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

Burundi abolishes death penalty, criminalizes homosexuality

Post found at JURIST

The parliament of Burundi [government website, in French; JURIST news archive] voted Saturday in favor of laws abolishing the death penalty and criminalizing homosexuality [JURIST news archive] in the country. The elimination of the death penalty in Burundi was a requirement for establishing a UN-led truth and reconciliation committee and tribunal [JURIST report] in the country. Gay rights groups in the country condemned the criminalization of homosexuality [AFP report], and stressed the implications of the parliamentary vote for the country's struggle with HIV/AIDS [JURIST news archive].

Read more at JURIST

For gays in India, fear is way of life

Post found on Gay News Blog

BANGALORE, India - Even with the white horse rented, his gold-speckled turban fitted, and the wedding hall lined up, Mahesh did not feel ready to get married, at least not to a woman.

The shy computer engineer is gay.

But Mahesh went ahead with the elaborate ceremony in May because someone he had befriended online blackmailed him - threatening to tell his parents unless he paid $5,500.

Severely depressed and suffering from insomnia, Mahesh recently swallowed a dozen painkillers. He survived. But his blackmailer heard he was in the hospital and demanded more cash to keep his secret.

Read more at Boston Globe

Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring

Post found on Topix

Lawmakers in Indonesia's remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips — part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease.

Local health workers and AIDS activists called the plan "abhorrent."

"People with AIDS aren't animals; we have to respect their rights," said Tahi Ganyang Butarbutar, a prominent Papuan activist.

But legislator John Manangsang said by implanting small computer chips beneath the skin of "sexually aggressive" patients, authorities would be in a better position to identify, track and ultimately punish those who deliberately infect others with up to six months in jail or a $5,000 fine.

Read more at Yahoo News

Gay talk goes mainstream with Dostana

Post found on Gay News Blog

Out of the closet and into mainstream cinema, not as a serious statement on sexuality but as breezy comic fare - with Dostana, homosexuality may finally have rid itself of its taboo status in Indian films.

As John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan keep the audience in splits, it is tempting to believe that Bollywood may be ready to break away from the tried and tested. Some have hated the film, saying that it just perpetuates the gay stereotype, others have loved it.

But Dostana is well on its way to becoming a super hit. It has tickled the funny bone of viewers with its story about two strapping young men pretending to be gay and their friendship with their landlady Priyanka Chopra.

Read more at NDTVmovies.com

Australia moves to give rights to gay couples

Post found on International Herald Tribune

Australian lawmakers have passed new laws giving gay and lesbian couples many of the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts but have ruled out legalizing same-sex marriages.

After a low-key debate late Monday, the Senate passed amendments to around 100 family, health and taxation laws that give same-sex couples access to the same services as opposite-sex couples living together in "de facto," or common law, relationships.

Among the major changes, gays and lesbians will be allowed to get family benefits under the state-run health care program and to leave their retirement benefits to their partners if they die. The changes also confer parental rights on gay and lesbian couples with children.

Read more at International Herald Tribune