Canada Bars Gay Organ Donors

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51486.asp

January 09, 2008

Canadian transplant programs will no longer harvest organs from the bodies of gay men who were sexually active, according to CBC News.The new regulation, passed by Health Canada, which technically went into effect in December, excludes men who had sex with men, injection drug users, and other groups they consider high-risk. Many health officials in transplant programs throughout the country were not aware of the new law."We have not been informed, first of all, that Health Canada is considering this," Gary Levy, head of Toronto University's transplant program, told CBC News. "Obviously, if Health Canada wishes to discuss that, we would hope they would engage all stakeholders."
The new law also requires that transplant officials must interview family members of the donor during the screening process.
"We'll be asking about things like travel, history of infectious disease, whether [the donors have] been in jail — that puts you at increased risk," Peter Nickerson, director of Transplant Manitoba, said to CBC News. "Have they been an IV drug abuser in the past? Have they had tattoos? There's a whole list of questions we go through," he added, one of them being sexual orientation and activity.
In the past, transplant programs have screened potential donors and in some cases used organs from high-risk individuals. The new regulation halts this practice and prohibits the use of organs from men who had sex with men within the last five years of of their lives.
Levy estimates that the new regulation will mean that seven out of every 100 potential donors will be excluded, while approximately 4,000 Canadians are on organ wait-lists.
Every state in the U.S. has separate organ donation eligibility requirements, and while sexually active gay men cannot donate blood, there are no specific prohibitions for organ donation -- medical suitability is determined at the time of death. (The Advocate)

Iraq Prisoner Amnesty Does Not Extend to Gays

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=6439

2nd January 2008 12:30
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer

A draft bill before the Iraqi parliament would grant an amnesty for as many as 5,000 prisoners, yet excludes those convicted of homosexual "crimes."Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the country's government, said the bill had been sent to the parliament's Speaker yesterday.Iraqis being held by the Americans are also excluded, alongside those charged with terrorist offences, rape and adultery. While homosexuality is in itself not illegal in Iraq, several laws are used to persecute gay people.Laws against loitering, indecent exposure, spreading "dangerous diseases," committing and indecent act in public and making "indecent" advances are all used. However, of much more pressing threat to gay Iraqis is the actions of militia groups. The Mahdi Army, one of the many armed groups, is loyal to firebrand fundamentalist Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.It has been involved in the torture and execution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iraqis and many other Iraqis, especially women, who do not conform to its harsh interpretation of Islam.The Badr militias have also kidnapped and executed people for being gay or trans.The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) reported last year that armed militias have been targeting gay people:"Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile towards homosexuals, frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them," UNAMI reported."There have been a number of assassinations of homosexuals in Iraq."The targeting of gay people is just another example of the chaos of daily life in the country. In the absence of a strong police or army force, the militias rule the streets.There are summary execution people for "crimes" of homosexuality as well as listening to Western pop music, wearing shorts or jeans, and in the case of women, not being veiled or walking in the street unaccompanied by a male relative.

Kuwaitis Arrested for "Impersonating Opposite Sex"

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=6602

18th January 2008 11:10
Tony Grew

A leading human rights charity has drawn attention to the plight of more than a dozen people arrested and jailed under new "dress code" laws in Kuwait. Human Rights Watch has called for them to be released. The law was approved by the National Assembly on December 10th 2007. It criminalises people who "imitate the appearance of the opposite sex.""The wave of arrests in the past month shows exactly why Kuwait should repeal this repressive law," said Joe Stork, deputy director of the Middle East division at HRW. "Kuwaiti authorities should immediately drop all charges against those arrested, and investigate charges of ill-treatment in detention."Security officials have arrested at least 14 people in Kuwait City since the National Assembly approved an addition (Article 199 bis) to Article 198 of the Criminal Code. The amendment states that "any person committing an indecent act in a public place, or imitating the appearance of a member ofthe opposite sex, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period notexceeding one year or a fine."The only known targets of the new Kuwaiti law have been transgender people.Kuwait allows transgender people neither to change their legal identity to match the gender in which they live, nor to adapt their physical appearance through gender reassignment surgery. The new law, coming after months of controversy, aims at further restricting their rights and completely eliminating their public presence. In September 2007, the newspaper Al Arabiya reported a new government campaign to "combat the growing phenomenon of gays and transsexuals" in Kuwait.

Gay Marriage is "Coming Closer" In Israel

http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s19&SecId=19&AId=57459&ATypeId=1


18/01/2008
By Nathan Jeffay
Tel Aviv

In what is being heralded as a “first step towards civil marriage” in Israel, same-sex and mixed-faith couples are being offered partnership cards.The cards are being issued by Tel Aviv-based pressure group New Family to allow couples who cannot wed through religious channels to sign legal documents confirming their partnership. A wallet-sized card is then issued, which either partner can later nullify. Four-hundred couples have signed up in the first fortnight. “There are couples who have been together for 30 years, and unable to get any recognition until now, who are delighted,” New Family chair Irit Rosenblum told the JC. “It gives them social recognition.”In practical terms, it is claimed the cards will make it easier for such couples to access their rights in areas including inheritance, tax and fiscal law. New Family has sent letters to every municipality asking for official recognition of the cards, and has so far received three responses — all positive — from Tel Aviv, Lod and Mevasseret Zion. Although it anticipates opposition in religious areas, “it is too soon to know”, Ms Rosenblum says.Although the scheme might appear a gimmick, “this is a real revolution, an alternative to religious marriage. This is the first step to show that society here in Israel accepts the new family, which is not using the existing institutions for recognising partnerships. It will be the first step towards civil marriage.”Among the first recipients of the partnership cards were Lior and Sharon Brand from Ramat Gan. Mr Brand refers to the process as their “marriage” and the couple followed the signing with a “wedding” in the Judean Desert.“I do not practise any religion and — even though we would have been accepted — getting married under the rabbinate was out of the question,” he explained. “This way we could do it as we wanted.” With only religious marriage available in Israel, thousands of couples unable to wed through a synagogue or mosque are deprived of legal recognition for their relationship. As well as same-sex couples, the system excludes mixed-faith couples and those whose union is forbidden by religious law, such as divorcees or converts who want to marry a Cohen. It also applies to many Russian and Ethiopian immigrants who are considered Jewish by the Law of Return but not by halachah. For heterosexual couples affected, the only answer until now has been to travel to Cyprus for a civil ceremony.

Gay Nursing Home Opening in Germany

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=6623

21st January 2008 17.50

Gemma Pritchard

Europe's first gay nursing home has opened in Berlin.Berlin's gay mayor Klaus Wowereit is publicly supporting the ground-breaking project, which culminates years of planning and fund-raising.The newly built, four-storey nursing facility in the Pankow district of the German capital can accommodate 28 patients in state-of-the-art rooms with private bathrooms and enough space for some of their own furnishings."The idea was first proposed at the Gay and Grey Forum in Cologne in 1995 and we began drafting plans in 2001, and it is truly amazing that it has taken all these years to become a reality," Christian Hamm, a Berlin-based architect and nursing home board member told DPA."So we are even more pleased and proud that we have finally been able to open Europe's first full-service nursing facility for elderly gays and lesbians."Furnishings and decor are very important in a gay environment, says Hamm."When you are old, the last thing that you want to do is to have to hide. And you certainly don't want to give up your identity and live in some hostile environment, possibly sharing a room with someone who despises you."Hamm and his associates in Berlin have ambitious plans not only for the nursing home but also for an assisted-care retirement centre specifically for homosexuals, a place that will allow gays to grow old surrounded by other gays.The nursing-care facility is just part of a $10,000,000 (£5, 120, 590) old-age complex which will one day offer residents spacious apartments, a café and function room facilities. In addition, the post-modern design by Christian Hamm envisions a health-care centre with physicians, therapists and a wellness gym is also incorporated into the plan.Potential residents are already signing up and have expressed delight at the prospect of living out their twilight years in a gay- friendly environment. "I wouldn't like to be in a heterosexual environment all the time," one applicant told DPA. "Elderly people like to talk about their children and their grandchildren, for instance. A large number of homosexuals do not have children and find it hard to join in. For us, talking about the grandkids is awkward."In the mid 1990s it seemed homosexuality had been generally accepted in Germany. But surveys revealed that many social workers did have a problem with it, particularly in former East Germany, where homosexuality was discounted as a "symptom of decadent capitalist imperialism." Researchers were shocked to find that directors of senior homes said things like: "There is no homosexuality here."The turn came only after 2001, when the centre-left government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder enacted gay-union legislation which gave homosexual couples many of the same rights and privileges as married couples. The idea for a gay old-age home came from Hamm, 45. A long-time gay activist, Hamm says the greying generation of older gays in Germany have find themselves alone."They have no children or grandchildren," he says, "and as they grow older they find themselves with no close relatives to support them when they are no longer able to take care of themselves." Mayor Wowereit, 54, who was elected in June 2001 after telling Berlin voters, "I'm gay and that's good," has actively supported the project and says it dovetails into his vision of Berlin."Berlin is a gay-friendly city, a city of tolerance," the mayor says. "And I represent our city with this message. Berlin has the biggest gay and lesbian scene in Germany and we welcome gays of all ages."

Cameroon Men Get Six Months Jail for Being Gay

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=6579

16th January 2008 18:35
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer

Three men have been sentenced to six month hard labour for being homosexual.The men were arrested in Bonapriso, Douala, on August 31st 2007 by police officers making random arrests in search of armed robbers. After being beaten at the police station, one of the men confessed to being homosexual and implicated his two colleagues. "As soon as the shadow of homosexuality enters into a case due process goes out of the window," commented International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign Programme Associate Joel Nana, who has been monitoring the cases. The three men's lawyer said she would appeal the convictions and none of the men had been found guilty of homosexual acts. Article 347 of the country's penal code prohibits consensual same-sex relationships. The men have been held in jail since August. People currently detained on grounds of homosexuality all have cases riddled with irregularities and have been subject to procedures that are inconsistent with the new Cameroonian code of penal procedure. After arrest, alleged homosexuals are detained for investigation for longer time periods that the law prescribes. If they are lucky enough to find a lawyer, then they undergo an endless number of trials. "This is a tactic that the court frequently uses in the cases of gay men and lesbians," said Sebastien Mandeng, human rights researcher at Alternatives-Cameroon, the national LGBT organisation. "They needlessly prolong the process with no legal justification in order to unofficially punish and imprison the accused." More than 30 people have been arrested in Cameroon in the last two years on charges of homosexuality, despite an October 2006 ruling by the United Nations that such arrests to be arbitrary and unfair. Dozens of students, particularly girls and young women, have been expelled from schools as result of their real or perceived sexual orientation. Alternatives-Cameroun has documented the cases of more than 13 other men currently being detained in Cameroon under Article 347.The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has declared that detention on the basis of sexual orientation in Cameroon constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The UN human rights body called on the government of Cameroon to adopt necessary measures to remedy the situation, including the possible repeal of Article 347. The human rights groups Alternatives-Cameroun, Amnesty International, IGLHRC, Les Pantheres Rose, and OUT are calling for the repeal of Article 347, the release of all individuals detained under this law, and an end to official discrimination based on sexual orientation in Cameroon.

Morocco "Gay Party" Convictions Upheld

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/view.php?id=6566

16th January 2008 10:55
PinkNews.co.uk staff writer

A leading human rights organisation has called on the authorities in Morocco to release six men jailed for "lewd and unnatural acts." They were arrested by police between November 23rd and 25th 2007, after a video circulated online, including on YouTube, purporting to show a private party, allegedly including the men, taking place in Ksar el-Kbir on November 18th.Press reports claimed the party was a "gay marriage."At an appeal yesterday the men's sentences were reduced but their convictions upheld. The six men range in age from 20 to 61 years old.Amnesty International has today issued a fresh call for their release."Rather than just reduce the length of the prison sentences, the Moroccan authorities should have released all of the defendants," said Amnesty International UK Campaigner Kim Manning-Cooper."The use of laws to imprison individuals for same-sex relations is a grave violation of their fundamental human rights."According to lawyers for the defendants, the prosecution failed to present any evidence that the men actually had engaged in the prohibited conduct in the first place.At the trial, all six men maintained their innocence of the charges. All denied that they had engaged in same-sex sexual relations during the party. The Youtube video was broadcast at the trial but did not present any evidence of "lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex."Despite the lack of evidence, the men were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms and fines. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Morocco has ratified, bars interference with the right to privacy.The United Nations Human Rights Committee has condemned laws against consensual homosexual conduct as violations of the ICCPR.The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has held that arrests for consensual homosexual conduct are, by definition, human rights violations.