Beijing's 'happy couples' launch campaign for same-sex marriages

Post found on Gay News Blog

With her bouquet of roses and fluffy white dress, Han Xincheng looked the epitome of the glamorous modern Chinese bride. But, although her parents had been pressing her to marry, the photographs were not what they might have expected: she is gazing adoringly at another woman, surrounded by onlookers.

The series of "wedding pictures" staged by lesbians and gay men in the heart of Beijing might not raise eyebrows any longer in most western countries, but they are evidence that attitudes are finally changing in a country where gay sex was illegal until 1997 and homosexuality classified as a mental illness until four years later.

Read more at guardian.co.uk

Poland's GLBT Media Owners Meet To Discuss Working Together (LMGTS: LetMeGetThiStraight)

Post found on Topix

At the invitation of Slawka Starost an unprecedented event in the history of Polish media took place on 22 February 2007 in Warsaw. As the saying goes, nothing unites bitter foes like a common enemy. This inckudes external and internal foces. GayLife has been threatened with a lawsuit by a gay association because of its reporting in mismangement of donated funds. Thus this meeting could be a salvo fired across the bows of certain assocaitions and individuals who are not working for the common good of the Polish GLBT - Bravo.

Read more at www.letmegetthisstraight.com

Scottish lesbian couple win right to fertility treatment after legal threat

Post found on Topix

Two lesbians have won the right to IVF treatment to help them have a baby after threatening to sue health chiefs. They used controversial new equality laws to launch their case in Scotland's highest civil court yesterday, backed by a government watchdog which believes they suffered 'indirect discrimination'.

Until now, the National Health Service has offered IVF treatment only when a couple cannot conceive because one partner is infertile. But this, the women said, constitutes 'indirect discrimination' against gay couples who cannot conceive naturally.

Read more at www.proudparenting.com

I'm gay myself -- but even I was shocked by this new Irish survey

Post found on Gay News Blog

It's rotten being a teenager -- and a report released this week found that those turbulent years can be even tougher in this country if you happen to be gay.

Indeed, a shocking level of general harassment and discrimination emerged from the detailed survey of 1,110 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people aged between 14 and 73, with some 40pc of all respondents saying they had been threatened with physical violence and 25pc reporting being punched, kicked or beaten at some point.

Read more at Independent.ie

Robert Biedron Resigns As president or is Pushed from Campaign Against Homophobia

Post found on Gay News Blog

In a strange but not unexpected course of events today Robert Biedron announced and posted his resignation on his blog from “Campaign Against Homophobia” amidst swirling controversy and allegations of wrongdoings. Biedron served as president of “Campaign Against Homophobia” for seven years. The NGO (nongovernmental) agency known in Poland by the acronym “KPH” was established in 2001 by Biedron.

Read more at www.letmegetthistraight.com

Latido unveils first gay Basque film

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Sabino Arana, the hawkish first ideologue of Basque nationalism, must be spinning in his grave.

Arana exalted died-in-the-wool Catholicism and Basque racial purity. A century after his death, the Berlinale Panorama welcomes “Ander,” billed by sales company Latido as the first-ever gay Basque-language movie.

What’s more, it’s set in the Arratia Valley in Biscay, an idyllic spot, where, traditionally, real men are farmers, and farmers real men.

Read more at Variety.com

Gay British Music Teacher Brutally Murdered in Northern Thailand

Post found on Towleroad

David Lyall Crisp, a 56-year-old gay British music teacher was found dead in his apartment in the northern Thai capital of Chiang Mai today.

The Daily Mail reports:

"'He had beaten about the head with a teak mug. His throat had also been cut with a six inch knife and the murderer tried to finish the act off by smothering him in a cloth which covered his piano,' said Police Colonel Pattipol Serichainchana David Crisp was a prominent member of the Chiang Mai expatriate community. He drove a BMW 5 series, and owned a classic Citroen and was a member of the Classic Cars of Lanna (the old northern kingdom of Thailand) Club. He was also director of a choral society known as the 'Spirit House' singers and earned a living from writing and directing music and teaching the piano. But he was also reportedly frequented gay bars for which the northern capital is famous and according to his housekeeper Prinjai Saedin, 73: 'He often brought young men home, so I knew he was gay. But I don't think he would ever harm anyone'. Two young men whom he had brought from a gay bay to live at the back of his house have since disappeared, possibly fearing they would be blamed. But on January 20th he had brought home a young man who has not been seen since."

Read more at The Daily Mail

Same-sex marriage supporters to petition Scottish Parliament

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A group of gay rights advocates has launched a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for a change in the law to allow two people of the same sex to get married.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network says there is a "ban" on same-sex marriage and that the High Court and the UK Government "have both denied gay couples full equality."

Read more at PinkNews.co.uk

UK Police Charge 11 for Homophobic Abuse at Football Game

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After police released 16 photographs of Tottenham Hotspur fans from a match against Portsmouth last month, eleven were arrested, five are still being sought, and those arrested were charged today, according to the Guardian:

"The group, which includes two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old, are alleged to have subjected the former England player to abuse during the club's 2-0 home win against Spurs at Fratton Park in September...A police spokeswoman said of the accused: 'They were charged with indecent chanting at a football match using words which were essentially swearwords. They weren't appropriate to be used at all, especially where there were children and we received a number of complaints.'"

Read more at Towleroad

KPH-Campaign Against Homophibia A Polish NGO attacks Polish gays

Post found on Topix

The Polish gay community suffrage against homophobia within the ultraconservative Roman Catholic country is well documented in worldwide media. The battles the gay activist endured made headlines among fellow European Union member states unleashing condemnation of Polish government and citizens public visceral displays of intolerance. Those type headlines have dissipated since 2007 under the new socially conservative but tolerant and pragmatic PO (Civil Platform) government of Prime Minster Donald Tusk.

Read more at Topix

Harsh Sentences for Homosexuality in Senegal

Post found in Gay News Blog

DAKAR, Senegal — Nine men were handed unusually harsh sentences of eight years in prison after being tried on charges of conspiracy and "unnatural acts," a term used to criminalize homosexuality, according to their lawyers and gay rights groups here.

The men were arrested on December 19 at the home of Diadji Diouf, a prominent gay activist who works with AIDS organizations to prevent the spread of the disease in the largely clandestine gay community in Senegal, according to Joel Nana, a program associate for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

Read more at NYTimes.com

Laws against gay sex are "like apartheid" says UN human rights chief

Post found on PinkNews.co.uk

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the continued criminalisation of homosexual sex across the world.

Mrs Navanethem Pillay, a South African, was addressing at a high level meeting on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity at the UN in New York last month.

She was the first woman to start a law practice in her home province of Natal in 1967 and acted as a defense attorney for anti-apartheid activists.

Read more at PinkNews.co.uk

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

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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

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"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"

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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