Thousands march in Taipei for gay rights

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gs0mO5E70aUT2I3IITrODuEKblhQ

TAIPEI (AFP) — Thousands from Taiwan's gay and lesbian community marched through the streets of Taipei Saturday demanding more rights for homosexuals, organisers said.
The parade took a carnival-like mood with marchers waving rainbow flags, colourful balloons and signs. Some were dressed in flamboyant period costumes while others only wore swim trunks despite the cool weather.
"We have to make our voices and demands heard so that the government will do more to promote gay rights," said Way Chao, a 22-year-old serviceman from southern Kaohsiung.
In a symbol of unity, participants will raise coloured placards to form a giant rainbow flag later Saturday in a bustling business district in Taipei, organisers said.
The parade reached its climax with a rally outside Taipei City Hall, where Taiwanese pop diva A-Mei was recognised as a goodwill ambassador by organisers for her support of the gay community.
The singer, who performed some of her hit songs to the cheering crowd, endeared herself to the gay audience when she released a music video depicting a gay wedding scene several years ago.
Despite the festive atmosphere, organisers hoped to get some serious messages across to the public.
"We urge the parliament to pass the anti-discrimination bill and the same-sex partner bill to promote gay rights," said co-organiser Wang Ping, secretary-general of Gender/Sexuality Rights Association Taiwan.
Taiwan's cabinet in 2003 drafted a controversial bill to legalise same-sex marriages and recognise the rights of homosexual couples to adopt children, the first country in Asia to do so.
However, the law has yet to be passed and some gay groups have criticised the bill as a ploy to woo voters.
"We also hope the government will protect the freedom of speech of the gay community," Wang added, referring to a 2005 guilty verdict against a gay book dealer for selling pornographic magazines.
In 2005, a district court in northern Taiwan sentenced J.J. Lai, owner of a gay bookstore in Taipei, to 50 days in jail on obscenity charges in a ruling which outraged the gay community.
Lai argued that similar materials are easily available for heterosexual readers. However, his appeal was rejected by the Taiwan High Court.

Ugandan “Ethics” Minister To Stop Gay “Spread”

http://www.queerty.com/news/ugandan-ethics-minister-to-stop-gay-spread-20071009/
Doesn't See Limits of Deportation

Oct 9, 2007

Uganda’s Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo and his homophobia keep chugging right along. The politico, who claims gay activists want him dead, vows to stop the so-called “spread” of homosexuality:
The Government shall do whatever it takes to block the spread of homosexuality.
[Gays] are trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society. I will endeavor to block it. I can assure you on that. Let them go to another country, and not here.
Poor, foolish Buturo, don’t you realize that exporting gays won’t do any good. There’ll always be another one right behind.

China gets to grips with gay marriage debate

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5689.html

9th October 2007
Asavin Wattanajantra
Chinese academics are calling for the country's estimated 40 million homosexuals to be given the right to marry.Professor Li Yinhe, a sociologist and campaigner for LGBT rights, and Zhang Beichuan, a leading scholar of homosexuality, have been at the forefront of a campaign to allow same-sex marriage in China.Although the world's most populous country has a conservative culture, partly due to Communist repression, laws have been slowly relaxed, with homosexuality effectively being decriminalised in 1997.Li Yinhe previously attempted to submit same-sex marriage proposals to the National People's Congress, China's highest legislative body, but did not succeed due to lack of support from delegates.Campaigners say that it would also promote safe sex and prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS.China Daily reports that Zhang Beichuan feels that "legal unions for homosexuals would lead to more stable same-sex relationships" and "help better protect the legitimate rights of same-sex lovers." The report in China Daily is significant as the press in China is controlled and censored and the newspaper is the widest-read state-run title published in English. Many scholars and members of China's burgeoning gay community feel that the country has retreated to its traditional ambiguity about homosexuality, with religions such as Buddhism and Taoism promoting diversity. Unlike other religions such as Christianity, homosexuality has never been viewed as a sin.This extends to literature and historical accounts as well as in practice, where it was often the case that young men could have sex with each other for friendship and married men take concubines of both sexes, as long as they were married and produced heirs.PinkNews.co.uk reported that last year when China approved its first gay and lesbian organisation, Happy Together, which counts professors, teachers and students among its members.

U.K. Offers New Hate Crime Protections

http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/10/gay-and-lesbian-medical-association_08.html

New legislation which will strengthen the protection to the public from sex offenders and hate crime has been set out in proposals by the UK's Government.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw signalled in the House of Commons the Government's intention to introduce amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
The new legislation will allow police, probation and prison services to notify members of the public if a sex offender poses a risk to children.
A further proposal will create a new offence which would extend protection already provided for religious and racial groups to gay, lesbian and bisexual people.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw said:
"It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality. It is time for the law to recognise this."
Equalities Secretary Harriet Harman said,
"Fighting hatred, prejudice and discrimination will be at the heart of everything this government does."
The new law would not prohibit criticism of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, but it would protect them from incitement to hatred against them because of their sexual orientation.
The amendment on sex offenders will put a legal duty on the MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) agencies, which include police, probation and prison services, to consider disclosing information about convicted child sex offenders to members of the public in all cases. The presumption will be that the authorities will disclose information if they consider that an offender presents a risk of serious harm to a child.
A further amendment will also allow the Government to make changes to the information those on the sex offenders register must provide to the police. This includes requiring offenders to provide information about email addresses, new relationships with any woman who has children, and if they are living in the same house as someone under 18.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
"We are committed to protecting children from sexual predators and the proposals being laid out today will strengthen that protection.
"Children are a unique and particularly vulnerable group, as they are unable to protect themselves and are more easily manipulated than adults. Sex offences against children cause lasting harm, both to victims and their families.
"The UK already has the strongest restrictions on child sex offenders and these proposals which follow on from the publication of the Child Sex Offenders Review earlier this year will help us to continue doing all we can to protect them."
The Justice Secretary has also indicated that the Government will listen to views on whether the incitement offence should be further extended to cover hatred against disabled and transgendered people. The Government is ready to bring hatred against disabled and transgendered people within the offence if a case for this can be made.
He also said he wanted to review the law on self defence. He said;
"There can be no justice in a system which makes the victim the criminal. So I want to look again at the law on self defence to ensure the focus is right and that those who act proportionately are not treated like criminals. My aim is to complete the review in time to allow for this issue to be addressed in this Bill."

Human Rights Watch Calls U.S. Out On Uganda’s Gay Ways

http://www.queerty.com/news/hrw-calls-us-out-on-ugandas-gay-ways-20071012/

"Supporting prejudice with cash is an approach with deadly consequences for all.”

Oct 12, 2007
Human Rights Watch had some harsh words for the United States government yesterday. Our government’s accused of turning a blind eye to Uganda’s misuse of HIV/AIDS funds, a blissful ignorance HRW’s Scott Long calls “dangerous”:
When the US funds abstinence-only programs in Uganda, it tells people that LGBT people’s sexualities are dangerous and must be denied. Supporting prejudice with cash is an approach with deadly consequences for all.…US politicians and pocketbooks underwrite hatred in Uganda. The US has no business lending an aura of respectability to policies that undermine human rights and public health.
Long and his activist friends want the United States to take a stronger stand against the African nation’s homophobic politics. Or, rather, a stand - period.

South African Gays Got Proud

http://www.queerty.com/news/sa-gays-got-proud-20071008/

Brave Rain, Wind For Gay Celebration

Oct 8, 2007

Rain can’t hold South Africa’s gays down:
An estimated five thousand gays and lesbians – and their friends and families – turned out for the 18th annual Joburg Pride Parade in Rosebank, Johannesburg, today despite the inclement weather.
“We’re amazed and humbled at the support that our community has shown towards the new Pride organisers,” said Tracey Sandilands, Chairperson of the Joburg Gay Pride Festival Company. “The fact that thousands braved the rain and cold to assert the importance of Pride shows that the event remains entirely relevant.”
Simon Nkoli would be proud.

(Simon Nkoli was an anti-apartheid, gay rights and AIDS activist in South Africa who died in 1998. For more info, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Nkoli)

Cambodia’s MSM Face HIV Threat

http://www.queerty.com/news/cambodias-msm-face-hiv-threat-20071009/

Oct 9, 2007

The late 1990’s were a deadly time in Cambodia. 3.7% of the population were infected with HIV and the trend seemed poised to grow. In an effort to save their citizens, the government launched an “aggressive” safe-sex campaign. It worked. These days, only .9% of the population carries the deadly retrovirus. One specific group, however, hasn’t heard the warnings: men who have sex with men.These males, who don’t identify as gay or bisexual, are largely unaware of - or choose to ignore - safe-sex guidelines. And they’re paying the price.
“There is a very serious concentrated epidemic among MSM,” says Tony Lisle, Cambodia’s UNAIDS country coordinator.
Noting that MSM make up roughly four percent of all men in the country, he adds: “The hidden MSM population is significant and if we don’t avert new infections the MSM epidemic could contribute significantly to the overall (HIV) prevalence rate.”
Prevalence among men engaging in gay sex is 8.7 percent, nearly 10 times the norm, while incidences of other sexually-transmitted diseases are rapidly rising, indicating that fewer MSM are using condoms.
In addition to finding new informational angles, outreach workers have to blast through generations of discrimination and social stigma. If they fail, well, the entire nation may suffer.
Luckily, the government has unveiled MSM-specific working groups to spread awareness. One clinic, founded in 2003, started with only a couple of clients. They now serve 200 a month.