the states Equal Rights Amendment. "This is a setback in the fight for equality, but we remain confident that, ultimately, same-sex couples in Maryland who form committed relationships and build loving families will receive the same protections that the state provides to married opposite-sex couples," said Joe Solmonese of Human Rights Campaign. Read more...
(USA) - Equality California (EQCA), Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) and other allied organizations are staging rallies in over a dozen cities throughout California to show the Governor Schwarzenegger that the will of the people supports equality. The groups also urge him ‘to be a hero’, not do a veto sequel but rather sign the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act recently passed by Californian lawmakers. The rallies are sheduled for Tuesday, 18 September. Read more...
(USA) - The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) determined Aubrey Sarvis to be the new Executive Director of the organization. Sarvis succeeds C. Dixon Osburn, who stepped down in April. Sarvis will officially take on his position on October 1, 2007. Founded in 1993, SLDN is a US organization dedicated to eradication discrimination against and harassment of military personnel targeted by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and similar forms of intolerance. Sarvis was choosen following an extensive US-wide search by SLDN’s Board of Directors. In accepting the appointment, Sarvis said, “I am humbled and honored to stand side by side with America’s Gay service members, and to help them achieve the full measure of dignity and equality they deserve.” Read more...
(USA) - The Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues has named the 2007 list of individuals and organizations for inclusion in the only known government-sponsored hall of fame that honors members of the LGBT communities, announced Commission Chairperson Clarence N. Wood. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of his death, former Mayor Harold Washington will be honored as a "Friend of the Community." Read more...
(USA) - Gay-Straight Alliances help make schools safer for all students and likely play an essential role in mitigating the negative impact of bullying and harassment on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender students, according to a research brief released today by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. As of today, 3,612 GSAs are registered with GLSEN from every US state, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. Gay-Straight Alliances are student clubs that seek to improve school climate by addressing and reducing anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in school. Read more...
(Nicaragua) - Human rights groups across the world have called for action to remind the government and the parliament of Nicaragua of their obligations to respect inalienable rights of Gay people. Amnesty International has declared 13 September 2007 the worldwide day of action to remove the article 204 of the Nicaraguan Penal Code, which reads: "Anyone who induces, promotes, propagandizes or practices in scandalous form sexual inter-course between persons of the same sex commits the crime of sodomy and shall incur 1 to 3 years’ imprison-ment". Gay organizations and individuals are urged to write letters to Nicaragua embassies and stage protest demonstrations. Read more...
(UK) - The Friends of Pegah Campaign from Sheffield has released informations that the ordeal of Pegah Emambakhsh has found an end so far. Pegah was granted bail and she is finally out of Yarls Wood Detention Centre and back with people who will love and care for her. The Court of Appeal has also agreed to hear her case. The group believes that the case will be listed within the next couple of weeks and a decision will be made within the next few months. Read more...
(USA) - HIV infection is on the rise among young Gay and Bisexual men in New York City, according to preliminary research data from the US Health Department. New HIV diagnoses among Gay and Bisexual men under age 30 have grown by 33% in the past six years from 374 in 2001 to almost 500 in 2006. New diagnoses have doubled for the youngsters aged 13 to 19, while declining by 22% among older men. The under-30 group now accounts for 44% of all new diagnoses among Gay and Bisexual men in New York City, up from 31% in 2001. Read more...
(EU) - The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issued a Transgender-friendly judgment in the case against Lithuania. The Court said that while Lithuanian law had recognised the right of a transsexual person to change their gender and their civil status, the gap in the law regulating full gender reassignment surgery created an impediment for the transsexual person to complete this process. Therefore Lithuania violated Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, where the right to respect of family and private life is guaranteed. Read more...
(Italy) - Ed Radtke's film Speed of Life won the Queer Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, a new prize for the best film that accurately portrays Gay themes or characters. Lyrical and raw, The Speed Of Life tells the story of Sammer (Jeremy Allen White), a 13 year old Gay boy who escapes the streets of New York City by stealing video cameras from tourists. The kid and his friends retreat to their working class neighborhood to quickly change the cameras for cash, but Sammer always keeps the tapes. Read more...
(USA) - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger must sign the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act to ensure basic human rights to all citizens of California, Human Rights Watch urged in a letter to the governor. The legislation grants full marriage equality for same-sex couples, within the limitations of the restrictive federal legislation. Schwarzenegger had vetoed a similar bill when passed by California's legislature 2005. Read more...
(USA) - Sean Penn will play Gay politician Harvey Milk in director Gus Van Sant's biopic of the popular public official. The movie will start production in San Francisco in December this year. A story in the Hollywood Reporter also claims that Matt Damon will play Dan White, who shot the San Francisco city supervisor and Mayor George Moscone in 1978. The assassin, Dan White, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Outrage over the mild verdict led to the White Night Riots in San Francisco. White committed suicide in 1985 after serving five years of his seven-year sentence. Read more...
(Russia) - Scott Lively, president of "Defend the Family," arrived in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk today. Lively will speak in the Sverdlovsky Palace of Culture in Krasnoyarsk on September 13, presumably promoting his anti-Gay bias to a willing auditory. Lively is author of the pseudo-historian book "The Pink Swastika," which is suggesting that homosexuals are the ones to be blamed for the Nazi regime in Germany. In Krasnoyarsk Lively, who was referred by the Russian media as an “American human rights activist” representing a “human rights organization,” will keep a few lectures for students, probably on applied homophobia. He himself reportedly intends "to inform young people about real reasons of homosexuality" and the results of “medical research” in this field. Read more...
(Germany) - An Iranian lesbian seeking asylum in Germany is to be deported, according to a recent decision by German authorities. Homosexuality is punishable by death is Iran. A protest vigil organized by the German Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) and attended by about 50 people was held today outside the Ministry for the Interior and Sports. The Iranian woman had sought asylum in Germany because of the imminent danger of execution in Iran. Authorities did not believe her, and, according to the newspaper TAZ, she is now to be deported to Turkey. A possible reprieve may come from the Commission for Cases of Hardship, however any resulting finding would be a mere recommendation. Read more...
(USA) - The Felipa Award honors an organization or an individual whose work has made a significant contribution toward securing the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression, and/or HIV status, anywhere in the world. The award commemorates Felipa de Souza, a woman who was convicted and tortured in Brazil by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1591 for having sexual relationships with other women. Read more...
(USA) - For the second time in two years, the California Legislature has passed legislation that would grant same-sex couples the ability to marry. With a 22-15 vote, the Senate on September 7 approved AB 43, authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act is almost identical to the bill the Legislature passed in 2005. California claims the pioneerining status of the only state in the US that has approved marriage for same-sex couples through the legislative process, but has been actually never implemented. Read more...
(UK) - The report by the News Agency of Nigeria quotes Bishop Orama of Uyo as saying that persons involved in same sex behaviour "are insane, satanic and are not fit to live." It is known that "Life unworthy of life" is the phrase used by the Nazis to describe various "deviants", among them homosexuals. If the quotation is not an accurate record of what the bishop said, then Changing Attitude Nigeria and England call upon the Venerable AkinTunde Popoola, the Director of Communications for the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to issue a statement immediately clarifying what the bishop said or correcting the report. Read more...
(USA) - Truth Wins Out expressed relief that Christopher Austin, an 'ex-Gay' counselor in Irving, Texas, was convicted of sexually assaulting a client. Austin was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but received seven years probation, had to register as a sex offender and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. After years of reported abuse - including several alleged victims who testified at the trial - it is welcome news that Austin has finally been put out of business, says TWO. Read more...
(USA) - Equality Forum, an international LGBT civil rights organization, announced 31 Icons to be featured during GLBT History Month in October. The 31 Icons achieved success within their respective fields of endeavor, were heroes or advanced LGBT civil rights. "The GLBT community has been uniquely disadvantaged by not being taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions," said Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum. "GLBT History Month helps teach our unacknowledged history, provides role models and celebrates contributions made by GLBT individuals to our country and internationally." Read more...
(Nicaragua) - In spite of positive initiatives across the Americas, Nicaragua continues to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Amnesty International issued a call for actions on behalf of Gay people in Nicaragua. Although to Amnesty International’s knowledge no one has to date been prosecuted under Article 204 of the Nicaraguan Penal Code, it potentially criminalizes Gay men, Lesbians and Bisexual people in same-sex relationships. The wording of the article 204 is also vague enough to permit the prosecution of individuals for activities such as campaigning for LGBT rights or anyone providing sexual health information or services. Read more...
(EU) - Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer Damaso, an Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg delivered today his opinion in a landmark case before the court which is favourable to same-sex partners (case of Tadao Maruko v. Versorgungswerk der deutschen Bühnen). The ECJ ruled that refusal to pay Mr Maruko survivor’s pension constituted indirect discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Mr. Maruko lived with his partner in a registered partnership. After his partner died the VddB, the pension scheme for German theatres, refused to pay him a survivor’s pension as such pensions were, they claimed, provided only for married partners. Read more...
(Russia) - A series of letters, leaked to the Russian daily newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets and published today, show that the Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov dismissed a request from the Russian government to reach a compromise over Moscow Gay Pride, and how he requested - and got - from the GUVD department of the Moscow Police what amounts to a justification for the banning of this year’s Pride weeks before the application was made. The letters show that, on January 31, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, wrote to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggesting a "reasonable compromise" over the Moscow Gay Pride this year. Read more...
(Nigeria) - The Anglican Bishop of Uyo, Nigeria, Isaac Orama, has publicly assaulted the "activities of homosexuals and Lesbians", and described those engaged in them as "insane people''. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) given on 2 September 2007 he said: "Homosexuality and lesbianism are inhuman. Those who practice them are insane, satanic and are not fit to live because they are rebels to God's purpose for man." The statement revealed the criminal nature of the policy of Churh of Nigeria to dehumanize and demonize Gay people and instigate hatred and violence against them. Read more...
(Russia) - Moscow's Tverskoy court has decided that Moscow authorities were right to decline to grant a permit for a Gay pride event on May 27. Event organizer Nikolai Alekseyev told Interfax on that the court rejected a protest submitted by organizers. Alekseyev said improper actions by the judge led plaintiffs to challenge the judge during the hearings but the challenge was rejected. Alekseyev said that the Tverskoy court decision would be appealed with a cassation instance and with the European Court of Human Rights. Read more...
(USA) - Some 50 marchers participated in a parade and rally at Atlanta Black Gay Pride celebration. The parade started at the King Center and moved on to the state Capitol as a display of unity and urging for attention to the issues and concerns of African-American Gays, Lesbians and Transgenders. The parade, which was a part of a larger five-day program, was organized by the local Gay organization In the Life Atlanta. Read more...
(China) - Gay couples living together in Shanghai are facing homelessness because of new rules introduced by Shanghai’s housing bureau. The authorities have ordered landlords to abstain from offering "group rents" to unmarried couples, insisting that rooms should be given only to singles and heterosexual families. In what appears a pooly realized attempt to reduce dwelling density, landlords are also encouraged to cease renting out individual beds and sub-dividing rooms, ordering that the total floor space should be not less than 5 m2 per person. Joint dwelling and the illegal partitioning of rooms are widespread in Shanghai, whith rents becoming increasingly unaffordable for many of the population. Read more...
(UK) - Brian Paddick, Britains most known former Gay senior Metropolitan Police officer has announced he is thinking about running for mayor of London. Brian Paddick is an ex-deputy Assistant Commissioner who left his job in May 2007, said he is considering standing for the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming elections. Mr Paddick retired from his office after differences with Commissioner Sir Ian Blair over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes in July, 2005. The Brazilian immigrant was mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead by police officers in an underground train in Stockwell, south London. Read more...
(EU) - The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute (OSI), joins with Central European University (CEU) to announce the Justice Initiative Fellows Program for 2008-2010. The aim of the program is to support and further develop a network of lawyers and activists working internationally on human rights-related issues. Since its inception in 1996, 155 fellows have graduated from the Justice Initiative's Fellowship program. The Justice Initiative Fellows Program is a two-year program of study and practical work experience. Up to ten applicants will be selected to participate in the 2008 program. Applicants from the following regions and countries are eligible: Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central/South America. Read more...
(Singapore) - Gay activist Rev. Troy Perry of the Metropolitan Community Church was banned from public speaking engagements in Singapore. "I've had enough experiences for three lifetimes," said Perry, "but this was the first time an entire country banned me from public speaking. I was allowed to enter the country and told that I could speak one-on-one with individuals, but I was banned from delivering my public speech." Perry was scheduled to deliver a speech, "Metropolitan Community Churches and the Gay Christian Witness" before a coalition of LGBT rights and LGBT pride groups. Read more...
(USA) - The joys of equal marriage didn’t last long in US state Iowa. The hopes of many Gay couples were bitterly disappointed when judge Robert Hanson ordered a halt to his own ruling which declared restrictions of marriage to heterosexuals only as unconstitutional. Just a day after issuing his ground-breaking decision, Hanson complied to the request of a county prosecutor that no more marriage licenses be given to gay couples until the Supreme Court has considered the appeal submitted by the prosecutor. Luckily, two Iowa State University students managed to get their marriage license and be married by a a Unitarian minister whom they were able to win for their case. Read more...
(USA) - An large congregation of people listened to Congressman Jerrold Nadler (Democrats) speaking at a forum co-hosted by Immigration Equality and Human Rights Campaign last night. The Congressman joined panelists from Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, the Asian American Justice Center, and Gay Men's Health Crisis to talk about immigration issues important to the LGBT and HIV-positive communities. More than 200 people gathered in an auditorium at New York's LGBT Community Center to discuss the Uniting American Families Act. The pending federal legislation would grant Gays and Lesbians in the US the right to sponsor their foreign-national partners for residency permission. Read more...
(EU) - Following a proposal by Italian MEP Giusto Catania (PRC), representing the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group in the European Parliament during today's Conference of Presidents - and Graham Watson, President of the Parliament's Liberal Group, European Parliament President Hans Gert Pöettering has accepted to write a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the fate of Pegah Emambakhsh, the Iranian lesbian woman who risks expulsion from Great Britain to Iran. Read more...
(Uganda) - Following an interview with the Gay rights activist Juliet Victor Mukasa, the Capital Radio presenter Gaetano Kaggwa and programme controller George Manyali were suspended by Uganda’s Broadcasting Council for “allowing foul language” in their morning show. The council accused the two radio hosts of failure to prevent their guest from using “vulgar” language on their show. According to the council, the woman used language that “breached broadcasting ethics,” citing the use of “four-letter words” and mentioning “female genitalia” during the talk. Additionally to the one-week suspension, the broadcasting council ordered Mr Kaggwa and Mr Manyali to prove their qualification to present the programme. Read more...
(USA) - Patricia M. Logue will receive NLGLA's Dan Bradley Award on 6 September. The Dan Bradley Award recognizes efforts by a member of the LGBT legal community who has led the way for equality under the law. "Pat's contributions to upholding the civil rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV-positive people are immense," said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal. "We are extremely proud of Pat and all she has done for LGBT civil rights and excited that she has been honored with this award." Read more...
(Chile) - Thirteen Gay rights groups met last Sunday to create the Chilean Federation for Sexual Diversity (Fedisech). Founding members include groups advocating women's rights, worker's rights, ethnic minority rights, and student’s rights, representing 11 of Chile's 15 regions. The Federation aims to "eradicate sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination from Chile" and to "strengthen the bonds among human rights groups and the rest of society." The Federation also called for the government to include sexual minority data in the next population census. Read more...
(USA) - In last year's elections, an US gay-rights group saw the potential for New Hampshire Democrats to win control of the State House. The group, the Human Rights Campaign, proceeded to spend almost $150,000 on New Hampshire state races, much of which went to the Senate Democratic Caucus. The group also provided physical help: An employee traveled to the state to assist with get-out-the-vote efforts and phone-banks. "What we knew in each of those states was that a change in the Legislature meant a change in the issues that our community cares so deeply about," said the group's president, Joe Solmonese, referring to New Hampshire, Iowa and Oregon, the three states the group focused on. Read more...
(Uganda) - Uganda's Ethics Minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo advises homosexuals to emigrate, calling their acts "shameful, abominable and un-godly." In an interview with Daily Monitor, Buturo expressed his views on homosexuality and Gay rights, telling the public: "My view is that of the majority of Ugandans. All people who have participated in this debate are denouncing the act. What else do these gays want? The message has been clear that their acts are not accepted in our society. They are wasting their time to claim that they are advocating for their rights. We shall not allow them to mislead our young generation. Shame on them. Our laws are clear, homosexuality is illegal." Read more...
(Japan) - On August 27, a petition with 207 signatures calling for the British Government to grant asylum to Pegah Emambakhsh was delivered to the British Embassy in Tokyo, by a group of Japanese supporters. They also handed in a petition to the Foreign Ministry to ask the Japanese government to take action on this case. A visible appeal was made outside the British Embassy and Foreign Ministry by the group of supporters holding message boards. Following the visit to the British Embassy, in a conversation the next day, it was confirmed to the group that the petition we submitted had been faxed to the Foreign Office in the UK. It was also confirmed that it would be brought to the attention of the British Ambassador in Japan. Read more...
(France) - The Panthčres Roses of Paris (Pink Panthers) have weighed-in with support for Pegah Emambackhsh, the Iranian lesbian who is facing deportation from the UK back to Iran. Monday evening the group mounted a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in the French capital. "The English authorities have to measure the responsibilities they can have in the death of Pegah Emambackhsh if her deportation ends by death penalty in Iran," a Panthčres Roses spokesperson said. "The times are really repressive now in Iran, and all behaviour considered as immoral is punished by flagellation and hangings. LGBT people are the direct victims of this violence that can lead to death penalty." Read more...
(Papua New Guinea) - Reports from Papua New Guinea indicate evidence that AIDS victims were being buried alive by relatives who feared the infection passing to them. A health worker identified as Margaret Marabe, reportedly said she had seen five people buried alive. One was calling out "Mama, Mama'' as the soil was shovelled over his head, said Ms Marabe, employed with a volunteer organisation “Igat Hope.” Villagers explained to her that burying people with AIDS were a common practice. Ms Marabe urged the Government and aid organizations to ensure the HIV/AIDS awareness program in cities and towns was extended to the countryside, where many people are ignorant about the disease. Read more...
(Italy) - Italian groups Arcigay and Arcilesbica, in cooperation with the EveryOne Group, are planning sit-ins in front of the British Embassy in Rome. The groups react to the decision of the UK government to deny asylum to Pegah Emambakhsh, a Lesbian from Iran who is at risk of the capital punishment went sent back to Iran. The groups condemn the heartless move of the government of United Kingdom to deny Ms Emambakhsh the fundamental right of asylum demand to revoke the decision of her expulsion sheduled for 28 August (British Airways flight directed number BA6633 at 21:35 to Tehran). Read more...
(Poland) - A list of homophobic politicians drawn up by gaylife.pl, has caused a debate on validity of some claims. The list includes many of Poland’s conservative, rightwing politicians, but also a couple of leftist politicians. “There’s a parliamentary election coming. We want to enable the gay community to make a conscious choice and this is the reason for creating a list with the names of the people who have hindered us from achieving our goals”, said Marek Ryszard, initiator of the idea. The list includes names of the politicians who are known enemies of the Gay people. Among them are Roman Giertych and Wojciech Wierzejski from the League of Polish Families (LPR), but also Anita Błochowiak and Wojciech Olejniczak from the leftwing Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). The portal users are asked to help to decide who will be eventually included on the list. Read more...
(Russia) - The principal organiser of Moscow Gay Pride was yesterday quizzed by Moscow Police Central Investigations Department about the alleged slander under Article 129.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code of a Russian politician. On June 21, Gay activist Nikolai Alekseev took part in the NTV talk show “K baryeru!” during which he called deputy of the State Duma Alexander Chuev, member of pro-Kremlin party Fair Russia, “Gay, a coward and a hypocrite” who is only using orthodoxy and fight against homosexuality to reach his political goals. Six days later, Mr. Chuev lodged a complaint with the General Prosecution department asking to check whether the statements of Nikolai Alekseev breached articles 129, 130 and 282 of Russia’s Criminal Code. Read more...
(USA) - A memorial to celebrate the life of pioneer Latina lesbian activist Yolanda Retter Vargas will be held at MCC in West Hollywood on September 29th. Retter passed away from cancer at her home in Los Angeles on August 18, 2007, after a short illness which stunned family and friends. An activist and scholar, Yolanda was a major force in the early L.A. lesbian movement as a fierce advocate for lesbians of color. In her last two decades Yolanda became a highly-educated and much sought after librarian, archivist and editor. Read more...
(USA) - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today urged Clear Channel to withdraw the sponsorship of its Power 105.1 station from the upcoming Reggae Carifest, featuring anti-gay performers Buju Banton and Bounty Killer. The event is slated for August 25 at Randall's Island in New York. GLAAD is also encouraging the media to spotlight these performers' violent, disturbing lyrics and to question Clear Channel's support of messages that promote violence against the LGBT community. "Buju Banton and Bounty Killer continue to perform songs with virulently homophobic lyrics that in some cases support the murder of gay people," said GLAAD Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson. Read more...
(USA) -Truth Wins Out issued a warning that a biased new politically motivated "ex-Gay" sham study will reportedly surface later this year. A controversial "researcher" at a right wing religious university will release it and the goal of the study, known as "The Thomas Project," is to show that ex-gay therapy is often successful. An early report by the website Ex-Gay Watch indicates that the research likely consists of calling handpicked ex-Gay lobbyists and ministry leaders on the telephone and asking if they had "changed." There is no indication that key physical measures or tests were included, such as a "No Lie MRI," which is a scientific truth-detecting brain scan. Read more...
(Canada/UK) - The Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) appealed today to the UK government and other democratic institutions to stop deportations of Gay refugees to persecuting countries. Pegah Emambakhsh (40) is a Lesbian Iranian woman. She risks of beeing sentenced to death by the judges of the Islamic Republic of Iran because of her homosexuality. She took refuge in Sheffied, Great Britain, where she sought political asylum. This right was denied her for unconvincing reasons, among which the fact that she cannot "prove" she is a lesbian. Read more...
(Uganda) - In a landmark case, Uganda’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people assembled at the High Court of Uganda two months ago to reinforce their right to privacy, dignity, and property. There were no charges against them, they had done nothing wrong. It was the government who had to answer for illegal behaviour of its agents by discriminating against homosexual and transgender people. Read more...
(Chile) - A court in Antofagasta in the northern Chile found a 47-year-old man guilty of "abusing" a 17-year-old youth, convicting the man to 41 days in prison. Although the young man was just 12 days away from his 18th birthday at the time of the “crime” and testified that the sex was consensual, prosecutors pursued the case, claiming that the man “corrupted the child’s sexual morality.” Chile’s Criminal Code is highly biased against Gays, and the legal age of consent is 18 for homosexuals while 12 for heterosexuals. Read more...
(UK) - The Iranan Queer Organization reports that Pegah Emambakhsh is an Iranian national who sought asylum in the UK in 2005. Her claim failed despite appeals and she was arrested in Sheffield on Monday 13th August and is being taken to Yarlswood detention centre from where she will be deported tomorrow, Thursday 16th August. If returned to Iran she faces certain imprisonment and possibly stoning to death. Her crime in Iran is her sexual orientation – she was in a same-sex relationship. Ms Emambakhsh escaped from Iran, claiming asylum, after her lover was arrested, tortured and subsequently sentenced to death by stoning. Read more...
(Renningen, Germany) - After a mother interfered on behalf of the dignity of marriage, a school project at a German school has gotten a bitter aftertaste, say students and educators involved. The Stuttgarter Zeitung reported that students at Renninger High School created their own “state” with the help of their teachers. They named their creation Maredivia, and were justly proud of it. Maredivia was a multifaceted and all-inclusive sort of utopia in the students’ eyes until one mother expressed concerns about the “sanctity of marriage,” which resulted in homosexuality being banned from their project, which the teens are unable to comprehend. Read more...
(Iran) - A court in Tehran has spared two teenagers found guilty of sexually abusing another boy from hanging. The judges in a Tehran general criminal court ruled that the teenagers, now aged 16 and 17, had not reached mental maturity at the time of the crime and thus could not be subjected to the death penalty. They were sentenced instead to ten years in prison. The case indicates a possible change of policy on execution of minors in Iran. Read more...
(USA) - Truth Wins Out expressed outrage on August 13 over a Texas Church that reneged on a promise to hold a memorial service for a Navy veteran once it learned he was Gay. "This is not a church, but a 'hate house' that has elevated prejudice above principle and discrimination above basic human decency," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen, who is of the opinion that High Point Church's pastor, Rev. Gary Simons, should immediately resign for gross insensitivity of a family in mourning, substituting bad manners for good morals and a dereliction of duty for failing to provide basic pastoral care. Read more...
(Malaysia) - Malaysia will prevent realization of a plan to establish a first Metropolitain Community Church in the moslem-majourity country, a government minister said today. Reverend Ouyang Wen Feng, the country's first and only openly gay pastor ordained in the US, said he wanted to set up the church by 2010 and caused an outrage in the homophobic Christians and Moslem communities. Adnan Tengku Mansor, Malayia’s Tourism Minister told AFP that the country had always sought to portray itself as a "family-oriented" holiday destination and thus the government would block the plan. Read more...
(Estonia) - This year’s Gay Pride parade in Estonian’s capital Tallin passed peacefully on Saturday in the streets of the Old City. An estimated number of 300 participants demonstrated their resolve to fight for their civil rights by cheering and clapping. Thousands of locals and tourists attended the demonstration as spectators. For safety reasons, the parade route protected by private security and extra police officers. Some counter-demonstrants were present as well, but no serious incidents were reported. The anti-Gay protesters crowd consisted at first of members of the Russian Orthodox minority, chanting "No Pride" as they followed the demonstration. Later, some Estonian skinheads joined them. Read more...
(Russia) - About two dozens of Gays and Lesbians marched in Omsk while the city celebrated the Day of the City, according to Gayrussia.Ru. In what seems to become a tradition, on past Sunday local Gay and Lesbian activists staged their “Rainbow march” within the framework of the general festivities. This year, the rainbow walk on the streets of Omsk was organized by a group of young activists with the support of the LGBT association "Favorit". The tiny but colourful parade went along the route from the Pushkin Library to the Leningrad Square without excesses, which is in contrast to the violent disruption of the Moscow Pride this year. Read more...
(USA) - The recent brutal murders of three lesbians show that South Africa’s constitutional promise of equal protection has yet to become a reality, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Thabo Mbeki. As the country celebrates National Women’s Day – the 51st anniversary of women’s resistance to the apartheid-era pass system restricting free movement – a climate of violent homophobia and sexism demands government action to make its commitment to equality and tolerance a reality for the nation’s gays and lesbians. Read more...
(Hunduras/Guatemala) - The level of threats, intimidation, attacks and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala who campaign to defend the rights of marginalised communities is reaching 'worrying proportions' said Amnesty International today (8 August) as it published its new report. Amnesty International's report - Persecution and Resistance: The experience of human rights defenders in Guatemala and Honduras - exposes a systematic pattern of attacks against those who defend the rights of marginalised communities, including indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Read more...
(Nepal) - Nepal’s army has stirred up a new controversy by sacking two women because they were flat-chested and accused of being lesbians. The two women, who do not want to be named, have told human rights groups that they were unfairly accused of being lesbians and sacked after being kept in solitary confinement in windowless cells for more than a month. Human rights activists say the dismissals show up the army’s continued disregard of human rights, intolerance towards the sexual minorities and widespread irregularities. Read more...
(London, UK) - It would not be right for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, dubbed as “The Friendly Games”, to be held in Nigeria, given the country’s appalling human rights record, said Davis Mac-Iyalla, founder and leader of the gay Christian group, Changing Attitude Nigeria. “Nigeria’s homophobic oppression is a violation of the Commonwealth Games ethos of equality, humanity, peace, unity, cooperation and understanding,” he said in London at the weekend. “Unless Nigeria radically improves its human rights record, it should be ruled out of consideration as a host for the 2014 Games,” he added. Read more...
(Iran) - The government of Iran on Monday closed down a leading moderate daily for the second time in less than a year after the paper published an interview with a woman accused of being a "counter-revolutionary" homosexual, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. The ban on Shargh ("East"), the favorite newspaper of Iranian liberals, comes amid growing pressure on the press in Iran and follows the closure of fellow moderate daily Ham Mihan last month. Shargh on Saturday published a full-page interview with Saghi Ghahreman, an expatriate Iranian poet who lives in Canada, under the headline "Feminine Language." Read more...
As undefined as visual art can sometimes be there is still a measured structure to it which can resonate with a viewer so much so that it “pops” from the canvass into the psyche of a mesmerized admirer. Termed as pop impressionism, this style of artistic expression has been perfected by San Francisco artist, David Derosa, whose recent “Catachismic” series takes on a distinctly spiritual theme while using opposing shades of light and dark, positive and negative shapes with text that contain dual meanings of his subjects in everyday poses. Read more...
On August 4, 2007 representatives of the Gay Homeland Foundation (GHF) will call on several consulates located in Cologne and hand over letters petitioning for decriminalization of homosexuality in Gambia, Malaysia, Nepal, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunesia. The Foundation welcomes the decision of Gay activists in Caracas, Cologne, Mexico City, San Diego, San Francisco, Stockholm, Warsaw, Washington and Vancouver to initiate actions on this Global Gay Solidarity Day, which hopefully will become a good tradition and will give fresh dynamics to the Gay movement in the next years. With some 300 millions Gay individuals worldwide there is much potential for interconnection and joint action. Read more...
(USA) - US Representative Eliot Engel, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen reintroduced the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA), a bipartisan bill that will save lives by allowing states to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive US citizens. The bill was introduced with 54 original sponsors evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. This bill addresses a cruel irony in healthcare coverage for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Despite the fact that Medicaid is the largest single provider of HIV/AIDS care in the U.S., currently, most adults with HIV are not eligible for Medicaid until they have progressed to full blown AIDS. Read more...
(New York) - Human rights activists will gather at Dag Hammerskold Plaza and, led by piper John Maynard, process through the plaza, light candles and lay a wreath at the Raul Wallenberg Memorial outside the UN. Gay equality advocates concerned with the denial of basic human rights to lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) people will hold vigils of solidarity in cities around the world this weekend August 3rd and 4th, including Caracas, Cologne, Mexico City, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Stockholm, Vancouver, Warsaw and Washington. The global solidarity vigils are a response to what organizers assert are a growing increase in violence and the denial of human rights worldwide against lgbt people. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - Admiral Michael Mullen, President Bush’s nominee to succeed General Peter Pace as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was questioned about the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel during a Senate hearing Tuesday. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine queried Mullen on the continued dismissal of gay troops under the ban. While confirming that he would implement the current law, Mullen also told Collins that “I really think it is for the American people to come forward, really through this body, to both debate that policy and make changes, if that's appropriate.” Read more...
(Philadelphia, USA) - A federal judge issued an opinion today allowing a long-term gay couple to resume contact with each other while completing the period of supervision imposed on them as part of a drug sentence. The ACLU, which represented the couple, cheers the court's historic decision recognizing that same-sex couples are equally protected by the Constitution and must be treated the same as other families. Read more...
(Burlington, USA) - The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association announced today at the Women in Medicine Conference in Burlington, Vermont that its Lesbian Health Fund (LHF) program has given $500,000 to support lesbian health research. Lesbian and bisexual women are prone to discrimination in health care and, as a group, experience higher rates of smoking, obesity, and risk factors for breast cancer. Read more...
(Sweden) - Stockholm starts celebrating the biggest Scandinavian Pride-festival. This years theme is sports and the theme runs through the entire festival. At the seminar centre Pride House, the leisure movements responsibility concerning LGBT-phobia is discussed with the Swedish Sports Confederation, among others. You can also join in on the dildo-kubb tournement. In Pride Park the focus is on spontaneous sports. Visitors can challange each other in croquet, on a climbing wall, with giant pick up sticks or by shooting Amor's arrows. Also, a ice skating rink will be rigged! Around Stockholm there are several tournaments and sports activities. Read more...
(Vancouver, Canada) - The Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) is pleased to announce that Tomasz Baczkowski, one of the international Parade grand marshalls, has arrived safely in Vancouver. Baczkowski is a gay human rights campaigner in Poland and was the lead organizer of the first legal Warsaw Pride held this past May. "There was some concern that Tomasz would perhaps be detained or otherwise as he is one of only a few "out" prominent gay figures in Poland. The government systematically persecutes gays in Poland so we were holding our breath until he landed," stated Ken Coolen, Vancouver Pride Parade organizer. Read more...
(Philadelphia, USA) - A study by Equality Forum, an international gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, suggests that gay and lesbian voters voted as a block in the recent mayoral primary election in Philadelphia and that gay and lesbian voters were markedly more likely to support their candidate than their neighbors. The study found that gays voted by about two to every one vote for Michael Nutter, the winning candidate, in the citywide vote. Read more...
As part of Brighton Pride, friends and supporters of the British Youth Council (BYC) will be marching from Madeira Drive to Preston Park on the morning of August 4th, starting at 11.30am. BYC will be handing out postcards to encourage supporters of the Stop Homophobia in Poland campaign to write to Gordon Brown PM voicing their support. Campaigners are asking the UK government to publicly denounce human rights abuses being carried out against the LGBT community by the Polish government. British Youth Council spokesperson, Lloyd Russell-Moyle (20) said: “I welcome this opportunity for BYC to be involved in Pride. BYC’s presence will help to further highlight the plight of the LGBT community in Poland.” Read more...
(Iran) - Within the past two weeks, following the rightful objection of the Iranian people in regard to ever-increasing government pressures, a new wave of repression and suppression has begun inside Iran. As part of an interview with the TV program Kooleh Poshty on July 24th, in an emphasized and detailed account Mr. Saeed Mortazavi names every group and individual targeted by the new wave of government violence and murder in Iran. In these comments, he clearly outlines groups allegedly violating official Islamic laws and speaks in detail about various forms of dress, makeup, and hairstyle deemed unacceptable and unforgivable. Read more...
(San Francisco, USA) - A group of activists staged a protest at an evening meeting at the Fairmont Hotel featuring the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in order to protest the unconscionable, murderous silence of the United Nations concerning continued violence and executions globally which specifically target gays and lesbians. Ban was speaking before the World Affairs Council of Northern California, as San Francisco is considered the birthplace of the UN. The nonviolent protesters twice interrupted Ban’s speech, first standing on their seats, chanting "Break the silence! Talk about about gays!” while holding up signs which read “Gay Rights Are UNiversal", capitalizing the letters UN to drive home the point that the UN has not accepted its responsibility to monitor and defend the human rights of gay and lesbian people worldwide.
Note: Watch the video capture of this action here. Read more...
(Cologne, Germany) - Around 40 people participated in a vigil to remember Gays and Lesbians murdered by the hands of religious fundamentalists in Iran. The vigil started on 19 July 2007 at 17:30 at Cologne's Memorial for Gay and Lesbian Victims of Nazism near the Hohenzollern Bridge. The event, organised by baraka, an international self-organization group of Gay, Lesbian und bisexual immigrants in Cologne, and by the Gay Homeland Foundation aimed to draw attention to the terrible conditions under which many homosexual people live in Iran and many other countries. Jacek Marjanski (baraka), Viktor Zimmermann (GHF) and a Lesbian woman from Iran (whose name is withhold for safety reasons) spoke at the vigil. Read more...
(New York, USA) - Despite a widely publicized outcry two years ago when Iranian authorities executed two young men in the northeastern city of Mashhed, the government continues to target, arrest, prosecute, and execute individuals under its sodomy law. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) condemns Iran's violations of human rights law and asks that human rights groups around the world work to support those targeted by the government. Read more...
The Gay Homeland Foundation, an organization dedicated to furtherance of a gay national movement and cultural progress of the gay-lesbian community, and baraka, an international self-organization group of gay, lesbian und bisexual immigrants in Cologne, have announced the first political demonstration commemorating all gay and lesbian victims of the Ayatollah regime in Iran in Cologne on 19 July 2007. A vigil is scheduled to begin at 17:30 at the “Memorial for Lesbian and Gay victims of National Socialism” near the Hohenzollern bridge on the left Rhine bank in Cologne, Germany. RUBICON, Cologne's counseling center for gays and lesbians, is also supporting the event. Read more...
(Chisinau, Moldova) - GenderDoc-M, the gay and lesbian NGO in Moldova, has joined forces with other organisations for form an Antidiscrimination Consortium to protect the human rights of minorities. At present, the Consortium is working to protect the rights of ethnic minorities, youth, people with disabilities, the LGBT community and women. The project aims to set minimum standards for anti discrimination law which should be adopted by Government. In addition, The Consortium is organising training for those in the coalition as well as for journalists who will highlight the subject in local and national mass media. Read more...
(London, UK) - GaydarRadio was yesterday (July 2) crowned Commercial Radio Digital Station of the Year at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards 2007. The digital radio station which is also streamed on the internet, beat off stiff competition from other finalists PlanetRock, last year’s recipient, and The Jazz, to take the accolade at a ceremony at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel. The 'gong' follows right on the heels of a prestigious Gold Sony for GaydarRadio which was crowned UK Digital Terrestrial Station of the Year in April. And last October, the network was voted Best Radio Station by its listeners in the BT Digital Music Awards. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc., today released the first comprehensive analysis of the top 19 candidates for the 2008 presidency on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. Democrats discussed in this report include Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Republicans include Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. The report, The 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Positions on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues, and its accompanying chart are based on an analysis of the voting records and public statements of the candidates in eight key LGBT issue areas. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) - A group of unknown men has beaten up several Orthodox Christian youth on Saturday as they "patrolled" a Moscow park searching for gays to expell. The park is a popular meeting place for gay men and now is targeted by homophobes who have vowed to purge the city from "sexual deviants". It is unclear whether the young homophobes were beaten up by members of the local Gay community.
(Catar) - A gay man from Nepal has been released from prison after he was found guilty of “engaging in homosexual activities”. The court suspended his year’s prison sentence and ordered a subsequent deportation. The decision revised an early sentence, taken in absentia, to jail the man for one year. Local newspapers write that the decision was revised because the court found it "useless" to keep the man in custody for one year with no prospects for “rectification”. Read more...
(Uganda) - Archbishop Henry Orombi, the head of the Anglican Church in Uganda, started a new assault on gay people. While addressing Christians of Ndeeba Archdeaconry in Kayunga district on Saturday, he told the auditory: "Acts of homosexuality and lesbianism have infiltrated our schools, especially secondary schools." He continued then: "I have personally joined the war against the vice and I want you to join me". The bishop did not specify how the regular citizens might contribute to his fight against homosexuals, but obviously these contributions vill entail no good to the gay people. Read more...
Los Angeles, USA) - When Michael (last name withheld to protect his confidentiality), age 17, first came to the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Jeff Griffith Youth Center in September 2006, he was using drugs and living on the streets after having run away from a group foster home. Today, thanks to the Center’s landmark new General Education Diploma (GED) Preparation Program, he holds the equivalent of a high school diploma and is now training through the Los Angeles Jobs Corps for a career as an X-ray technician. Read more...
(Riga, Latvia) – Mozaīka, the Latvian alliance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals (LGBT) and their friends, is very pleased about the “March for Equality” which took place in Vērmaņdārzs Park in Rīga on June 3, 2007, as part of their “Friendship Days 2007” festival. “We are very pleased that this year the march took place in a completely different political climate than the one which prevailed in 2005 and 2006,” the group said in a statement today. Read more...
(New York, USA) - Advertisement spending in the gay and lesbian press has grown at almost three times the rate of consumer magazines over the past ten years, according to a major annual survey released today. Ad spending in gay and lesbian publications in 2006 reached a record $223.3 million, an increase of 5.2% over 2005 and an increase of 205% since 1996, according to the 2006 edition of the Gay Press Report, the annual survey produced by advertising agency Prime Access Inc. and gay media representative firm Rivendell Media. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - The entire field of eight Democratic presidential candidates indicated their support for repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel during a televised debate on Sunday. The candidates, appearing on CNN, all expressed support for allowing lesbians and gays to serve openly in the armed forces. Read more...
(Miami Beach, USA) - Truth Wins Out announced its strong and committed opposition today to President George W. Bush's nomination for U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. James W. Holsinger, after it was revealed that he started a church in Lexington, Kentucky that has a ministry to "cure" gay people. "Holsinger is an ideologue whose medical views on gay and lesbian people resemble sorcery more than sound science," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "The last thing America needed was another deplorable nominee who isn't up to the job, but this is exactly what Bush delivered." Read more...
(London, UK) - Moscow police confirm that they have opened a criminal investigation into the assault on British gay human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, at last Sunday's Moscow Gay Pride event. But official police claims that they have arrested the right-wing extremist who punched Mr Tatchell in the face are untrue, according to the investigating officer. In another development, there are allegations that Moscow police are trying to pin the assault on three right-wingers who may be innocent of any involvement. Read more...
(Riga, Latvia) - Foreign guests, please don’t come to Latvia for Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride. That is the message from the ‘No Pride’ group, who have not headed their own plea. They say on their website: “Foreign Guests please don’t come. It’s our problem. Not yours!” However, foreign guests appear to be welcome to be in town for the four-day ‘festival’, which has opened today (May 31), if they support the No Pride viewpoint. Scott Lively, the American author of The Pink Swastika, is reported to be already in Riga. Read more...
(Riga, Latvia) - A draft new partnership law will a unveiled on Friday at a Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride seminar. Five seminars will form part of Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride, this coming weekend, in addition to the march, film screenings and party nights. On Friday morning (June 1) a draft law for partnerships will be unveiled at a Family in Contemporary Latvia seminar in the Riga Conference Centre. The aim of this draft proposal for legislation will be to gain legal rights for same-sex couples, as well as secure certain rights for any co-habiting couples who are not married, regardless of sexual orientation. Read more...
(London, UK) - The British Green Party has today called for a European Union travel ban on the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, following violence in the streets of the capital on Sunday during Gay Pride - and heavy-handed police tactics which saw many arrests. They condemn Moscow police, and the OMON riot police, for “arresting peaceful gay and lesbian rights activists, and standing by while those activists were attacked by extremist thugs opposite City Hall”. Activists, including European lawmakers, senior foreign human rights officials and celebrities, attempted to submit a letter, signed by around 50 MEPs, protesting against Mayor Luzhkov’s renewed ban of the Moscow Gay Pride Parade. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – Nikolai Alekseev and two colleagues from Moscow Gay Pride are spending tonight in police custody at they await a court appearance later this morning. The three has been moved to another police station, friends are reporting. Volker Beck, the Green Party member of the German Bundestag who himself was arrested briefly yesterday afternoon, spent all last calling his contacts in both Germany and Russia trying to get legal assistance to the “Moscow Gay Pride Three” who are to appear in court at 11am Moscow time. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) - Arrests and violent attacks marred today’s attempted Moscow Gay Pride march. Fifteen to 20 marchers were arrested. The organiser of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, is being detained overnight at Moscow’s Tverskoi district police station, together with two prominent members of Russia’s Radical and Free Radical parties, Nikolai Khramov and Sergei Konstantinov. British gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was one of several Gay Pride marchers who were beaten today by gangs of neo-Nazis, nationalist extremists and Russian Orthodox fundamentalists, with the apparent collusion of sections of the Moscow police and the Russian OMON riot squad. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – From inside the Tverskoya police station, where he is being detained, Nikolai Alekseev – one of the Moscow Gay Pride organisers and its spokesperson – has issued a statement asking for international support and for the immediate release of all the gays activists currently being held. There is confusion as to exactly how many are being held. But Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, who is in Moscow, has confirmed that there are 15 being held at Tverskoya and is checking reports that others are being held elsewhere in the city. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) - More than 20 people were detained by police in Moscow near the building of the Moscow City Hall, where gay activists performed an action in support of gay rights. Nikolai Alekseyev, one of the organizers of the demo, is among the detainees, along with Marco Capatto, a European Parliament deputy from Italy, and Volker Beck, member of the German Bundestag.
Note: UPDATE: Video of the assault on Peter Tatchell Read more...
(Miami Beach, USA) – Truth Wins Out launched its ‘Talking Truth’ internet video campaign today, so Americans can finally learn from the victims of ex-gay ministries how these misleading groups are ineffective and ruin lives. The video testimonies paint an accurate portrait of ‘ex-gay’ groups that teach client’s denial, while offering false promises about changing from gay-to-straight. The Talking Truth campaign also gives hope to those who are still ensnared in the ‘ex-gay’ trap and lets them know that they can remain both spiritual and openly gay. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – With Gay Pride about to start, Moscow is surprisingly quiet. Not a single official statement has been released by Mayor of Moscow, unlike at the same time last year. Even the weather is different – last year rain was the order of the day. Right now a sunny and hat weekend awaits the 200 or so participants attending today’s LGBT conference and who knows how many who will take part in tomorrow’s Pride March. And journalists are starting to “smell” a story later in the day. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) - When Italian transgendered politician Vladimir Luxuria met Nikolai Alekseev at the Turin Pride last June, she accepted the invitation of the Russian gay movement to attend the 2nd Moscow Pride. Eleven months later Vladimir Luxuria arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetievo airport. And despite she incidentally came without visa, the Russian foreign affairs ministry granted her a visa at the airport. Vladimir Luxuria is ready to join Russian LGBT activists and supporters to march in Moscow on Sunday. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – International solidarity can help give a psychological and practical boost to local LGBT activists, Peter Tatchell said shortly after arriving in Moscow for the city’s second Gay Pride. “It also offers a degree of protection against State repression,” he said. “Mayor Luzhkov is already less vocal against gay pride than he was this time last year. “Perhaps that’s because he knows the world is watching and there are high profile international observers attending the pride conference and march,” the London-based human rights activist and founder of Outrage! suggested. Read more...
(Pristina, Kosovo) – The leader of a gay and lesbian youth advocacy group and his staff have today received death threats which the police initially refused to take seriously. The threat email was sent to the leader of Centre for Social Emancipation (QESh), Mr. ‘K.Z’. Starting “In the name of Allah”, the email condemns ‘Mr. Z’ for his activities with the youth group and says he will end up in hell. The email continues, in translation: “We will fu** you mother, burn you with all your belongings, amd will make you carry your intestines in your own hands, you lewd man”. Read more...
(Stockholm, Sweden) – A government minister is to head a delegation of more than 70 people from Sweden to the Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride, which gets underway on Thursday May 31. In addition, the Swedish Embassy in Riga will be holding an official reception during the Pride. Tobias Billström, the minister for migration and asylum policy at the Ministry of Justice will be taking part in the parade at Vermanes Park in downtown Riga – and is due to make a speech following the event. Read more...
(Strasbourg, EU) – The European Commission is now experiencing at first hand homophobia – and what it is like to be gay, or lesbian, or bisexual, or transgendered in parts of the European Union, a group of MEPs said today.The remarks come in the wake of the ban imposed on Monday by the Mayor of Vilnius, Juozas Imbrasas, on the Commission-sponsored ‘For Diversity: Against Discrimination’ display truck from setting up shop for a day in the Lithuanian capital on Friday (May 25). “The Commission now feels the force of homophobia,” said Michael Cashman (PES – UK), the president of Parliament’s gay and lesbian rights all-party ‘Intergroup’. Read more...
(UN) - The UN Committee on NGO's decided to defer to the next session the applications of Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights; Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales; Associaçăo Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas e Transgęneros. Read more...
(New York, USA) – Pope Benedict XVI, US President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have all undermined human rights by actively promoting prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Human Rights Watch said last night in its annual “hall of shame” to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. Today, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups in more than 50 countries will commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, an initiative launched in 2005 that commemorates the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its roster of disorders. Read more...
(London, UK) - Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell warned today that thousands of lives are still being ruined by homophobia. Speaking on the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), he said that the Liberal Democrats are today holding a Parliamentary reception as part of their campaign to tackle homophobic bullying in schools. “Britain has thankfully moved a long way since the decrimalisation of homosexuality over 40 years ago, he said. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – The REGNUM news agency is reporting this afternoon that the committee on law, order and security of St. Petersburg government denied permission to hold first ever gay pride parade on the central street of the city – Nevski Prospect – on 26 May. According to the report, a detailed answer with the official notification of the ban will be given to the organiers of the St. Petersburg Gay Pride after it is studied by the lawyers. However, that the ban is due to the fact that there are many other festive events planned for City Day on May 27. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – German Green Party MP Volker Beck has praised the cooperation between the organisers of Moscow Gay Pride and Russian State Duma deputy Alexey Mitrofanov. The openly gay German politician, ‘chief whip’ of the Greens in the Bundestag, suffered cuts to the face after an attack on him during last year’s Moscow Pride. And in today’s Kommersant newspaper is a report that representatives from Orthodox Christian organisations had said that they would “spill gay blood” if the Pride parade was permitted. Read more...
(Iran) - More than eighty members of the Iranian gay community are reported to have been arrested by security personnel in Isfahan, the Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization revealed this morning. The arrests are said to have been made at 10pm on May 10 when police raided the birthday party of ‘Farhad’. They are said to have brutally assaulted the host, his parents and their guests. Reports received by IRQO in Toronto/Canada say that everyone at the party was arrested on the spot. Read more...
(Beirut/London) - Organisers of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) have announced the winners of two poster competitions, one of them based in Lebanon. The anonymous winner of the competition organised by the Beiruy-based Helem (the Arabic acronym of "Lebanese Protection for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders) produced a striking poster in Arabic using the “rainbow colours” and barbed wire (see above). Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – Organisers of Moscow Gay Pride have this morning submitted the official documents in relation to the Pride march scheduled for Sunday May 27. And yesterday the Russian State Duma deputy Alexey Mitrofanov, who last week sensationally said that the Gay Pride march should be permitted, will be attending a press conference tomorrow where Moscow Pride organisers will reveal the plans for the event to speak in support of the event. Official notification of the proposed march in the city centre was delivered this morning to the office of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Read more...
(London, UK) - The demonstration outside the Polish Embassy in London on Thursday, organised by the British Youth Council, is being backed by the London-based gay human rights group Outrage!, it emerged last night. The protest is one of a worldwide series of protests in over 50 countries to mark IDAHO - the International Day Against Homophobia, on May 17. “We condemn rising homophobia in Poland and the increased persecution of Poland’s lesbian and gay citizens,” said David Allison of OutRage!. Read more...
(USA) - In recent months and years, Polish leaders have threatened criminal sanctions against lesbian and gay activists and organizations, have tried to restrict freedoms of expression and association, and have even threatened violence against LGBT marchers. Human Rights Watch and Campaign Against Homophobia ( Kampania Przeciw Homofobii, Poland's central LGBT group) ask for signatures on the attached petition demanding an end to homophobic attacks. KPH will present the petition to Polish authorities at Warsaw's Equality Parade on May 19, 2007. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - The United States Navy has informed Petty Officer Second Class Jason Knight that it intends to fire him under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law just weeks prior to completing his one-year commitment. Knight, an openly gay sailor, was recalled to active duty in June 2006 and recently completed a tour of duty in Kuwait, where he was open about his sexual orientation with his command and fellow sailors. He told his story last weekend in the newspaper Stars & Stripes and he was notified yesterday that he will be receiving an honourable discharge from the Navy based, in part, on his recent media interviews. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) – A Russian State Duma deputy representing Liberal Democratic party and deputy head of the Duma Committee on constitutional legislation, Alexey Mitrofanov, said this morning that the Moscow authorities should allow the Moscow Gay Pride parade planned for the end of May. The banning, he said, will lead to very negative consequences for Russia as a country. Read more...
(London, UK) – The gay rights lobby group Stonewall, held a Parliamentary reception yesterday to thank dozens of politicians from all the major political parties who were involved in securing new ‘goods and services’ protections for gay people which came into force at the end of last month. More than 50 MPs and peers attended the event, held in the Jubilee Room of Westminster Hall and sponsored by Lloyds TSB. Read more...
(Salem, USA) - “Oregon is a land of equal opportunity for all our citizens” – words that could well have been heard by adventurous American pioneers of the 19th century at the end of their 3,500-kilometre journey west along the Oregon Trail. But it was the words used by modern-day pioneer –Governor Ted Kulongoski who this morning signed two bills into law ensuring that all Oregon families are treated with basic fairness and that all Oregonians can live and work free from the sting of discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation or gender. Read more...
(New York, USA) - City authorities in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, should stop interfering with lesbian and gay rights demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter to Moldova’s president, Human Rights Watch stated that both European and domestic laws guarantee freedom of assembly and freedom from discrimination for all. Last month, Chisinau authorities banned a public march planned for later that month by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights organization GenderDoc-M. Read more...
(New York, USA) - Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic secured asylum for a Turkmen woman who feared persecution in this mostly Muslim country because she is a lesbian and because of her political opinions. The grant of asylum, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, is believed to be the first-ever issued to a lesbian from Turkmenistan. The woman granted asylum in the U.S. prefers to remain anonymous as she continues to fear persecution of her family members in Turkmenistan. Read more...
(Chisinau, Moldova) Organisers of the Moldova ‘Gay Pride’ – Rainbow over the Dniester – have claimed a victory over the Chisinau city authorities. Last weekend’s LGBT Pride – the sixth in the Moldovan capital – was staged despite a ban on public events by city officials even after a ruling by the Moldova Supreme Court that a similar ban imposed last year was illegal. But not everything went smoothly. When participants arrived at the Monument to the Victims of Repression, they were met by the police who prevented the laying of flowers. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - US Senator John McCain, a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, has reiterated his support for the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. In an April 16 letter to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), McCain says the law, passed in 1993, "unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline." Read more...
(UK) - Research findings from gay market research show that up to half of UK lesbians and gay men do not feel able to reveal their sexuality to all those they work with. The research also discovered that as many as one in ten gay men, and one in eight lesbians are harassed at work because of their sexuality. These workplace research findings are uncovered in the UK in the Out Now Consulting Diva and GT Research Report. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - The US Congress is going to pass a legislation called "Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act". The Bill, also known as the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" would enable the Department of Justice to help local authorities in investigating and prosecuting hate-motivated crimes. FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. Religious Fundamentalists, among them the "American Family Association" have launched a campaign to pressure President Bush to veto the legislation, if passed. Read more...
(Strasbourg, EU) - The then Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, who is now President of Poland, violated three Articles of the European Convention of Human Rights when he banned Warsaw Gay Pride in 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled this morning. The seven judges, including Judge Lech Garlicki from Poland, ruled unanimously that there had been: a violation of Article 11 (freedom of association and assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights; a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention; and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination). Read more...
(London, UK) - As the European Parliament debated the question of homophobia in the EU and, in particular Poland, despite attempts to get the subject off the agenda, UK Green MEP Jean Lambert spoke out against the prominent Polish politicians and ministers making public anti-homosexual statements and even promoting anti-homosexual legislation. Ms. Lambert, who is a member of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights, said yesterday she was proud to vote for the resolution against Homophobia but regretted the antagonistic approach taken by some of her colleagues towards this important motion. Read more...
(Brussels, EU) - Following a debate on homophobia in Europe yesterday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution today voicing concern at the recent announcement by the anti-gay Polish Education Minister of a new draft law to outlaw ‘homosexual propaganda’ in schools. The resolution – adopted by 325 votes to 124, with 150 abstentions – calls for a fact-finding mission to be sent to Poland, for “worldwide de-criminalisation of homosexuality” and for the Commission to take Member States to court if they breach their EU obligations. Read more...
(Strasbourg, EU) - The Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights welcomed the news that the European Parliament would debate and adopt a resolution this week on homophobia in Europe following a vote striking down a motion for dismissal from the Union for the Europe of Nations political group. The news comes in the midst of increasing homophobia in European Member States. From the Netherlands to Italy, from Belgium to Latvia, in Poland and in Council of Europe states, homophobic remarks and homophobic violence are becoming more and more rampant. Read more...
(Krakow, Poland) - The March for Tolerance in the Polish city of Krakow was attended by some 2,000 participants on Saturday, April 21. The gay rights demonstration was cofronted by 300 homophobic mobsters participating in a counter-event organnized by the right-wing All-Polish Youth, organization connected to Polish Education Minister Roman Giertych. The radical homophobes attempted to blocade a part of the parade route and repeatedly assaulted gay marchers. The police prevented excessive violence and arrested several homophobic thugs. The march was part of the 4th Krakow Festival of Gay and Lesbian Culture. Read more...
(London, UK) - The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has this morning called for the Chisinau City Council to allow the Gay Pride Parade in the Moldovan capital. Last week, the Chisinau authorities banned the all public events, including the march, at the Pride which is scheduled to be held between April 27 and 29, despite a Moldova Supreme Court decision in February that the City Council had acted illegally in banning last year’s public events. Read more...
(Toronto, Canada) - An urgent appeal on behalf of a courageous Iranian gay activist and writer who was deported back to Iran from Turkey two weeks ago was made last night by the Canadian-based Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO). For security reasons, we call him Babak in this report. He is 27-years-old, and has been working as a translator/writer for Cheraq magazine, the Iranian Queer Organization’s on-line monthly magazine for the last year. Read more...
The Persian Gay and Lesbian Organization (PGLO), now called the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), is a non-profit organization working for the rights of sexual minorities in Iran. In the following interview, Arsham Parsi, one of the founders and the secretary-general of the organization, describes the formation and activities of IRQO and the existing challenges surrounding sexuality issues in Iran. He also shares his own experiences fighting for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Iran. Read more...
(Orono, USA) - The 13th Annual Child Welfare Conference, organized by the University of Maine School of Social Work and Eastern Maine Medical Center's SCAN committee, is bringing together experts in adolescent sexuality on April 26 to discuss facts and dispel myths about young people, sex and gender issues. Read more...
(London, UK) – Human Rights campaigners will be staging a demonstration next month outside the Polish Embassy in London to express their growing concern about the plight of the LGBT community in Poland. The demonstration will be staged on the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) - Thursday May 17, at a time to be arranged. Read more...
(Port Harcourt, Nigeria) – According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the voting on April 14 in key Nigerian states including Rivers and Anambra was marred by fraud, intimidation and violence. Nigeria’s nationwide elections, conducted on April 14 and April 21, mark the country’s first handover of power from one civilian head of state to another. Read more...
(Baghdad, Iraq) - The Iraqi lesbian and gay community and NGOs dealing with gay issues have called for urgent action to protect gays and lesbians in the country. The groups say that the number of victims of “sexual cleansing” is growing on a daily basis. “In the past three months, more than 30 gays have been executed in Baghdad. The bodies have been found tortured, mutilated - sometimes with signs of rape,” said Mustafa Salim, spokesman for the Rainbow for Life Organisation (RLO), a Baghdad-based gay rights NGO. Read more...
(Amsterdam, Netherlands) - The Supreme Court of Netherlands ruled that a same-sex marriage performed in the Netherlands must be recognised on Aruba, a semi-autonomous Dutch dependency in the Antilles. Charlene and Esther Oduber-Lamers were legally wed in the Netherlands in 2001. They wanted to be entered as a married couple in the civil register in Aruba, but the municipal official for the civil register in Aruba had refused to grant their request. Read more...
(Gibraltar) - Gibraltar’s Equality Rights Group, GGR, is today is challenging local Government on its housing policy towards same-sex couples. Discrimination against sexual minorities comes in many forms in Gibraltar and none is clearer than in the area of housing, the group points out in a statement. Read more...
(Brussels, EU) - The European arm of the International Lesbian and Gay Association expressed “disappointment” at the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee of the European Parliament following a discussion yesterday (April 11) on homophobia in Poland. The committee was split on the way forward to a request by two Dutch MEPs, Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens) and Sophie in ´t Veld (ALDE), to discuss the worsening situation in Poland following the recent pronouncements by the country’s minister of education to restrict lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s entitlement to employment in schools and other education institutions. Read more...
(Riga, Latvia) - The Regional Administrative Court ruled this afternoon that the decision by the Riga City Council to ban last year's Gay Pride March was illegal - and overturned a lower court decision - leaving Mozaika, the alliance of LGBT and their friends, "gratified". Mozaika, the march coordinators, had notified the City of the planned march, but were told by the authorities that it could not go ahead "on safety reasons". The District Administrative Court subsequently upheld the city council's decision. Read more...
LONDON, April 12, 2007 – The ‘Stop Murder Music’ campaign won the Advocacy Award at the Black LGBT Community Awards 2007 gala ceremony in London on-board on a luxury Thames river boat. The Advocacy Award was in recognition that the Stop Murder Music campaign had “brought together activists worldwide in challenging homophobic lyrics which incite people to violence against LGBT people”. Read more...
(Miami Beach, USA) - Truth Wins Out unveiled a new video today on YouTube examining the "Day of Truth" which aims to push gay youth into 'ex-gay' conversion programs. In response to GLSEN's "Day of Silence" where gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth remain silent to protest the silencing effect discrimination and harassment has on LGBT youth, the far right Alliance Defense Fund created a "Day of Truth" one day after the pro-gay "Day of Silence." Read more...
(South Africa) - "Out in Africa" Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Italian Institute of Culture are calling for for proposals for lesbian & gay short films (8 - 10 minutes length). The call is open to those who have some filmmaking experience, but who may not have yet had the opportunity to make a film. Read more...
(Aquila, Italy) - The Catholic Church in Italy is facing an unexpected crisis just a few days before Easter: Francesco Il Sodomo Catamiti, the Bishop of Aquila chose April 1st to declare his homosexuality. Catamati has stepped down from the church position he held for many years. In a remarkably courageous statement, the 68 year old condemned the Vatican's policy against ordination of homosexuals and had some catty words for the current Church leadership. Catamiti says he no longer wishes to associate himself with a Church which turns against the teaching of that Jesus Christ, who Catamati refers to as "the very first gay icon and pin-up boy." The bishop, who has authored books on social ethics, was considered to be among conservatives in the Church before his coming-out. He would only speak to Gay Republic Daily. Read more...
(Brussels) - The European arm of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, ILGA-Europe, has welcomed a Council of Europe resolution that condemns bans in some countries of Gay Prides. Approved [Tuesday] in Strasbourg by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the resolution reminds local and regional authorities throughout Europe that is it their duty to ensure that the freedom of assembly and expression is enjoyed by LGBT people without any discrimination. Read more...
(Geneva) - After meeting this month, AIDS experts say new info shows that circumcision is a way to decrease the average rate of HIV infection-- but only among str8 men. 'More study' is needed to see whether circumcision reduces gay HIV transmission. However, so far, the data seem to indicate that it might. Read more...
(London) - IDAHO-UK will be joining 50 countries in the fight against homophobia on May 17. And so far it looks like one of the strongest areas in the country will be Northern England that will be marking International Day Against Homophobia [IDAHO]. Exceeding Expectations, the Manchester initiative aimed at ending homophobia through education is launching its third newsletter to be distributed to all adults working at secondary schools across the city to coincide with IDAHO day. Read more...
(London) - As news emerged that a new anti-gay group had been registered in Latvia, the plot thickened as to the involvement of an American preacher with religious groups in the country who told an American newspaper: this is a war, referring to his anti-gay campaign in Europe. Ken Hutcherson, the former NFL linebacker and now Dr. Hutcherson, the founder and senior pastor of the Antioch Bible Church near Seattle, claimed to have been a special envoy of the White House when he visited Riga earlier this month.
(Brussels) - The European Parliaments Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights last week expressed alarm over reports of the Polish national governments intended plans to adopt a law which would ban LGBT people from working in education and would also ban awareness-raising of LGBT issues in schools. Such laws flagrantly violate the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union and would also go against the acquis communautaire in particular the Employment Framework Directive, the Intergroup claim[s]. Read more...
(Nigeria) - The "Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2006" was debated...[on] 22 March, by the Nigerian House of Representatives. The bill undermines the fundamental human rights of all lesbian and gay Nigerians, their families and friends. World opinion needs to urgently condemn further progress on this Bill in the Nigerian House of Representatives. It will make criminals of LGBT people simply for being who they are. "We urge all Provinces and Primates of the Anglican Communion to support international action in condemnation of this dangerous and inhuman bill", says the statement of Changing Attitude Nigeria. Read more...
(UK) - TV's Little Britain star Matt Lucas wants to be the new Timelord if David Tennant quits Doctor Who. BBC chiefs have confirmed a fourth series will be made, but Tennant is tipped to go halfway through filming. Matt, 33 famous for playing only gay in the village Daffyd wants to replace him. His partner Kevin McGee said: Matt would love to be in Doctor Who. I can see him playing the part. Read more...
(London, UK) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has spoke last night of the pride and real joy" civil partnerships have brought to gay people and the civilising effect equality legislation has had beyond the community. Addressing the Stonewall Equality dinner at the Dorchester Hotel in London, the Prime Minister said that the first set of ceremonies in Northern Ireland were just so alive, and admitted to doing a little skip in celebration. Read more...
Twenty years ago, a furious speech by the playwright and activist Larry Kramer at New York City's lesbian and gay community center birthed a new activist organization, ACT UP--the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Within a month, weekly planning meetings were attracting 200 people, a motley mix of gay men, lesbians, recovering addicts with AIDS and the newly diagnosed, a great many of them just in their 20s. Read more...
After the Presidential hopeful made a shambles of his response to General Pace's assertions that 'gays are immoral,' Barak Obama has called in the gays. His campaign has announced it's forming a 'gay advisory panel.' The official story is that such a panel was planned from the outset of the campaign, but apparently--- for some reason-- there's now a new air of urgency. Read more...
(Naples, FL) - Just a week ago, Father Joseph Fessio, the Provost of Catholic Ave Maria University, joined in the debate over gay 'unborn babies' and the prospects that one day there might be hormone treatments that could 'straighten out' a gay fetus in utero. Now he's out of a job. Read more...
(Santa Fe, NM) - Residents at what has been billed as a premier destination for retired gays and lesbians are wondering aloud whether RainbowVision is trying to shed its gay image. ...Last week, the rainbow flag -- a symbol of the gay community -- that flew above the community on Rodeo Road was taken down. ..."Finally we thought there was a place where we could come and we wouldn't have to apologize about being gay,'' said one resident who did not want to be identified. ``Now it's like RainbowVision is going back into the closet.'' Read more...
(London, UK) Fundamentalist Christians are set to demonstrate outside Parliament this evening as the House of Lords debate the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007. The Government intends to bring-in the Act next month. It will outlaw discrimination against gay people in the provision of goods and services, though Prime Minister Tony Blair has said religious agencies would be given a 21 month transitional period to prepare for the new laws. Read more...
(USA) - Lesbians’ brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women. An earlier study of gay men also showed their brain response was different from straight men — an even stronger difference than has now been found in lesbians.
(UK) - Brighton and Hove’s Green Party has shown its pink credentials by drawing up a 15 point manifesto for the LGBT community. While it’s a welcome and radical move, it’s quite a wise one considering the sizeable gay community. Spokesperson: “We pride ourselves on being the only local party standing in the upcoming council elections in Brighton and Hove to produce a comprehensive 15 point manifesto for LGBT people.... We’ve done this because we care passionately about the quality of life in our city for the LGBT communities. We hope LGBT people can see what a Green vote means in the 3rd May city council elections which are so important for the future direction of Brighton and Hove, renowned as the ‘gay’ capital of England.”
Note: Read full article at Gay.com
(USA) - On Wednesday, [Larry] Gierer will take on a new role, becoming [Oakland Park's] first openly gay mayor and the first openly HIV-positive mayor in Broward County. He'll serve in the city's top seat for one year while Layne Walls serves as vice mayor. The position rotates annually among commissioners. Gierer's new title will be a highly anticipated moment for Oakland Park's budding gay population. Oakland Park residents elected the city's first openly gay candidate, Chris Wilson, in 1993, but he did not gather enough votes to rotate into the mayor's position before his term expired.
Note: Read the full article at South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(USA) - Ken Hutcherson, the famously anti-gay pastor at Antioch Bible Church, just outside of Seattle, [Washington] has recently been claiming that he is a newly-minted White House “Special Envoy.” Hutcherson’s supposed full title, which he claimed was bestowed upon him by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, was: 'Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief.' Read more...
(Gloucester, UK) - A group of gay men and women in Gloucestershire will be going back into "the closet" in May to draw attention to the fact that there are still many countries in the world where gays are persecuted, and even executed. Organised by Gloucestershire Rainbow Day, the "back into the closet" event will be staged at Stroud’s gay and lesbian bar, the Lockkeepers in Wallbridge for 24 hours, from 6pm on Friday May 18. It is to be Gloucestershire's contribution to International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) which is observed worldwide on May 17. Read more...
(UK) - A solitary British Baroness is making one final effort to block implementation of new government rules meant to stop anti-gay discrimination. According to the Telegraph newspaper, Baroness O'Cathain has introduced a resolution in the House of Lords that condemns the proposed rules, taking up the cause of Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and other religious leaders who say that the law is a threat to those sects' adoption services. Read more...
(Poland) - The Polish government’s proposed legislation to censor all discussion of homosexuality in schools and other academic institutions would violate freedom of speech and impede free access to information, Human Rights Watch said last night in a letter to Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. On March 13, the deputy minister of education, Miroslaw Orzechowski, said that the government is developing legislation to “punish anyone who promotes homosexuality” in schools and education establishments. Read more...
(Nigeria) - The Nigerian branch of the Anglican Church pressure group on LGBT rights, Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN), is warning other countries that the passing of the anti-gay marriage bill could cause significant problems for them, too. Restrictions in the bill are so draconian and oppressive that it could result in a potential flood of gay Nigerians fleeing to other countries. The main targets would be other countries that Nigerians often travel to, such as Britain. Read more...
(Warsaww, Poland) - Some 10,000 teachers marched in Warsaw on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Roman Giertych, whom they accuse of failing to keep promises of raises and of harming the education system. The minister is preparing legislation to sanction school principals who allow members of gay rights organisations to speak with pupils. The 36-year-old Giertych recently also caused controversy at a meeting of EU education ministers when he openly criticised abortion rights and what he termed “homosexual propaganda.” Read more...
(Bartow, USA) - Two men have been arrested in the killing of a central Florida man police say may have been stabbed because he was gay. Twenty-five-year-old Ryan Keith Skipper of Wahneta was found dead along a rural roadway early Wednesday morning. William David Brown Junior (20) and Joseph Bearden (21) were arrested as suspects. Police say they have a witness reporting Skipper was killed because he was gay. According to the Sheriff's Office, the arrested men stole the car and computer of the victim, and then drove him to a road where he was stabbed more than 20 times.
Note: Update: Read more on Orlando Sentinel
(Banda Aceh, Indonesia) – A 32-years-old NGO worker and his same-sex partner were allegedly brutally tortured and sexually abused by the Banda Aceh police while in custody in January, the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has revealed. AHRC has named the NGO official as Mr. Hartayo and his partner as “Bobby”. The alleged underlying motive behind the detention, torture and sexual abuse of the victims is because they are homosexuals, AHRC says in an ‘urgent action’ appeal. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - A group of seven high-ranking US military veterans today responded to recent remarks by General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who earlier this week called lesbian, gay and bisexual service members ‘immoral’ and re-iterated his support for the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. The officers, who are all lesbian or gay, called on Congress to repeal the law, and demanded that General Pace apologise for his remarks. Read more...
(Strasbourg, EU) -The European Parliament is to call on the Nigerian Government and Parliament not to adopt the proposed 'Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act' in its current form. MEPs this afternoon voted 61-24, with one abstention, on a wide-ranging human rights resolution tabled by the EPP-DE group that also included a call to abolish the death penalty and to intervene in individual cases of persons tried under Sharia law and sentenced to death, amputation, flogging or other inhuman and degrading treatment that violates the Nigerian Constitution as well as international human rights law. Read more...
(Cologne, Germany) - An anti-gay bill pending in the legislature of Nigeria could result in that country running afoul of international treaties which outlaw genocide, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the Gay Homeland Foundation. Nigerian politicians and high officials of the Anglican Church in Nigeria pushing for the anti-gay Bill in their country might themselves become subject to international prosecution.
(London, UK) - A call for the repeal of laws in Ghana that criminalise same-sex relations has been made by gay human rights group Outrage! as the Ghanaian President, John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, arrived in London on a State visit. The call comes in response to requests to the London-based group for help from Prince Kweku MacDonald, president of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana (GALAG), and from Mac-Darling Cobbinah executive/national director of the Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights Ghana. Read more...
(Brussels, Belgium) - The European Parliament is set to debate the proposed Bill that would not only ban gay marriage in Nigeria, but would also outlaw representations and advocacy of homosexuality in the country. This Bill is currently going through the Nigerian Parliament. The emergency European Parliament debate will be held on Thursday at the end of the plenary session in Strasbourg. Read more...
(Rome, Italy) - Thousands of Italians rallied on Saturday for legal rights for unmarried gay and heterosexual couples while Roman Catholics launched a movement against what many of them consider an attack on the 'traditional' family. Demonstrators filled a Roman piazza in support of a bill to give unwed couples rights in areas like inheritance. Read more...
(UK) - In a 30-min broadcast, Peter Tatchell talked on 18 Doughty Street Talk TV to Russian gay activist/journalist Nikolai Alekseev. Russia's democracy is flawed and the struggle for the right to free expression and the right to protest.
Note: Watch onine
(USA) - On the opening day of Equality Ride 2007, the 50 young Riders faced grim reminders of why they are on 2 buses, headed for 32 Christian colleges with policies that silence or exclude lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Last night the eastbound bus made its first stop in Sioux Center, IA, where Riders were harassed at their hotel. This morning they awoke to find their bus defaced by graphic anti-gay graffiti. Read more...
(Sacramento, USA) - According to a poll performed by the Field Research Corporaton, the support for same-sex marriages by Californians increased from 30% in 1985, to 43% in 2006 (wtih 50% opposing the idea to allow gay couples to wed). Asked to choose whether gay couples should be allowed to marry, enter domestic partnerships or get no legal recognition, about a third of Californians choose each category. Read more...
(Waterloo, Canada) - The Rainbow Reels Film Festival starts this Friday with an unusual movie about a pill that can turn gay people straight. The film, Hard Pill, examines what it means to be gay in a predominantly straight society - a theme that runs through the weekend-long queer film festival. Read more...
(Bristol, UK) - Police are appealing for witnesses and information after a man was left with permanent eye damage following a homophobic assault in Stockwood, south Bristol. Following surgery, the victim has now lost permanent use of the eye and remains in the Bristol Eye Hospital awaiting further treatment for his injuries. Read more...
(Boston, USA) - The First Circuit (a federal appeals court in Boston) heard oral arguments today in an appeal filed by veterans dismissed under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. The veterans, who all served during the current war on terror, asked the Court to reverse a lower court ruling dismissing their constitutional challenge to the law. The lawsuit, Cook v. Gates, was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and the law firm of WilmerHale. Read more...
(London, UK) - The Metropolitan Police are investigating a complaint of an alleged assault on Russian gay activist and journalist Nikolai Alekseev in London last week following the press conference given by the mayors of London, Berlin, Paris, Moscow and Beijing at City Hall. The press secretary of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Sergi Tsoi is said to have approached Mr. Alekseev, who was displaying a Moscow Pride flag, and, allegedly using physical force and alleged threats, grabbed the flag. Read more...
(Washington, USA) - Two US LGBT rights organizations - the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force - on March 3 condemned the February 27 arrest and detention of Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. Smith was arrested during a heated hearing before the Largo City Commission in Florida, during which the commission voted 5-2 to begin the process of firing its 14-year city manager, Steve Stanton, because he announced his plans to transition from male to female. Read more...
(Mexico City) - Christian Chavez, a singer for the Mexican pop group RBD, has announced that he is gay after photographs suggesting him marrying' another man were released on the Web site www.latingossip.com. The pictures, taken in Canada in 2005 according to a message on the site, show the two young men signing documents, exchanging rings and giving each other a kiss. Read more...
(Turkey) - In the second and final trial, the judge rejected to sentence Umut Guner, the editor and publisher of a Turkish LBGT magazine from the charges of peddling "pornography" in his publication, Kaos GL Magazine. The first obscenity trial of Umut Guner, editor of Turkey's only LGBT magazine, Kaos GL, took place on December 28, 2006. The next and the final trial took place on February 28, 2007 where he has been acquitted. Read more...
(Cameroon) - On February 17, 2007, the High Court in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde ordered the immediate release of Alexandre D., detained for more than two years without charge or trial on allegations of homosexuality. The ruling was received with relief by the Cameroonian gay and lesbian community, represented by Alternatives-Cameroun, Inter-LGBT in Paris and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) in New York. The three organizations hired human rights attorney Michel Togue to represent Alexandre in a habeas corpus hearing in which the judge ruled that the state had presented no relevant evidence. Read more...
(Berkeley, USA) - Sigma Epsilon Omega (SEO), UC Berkeley’s only gay fraternity, will be officially launching its first meeting and rush event, Tuesday, Feb. 27th, 2007 at 7pm in Barrows Hall, Room 190. This event will serve as an informational meeting for potential members and the Berkeley community. The remainder of the week will include rush events for potential members including interviews, a Social Night, and an Invite Only Event. Read more...
(Sydney, Australia) - It has been announced that Rupert Everett will be the Chief of Parade at this year's festival ending Parade this Saturday. The role of the Chief of Parade is often given to someone who is a "high-profile member of the gay and lesbian community to promote the values of Mardi Gras." Read more...
(Los Angeles, USA) - "An Inconvenient Truth'' won original song for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up.'' The openly gay Etheridge kissed her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels on the lips when her name was announced and onstage referred to Michaels as her wife. The couple held a commitment ceremony in 2003 and are the parents of twins. Read more...
(Minsk, Belarus) - Representatives of most gay and lesbian groups have agreed to work together where possible in joint projects. Unpublicised, the meeting was said to have been a “great success”. The agreement was reached at a meeting this month in Minsk at the suggestion of Amnesty International Belarus LGBT Network. Other groups attending the meeting were Belarusian Initiative of Young Gays, Lambda Belarus, Volunteers without Borders, HIV/Aids groups, and administrators of Belarusian LGBT websites gayby.net, britva.gay.ru. The Polish gay activist Lukasz Palucki also attended. Read more...
(Miami Beach, USA) - Truth Wins Out unveiled a new campaign today encouraging scientists to report right wing distortions of their research on the website www.RespectMyResearch.org. Truth Wins Out will also join the gay right's group SoulForce today in a media conference call featuring a panel of experts who will discuss how groups, such as Focus on the Family, manipulate social science to help justify discrimination. Read more...
(New York, USA) - Voicing serious concern over a proposed Nigerian bill which would effectively outlaw same-sex relationships, four independent United Nations experts have said it would violate international human rights norms, and urged the Government to withdraw it immediately. In a joint statement, the experts said the proposed Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith would endanger the lives of those engaged in, or believed to be engaged in, same-sex relationships. Read more...
(Ireland) - The lesbian couple who lost a High Court case for recognition of their Canadian marriage have lodged appeal papers to the Supreme Court. Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan are hoping their case will be heard before the end of this year. In her High Court judgment last December, Justice Elizabeth Dunne found that the Irish Constitution meant that marriage was to be confined to persons of the opposite sex. She also found that the refusal to permit same-sex couples to marry in Ireland did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
(Minneapolis, USA) - On March 8, 2007, fifty young adults will board 2 buses for the trip of a lifetime. The 8-week Soulforce Equality Ride will bring them to 32 Christian colleges with policies that silence or exclude lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. Their mission: to open a dialogue about the painful consequences of discrimination and the religion-based prejudice that sustains it. Read more...
(Jamaica) - A significant change of heart from the editorial pages of the Jamaica Gleaner, once known for publishing ridiculously homophobic stories. The editorial asks for legislators currently reviewing sodomy and rape statutes to do the right thing and end same-sex restrictions. "If adult and consenting males choose to engage in homosexual sex, that ought to be their business - no matter what the rest of us believe about their lifestyle or behaviour."
Note: Read the editorial of Jamaica Gleaner "The state and the rule of law"
(Dublin, Ireland) - A Labour party Bill on same sex unions was defeated in the Dáil last night. Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews and PD deputy Fiona O'Malley had both criticised the position taken by the Government, but voted against the Bill. Read more...
(USA) - A recent USA Today/Gallup poll updated a question first asked in 1937 about the public's willingness to vote for presidential candidates from a variety of different genders, religions, and other backgrounds. 43% of Americans say they wouldn't vote for a homosexual candidate, 53% say they would not vote for a presidential candidate who was an atheist.
Note: The report is available on The Gallup Poll website
(Rome, Italy) - The Italian government approved a bill granting new rights to de facto couples (both gay and straight). Cabinet ministers unanimously agreed to the decision during an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Rome. The proposed legislation allows de facto couples to notify their relationship at their local registrar's office. This will grant them certain rights, including the right to take over a partner's rent contract, access to inheritance and the right to visit their hospitalized partner without having to obtain permission from the victim's relatives first. The bill must be approved first by parliament to become law. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) - Russian President Vladimir Putin today made his first public statement on gay rights. It is said to be the first-ever such statement in Russian history. Speaking at a Kremlin press conference, President Putin was asked by Agence France Press if he agreed with the view of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov that gay parades were ‘Satanic’. Read more...
(Riga, Latvia) - February will mark the first birthday of Mozaika, an alliance of LGBT people and their friends in Latvia. And the group is asking for donations of books, magazines, videos/DVDs on sexuality and gender issues to help build up its ‘resource centre’ and library – a birthday present. Read more...
ILGA-Europe is inviting to take part in a capacity building event which will take part in Romania on 18-20 April 2007. There will be two seminars organised simultaneously on the subjects of using video in monitoring pride marches and documenting human rights violations. Read more...
(Chicago, USA) – Truth Wins Out filed a complaint today with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan against the Naperville, Illinois-based non-profit organization Americans For Truth and its president Peter LaBarbera for selling a misleading video on its web-site titled, “It’s Not Gay.” In a letter to Madigan, Truth Wins Out urged her to expeditiously pull this fraudulent video from the marketplace, require a written apology from LaBarbera and that refunds be offered to dissatisfied consumers. Read more...
(Baghdad, Iraq) - Iraq's government on Thursday criticized a report on human rights issued by the United Nations. The report estimates the loss of civilian lives in 2006 at 34,452, and discusses subjects that are ignored by the Iraqi government, in particular human rights of gay people. The U.N. report is also very critical about the Iraqi government's performance on human rights violations on other vulnerable groups. Read more...
(Taipei, Taiwan) - Taywanese gays have intensified efforts in their struggle for equal rights. On January 12, members of Taiwan's LGBT community and women's rights groups rallied at the entrance of the Legislative Yuan's Chun-hsian Building against job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Read more...
(Madison, USA) - When they are sworn into office in April, city leaders will vow to uphold the state constitution, but with a caveat - many plan to add a statement protesting the state's new ban on marriage of same-sex couples. The city council voted 14-4 Tuesday night to let hundreds of elected and appointed city officials opt to add a statement saying they are taking the oath of office under protest because the amendment "besmirches our constitution." Read more...
RIGA, January 18, 2006 – Latvian partnership law, Riga Gay Pride and strengthening of the LGBT community are the three main – and challenging – priorities that were set at the first General Assembly of Mozaika, the Latvian alliance of LGBT people and their friends, which was held last week. The meeting also set-up five working groups: legal, cultural, IT, sport & youth issues, and organising Riga Pride/Friendship Days 2007 which will be one of the main events by and for LGBT community in Latvia. Read more...
(WARSAW, Poland) - Gays in Poland revealed last night a plan to erect a monument in the centre of Warsaw that will be a permanent reminder of the “Pink Triangle” gays who were slaughtered in the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. And the plan has already won the support of some city councillors in the Polish capital. Read more...
(Turkey) - The obscenity trial of Umut Guner, editor of Turkey's only gay magazine, Kaos GL, was postponed on December 28, 2006. The next trial will take place on February 28, 2007. Read more...
(Moscow, Russia) The killer of a gay Russian TV journalist has been given an unusually lenient sentence of only three years in prison, according to reports by Lenta.ru. The victim was found dead in his flat on 27 May 2006 with his head smashed in by dumbbells. It is estimated that he probably had been dead for about five days when his body was found. During the investigation, the victim was determined to be Vladimir Akatov, 37, a reporter for the Moscow-based TVC television network. His colleagues there described Akatov as a mild-mannered, reliable individual whose assignments had usually included only non-controversial local industry and science stories. Read more...
