Gays welcome Uganda arrest payout

Post found on BBC News

A Ugandan judge has awarded two women $7,000 (£4,700), saying their rights were infringed when they were arrested on suspicion of being lesbians in 2005.

One of them was undressed by police to prove she was a woman and assaulted.

"The verdict is welcomed with excitement by the gay community," activist Kasha Jacqueline told the BBC.

"It is a Christmas surprise for us," she said, adding that the judge had stressed such treatment was wrong. Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda.

The case is believed to be the first time homosexuals have taken the police to court in Uganda, where they face much discrimination.

Read more at BBC News

Moscow Mayor Announces Ban on Gay Pride Parades Will Continue, Says Events Contribute to Spread of HIV

Article from Kaiser network

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov on Thursday announced that the city will continue to ban gay pride parades, saying that the events could contribute to the spread of HIV, RIA Novosti reports. Luzhkov said the city has "banned and will continue to forbid this propaganda by sexual minorities, as they could turn out to be one of the factors in the spread of HIV infections." He added that "[c]ertain homegrown democrats believe that sexual minorities can be a primary indicator and symbol of democracy, but we will forbid the dissemination of these opinions in the future as well." Luzhkov, who has been mayor of Moscow since 1992, said although he is aware that criticism for the decision will be directed at authorities, "each particular society has its own views." RIA Novosti reports that Luzhkov in the past has called gay pride parades "Satanic" and said that they will never be allowed in the city (RIA Novosti, 12/4).

Luzhkov's comments have drawn criticism from Russian gay rights advocates, such as Nikolai Alexeyev, who said the mayor's comments are "contradictory" and that countries can fight HIV/AIDS more effectively if they have prominent communities of men who have sex with men, the AP/Boston Herald reports (AP/Boston Herald, 12/4). Reuters reports that homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but "tolerance is not widespread" (Kilner, Reuters, 12/4). In addition to his comments on gay pride parades, Luzhkov also said that condoms are an
unreliable HIV prevention measure. He said, "Certain manufacturers state that condoms are reliable protection against AIDS, but modern science has proven this is untrue" (RIA Novosti, 12/4).

Polish Gay Journalist Sued By Polish Gay Activist

Post found on Topix

Robert Biedron president of "Campaign Against Homophobia" and officer on "Equality Parade's" board of directors has officially filed court litigation this week. The unnerving and totally unacceptable aspect of this is that the defendant is a Polish gay activist - journalist and owner of GayLife magazine, link here.

Read more at LetMeGetThiStraight

"Homosexuality needs to be curbed as it spreads HIV/AIDS" Indian Gvt Says to High Court

Post found on Gay News Blog

NEW DELHI: Justifying criminalisation of homosexuality in the country, the Centre has pleaded before the Delhi High that it is one of the main reasons for spread of HIV/AIDS and needs to be curbed.

In a written submission filed by Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, the Centre said that legalising Men having sex with Men (MSM), as pleaded by gay rights activists, would lead to spread of the dreaded disease and placed reports of various countries to substantiate its stand.

Read more at Times of India

Second Changing Attitude Nigeria leader granted asylum in UK

Post found on Gay News Blog

Stephen Wariebi Hobobo, co-leader of the Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) group in Port Harcourt, has been granted asylum in the UK. Stephen applied for asylum in May 2008 having arrived in the UK in April.

He travelled to the UK following the violent assault on his life which occurred in Port Harcourt on Maundy Thursday 20 March 2008. He was savagely beaten in an attack outside the compound where the funeral ceremony for the sister of Davis Mac-Iyalla was taking place.

Read more at Gay News Blog

A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico

Article found on NYTimes.com

Mexico City — Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages.

But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

Read more at NYTimes.com
Watch a slide show at NYTimes

US refuses UN gay rights Declaration MWC News

Post found on Topix

"The US government is one of the only western democratic nations that has declined to support a United Nations Declaration calling for the global decriminalisation of homosexuality. The Declaration will be put before the UN General Assembly this Wednesday, 10 December, which is Human Rights Day and the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," reports British gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of the London-based LGBT rights group, OutRage!

"It will be the first time in its history that the UN General Assembly has ever considered the issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) human rights," he said.

Read more at MWC News

Irish gay marriage activists stage registry office "break in"

Post found on Gay News Blog

A group that advocates full civil marriage for same-sex couples in Ireland demonstrated in Dublin at the weekend.

In June Ireland's Justice minister published a draft bill that will grant gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in areas such as pensions, social security, property rights, tax, succession and the payment of maintenance.

Read more at Pinknews

Pro-Gay U.S. Catholic Groups to Target Vatican in Wednesday Vigils

Post found on Towleroad

DignityUSA, New Ways Ministry, and Call To Action, three Catholic groups that support gay equality, will hold vigils in five U.S. cities protesting the Vatican's opposition to a UN declaration formally condemning discrimination against gays. The resolution will be presented to the UN tomorrow.

Read more at Towleroad

Openly gay marchers debut at Haiti AIDS rally

Post found on Towleroad

ST. MARC, Haiti (AP) — A dozen men in T-shirts declaring "I am gay" and "I am living with HIV/AIDS" marched with hundreds of other demonstrators through a Haitian city on Sunday in what organizers called the Caribbean nation's first openly gay march.

The march, held a day ahead of World AIDS Day in the western city of St. Marc, called for better prevention and treatment in a country long plagued by the virus.

Organizers said they hoped the march will break barriers to reach more HIV-positive people and gay men with programs that have helped decrease the country's infection rate by two-thirds in the last decade.

Read more at The Associated Press

British Rugby League Says No to Homophobia

Post found on Lez Get Real

Inspired by former Australian rugby league player and actor, Ian Roberts, who came out in 1995, the Rugby Football League of Britain is hoping to promote LGBT equality in sport.

League officials say posters and logos carrying the message, "Some people are gay. Get over it!" will be displayed at rugby league grounds, in programs and fan areas, as a bid to promote LGBT integration in the sport.

Forums will also be set up for gay, lesbian and bisexual players and staff.

Read more at Lez Get Real

Gays in Vancouver Defy 'No-Show' Westboro Baptist Church

Post found on Towleroad

Fred Phelps' hateful Westboro Baptist Church failed to make good on a promise to picket a performance of The Laramie Project at Havana Café in Vancouver on Friday night, but they would have been stopped in their tracks:

"The church's threat to interfere with the play triggered a huge response from Vancouver's gay community, whose members showed up at the café Friday night to counter any protest by the church. 'It's really important that we take a stand but not a stand out of anger, a stand out of caring and kindness,' said Jim Deva of Little Sister's bookstore, which sells gay and lesbian-related literature. 'I think you defy hatred by love. That's how you deal with hatred, and you open up the dialogue and you begin conversing and talking,' Deva said."

Read more at Towleroad

Hundreds attend memorial for murdered gay teenager

Post found on Gay News Blog

Liverpool's Anglican cathedral held a well-attended memorial service for a young gay man on Saturday.

Michael Causer, 18, was seriously injured on 25th July this year in an allegedly homophobic attack.

Despite brain surgery, he died in hospital on Saturday 2nd August.

More than 200 people attended the service at the cathedral, among them local gay politician councillor Steve Radford.

Read more at Pinknews.co.uk