|
|
|
|
5 December 2014 edition
Dear friends and colleagues,
From the UN: December 1st marked the 26th annual World AIDS Day. With the hope to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé says attention must be paid to those "denied their rights," including LGBT people.
Four Special Rapporteurs with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have spoken out against a new anti-gay bill in Kyrgyzstan that not only discriminates but, experts suggest, will impede education on sexual and reproductive health.
For the first time, UNICEF takes an official stand on sexual orientation, gender identity, and the rights of children. Their position paper sets forth a policy of inclusion and warns against human rights abuses that come from intolerance and discrimination. And as 2015 looms on the horizon, WHO officials warn that Europe will not reach its Millennium Development Goal to reverse the spread of HIV.
HIV, Health, and Well-being: In her commentary, Victoria Noe contemplates the growing distance between the HIV activists of the past and the outlook of young people today. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has released data showing that two-thirds of HIV-positive people in the US do not have the virus under control and fewer than half of American HIV-positive young adults know their status. Meanwhile in the UK, Adebisi Alimi, lecturer and fellow from the Aspen Institute, questions why an increasing number of young gay men worldwide are getting infected, despite improved prevention options and better treatment.
Advocacy on the effectiveness of PrEP to protect from new HIV infection may be responsible for the spike in the number of serodiscordant couples. Or, as education coordinator Alex Garner puts it, confidence in safer sex reduces stigma across the negative/positive divide and opens the door for love. And more interesting research suggests that homosexuality may have evolved as a means of forming stronger social groups and bonding among allies.
The Jamaican Ministry of Health is considering a new review of the National HIV Policy suggesting that the country's 'buggery' law impedes implementation of HIV treatment and prevention. And in China, where a quarter of new HIV infections this year were among men who have sex with men, a gay dating app that includes education on risky sex and HIV treatment and prevention has received $30m investment. Meanwhile despite education, myths about HIV persist, even in the LGBT community.
Meanwhile, Brenda, a Kenyan lesbian who was infected with HIV when gang-raped and subsequently gave it to her partner, cries out to be heard. All across Africa reports surface of lesbians suffering "corrective rape," but few local HIV organizations are prepared to support this marginalized and often criminalized group.
Politicking: In an important global development the European Parliament votes to add LGBTI rights, sexual rights, and reproductive health to future development policy.
After passing a bill criminalizing "serial" homosexuals and targeting people living with HIV with a penalty of life imprisonment, Gambian security forces have conducted door-to-door raids arresting people accused of homosexuality.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers are promising that Uganda will pass a new anti-gay law by Christmas despite a new report that documents violation of rights due to sexual identity and orientation. And in spite of anti-gay legislation in some African countries, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has joined a multilateral group, including countries, UNAIDS, and UNDP, committed to equality and inclusive development for all persons, including LGBTI people.
Ignorance, fear, and loathing: The insurgent group Islamic State continues to strike fear across the Middle East with a new report from Syria about two young men who were stoned to death on accusation of homosexuality. From Nigeria, Ethan Regal recounts his terrifying personal story of life as a gay man, where, he says, sex isn't about orientation, but about power, violence, and malicious homophobic abuse.
A joint publication from international and local groups explores the depth of suffering and targeted violence perpetrated against LGBT Iraqis. Meanwhile, one-third of all LGBT Nepalis say they are harassed in public spaces despite anti-discrimination laws. And police in the UK see a spike in violent homophobic crimes compared to last year, though activists suggest this reflects a rise in community's willingness to speak up rather than an increase in attacks.
Some gay people seeking asylum in Australia have been placed in Papua New Guinea where homosexuality is illegal. Unfortunately, some asylum seekers say they are regularly sexually assaulted by other detainees but are afraid of being arrested for homosexuality if they report the attacks.
In Turkey, reporters label members of parliament who attended an LGBTI conference "immoral" and dissuaded some MPs from supporting the event. And in an abrupt turn, the "father of Soviet pornography" has become a crusader against "gay propaganda" and the ideology of the West.
Religiosity: The pope accepted a gift of a rainbow scarf from the first openly lesbian member of the Austrian Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek. Later, the pope spoke up about last month's debate over including comments on homosexuality in the Synod, noting that the discussion isn't over. Meanwhile, a Muslim lesbian's father is taking a stand to inspire love and show that Islam and tolerance are not incompatible.
Although there are positive steps underway by faith leaders, it is troubling to hear that a pastor in the US is making headlines by calling for a "holocaust" against LGBT people to "end the AIDS epidemic by Christmas."
Winds of Change: Many may remember Tiwonge Chimbalanga: the transgendered Malawian woman who was arrested, imprisoned, and then released due to the pressure from the UN Secretary General, UNAIDS EXD Sidibé and former Global Fund EXD. Mark Gevisser writes a touching follow-up to her story in the Guardian.
Just weeks after the United Nations Committee Against Torture raised concerns over the practice of 'conversion therapy', the US capital Washington DC has banned the practice among LGBT minors.
Kristie Lu Stout leads a revealing conversation with China's leading gay rights advocates, where the one-child policy puts unusual pressures on the LGBT community to "be normal." Meanwhile, The Atlantic takes a look at research illustrating that the LGBT equality movement goes hand in hand with economic growth world-wide.
For the first time, a citizens' initiative has become law as Finland approves gender-neutral marriages. In Poland, gay rights activist Robert Biedron becomes the first openly gay mayor. And following a successful campaign by Japanese high schoolers to support their trans classmates, Taiwan university students are calling for all males to wear skirts for a month to show support for their transgender colleagues.
On the March: The European Court of Justice has ruled in favor of LGBT people seeking asylum in Europe. Asylum seekers will no longer be forced to undergo tests to 'prove' homosexuality. Fleeing from homophobic abuse and "political humiliation" Russian journalists and LGBT activists are seeking asylum in the US and Germany. Elsewhere, in Georgia, LGBT equality has grown on paper through a number of progressive amendments. However, day-to-day LGBT Georgians continue to face discrimination and abuse.
In India the LGBT community has come out to oppose discrimination during New Delhi's Pride Parade, for the first time since the Supreme Court overturned a decision and re-criminalized same-sex relations.
Zero Tolerance: With one in three lesbian or bisexual women in South Africa victims of "corrective rape," supporters of Duduzile Zozo, a lesbian who was raped and murdered in South Africa last summer, are unimpressed by the court's 30 year sentence against her attacker.
An official from the ruling party in Latvia has resigned after tweeting "thank god" the Nazis shot gay people. In the US, a fire chief has been suspended without pay for distributing a self-published book with homophobic text. And in Ireland, a Dublin clerk refuses to serve a man who calls another customer an anti-gay slur.
Meanwhile, Google removes a game with the goal to "kill gays," though not before it received 10,000 downloads.
Sports and Culture: Award-winning Nigerian author Jude Dibia whose first book depicts the life of a gay Nigerian, is now reporting that gay Nigerians are forced to 'live underground.' And top Indian film director Hansal Mehta is calling for a mainstream debate on sexual orientation.
Trans people and men who have sex with men will make up to half of all new HIV infections in Asia by 2020. The Naz Male Health Alliance in Pakistan and the UNDP have produced two films to highlight their efforts in reaching and meeting the needs of these marginalized populations. A new documentary from Ghana depicts the life of a young HIV positive gay man navigating Ghana's health system despite stigma and discrimination. And in mainstream cinemas across the world, Benedict Cumberbatch's new film The Imitation Game is turning the tide for gay heroes in movies.
The Football Association in UK rules trans players can play at any level. The ruling will allow players to meet directly with the FA to request joining the association, thereby protecting their privacy in the matter. And as more than 100 athletes have come out of the closet this year, editor Cyd Zeigler calls for 'The Gay Athlete' to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
Finally, check out this Australian mother's clever and heartwarming response to her transgender child: she took out a birth notice in the local paper, announcing a "correction."
|
|
‘Day after day our children are pushed to jump off of a cliff. Without realizing that intimidation, humiliation and incitement to abuse are not from children, but adults who are unable to break their own paradigms.’
~ Alba Lucía Reyes Arena, while receiving an honorary diploma for her son Sergio David Urrego Reyes. Sergio, only 16 years old, killed himself because of on-going homophobic bullying by school officials and teachers.
|
|
|
|
UNAIDS Executive Director delivers his World AIDS Day 2014 message
On this World AIDS Day, let us also reflect on the lives lost to Ebola, on the countries and people affected by the outbreak in West Africa. The Ebola outbreak reminds us of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. People were hiding and scared. Stigma and discrimination were widespread. There were no medicines and there was little hope.
But today, thanks to global solidarity, social mobilization and civil society activism, we have been able, together, to transform tragedy into opportunity. We have been able to break the conspiracy of silence, to reduce the price of medicines and break the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic. This has saved millions of lives. We now have to break the epidemic for good. If we don’t, it could spring back and it will be impossible to end.
Watch Michel Sibide's entire statement
|
|
UNICEF releases its first official, public position on sexual orientation, gender identity and children
The 6-page position paper is available now: All children, irrespective of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, have the right to a safe and healthy childhood that is free from discrimination. The same principle applies to all children irrespective of their parents sexual orientation or gender identity.
Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights make clear that human rights are universal. No person — child or adult — should suffer abuse, discrimination, exploitation, marginalization or violence of any kind for any reason, including on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Read More
|
|
Kyrgyzstan: UN rights experts urge Parliament to withdraw anti-gay bill
A group of United Nations human rights experts have urged the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan to reject a bill that would introduce criminal and administrative sanctions for acts aimed at forming “a positive attitude towards non-traditional sexual orientation,” warning that the proposed law would go against the country’s human rights obligations and commitments.
“Instead of adopting legislation which de facto condemns lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities to silence, the authorities should be fighting against all forms of violence and discrimination in Kyrgyzstan,” the experts said. Read More
|
|
Europe’s HIV response falls short in curbing the epidemic
Europe will miss its 2015 targets for curbing the spread of HIV, says the WHO, with an 80% increase in HIV transmission in 2013 compared with a decade earlier. “Europe has not managed to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goal target to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, and time is running out. While we are facing emerging health threats, this reminds us that we cannot afford to drop our guard on HIV/AIDS,” says Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
“Why we have not seen any significant progress in reducing HIV infections during the last decade? Looking at our data, we clearly see that across Europe the populations most at risk of HIV infection are not reached effectively enough, particularly men who have sex with men,” explains ECDC Director Marc Sprenger. In the EU/EEA, sex between men is still the predominant mode of HIV transmission, which accounted for 42% of newly diagnosed HIV infections in 2013. Read More
|
|
Reaching gay men: the next big test in HIV/AIDS prevention in China
In the last few decades medical advances have transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic disease. It can be treated and controlled – provided, of course, that a person with the HIV virus is diagnosed. By far the fastest growing group of new cases in China is among male homosexuals, and it’s there that many health experts are concentrating their efforts to check the disease’s spread.
Government figures have revealed nearly half a million people are living with HIV and 25% of new infections are among gay men. For Wu Zunyou, director of the National Centre for Aids/STD Control and Prevention, the critical and most difficult task now to prevent or control the disease is reaching these men, in particular the students. Read More
|
|
Only 3 in 10 Americans with HIV have virus in check
Just 30% of Americans with HIV had the virus under control in 2011, and approximately two-thirds of those whose virus was out of control had been diagnosed but were no longer in care, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new study underscores the importance of making sure people with HIV receive ongoing care, treatment, and other information and tools that help prevent transmission to others, as well as the need to reach more people with HIV testing. Read More
|
|
Op-Ed: Bridging the AIDS Generation Gap
Once I kept track of how many died: one a week for eleven weeks in a row. Then I stopped counting. Some people lost dozens, even hundreds of friends. Fast forward a couple of decades. In general, an HIV diagnosis today is very different than an AIDS diagnosis thirty years ago. It's popular to say it's manageable. Getting infected now is viewed by many as "no big deal".
A younger generation wonders why we continue to look at AIDS so differently than they do. The gay papers aren't filled with dozens of obituaries; instead, full-page ads for the newest drugs. Living well with HIV is not only a goal, it's an assumption.We have to realize that younger people - especially young gay men - don't see the urgency because the lack of urgency is a great accomplishment. We should be thrilled that people aren't dying within weeks or months of a diagnosis. Read More
|
|
STUDY: Gay Sex Helps Humans Bond and Survive
A new study indicates that same-sex attraction may have evolved to benefit society. Diana Fleischman, MD, and a research team at the University of Portsmouth in England have published preliminary research in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, which provides evidence that the purpose of sex extends beyond procreation — it also forms bonds between people that are beneficial to survival. Thus, sex between people of the same gender may have played a crucial role in forming alliances and friendships that have benefited humanity throughout its history. Read More
|
|
Love in exile
In 2010, Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a transgender woman, was imprisoned in Malawi for getting engaged to a man. Pardoned and freed, she now lives in exile in South Africa. The international campaign to secure her pardon and resettlement in South Africa represented a triumph for the global cause of LGBT rights. But for Chimbalanga, who unexpectedly found herself on the front lines of an intensifying battle over these rights in Africa, there is little sense of victory. Mark Gevisser reports on an uneasy triumph for the global LGBT rights movement. Read More
|
|
European Parliament votes for UN development strategy to include LGBTI
The European Parliament voted for a report defining its input into the global future development policy. The report contains strong wording on LGBTI rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights. According to the Parliament, development policy should pay particular attention to “the protection and respect of the rights of migrants and minorities, including LGBTI people and people living with HIV.” Furthermore, the Parliament prioritises “universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
The report comes at a time of an increase in anti-LGBTI legislation, most recently in Gambia. Attempts by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) to delete paragraphs on sexual and reproductive health and rights, were defeated by a wide margin. Read More
|
|
African Commission join multilateral communique to promote LGBTI interests
The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights recently joined a historic multilateral agreement, along with 25 nations, the EU, UNAIDS and the UNDP:
"Collectively, as a group of governments and multilateral agencies committed to equality and inclusive development for all persons everywhere, we have gathered here in Washington, D.C. to share information, best practices and lessons learned as we work to promote and protect the human rights of LGBTI persons around the world, and empower them to secure productive livelihoods.
We recognize that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As we work to advance human rights globally, we also remain committed to continue to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTI persons in our own countries." Read More
|
|
Uganda plans to pass new version of anti-gay law by Christmas
Drafters of a revised anti-gay law want parliament to pass it in time to be a "Christmas gift" for Ugandans, a lawmaker said last week. "This bill is inconsistent with fundamental freedoms and human rights ... accepting it would be a display of weakness rather than leadership," said Asia Russell, Uganda-based director of international policy at Health GAP, an HIV advocacy group. Read More
|
|
Gambia Passes Stringent 'Jail-the-Gays' Law
Gambia President Yahya Jammeh passed a brutal new anti-gay law calling for life sentences for "aggravated homosexuality." Days after the bill was passed many groups, including the European Union and US State Department have come out against the action, saying they are "deeply concerned."
Amnesty International recently reported that under the new law Gambian security forces were allegedly torturing people arrested in raids, threatening them with rape and pressuring them to confess to homosexual acts.
However, Gambian Foreign Minister Bala Garba Jahumpa has rebuffed criticism and stated the government will not allow acceptance of gay people to be a pre-condition for receiving aid "no matter how much aid is involved." He vowed not to engage with any ‘ungodly’ gays because they are ‘detrimental to human existence.’ Read More
|
|
Militants Stone to Death Two 'Gay Men' in First Homosexual Execution
Members of terror group Islamic State (Isis) have stoned to death two men in Syria after alleging they were gay. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), this is the first execution that the militants have carried out against homosexuals.
Activists on social media said that the dead men were opponents of IS and that the group had used the allegation as a pretext to kill them. Read More
|
|
When Coming Out Is a Death Sentence: The Rising Tide of Violence Against LGBT Iraqis
Joint briefings by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, MADRE, and the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq published last week expose targeted violence against LGBT Iraqis. Long a persecuted group, LGBT Iraqis experience high levels of violence that is based on the stigma Iraq society places on differences in sexual orientation and gender expression, and a broad intolerance of those differences. Read More
|
|
Two out of five gay Nepalis harassed on public transport
More than one-third of LGBTI Nepalis have reported discrimination or abuse in three or more public settings, according to a recent study.
'While Nepal is often cited as a progressive country in Asia having guaranteed equal rights and recognition of sexual and gender minorities through a landmark Supreme Court verdict in 2007, Nepal’s progress in protecting the rights of these minorities and implementing the verdict has been limited,' said Edmund Settle, UN Development Program policy advisor. Read More
|
|
Uganda Report of Violations based on Sex Determination, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation
The impetus behind the Uganda Report on Violations Based on Sex Determination, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation is the conviction that no violation of rights or dignity based upon an individual’s actual or perceived sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation should go undocumented or unacknowledged. By setting stringent evidentiary standards, and by erring on the side of caution when considering cases for inclusion in this report, the research team has been able to demonstrate conclusively that human rights violations against sexual minority groups are in fact taking place in Uganda. Read More
|
|
My gay life in Nigeria – Isolation, danger, & fear
Ethan Regal* tells his personal story of living in Nigeria as a gay man: "Gay people in Nigeria were invisible – constantly hiding. I know about gay men being raped and the gang rape of a lesbian – all by straight men. This isn’t about sex or sexual orientation. It’s all about power, violence and malicious homophobic abuse. Early this year, suspected gays in the northern part of Nigeria were reportedly caught and stoned to death. The consensus is that homosexuals deserve it, and that the country needs to be cleansed." Read More
|
|
Rise in number of violent homophobic crimes being reported to UK police
Some of the UK’s biggest police forces have recorded a rise in the number of violent homophobic crimes this year, according to new figures.
Hundreds of assaults on gay and lesbian people have been reported to police so far in 2014 – including more than 300 in London alone. Gay rights charities said that while it was encouraging that more people were reporting hate crime, many victims felt silenced by abuse on the street. Read More
|
|
Gay asylum seekers fear arrest for reporting rape in Papua New Guinea
An asylum seeker on Manus Island says he has been raped twice in detention in the past four months, but fears going to the police because he has been told he will be jailed for being homosexual. Mohammad* has reported the assaults to camp security, but lives in fear of further attacks: months after being raped – on two separate occasions by two different men – the man is still living in the same compound as his alleged attackers.
Other gay asylum seekers in the detention centre say they are regularly sexually harassed and assaulted, and have contemplated suicide if they are forced to live in the PNG community. In an interview from detention, Mohammad told Guardian Australia he is regularly sexually assaulted by fellow detainees, but is too scared to report the attacks because homosexuality is illegal in Papua New Guinea and he has been told by camp authorities he will be jailed. Read More
|
|
US Capital, Washington D.C. bans gay conversion therapy of minors
The D.C. Council on Tuesday voted to take a final step this year for gay rights, banning conversion therapy that seeks to turn gay teenagers into heterosexuals.
The unanimous council vote puts the District in the rare company of only California and New Jersey to ban the practice. It also raises the possibility that after legal challenges to bans in those states recently failed that similar efforts may proceed elsewhere. Read More
|
|
How The Father Of Soviet Pornography Became A Crusader Against “Gay Propaganda”
The story of Vladimir Linderman's transformation from anti-Kremlin sexual radical to moralist crusader who many Latvians suspect of being a Kremlin agent isn’t really about how Linderman changed his mind about homosexuality. Rather, he says his story is about how many people living in the former Soviet Union went from being desperate to escape Moscow’s rule to yearning for its patronage. It is also a tale of how Putin used that desire to co-opt some of his most committed enemies and convince many living in the former Communist world that what once seemed so exciting about the West is now what is most terrifying about it.
“I was the father of the sexual revolution, and now I’m becoming the father of the sexual counterrevolution.” Read More
|
|
Being gay in China: Does the rainbow flag fly free?
In this narrow Beijing hutong, the rainbow flag flies free. I'm in Two Cities Cafe, a popular meeting place for the local gay community. Here, I meet with some of the country's leading LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) advocates to learn about gay identity in China. Unlike their counterparts in the West, China's LGBT community does not have to face down strident political opposition or right-wing religious uproar. For them, the biggest source of pressure comes from the family, brought on in part by China's one-child policy. Read More
|
|
Lesbian MEP gives Pope rainbow scarf
Ulrike Lunacek, head of delegation of the Austrian Green party, said she offered the Pope the present "for gays, lesbians, and for peace" during the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg. Lunacek is co-president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights, and is the first openly lesbian politician in the Austrian Parliament. She was reportedly attacked with butyric acid as she was giving an interview during the annual Rainbow Parade in Vienna earlier this year.
No one was injured in the attack, but Lunacek said: "These kinds of isolated cases [show] that the fight for tolerance, acceptance and respect in Austria [is] not over. People who spread fear and hate [need] to be opposed. Read More
|
|
Lesbian's Muslim Dad Inspires With Example of Love, Acceptance
A new video challenges the idea that Islam and tolerance are incompatible. Although ultra-orthodox, extremely conservative sects of Islam dominate today's news, recently there has been a short string of headlines that reveal examples of more progressive, more tolerant practice of the one of the world's largest religions.
The progressive values that MPV champions include gender equality, LGBT rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of (or from) belief. According to Muslims for Progressive Values founder, Ani Zonneveld, who is straight, those ideas are not new to Islam. There have long been female scholars, artists and singers in Islamic tradition, she says, and antigay laws in modern Muslim states are the legacy of British colonization. Read More
|
|
Taiwan university 'breaks gender frame' with 'Men's Skirt Month'
National Taiwan University is calling for male students to wear skirts every day in the month of December to 'break the traditional gender frame.' The Gender Workshop Society said it was launching 'Men's Skirt Month' to 'eliminate something that society had gender-kidnapped.' Read More
|
|
The New Face of HIV Is Gay & Young
In a small community hall in London’s Soho, a group of young gay men gather. They are 16 to 25 years old. They come from all walks of life but they have two key things in common: They are vulnerable and they are living with HIV. Some of these young men are sex workers, homeless, and drug users. Many have been victims of sexual harassment. Others have traded sex for basic necessities to survive.
“Being homeless has made me have sex with people that can provide me with a place to sleep and this means I have little choice about the kind of sex I have,” said 16-year-old Russell. He is, in many ways, the new face of the HIV epidemic—not just in Britain, but also across the world. Read More
|
|
South African Court Sentences Man To 30 Years In Prison For Rape And Murder Of Black Lesbian
A South African court has sentenced Lekgoa Lesley Motleleng to 30 years for the rape and murder of Duduzile Zozo, a 26-year-old black lesbian from a township east of Johannesburg.
The gruesome details of her death brought national attention to an epidemic of sexual assault targeting black lesbians in South Africa and the failure of the criminal justice system to respond to them. While there are no reliable statistics on how frequently black lesbians are targeted for so-called “corrective rape,” a 2013 study found that almost one in three lesbian or bisexual women in South Africa reported being the victims of “forced sex.” Read More
|
|
Lesbians in Kenya: The forgotten victims of AIDS
Brenda was gang-raped to ‘cure’ her of being lesbian, leaving her with HIV which she passed on to her female partner. In Kenya, health workers are often particularly insensitive and ill-equipped to serve lesbians, lacking the knowledge on how to prevent HIV transmission between two women.
‘We are told that women cannot infect each other and sometimes they even ask us about our male sexual partners,’ Brenda adds. ‘Unfortunately our society defines us and our roles from the day we are born and we are raised to actively live up to those roles or face being ostracized.’
It is impossible to know how many ‘corrective rape’ cases there are each year, but the phenomenon is reported by lesbians all over Africa. Read More
|
|
Fire chief suspended after distributing his anti-gay religious book
Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Chief Kelvin Cochran started a month-long suspension without pay after employees complained about the content of his self-published religious book. Among other things, the book calls “homosexuality” and “lesbianism” a “sexual perversion” morally equivalent to “pederasty” and “bestiality.” Read More
|
|
EU Countries Banned From Requiring LGBT Asylum Seekers To “Prove” Their Sexuality
Europe’s top court, the European Court of Justice has blocked tests administered by European countries to determine cases of asylum seekers who say they are gay or lesbian. It has ruled that refugees who claim asylum on the grounds that they are homosexual – especially from African countries – should not have to undergo tests to prove it.
The ruling was a result of three men, including a Ugandan and one from a Muslim country, failing in their bids for asylum when a Dutch court said they had not proved their sexuality. Read More
|
|
Polish Gay Rights Activist Becomes Poland's First Openly Gay Mayor
Robert Biedron already made history once in Poland by becoming the first openly gay lawmaker in parliament in 2011. On Monday, he became the country's first openly gay mayor.
His successes are a marker of how quickly this deeply conservative and Catholic country has changed in the decade since it joined the European Union. Back then, in 2004, gay rights marches were still being banned and homosexuality was treated as a huge taboo. Since then a growing acceptance of gays and lesbians has arrived hand-in-hand with a flourishing economy. Read More
|
|
Buggery Law Affects HIV/AIDS Fight
A concept paper prepared for the Ministry of Health said Jamaica's buggery law "negatively impacts policy implementation" in the fight against HIV/AIDS as it "makes it difficult for reporting and treatment and prevention programmes for the MSM (men who have sex with men) population".
Jamaica's buggery law, which is contained in the Offences Against the Person Act, prohibits anal sex between men, in public or in private. It is punishable by 10 years in prison with hard labour. Read More
|
|
4 Russian Journalists, Activist Seek Asylum in West, Citing Anti-LGBT Abuse
Three journalists and an LGBT activist have fled Russia in recent days, seeking asylum in Germany and the U.S. on the basis of alleged homophobic abuse, a series of recent news reports revealed. Lauding the move, St. Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov told reporters that now it is the best time for Russia's gays to leave their country.
"It is clear that St. Petersburg 'homos' felt that they were needed [by the West]. This is the right time to leave Russia, in a state of political humiliation. This situation even gives these people the possibility to claim social benefits [in the West]," said Milonov, who is well known for his anti-gay sentiments. Read More
|
|
Meeting the needs of neglected key populations in Pakistan
Men who have sex with men and transgender people make up an alarming proportion of new HIV infections in Asia. In Pakistan, these key populations have traditionally been neglected in national HIV responses. Documenting the efforts of ongoing HIV and human rights work in Pakistan are two new films: Neglected No Longer: The Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender Community in Pakistan and In from the Margins: Overcoming Barriers to Accessing HIV Services in Pakistan Read more and watch the films
|
|
Finding Tru Love?
A spike in relationships that bridge the viral divide may be an unintended side effect of the use of Truvada for HIV prevention. Alex Garner, the founding editor of Positive Frontiers, notes that all these new approaches to safer sex have affected how negative and positive men relate to each other because they reduce a key emotional obstacle to love: fear.
Garner says the key to reducing stigma and increasing wellness is for both positive and negative men to talk openly about their health issues with each other. By having this dialogue, they may also rekindle that spark of commonality, in ways that can improve not just physical and but also mental health. Read More
|
|
Finnish Parliament approves same-sex marriage
The Finnish Parliament voted on Friday afternoon to allow gender-neutral marriage. The unprecedented outcome marks the first time that a citizens' initiative has received lawmakers' blessing to be written into the law books. It also allows Finland to finally catch up with its Nordic peers, all of which have already legalised gay marriage. Read More
|
|
Pope Francis Speaks Up on Synod Process: ‘It Isn’t Over’
Pope Francis held an in-flight press conference on his way back to Rome in which he opened up about the debate surrounding last month’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. When asked about the synod’s controversial phrasing regarding persons with homosexual orientation:
“The synod is a path; it is a journey, firstly. Secondly, the synod is not a parliament. It’s a protected space in which the Holy Spirit may speak,” the Holy Father told journalists. Read More
|
|
Rights and repercussions: The paradox of LGBT life in Georgia
Former Russian republic makes progress on paper as discrimination continues. “It is becoming a dangerous trend in Georgia to condone and leave unpunished the acts of violence against religious and sexual minorities if they are perpetrated by the Orthodox religious clergy or their followers. It is simply unacceptable for the authorities to continue to allow attacks in the name of religion or on the basis of anyone’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia program director at Amnesty International, in the aftermath of the chaos. Read More
|
|
Latvian Ruling Party Official Laimdota Straujuma Resigns After Praising Nazi Extermination Of Gays
In a Twitter discussion with party colleagues that included former Welfare Minister Ilze Viņķele, the subject wandered onto the possibility of same-sex partnerships being introduced in Latvia. Challenged on the point, Laimdota Straujuma said she approved of homosexuals having to leave the country as a result of opposition to homosexuality in society at large.
"Thank god - at one time, the Germans shot them. It improves fertility," Priede said in a tweet that was subsequently deleted and replaced with a call for "Christian values." Priede was immediately warned by Viņķele and others that her comments were inappropriate and might amount to a incitement to hate crimes. Read More
|
|
Pastor Calls for LGBT Holocaust to Eradicate AIDS by Christmas
In the U.S., even the most right-wing of religious fundamentalists, even if they believe Scripture condemns LGBT people as deserving of death, usually pull their punches (or stones) and stop short of actually calling for the execution of anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But one Baptist minister in Arizona has not only called for an LGBT holocaust but put forth the claim that such a mass killing would wipe out AIDS by Christmas. Read More
|
|
India's Gay And Lesbian Community Demands End To Discrimination
Nearly a thousand gay rights activists marched through central New Delhi on Sunday to demand an end to discrimination against gays in India's deeply conservative society. Many at the parade said the recent Supreme Court decision criminalizing gay sex was a denial of their human rights. Read More
Check out these powerful images from the march
|
|
Conservative Paper Attacks Turkish MPs Who Attend LGBTI Conference
Conservative Turkish newspaper Milli Gazete attacked the Turkish MPs who participated in the conference titled “Fundamental Rights, Non-Discrimination and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups, Including LGBTI” organized by the European Parliament. Following reporting on the event, “Parliament gives pass for immorality,” three MPs withdrew their participation. Read More
|
|
The Economic Case for Supporting LGBT Rights
What’s the secret to convincing the world to back a movement? Figure out how it could impact the global bottom line. Economic reasoning is part of what propelled the modern women’s empowerment movement. And now, it’s informing an emerging argument for LGBT inclusion. Discriminatory laws hinder the size of the workforce, employees' mental health, and international tourism. How could they not impact a country's GDP? Read More
|
|
Nigeria: Country's Homophobic Law Driving Gays Into Shadows
Award-winning Nigerian writer Jude Dibia’s first novel, Walking With Shadows, has as its central character a gay man who lives his life as a married family man. Dibia’s novel is one of the first to deal with the taboo subject of homosexuality in Nigeria.
“People have gone further underground, but they still are trying to survive. And, I think maybe that is why online now on the Internet and on blogs you are seeing more stories coming out,” he says.
“There is a lot of anger festering in the underbelly. … But, more stories are popping out there because of this law. And, I think it is a good thing. In its own way, it is a good thing,” Dibia says. Read More
|
|
Debate on sexual orientation should be mainstream: Hansal Mehta
Top Indian director Hansal Mehta is producing and directing a movie inspired by the true story of a gay professor as he feels the debate on sexual orientation should be a part of mainstream. His film is based on an Aligarh Muslim University professor, who was suspended for allegedly having gay sex, weeks before his retirement in 2010. S R Siras was later reinstated after Allahabad High Court revoked the suspension. He died the same year.
"The film is based on many such true incidents which are happening in our country for a long time. Marginalisation of people based on religion, caste, gender and sexual orientation is not new. Read More
|
|
AIDspan releases first-ever documentary, "I didn't want to bring shame on my family": growing up gay in Ghana
The documentary short is the story of a young HIV positive gay man in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, whose journey through the public health system -- which is largely supported by international donors led by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria -- reflects the challenges inherent in reaching those who are most vulnerable to infection by the disease. Watch Now
|
|
Parents of transgender kid post heartwarming births notice
Queensland mum Yolanda Bogert placed a heartwarming birth notice in the classifieds section of the Courier Mail newspaper on Tuesday, retracting her daughter’s birth and celebrating her transgender son’s “arrival”. Read More
|
|
Holding Out for a Gay Hero: Are we bucking the cinematic miserable-queers trope at last?
As author Michael Musto says, "Cinema’s track record in handling gay issues has been splotchier than a twink on a high-gluten diet."
Benedict Cumberbatch's excellent portrayal as 'gay-hero' Alan Turing in the award winning The Imitation Game might just set a new trend. Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customer calls man 'faggot' in Dublin store, cashier responds in the best way possible
Read More
|
|
|
‘Ass Hunter’ game where players ‘kill gays’ pulled from Google’s app store after outcry
The game is described as a “Legendary game, where you are hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can”. Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why 'The Gay Athlete' should be Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year Hint, over 100 athletes can't be wrong Read More
|
|
|
|
The 15 shocking HIV and AIDS myths people still believe today How does your knowledge stack up? Read More
|
|
|
|
|
Trans people can now play pro football Football Association in UK has groundbreaking trans policy Read More
|
|
|
Gay dating app helps spread AIDS awareness in China The app includes games & videos about risky sex and provides HIV testing & treatment information. Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
