Methadone reduces the risk of HIV transmission in people who inject drugs (PWID), as reported by an international team of researchers in a paper published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal. This team included Dr. Julie Bruneau from the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Department of Family Medicine at the Université de Montréal.
“There is good evidence to suggest that opiate substitution therapies (OST) reduce drug-related mortality, morbidity and some of the injection risk behaviors among PWID. However, to date there has been no quantitative estimate of the effect of OST in relation to HIV transmission. This new study provides solid evidence demonstrating the link between these treatments and a reduced risk of HIV transmission,” notes Dr. Bruneau, one of the six investigators who worked with Dr. Matthew Hickman, the study’s principal investigator and Professor in Public Health and Epidemiology at the...
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HIV/AIDS News
Published: March 8, 2012
First Guidelines Issued for Getting People Newly Diagnosed with HIV Disease Into Care and Keeping Them on Treatment Leading AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions around the world have issued new guidelines to promote entry into and retention in HIV care, as well as adherence to HIV...
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HIV/AIDS Research Update
Published: January 26, 2012
Having a Dog or Cat Helps Women Cope with HIV/AIDSA spoonful of medicine goes down a lot easier if there is a dog or cat around. Having pets is helpful for women living with HIV/AIDS and managing their chronic illness, according to a new study from the Frances Payne Bolton...
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Rainbow World Fund is Changing LGBTQ Lives Around the World
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 29, 2011
Rainbow World Fund programs strengthen our community by increasing LGBTQ visibility; serving as a platform for our community’s compassion and concern; and changing how the world sees LGBTQ people by building bridges with the world community. Rainbow World Fund (RWF) has three primary goals – to provide humanitarian aid to...
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LGBTQ Charity Delivers Humanitarian Aid to Guatemala
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 8, 2011
Rainbow World Fund (RWF), the only international LGBTQ humanitarian aid organization just returned from a ten-day humanitarian aid journey to Guatemala. Over the course of the journey, 13 volunteers visited orphanages, schools, medical clinics, and human rights’ projects delivering over 1,300 pounds of life-saving medications, medical equipment, and school supplies,...
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Rainbow World Fund Asks Community for Japan Disaster Relief
By Dennis McMillan Published: March 17, 2011
Rainbow World Fund (RWF) has been approached by LGBT community members to help the survivors of the March 11 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan. They need help! Over 1,400 have died, and many still remain unaccounted for. Thousands have been injured, and hundreds of thousands are now homeless....
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Global Gay Answerman Talks About the Hazards of Being Queer in the Middle East
By Rex Wockner Published: December 24, 2009
Part II: Interview with Scott Long, Director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Division
In last week’s Bay Times, Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Division, discussed the situation for LGBT people in Uganda. The interview continues here, as he talks about what’s happening to gay...
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GLAAD Mad At Grammys Over Buju Banton Nod
By Rex Wockner Published: December 24, 2009
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is mad at The Recording Academy for nominating Jamaican dancehall singer Buju Banton’s album “Rasta Got Soul” for a Grammy. GLAAD launched a petition to protest the nomination for Best Reggae Album.“Banton’s anti-gay lyrics and the climate of hatred they create are a...
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Global Gay Answerman Talks About Horror in Uganda
By Rex Wockner Published: December 17, 2009
Interview with Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Division
He’s arguably the most knowledgeable person on the planet about international LGBT issues. Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Division, sat down for an interview recently in the organization’s offices in the Empire State...
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Austria Passes Registered-Partnership Law
By Rex Wockner Published: December 17, 2009
Austria’s Parliament passed a registered-partnership law for same-sex couples Dec. 10. The vote was 110-64. It takes effect Jan. 1. Homosexual Initiative Vienna (HOSI Wien) said the law grants 95 percent to 98 percent of the rights and obligations of marriage, including in the areas of immigration, social insurance, inheritance...
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Argentine Same-Sex Marriage Blocked, Supreme Court to Rule
By Rex Wockner Published: December 10, 2009
A national judge on Nov. 30 blocked a city judge’s ruling that legalized gay marriage in Buenos Aires — canceling the city’s first same-sex wedding scheduled for Dec. 1 — but the nation’s Supreme Court promptly announced it will rule on the issue.Activists Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello...
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World AIDS Day Observed at National Memorial Grove
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 3, 2009
The World AIDS Day theme this year was “Universal Access and Human Rights.” Global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and recognizing these as fundamental human rights. Valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services; however more commitment is...
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World Aids Day Offers Many Commemorative Events
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 26, 2009
World AIDS Day is an opportunity to bring people together to get talking about HIV. By attending an event, you can help spread the word and break the silence on HIV. It is held every Dec. 1 internationally. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official...
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Gay Euro MPs Denounce Ugandan Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: November 19, 2009
Members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights have strongly denounced the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009” pending in Uganda’s Parliament. “The proposed legislation includes provisions to punish those alleged to be lesbian, gay or bisexual with life imprisonment and, in some cases, the death penalty; any parent or teacher failing...
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Baldwin Targets Ugandan ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’
By Rex Wockner Published: November 12, 2009
Openly lesbian U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and three other members of Congress have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to use the full force of her office to condemn the “Anti-Homosexual Bill 2009” introduced in Uganda’s Parliament last month. “This egregious bill represents...
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Brazilian Man Barred From Living in U.S. with American Husband
By Rex Wockner Published: November 5, 2009
The Obama administration let the clock run out Oct. 23 on helping a Brazilian man who wants to return to Massachusetts to live with his U.S. husband. Tim Coco and Brazilian Genésio Oliveira married in Massachusetts in 2005 and own a home together in a Boston suburb. Oliveira was sent...
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Russian Lesbian Activists Get Married in Toronto, Canada
By Rex Wockner Published: October 29, 2009
Two Moscow lesbian activists who were turned down for a marriage license in Russia got married in Toronto Oct. 23. Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko honeymooned in Niagara Falls, then returned home with their lawyer, gay activist Nikolai Alekseev, to demand that Russia recognize the Canadian marriage.According to Alekseev, Russian...
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Zimbabwean Gay Leader Dies
By Rex Wockner Published: October 22, 2009
Key Zimbabwean gay leader Keith Goddard, director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, died Oct. 9 from pneumonia. He was 49. “Keith dedicated his life to the advancement of LGBT rights, human rights and his passion for music,” the group said in a statement. “The struggle for LGBT rights is...
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Euro Court Moves On Russian Gay-Pride Cases
By Rex Wockner Published: October 15, 2009
The European Court of Human Rights has combined cases stemming from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s bans on gay-pride events in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and instructed Russian authorities to file a response by Jan. 20. “Our actions and pressure finally made them move,” said plaintiff Nikolai Alekseev. “It means that...
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New UN President Disses Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: October 8, 2009
The new president of the United Nations General Assembly, former Libyan Foreign Minister Ali Abdussalam Treki, expressed disapproval of gays Sept. 15. Asked about last year’s General Assembly statement by 66 nations urging decriminalization of gay sex worldwide, Treki said: “As a Muslim, I am not in favor of that....
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Serbian Gay Pride Parade Canceled After Threats
By Rex Wockner Published: October 1, 2009
The Sept. 20 gay pride parade in Belgrade, Serbia, was canceled Sept. 19 under pressure from police and the government, who said they couldn’t protect the marchers from thousands of violent anti-gay hooligans who planned to attack the event. March opponents had covered walls in the city center with graffiti...
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British Prime Minister Apologizes To Alan Turing
By Rex Wockner Published: September 24, 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized to Alan Turing on Sept. 11 after 31,564 people signed a petition on Brown’s Web site asking him to do so. Turing — the openly gay founder of modern computing who cracked key Nazi military codes during World War II — was prosecuted in...
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Police Prevent Attacks on Budapest Pride March
By Rex Wockner Published: September 17, 2009
A heavy police presence prevented widescale violence at Budapest’s 14th gay pride parade Sept. 5. About 2,000 people marched down a boulevard that was, due to a security cordon, largely devoid of spectators, said correspondent Andy Harley of UK Gay News. One man broke through the cordon and popped some...
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Indian Gov’t Won’t Appeal Ruling That Legalized Gay Sex
By Rex Wockner Published: September 10, 2009
India’s national government will not oppose the July ruling by the Delhi High Court that decriminalized gay sex nationwide. Other, mostly religious entities have appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, but the government said Sept. 1 that it will not join in.“This is a really important signal to the...
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Embassies Support Budapest Pride
By Rex Wockner Published: September 3, 2009
Thirteen embassies in Hungary issued a statement Aug. 28 in support of Budapest’s 14th gay pride events. Culminating with a Sept. 5 parade, the weeklong festivities include music, parties, an “antifascist demonstration,” workshops, an open-mic night, a picnic and a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Károly Kertbeny, “who invented...
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HRW Reports Hundreds of Anti-Gay Murders in Iraq
By Rex Wockner Published: August 27, 2009
Iraqi militias are torturing and murdering men suspected of engaging in gay sex or of not being manly enough, and the authorities have done nothing to stop the killings, Human Rights Watch confirmed Aug. 17.The organization documented a campaign of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings and torture that began early this year...
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Fewer UK Gays, Lesbians Tie the Knot In 2008
By Rex Wockner Published: August 20, 2009
Same-sex couples formed 7,169 civil partnerships — 3,824 male and 3,345 female — in the United Kingdom in 2008, a decline of 18 percent compared with 2007, the Office for National Statistics reports. There were 180 civil-partnership dissolutions in 2008 — 64 between males and 116 between females.The number of...
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Australians March For Same-Sex Marriage Around Country
By Rex Wockner Published: August 13, 2009
A National Day of Action for Same-Sex Marriage saw demonstrations Aug. 1 in the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Lismore. According to the group Equal Love, 5,000 people marched in Melbourne in “the largest single show of support for marriage equality ever in Australia.”The...
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2 Shot Dead at Tel Aviv Gay Center, 15 Hurt
By Rex Wockner Published: August 6, 2009
A gunman sprayed bullets at a youth meeting in the basement of one of Tel Aviv’s two gay centers Aug. 1, killing two people and injuring as many as 15. Killed were Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Troubishi, 16. Katz worked with the youth group as a counselor. The shooter,...
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Albania to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: August 6, 2009
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha on July 29 endorsed a bill introduced in Parliament to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and also said Albania will legalize same-sex marriage. He called the bill “an important law against discrimination,” which he said is “unacceptable.”Albania has no presence on...
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No Stay on High Court Ruling That Legalized Gay Sex in India
By Rex Wockner Published: July 30, 2009
India’s Supreme Court on July 20 refused a request to stay the recent Delhi High Court ruling that decriminalized gay sex nationwide, legalizing 17 percent of the world’s gay population. The court said it wanted to wait to officially hear what the government thinks of the ruling — and gave...
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Out Gay Senator from Ireland Speaks About Equality
By Dennis McMillan Published: July 23, 2009
Senator David Norris, founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform and the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in Ireland, spoke on July 21 at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in a lively and informative discussion before members of the US-Ireland Alliance. Frequently referred to...
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Lithuanian Parliament Overrides Veto Of ‘No Promo Homo’ Law
By Rex Wockner Published: July 23, 2009
The Lithuanian Parliament on July 14 overrode a presidential veto of a bill that bans from schools and public places any information that “agitate(s) for homosexual, bisexual and polygamous relations.” The vote was 87-6. The Parliament, or Seimas, previously had passed the measure 67-3, with 67 MPs not voting. Seventy-one...
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Pride Around the World
By Rex Wockner Published: July 16, 2009
1 Million & Prime Minister’s Wife At London Pride One million people and Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, took part in London’s gay pride parade July 4. Mrs. Brown carried a red, white and pink Union Jack flag. Members of the military marched in uniform, as did...
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India Gay Sex Ban Struck Down: 17% of World’s GLBTs Now Legal
By Rex Wockner Published: July 9, 2009
Following an eight-year court battle, India’s Delhi High Court legalized gay sex July 2 in a forceful and poetic ruling that had GLBT activists crying in the courtroom. The ruling took effect immediately - nationally - and will remain in effect unless the Supreme Court reverses it. Several major Western...
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Liza Does Pride in Paris
By Rex Wockner Published: July 9, 2009
Singer and gay icon Liza Minnelli danced on a float in Paris’ gay pride parade June 27. Minnelli is the daughter of gay icon Judy Garland, whose death five days before the Stonewall Riots 40 years ago is thought to have contributed to the foul mood of the gays who...
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British Gay Newspaper Shuts Down
By Rex Wockner Published: July 2, 2009
The venerable British gay newspaper Pink Paper ceased publication June 24 due to falling ad revenue. However, no one was laid off by the company, which also publishes the glossy monthly magazines Gay Times and Diva, and the Pink Paper will continue to publish at pinkpaper.com.“The publishers hope to start...
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Australians Support Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 25, 2009
Sixty percent of Australians say gay couples should be able to get married, a Galaxy poll has found. Thirty-six percent of those questioned oppose same-sex marriage and 4 percent lack an opinion on the issue. The poll also found that 58 percent of respondents think foreign same-sex marriages should be...
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50,000 March at EuroPride
By Rex Wockner Published: June 18, 2009
Some 50,000 people turned out for the EuroPride parade, held in Zurich this year on June 6. Openly lesbian Zurich Mayor Corine Mauch joined in. Next year, the parade ventures behind the former Iron Curtain to Warsaw - a city that as recently as 2005 tried to ban pride, only...
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Gay Marriage Campaign Launched In Portugal
By Rex Wockner Published: June 11, 2009
The Movement for Equality in Access to Civil Marriage launched on May 31 in Lisbon, Portugal. More than 1,000 people signed onto the campaign, including politicians, well-known actors, pop singers and businesspeople, and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, who was honored for literature in 1998.The campaign’s manifesto, which now can...
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Guatemala Humanitarian Trip Planned by Rainbow World Fund
By Dennis McMillan Published: June 4, 2009
Throngs of supporters crowded into the Rainbow World Fund (RWF) Castro office on May 31 for a kick-off party for RWF’s 6th annual humanitarian aid journey to Guatemala. The festive gathering was an opportunity for participants on this year’s journey to meet with trip alumnus as well as a celebration...
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Quebec To Launch Strategy Against Homophobia
By Rex Wockner Published: June 4, 2009
Quebec Justice Minister Kathleen Weil has announced the Canadian province will implement a comprehensive strategy against homophobia before the end of the year. She broke the news at a May 17 rally marking the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO).“We see it as a major step forward here since doing so,...
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Police Smash Moscow Pride For 4th Year
By Rex Wockner Published: May 28, 2009
For the fourth year in a row, riot police broke up an attempt to stage a gay pride parade in Moscow on May 16, arresting up to 80 participants, including local gay leader Nikolai Alekseev, British gay leader Peter Tatchell and Chicago gay activist Andy Thayer. The city had again...
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SF Queers Call for End to Killings in Iraq
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 21, 2009
Since 2004, hundreds of gay men have been killed or executed in Iraq. Although this deadly campaign has been investigated and recognized by the Human Rights Report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) in 2007, little has been done to stop the killings. Over the past few...
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Police Smash Moscow Pride
By Rex Wockner Published: May 21, 2009
For the fourth year in a row, riot police broke up an attempt to stage a gay pride parade in Moscow on May 16, arresting up to 80 participants, including local gay leader Nikolai Alekseev, British gay leader Peter Tatchell and Chicago gay activist Andy Thayer. The city had again...
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Lesbian Couple Denied Marriage License In Moscow
By Rex Wockner Published: May 21, 2009
A lesbian couple were turned away when they applied for a marriage license at Moscow’s Marriage Registration Office on May 12. Irina Fet and Irina Shipitko were handed a document stating that Russia allows only opposite-sex marriage. The couple said they will now travel to Toronto and marry, then return...
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Same-Sex Marriages Begin In Sweden
By Rex Wockner Published: May 14, 2009
Sweden’s new law allowing gay couples to marry took effect May 1. “It means that our love is worth the same as everybody else’s,” said Alf Karlsson who, in one of the first ceremonies, married Johan Lundqvist at Stockholm City Hall. Both men are local politicians in Uppsala north of...
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Appointed Icelandic Lesbian Prime Minister Now Elected
By Rex Wockner Published: May 7, 2009
Iceland’s lesbian prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, who was appointed to the job Feb. 1 after the government fell when the nation’s banks collapsed, was elected to continue serving on April 27. “Our time has come!” said Sigurðardóttir, 66, a Social Democrat who now leads a left-wing majority coalition with the...
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Iraqi Gays’ Anuses Glued Shut, Then They’re Fed Laxatives
By Rex Wockner Published: April 30, 2009
Iraqi gays are being shot to death by militias and anti-gay family and tribe members, allegedly executed by the government, and - in the latest twist - are having their anuses glued shut by death squads. Human Rights Watch on April 20 confirmed the newest method being used to cull...
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Jamaican GLBT Group Opposes Boycott
By Rex Wockner Published: April 23, 2009
The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays issued a letter April 12 opposing the U.S.-based boycott of Red Stripe beer, Myers’s Rum and tourism to the island nation. The boycott was launched by GLBT grassroots activists in San Francisco on March 28 and spread to New York City on...
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Polis: “Iraqi GLBT Executions Have Begun”
By Rex Wockner Published: April 23, 2009
Of the five or six members of Iraqi LGBT who reportedly have been sentenced to death in Baghdad for belonging to a supposedly banned organization, one has escaped custody and one has been executed, says U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo. According to Polis, the “egregious human rights violations” are “being...
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Gay Flash Mob Hits St. Petersburg
By Rex Wockner Published: April 23, 2009
A gay flash mob hit Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 4 to mark the culmination of the third Russian Week Against Homophobia. About 20 people from the group Coming Out strolled along the city’s main street for 90 minutes and distributed 1,000 brochures and 700 postcards. Organized by...
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Pro-Gay Moves at European Parliament
By Rex Wockner Published: April 16, 2009
The European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights has praised the Parliament’s recent adoption of two reports. A report on “Rights of EU citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States” calls on member nations to recognize the freedom of...
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Gays Sentenced to Death in Iraq Five Already Believed Murdered
By Rex Wockner Published: April 9, 2009
Seven gay men were murdered in Baghdad’s Sadr City district in late March and early April, activists and media reported. Three men were shot by fellow Shiite tribe members on April 2 and four were killed by tribe members around March 26. Some of the bodies were found with notes...
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Sweden Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: April 9, 2009
Sweden’s Parliament legalized same-sex marriage April 1. Gay couples can begin marrying May 1. The vote was 261 to 22 with 66 abstentions and absences. Six of the seven political parties in Parliament supported the decision, with the Christian Democrats the sole holdout.Sweden has had a registered-partnership law since 1995...
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Members of European Parliament Take Up Russian Gay Rights Crusade
By Rex Wockner Published: April 2, 2009
Twenty-two members of the European Parliament have sent a letter to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers complaining about Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s permanent ban on public gay events and similar bans elsewhere in Russia. “Since May 2006, the Russian Federation officials have banned 167 public events planned by...
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Obama Reverses Bush Opposition to UN Declaration
By Rex Wockner Published: March 26, 2009
The administration of President Barack Obama has reversed a decision by the administration of former President George W. Bush and added the United States’ signature to a pro-gay declaration delivered in the United Nations General Assembly last December. Sixty-six nations supported the groundbreaking statement that called for the decriminalization of...
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Denmark OKs Gay Adoption
By Rex Wockner Published: March 26, 2009
Denmark, which enacted the world’s first same-sex civil-union law in 1989, extended adoption rights to gay couples March 17. Parliamentarians voted for the measure 62-53, with 64 legislators not present. The bill was supported by the opposition Social Democrats and Socialist People’s Party. The ruling Liberal Party opposed it, though...
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The Pope Says Condoms Increase HIV Infections
Published: March 19, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign responded on March 17 to remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI while traveling to Africa, where he claimed that condoms increase HIV infections. Talking to the Associated Press, Benedict said the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. “You can’t resolve...
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British PM Opposes Prop 8
By Rex Wockner Published: March 19, 2009
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opposes Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that last November re-banned same-sex marriage after the state Supreme Court had legalized it. “This Proposition 8, this attempt to undo the good that has been done, this attempt to create divorces among 18,000 people who were perfectly...
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Argentina Lifts Military Gay Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: March 12, 2009
Argentina’s military decriminalized homosexuality and lifted its gay ban Feb. 27. Part of an overhaul of the military justice system, the change was approved by Parliament last year and took effect six months after passage.U.S.-based Latino-issues blogger Andrés Duque called the move “one more LGBT rights development in a Latin...
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Singapore Censors Oscars
By Rex Wockner Published: March 5, 2009
Singapore’s MediaCorp TV censored its replay of the Academy Awards Feb. 23, removing portions of Dustin Lance Black’s acceptance speech. Black won the original screenplay Oscar for Milk, and said: “When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in...
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Moscow Pride Seeks Emergency Hearing
By Rex Wockner Published: February 26, 2009
Moscow Pride activists went to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, Feb. 13 to plead for emergency consideration of their languishing cases stemming from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s repeated bans of gay pride events over the past three years. The group also joined with around 50 local...
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Bolivia Bans Anti-Gay Discrimination In Constitution
By Rex Wockner Published: February 19, 2009
Bolivia’s new constitution, approved by 61 percent of voters last month, bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The constitution took effect Feb. 7. According to New York-based Latino activist Andrés Duque, Article 14.II, titled “Fundamental Rights and Guarantees,” reads, “The State prohibits and punishes all forms of...
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Colombian Court Grants Gay Couples Common-Law-Partner Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: February 12, 2009
Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Jan. 27 granted common-law same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex common-law couples. According to the activist group Colombia Diversa, the ruling encompasses “civil, political, social, economic, criminal and immigration rights” in areas that include civil service, contracts with the government, housing protection and assistance, naturalization,...
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Iceland Gets An Openly Lesbian Prime Minister
By Rex Wockner Published: February 5, 2009
The new prime minister of Iceland is openly lesbian.Minister for Social Affairs Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, 66, was appointed to the job Feb. 1 by the new governing coalition when the previous government fell apart after the nation’s banks collapsed because of the global economic meltdown. She is the world’s first openly...
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Boy George Imprisoned For 15 Months Attack on Escort
By Ann Rostow Published: January 29, 2009
Gay British singer Boy George has been sent to prison for 15 months for falsely imprisoning a male escort in George’s London apartment. George and an accomplice handcuffed Audun Carlsen to George’s bed (or wall; reports varied) and allegedly beat him, accusing him of having stolen nude photos from George’s...
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AIDS Societies Call for Release of Imprisoned Senegalese Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: January 22, 2009
The International AIDS Society and the Society for AIDS in Africa have demanded that Senegal release nine men who were sent to prison for eight years on Jan. 6 for the crimes of engaging in gay sex and belonging to a “criminal association,” the HIV-services group AIDES Sénégal. “The arrest...
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Senegal Jails 9 Men for Gay Sex
By Rex Wockner Published: January 15, 2009
Nine gay men in Dakar, Senegal, were jailed for eight years Jan. 6 for the crimes of having gay sex and belonging to a “criminal association,” an HIV-services group. On Dec. 19, police raided the apartment of gay leader Diadji Diouf, arrested him and the other men, and confiscated condoms...
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Gay South African Judge Appointed To Highest Court
By Rex Wockner Published: January 8, 2009
South African Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Edwin Cameron, who is openly gay and openly HIV-positive, was appointed to the nation’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, by President Kgalema Motlanthe on New Year’s Day. The South African Lesbian and Gay Equality Project said Cameron is the first openly gay or...
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Report: UK Responsible For Half of World’s Gay Sex Bans
By Rex Wockner Published: December 31, 2008
More than half of the world’s remaining bans on gay sex are relics of British colonial rule, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Dec. 17. In a statement, the group “urged governments everywhere to affirm international human rights standards and reject the oppressive legacies of colonialism by repealing...
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UN General Assembly Hears Pro-Gay Statement
By Rex Wockner Published: December 25, 2008
Sixty-six nations at the UN General Assembly supported a groundbreaking statement Dec. 18 confirming that international human rights protections include sexual orientation and gender identity. It was the first time a statement condemning rights abuses against GLBT people was presented in the General Assembly. It was read into the record...
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Tasmanian City Apologizes For Past Anti-Gay Actions
By Rex Wockner Published: December 25, 2008
The City Council of Hobart, Tasmania, in Australia, apologized Dec. 10 for banning a booth promoting gay law reform from the city’s weekly Salamanca Market in 1988. In the weeks that followed, more than 100 people were arrested for refusing to vacate the site, marking Australia’s largest-ever act of gay...
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UN General Assembly To Hear Pro-Gay Presentation
By Rex Wockner Published: December 18, 2008
A historic statement was expected to be read into the record before the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 18, condemning anti-gay discrimination and urging repeal of laws that ban gay sex.Sponsored by at least 61 nations, the statement, among other things, denounces “violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice...
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Court Overturns Shutdown of Lambda Istanbul
By Rex Wockner Published: December 11, 2008
Turkey’s Supreme Court on Nov. 27 overturned a decision to dissolve the gay group Lambda Istanbul. A lower court had agreed with city officials who claimed the organization was unlawful, immoral and against family values.“Finally, justice has arrived,” Lambda said in an English-language statement. “We are stronger now with the...
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AIDS Relief For China Looks Back on First 5 Yrs
By Dennis McMillan Published: December 4, 2008
Celebrating five years of grant making in China, AIDS Relief for China (ARFC) presented an overview of their HIV prevention strategy at Hotel Kabuki shortly before World AIDS Day. They held a panel discussion taking a new look at HIV prevention among the hidden gay men of China. Special speakers...
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Australian Parliament Gives Gay Couples Equal Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: December 4, 2008
Australia’s Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation in late November that changes some 100 laws to give gay couples equal rights. The measure now goes to the Governor-General for formal approval. The changes, introduced by the federal government, extend spousal rights to same-sex de facto couples in areas such...
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Gay Declaration to be Presented To UN General Assembly
By Rex Wockner Published: November 27, 2008
An unprecedented declaration against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity will be presented to the United Nations General Assembly in mid-December. The initiative follows a campaign by the International Day Against Homophobia’s coordinating committee, which received support from the French government. All 27 countries of the European Union...
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UK Ministry of Defence Paid $6.2 Million to Sacked Soldiers
By Rex Wockner Published: November 20, 2008
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has paid $6.2 million to people who were kicked out of the armed forces before the gay ban was lifted in 2000, officials said Nov. 7. Sixty-five people have been compensated, receiving an average of $96,300 each. “Over the past few years the MoD...
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Spain’s Queen Sofia in Hot Water with Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: November 13, 2008
Spain’s Queen Sofía is in hot water with gays after the newspaper El País published excerpts Oct. 29 from an upcoming biography of the queen by journalist Pilar Urbano. In “The Queen Up Close” (“La Reina muy de cerca”), Sofía, 69, is quoted as saying: “I can understand, accept and...
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Malaysian Fatwa Targets Lesbians
By Rex Wockner Published: November 6, 2008
Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council issued a fatwa banning lesbian sex and “tomboyism” Oct. 23. “It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle, including dressing in the clothes men wear,” said council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin. “(It) becomes clearer when they start to have sex with someone of...
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Haider’s Male Deputy Says They Had A Relationship
By Rex Wockner Published: October 30, 2008
The top deputy to the late Austrian rightist leader Jörg Haider created speculation Oct. 22 that he and Haider had been lovers. Haider crashed his car and died Oct. 11 after leaving a gay bar drunk.Stefan Petzner, 27, who replaced Haider as leader of the right-wing party Alliance for the...
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Austrian Far-Right Leader Leaves Gay Bar, Dies In Car Crash
By Rex Wockner Published: October 23, 2008
Jörg Haider, governor of Austria’s Carinthia province and a leader among far-right European politicians, crashed his car and died after leaving a gay bar in the city of Klagenfurt Oct. 11. Police said his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit for driving.Haider, 58, was married with...
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St. Petersburg Gay Film Festival Blocked By City
By Rex Wockner Published: October 16, 2008
“Side by Side,” the first gay film festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, was blocked from starting Oct. 2 by city officials who declared the clubs The Place and Sochi, where the films were to be screened, to be fire hazards. Originally, the festival was to take place in a state...
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Ahmadinejad Claims: We Don’t Execute Homosexuals in Iran
By Rex Wockner Published: October 9, 2008
In a Sept. 26 interview with the radio program Democracy Now!, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his nation does not execute people for the crime of engaging in gay sex. There have been persistent, though unconfirmed, reports for years that Iran hangs men for committing sodomy. Interviewer Amy Goodman showed...
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New Ecuadorean Constitution Gives Gay Couples Marriage Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: October 9, 2008
Sixty-five percent of Ecuadoreans approved a new constitution Sept. 28 that, among much else, grants all the rights of marriage to stable, monogamous same-sex couples who live together. At the same time, the document bans gay adoption and says marriage is only between a man and a woman. The constitution...
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Larry King Quizzes Ahmadinejad on Gays in Iran
By Rex Wockner Published: October 2, 2008
U.S. TV interviewer Larry King quizzed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his nation’s treatment of gays Sept. 23. There have been persistent, though unconfirmed, reports for years that Iran hangs men for the crime of engaging in gay sex.King said: “People (are) protesting that they don’t have the same rights...
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Amnesty Demands Protection For Bosnian Gay Festival
By Rex Wockner Published: September 25, 2008
Amnesty International demanded Sept. 18 that authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina protect participants in the first Sarajevo Queer Festival, which was scheduled for Sept. 24 to 28. “The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must guarantee a climate free of intimidation for lesbian, gay, bisexual nd transgender people,” the group said....
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Cayman Islands Bans Same-sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: September 18, 2008
The Caribbean’s Cayman Islands banned gay marriage Sept. 5. Lawmakers voted for the measure unanimously. The bill amended the Marriage Law to define “marriage” as “the union between a man and a woman as husband and wife.” Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts told local media the traditional definition of...
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Australian Government Introduces Partnership Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: September 11, 2008
Australia’s federal government introduced a bill in Parliament on Sept. 4 to extend spousal rights to same-sex de facto couples in areas such as health care, taxation, public benefits, veterans’ affairs, workers’ compensation and educational assistance. “This is a long overdue reform which will help make Australia a fairer society,”...
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300 Gay Cops, Staffers March in Manchester, England
By Rex Wockner Published: September 4, 2008
In the largest such grouping ever, 300 gay and lesbian police officers and staffers marched in the gay pride parade in Manchester, England, Aug. 23. The cops came from 16 police forces around the United Kingdom.“I am totally overwhelmed with the response we have had this year,” Sgt. Julie Barnes-Frank,...
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Argentina Extends Pensions To Gay Couples
By Rex Wockner Published: August 28, 2008
Argentina extended its pension system to cover same-sex couples Aug. 18. When a couple has lived together for five years prior to one of the individuals’ deaths, the surviving partner will qualify. The move, the first gay-rights measure implemented nationwide, came in the form of a decree from the federal...
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Eurovision Song Contest Resists Involvement with Moscow Pride
By Rex Wockner Published: August 21, 2008
The executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest is resisting any involvement with next year’s Moscow Pride events, scheduled to take place the day of the Eurovision grand finale in the same general location. Pride organizer Nikolai Alekseev, noting that the past three attempts to stage gay pride in Moscow...
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Panama Legalizes Gay Sex
By Rex Wockner Published: August 14, 2008
Panamanian President Martín Torrijos Espino signed a decree July 29 repealing a 1949 law that criminalized sodomy under penalty of a $500 fine or jail time. The move followed protests by the gay group New Men and Women of Panama and other human-rights defenders, local media said. The decree, issued...
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Ugandan Police Torture Gay Activist
By Rex Wockner Published: August 7, 2008
On July 25, Ugandan police arrested and tortured a key Ugandan gay activist - one of three people who had been arrested on June 3 for protesting inside the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers’ Meeting in the nation’s capital, Kampala. A motorbike taxi in which Usaam Mukwaya was riding was stopped by...
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U.S. Senate Votes To Repeal HIV Travel & Immigration Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: July 24, 2008
The U.S. Senate voted 80-16 on July 16 to repeal the nation’s ban on HIV-positive foreign visitors and immigrants. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., secured a provision to repeal the ban in the Senate’s legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.The measure now...
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Italian Gay Man Wins 100,000 Euros For Discrimination
By Rex Wockner Published: July 24, 2008
A gay man on the island of Sicily won 100,000 euros (US$159,000) from the Italian government July 12 after the military and the Transport Ministry discriminated against him. Danilo Giuffrida came out as gay during his military medical exam. Doctors later relayed his coming-out to driver’s-license officials, who then accused...
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Budapest Pride Marchers Attacked by Angry Mob
By Rex Wockner Published: July 17, 2008
Right-wing extremists attacked the 1,500 marchers in Budapest’s gay pride parade and fought with police for several hours afterward July 5. Hundreds of counterdemonstrators reportedly threw rocks, eggs, bottles, firecrackers, feces, acid, paint and Molotov cocktails at the marchers and the police. They also set a police van on fire...
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Gays March in Three Indian Cities
By Rex Wockner Published: July 10, 2008
Some 2,000 GLBT people staged pride marches in the Indian cities of Calcutta, Bangalore and Delhi June 29 — the first such parades in the latter two cities.About 500 people marched in Calcutta, 700 in the high-tech city of Bangalore and about 800 in Delhi.“When the pride started (in Delhi),...
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Pride Marches Around the World
By Rex Wockner Published: July 3, 2008
Police Stop First Cuban Gay Pride March Police in Havana stopped Cuba’s first gay pride parade before it could start June 25. But the details of what exactly took place are far from clear. Reports from activists in Miami said the organizers were beaten and arrested around 10 a.m. as...
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Budapest Police Chief Bans, Un-bans City’s Pride Celebration
By Rex Wockner Published: June 26, 2008
Budapest Police Chief Gábor Tóth banned the city’s gay pride parade on June 11, then unbanned it on June 13. The parade takes place July 5. Tóth originally said the parade would cause too much disruption of traffic. That led to a denunciation from the executive director of the European...
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Norway Legalizes Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 19, 2008
Norway’s Parliament legalized same-sex marriage June 11 in an 84-41 vote. Support came from the three-party ruling coalition as well as two opposition parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals. The Christian Democrats and the Progress Party opposed the move.Norway has had a registered-partnership law that gives gay couples nearly all...
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Gay Pride, Korean Style
Published: June 12, 2008
An estimated 1,500 people took part in the ninth gay pride parade in Seoul, South Korea, May 31. The parade route, starting and ending at Berlin Square, was the longest ever. The 12 pm to 6 pm festivities included entertainment at the square before and after the parade. Later, a...
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Two Spanish Men Arrested For Alleged Gay Crimes in Gambia
By Rex Wockner Published: June 12, 2008
Following on the heels of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s threat to “cut off the head” of any homosexual the government catches, police in the West African nation arrested two Spanish men May 30 for allegedly propositioning two male taxi drivers. Reports said the drivers feigned interest in the come-ons and...
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Moscow Gays Trick Police, Stage Two Pride Actions
By Rex Wockner Published: June 5, 2008
Faced with Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s ban on gay pride activities for the third year in a row, about 35 Moscow activists misled police into going to the wrong location and then successfully staged two surprise actions May 31. As city police and riot police blockaded City Hall, activists pulled off...
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Argentine Government Seeks To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 5, 2008
A bill legalizing same-sex marriage was informally presented to Argentina’s Congress May 22 by the head of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism. “The Casa Rosada (presidential palace) tells us we should do our work, and that’s what we’re doing,” María José Lubertino told La Nación newspaper. “When...
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Gambian President Plans to Decapitate Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: May 29, 2008
The president of the West African nation of Gambia has promised to “cut off the head” of any homosexual the government catches, according to the local newspaper The Point and Afrik.com. Speaking May 15 in Talinding Kunjang, near the nation’s capital of Banjul, Yahya Jammeh vowed to enact anti-gay laws...
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Moldovan Pride Parade Thwarted By Violent Mob
By Rex Wockner Published: May 22, 2008
The gay pride parade in Chisinau, Moldova, was canceled May 11 after the bus carrying the 60 marchers was halted by hundreds of screaming anti-gay protesters who tried to pry open the door, smash the windows and disable the engine.Police stood by and watched. For more than 45 minutes.In the...
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Well-Known Gay Activist Elected to Nepal Parliament
By Rex Wockner Published: May 15, 2008
Well-known gay activist Sunil Babu Pant, 35, has been elected to Nepal’s 601-member Constituent Assembly, which will draft the nation’s new constitution and also function as parliament during the drafting process. Pant was not elected directly, but was chosen by the Communist Party of Nepal (United) as one of its...
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Latvian Officials Want To Fence Off Riga’s Pride Celebration
By Rex Wockner Published: May 8, 2008
Latvia’s prime minister and integration minister said April 24 that they want Riga’s gay pride parade to again take place inside a fenced-in park, to protect celebrants from violent anti-gay protesters. Last year, armed with a court ruling that the ban on the 2006 parade was unconstitutional, more than 500...
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Uruguay Sees First Civil Union
By Rex Wockner Published: May 1, 2008
Uruguay’s first civil union took place April 17, more than three months after Latin America’s first national civil-union law came into force. Actor Adrián Figuera, 38, and theater director Juan Carlos Moretti, 67, tied the knot before a judge, family and friends. The couple have been together 14 years.Couples must...
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Eurovision Attendees Fear Anti-Gay Attacks in Belgrade
By Rex Wockner Published: April 24, 2008
Far-right groups in Serbia reportedly have threatened to harm the throngs of gay people who typically travel to attend the campy Eurovision Song Contest. The 53rd extravaganza will be in Belgrade this year because Serbian singer Marija Serifovic won last year’s contest, which was held in Helsinki. Forty-three countries have...
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Old Video Embarrasses Canadian MP
By Rex Wockner Published: April 17, 2008
The New Democratic Party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan found a 17-year-old videotape recently when it moved into the Opposition offices at the provincial legislature in Regina, and federal Tory MP Tom Lukiwski is highly embarrassed by it. On the amateur tape, in which staffers of the Saskatchewan Progressive...
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Ecuadorean President Supports Same-Sex Partnerships
By Rex Wockner Published: April 10, 2008
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said March 29 that the government “will seek to grant certain guarantees to stable homosexual unions but without ever arriving at the point of marriage.”“Let’s be clear that the profoundly humanistic position of this government is to respect the intrinsic dignity of everyone, of every human...
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UK Protest to Halt Deportation of Gay Iranians Facing Execution
By Rex Wockner Published: April 3, 2008
Some 120 protesters picketed Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s residence in London on March 22 demanding that Mehdi Kazemi not be deported to Iran, where he fears he’ll be executed for being gay. “There needs to be a fundamental reform of the way the Home Office processes LGBTI asylum applications,” said...
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Mayors Decline To Sign ILGA-Europe Civil Rights Appeal
By Rex Wockner Published: April 3, 2008
The mayors of Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia, have declined to sign a pledge from the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association in support of the rights of GLBT people to freedom of assembly and expression.Nineteen European mayors have signed the document — from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin,...
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Norway Plans To Legalize Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: March 27, 2008
Norway’s government announced plans March 14 to open marriage to same-sex couples. The nation has had a registered-partnership law that gives gay couples the same rights as marriage since 1993. The government’s minister of children and equality, Anniken Huitfeldt, said letting gay couples marry “won’t weaken marriage as an institution;...
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UK Says They Will Deport Iranian Gay Man and Lesbian Who Face Execution at Home
By Rex Wockner Published: March 20, 2008
Mehdi Kazemi fears he’ll be executed if the United Kingdom forces him to return to Iran. Kazemi went to London to study in 2005 and Iranian officials later arrested his boyfriend, Parham, charged him with sodomy and executed him, according to Kazemi’s father.Kazemi then sought asylum in Britain but was...
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Brit Tory MP To Enter Civil Partnership - UK Marriage “Lite”
By Rex Wockner Published: March 13, 2008
A senior member of Parliament for Britain’s Conservative Party will be the first Tory MP to enter a same-sex civil partnership. Alan Duncan, who has been in Parliament since 1992, will tie the knot with James Dunseath, spokesman for London’s financial futures exchange, this summer at the Westminster register office...
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Argentine Pres Supports Gay Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: March 6, 2008
New Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner supports legalization of same-sex marriage, according to the president of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI). In a Feb. 24 interview with the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarín, María José Lubertino was asked, “With [former President Raúl] Alfonsín the divorce law...
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Spanish Deputy PM: I’m Not Gay
By Rex Wockner Published: February 28, 2008
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega has denied Internet rumors that she’s a lesbian and secretly got married to a well-known female sportscaster. “Man, finally someone asks me!” she told El Mundo newspaper’s Sunday magazine Feb. 24, four years after the rumors began circulating. “Well, look,...
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Cuban Culture Minister Supports Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: February 21, 2008
Cuba’s culture minister, Abel Prieto, has come out in support of same-sex marriage, the Miami Herald reported Feb. 6. “I think that marriage between lesbians, between homosexuals can be perfectly approved and that in Cuba that wouldn’t cause an earthquake or anything like that,” Prieto, who is a member of...
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Gay Weddings Decline in UK
By Rex Wockner Published: February 14, 2008
The number of same-sex civil partnerships taking place in the United Kingdom dropped 55 percent in 2007 over 2006 - likely reflecting a decline in pent-up demand since the law took effect in December 2005. The figures were gathered by the Local Government Association from officials in 40 localities. The...
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Police Close Buenos Aires Bear Club, Claiming a Noise Complaint
By Rex Wockner Published: February 7, 2008
City inspectors and federal police shut down the Buenos Aires Bears clubhouse Jan. 23. The officials claimed they were verbally instructed by higher-ups to close the building because of a pre-existing closure order that had resulted from a noise complaint.But a spokesman for the club, Marcelo Surano, said the noise...
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Euro Court: Gays Must Have Equal Adoption Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: January 31, 2008
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled Jan. 22 that gay people cannot be excluded from access to the adoption process based on their sexual orientation. In a 10-7 decision in the case E.B. v. France, the court found that France’s refusal to let a lesbian...
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Protester Guilty in Riga Attack
By Rex Wockner Published: January 24, 2008
An assistant to Latvian MP Dainis Turlais was found guilty of gross public disorderliness Jan. 15 for throwing what was likely a bag of feces at celebrants attending the 2006 gay pride events in Riga. Janis Dzelme was sentenced to 100 hours of compulsory labor by the Vidzeme District Court...
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Spain’s Marriage Equality Win Forum At Commonwealth Club
By Dennis McMillan Published: January 17, 2008
In 2005, Spain’s Congreso de Deputados legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the third country to recognize full marriage rights for LGBT citizens. Heading a national consortium of 40 LGBT groups, activist Beatriz Gimeno was the architect of the marriage equality laws. Congressional Representative Carmen Monton successfully debated both bills in Parliament....
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South African AIDS Leader Marries
By Rex Wockner Published: January 17, 2008
Well-known South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat and his activist boyfriend Dalli Weyers were married near Cape Town Jan. 5.South Africa is one of six nations where same-sex couples have access to full marriage.Hundreds of people attended the wedding, including Mayor Helen Zille. Gay High Court Judge Edwin Cameron conducted...
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Large Anti-Gay Rally In Madrid
By Rex Wockner Published: January 10, 2008
Tens of thousands of Catholics rallied in Madrid’s Plaza de Colón Dec. 30 in support of the “traditional” family and against same-sex marriage and easier divorce. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares conducted a mass at the gathering and Pope Benedict XVI addressed the ralliers via video link. Cañizares said the liberal policies...
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Uruguay Civil-Union Bill Signed Into Law
By Rex Wockner Published: January 3, 2008
President Tabaré Vázquez signed a bill Dec. 27 making Uruguay the first Latin American country to grant same-sex couples access to civil unions on the national level. The legislation, which passed the Senate in September and the House of Representatives in November, took effect Jan. 1. Couples must live together...
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Hungary OKs Civil Partnerships
By Rex Wockner Published: December 27, 2007
Hungary’s Parliament passed a civil-partnership law Dec. 17. Registered gay or straight couples will receive spousal rights in areas that include finances, taxes and inheritance. Adoption rights were withheld. The vote was 185-154 with 9 abstentions. The law takes effect at the beginning of 2009. Spanish Gay Leader Marries Veteran...
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Gay Activists Picket Cameroonian Outposts
By Rex Wockner Published: December 20, 2007
Gay activists picketed Cameroon’s diplomatic outposts in France, South Africa and the United States Dec. 10 to protest arrests and harassment of gays and lesbians in the African nation. “More than 30 people have been arrested in Cameroon in the last two years on charges of homosexuality,” said the International...
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Swedish MP Gay-bashed
By Rex Wockner Published: December 20, 2007
Swedish Member of Parliament Fredrick Federley was gay-bashed at a hot-dog stand after leaving a gay club in Stockholm on Dec. 8. Federley, 29, and two friends were attacked by six or seven men in their 20s who called them “fags.” Federley was hit four times. “They screamed that we...
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Young Man Hanged In Iran For “Anal Rape” Commited at Age 13
By Rex Wockner Published: December 13, 2007
Did Gay Activists’ Statements Hasten His Execution? A 21 a-year-old man was hanged in Iran’s Kermanshah Central Prison on “anal rape” (ighab) charges Dec. 5 despite a November order from the nation’s chief justice, Ayatollah Syed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, that stayed the execution and sent the case for a retrial....
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Uruguay Passes Civil-Union Law
By Rex Wockner Published: December 6, 2007
Uruguay’s House of Representatives passed a civil-union law for gay and straight couples Nov. 29. The measure had passed the Senate in September. It is expected to become law before year’s end. Uruguay will be the first Latin American country to grant same-sex couples access to civil unions on the...
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Nicaraguan Sodomy Ban Disappears From Penal Code
By Rex Wockner Published: November 29, 2007
Nicaragua’s sodomy ban is history. A rewrite of the nation’s Penal Code, which takes effect in March, simply left the ban out. “We are not wanting to moralize,” explained José Pallaís, president of the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Issues Committee. “The state should not be regulating conduct or giving...
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Execution in Iran Halted; IGLHRC Cites Global Protest
By Dennis McMillan Published: November 22, 2007
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has learned that the Iranian Chief Justice, Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, has nullified the impending death sentence of Mr. Makvan Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year old Iranian citizen found guilty of multiple counts of anal rape (ighab), allegedly committed when he was...
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Daughter: Raul Castro Supports Gays in the Military
By Rex Wockner Published: November 22, 2007
Raúl Castro, who is leading Cuba during his brother Fidel’s lengthy illness, supports gays serving openly in the military, says his daughter, Mariela Castro Espín, director of the island’s National Center for Sex Education, CENESEX. Castro Espín was asked about “gays in the military” in a Nov. 4 interview with...
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Jamaican Gay Man Wins U.S. Asylum
By Rex Wockner Published: November 15, 2007
A Jamaican gay man, Ven Messam, won asylum in the United States Nov. 8 because he had been threatened by anti-gay mobs that run rampant on the island. With the assistance of Columbia University Law School’s new Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic, Messam convinced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security...
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Cambodian Prime Minister Disowns Lesbian Daughter
By Rex Wockner Published: November 8, 2007
Speaking at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Oct. 30 that he has disowned his adopted daughter because she is a lesbian. “My daughter has married a woman,” he said. “Now I just asked the court to cut her out of the family. We...
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Gays Picket London Saudi Embassy
By Rex Wockner Published: November 1, 2007
About 50 people picketed Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London Oct. 19 in protest against the nation’s reported floggings and executions of gay men. On Oct. 2, two Saudi men convicted of sodomy in the city of Al Bahah received the first of their 7,000 lashes in punishment, the Okaz daily...
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ILGA, COC Denounce Georgia, Azerbaijan for Discrimination
By Rex Wockner Published: October 25, 2007
The European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Dutch national gay group COC lectured the nations of Georgia and Azerbaijan on the responsibilities of European Union membership Oct. 16. “Georgia and Azerbaijan must stop discrimination and incitement to hatred and put in place an inclusive anti-discrimination...
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Kindred Spirits
By Jacob Anderson-Minshall Published: October 25, 2007
For more than two decades non-trans photographer Mariette Pathy Allen has chronicled the lives of transgender individuals and the emergence of a transgender rights movement. Influenced by Margaret Mead’s study of culturally diverse gender roles, Allen shared a hotel with a group of crossdressers in 1978, was immediately captivated by...
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Iranian President Not Mistranslated
By Rex Wockner Published: October 18, 2007
A spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Oct. 10 that Ahmadinejad was misquoted when he said at Columbia University in New York on Sept. 24 that there are no homosexuals in Iran. “What Ahmadinejad said was ... that, compared to American society, we don’t have many homosexuals,” presidential media...
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Russian Patriarch: Homosexuality Is Like Kleptomania
By Rex Wockner Published: October 11, 2007
Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s seniormost religious leader, told European MPs on Oct. 1 that homosexuality is like compulsive thieving. Speaking to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Alexy said homosexuality is “an illness [and] distortion of the human personality...
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President Ahmadinejad: Iran Has No Homosexuals
By Rex Wockner Published: October 4, 2007
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sept. 24 that there are no homosexuals in Iran. Answering students’ questions at Columbia University in New York City, Ahmadinejad said: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. We don’t have that in our country. In Iran, we do not have this...
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IGLHRC Deplores Denial of Iranian Gays by Ahmadinejad
By Dennis McMillan Published: September 27, 2007
His Remarks About Gays Made in the US Censored in Iran
During a controversial talk at Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum on Sept. 24, Iranian President Dr. Mahmood Ahmadinejad categorically denied the existence of homosexuality in Iran, stating, “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” In...
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President Chavez: I’m Not Gay
By Rex Wockner Published: September 27, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says he isn’t gay. “I’ve been accused of everything,” Chávez said Sept. 15 at a rally in Barquisimeto. “The only thing they haven’t accused me of is being homosexual. Well, now they’ve started to accuse me of being homosexual. I don’t have anything against homosexuals because...
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Ugandan Tabloid Outs Gay Citizens
By Rex Wockner Published: September 20, 2007
The Ugandan tabloid newspaper Red Pepper on Sept. 9 again outed several citizens as gay. Under the headline “HOMO TERROR! We Name And Shame Top Gays In The City,” the paper called homosexuality “an unnatural habit that is eating up our beloved nation.” The paper named 40 individuals, by first...
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Delanoe to Seek Second Term
By Rex Wockner Published: September 13, 2007
Openly gay Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë will seek a second seven-year term in March’s municipal election. He promises to continue his efforts to add green spaces, modernize the city and make it more affordable. “My program is aimed at placing Paris ahead of the curve,” Delanoë told Le Parisien, a...
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Cameroon Jails Gay Men
By Rex Wockner Published: September 6, 2007
Six men were jailed in Cameroon in mid-August after a young man who had been arrested on theft charges was coerced by police into naming his gay friends, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission reported. “The tactics of the Cameroonian government define the term ‘witch hunt,’” said Cary...
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Faroes Celebrate Pride
By Rex Wockner Published: August 30, 2007
GLBT people in the Faroe Islands celebrated their pride Aug. 17-19 with a parade, festival, panel discussions and movies. About 130 people marched under the theme, “Does love have gender?” The events also were a celebration of a law passed last December that criminalizes discrimination based on sexual orientation. The...
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Tallinn Pride Parade Deemed a Success
By Rex Wockner Published: August 23, 2007
While many pride parades in eastern Europe attract aggressive political opposition or violent physical attacks from homophobic citizens, the fourth pride parade in Tallinn, Estonia, was a success Aug. 11. About 300 people marched through the historic Old City protected by police officers and private security guards. At the parade’s...
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Netherlands to Examine Gay Rights in Nations it Aids
By Rex Wockner Published: August 16, 2007
The Dutch government has launched an effort to study the situation for gay people in 36 countries to which it provides routine aid. Gay sex is banned in 18 of the nations and punishable with fines, flogging or, in three cases, the death penalty.Embassy officials have been instructed by Development...
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Large Kiss-In At Colosseum In Response To Arrests
By Rex Wockner Published: August 9, 2007
Some 1,000 GLBT people staged a kiss-in at Rome’s famed Colosseum Aug. 2 after police arrested two gay men there on July 27. Backed by the national gay group Arcigay, the 20-something gay couple maintains they were arrested merely for kissing in the romantic 2 a.m. moonlight.But seven members of...
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La Paz Pride Dynamited
By Rex Wockner Published: August 2, 2007
A float was dynamited at gay pride in La Paz, Bolivia, June 30, according to late-arriving reports. Six marchers were injured in the blast that took place during the pre-parade lineup.Pride events in three other Bolivian cities — Cochabamba, Tarija and Santa Cruz — took place without incident. There have...
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IGLHRC Denounces Iran Sodomy Executions
By Rex Wockner Published: July 26, 2007
HRW Urges Caution in Interpreting ReportsThe International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) July 18 condemned Iran for its continuing executions of teens and men accused of engaging in sodomy. In many, but not all, of the instances that have been publicized, the individuals have been accused of other...
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Mayor Blasts Budapest Pride Attackers
By Rex Wockner Published: July 26, 2007
Budapest Mayor Demszky Gábor on July 9 denounced the hundreds of neo-Nazis and skinheads who violently attacked the city’s gay pride march on July 7.”Physical violence and murderous threats were meted out against peaceful marchers who were expressing their sexual identities,” Gábor said. “Not a single well-meaning democrat can remain...
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Anti-Gays Attack Budapest, Zagreb Pride Parades
By Rex Wockner Published: July 19, 2007
Budapest Pride got fag-bashed July 7. Hundreds of skinheads, neo-Nazis and other thugs threw eggs, bottles, smoke bombs, Molotov cocktails and plastic bags of sand at the 2,000 marchers. They also pelted police with beer bottles and physically attacked several marchers. One truck in the parade reportedly caught fire when...
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More Than One Million at Europride
By Rex Wockner Published: July 12, 2007
Pride Celebrated WorldwideThe annual Europride parade, held this year in Madrid, saw a turnout of more than 1 million people June 30. A four-day festival that started June 27 offered 200 cultural, sports and party events.Marchers set off from the Puerta de Alcalá and headed down Alcalá Street and Gran...
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Anti-Luzhkov Protesters Arrested in Moscow
By Rex Wockner Published: July 5, 2007
Three pro-gay protesters were arrested June 27 outside the European Commission office in Moscow during a picket by 25 people urging the European Union to revoke Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s right to travel in the 25-country bloc. The protesters said Luzhkov doesn’t deserve to visit the EU because he has twice...
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Jerusalem Pride Descends Into Chaos: Rally Scrapped, Police Arrest Bomber
By Rex Wockner Published: June 28, 2007
Three thousand people marched in Jerusalem’s gay pride parade June 21, protected by 8,000 police officers. A man with a bomb was arrested before the parade began. He told police he planned to blow up some bushes to scare people away. A post-parade rally was canceled, in part because firefighters...
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Colombia Passes Partnership Law, Then Kills It
By Rex Wockner Published: June 28, 2007
Colombia’s Congress passed then killed a same-sex partnership bill in June. President Álvaro Uribe, a conservative Catholic, had promised to sign it into law. The measure passed the House of Representatives by a 62-43 vote on June 14, and had passed the Senate in April. It granted spousal rights in...
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Remembering The Party Has A Purpose: The World’s Largest Gay Pride Parade Ever
By Chris Crain Published: June 21, 2007
The parade was marred by murder only hours afterward. For some, the day’s lesson wasn’t learned.More than three million people gathered last weekend in São Paulo, Brazil, for the world’s largest ever Gay Pride parade. The sheer size and spectacle weren’t the only reasons the event was one I will...
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Bucharest Pride Succeeds With Heavy Police Protection
By Rex Wockner Published: June 21, 2007
It took 800 police officers to protect it, and the arrest of 108 counterprotesters, but the June 9 gay pride parade in Bucharest, Romania, was a success. Officers tear-gassed hundreds of anti-gay protesters who threw rocks, fireworks, garbage, eggs and tomatoes at the 500 marchers. No injuries were reported.Pride organizers...
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Euro Officials Denounce Moscow Pride Attack
By Rex Wockner Published: June 14, 2007
Western European officials have denounced Russia over the May 27 gay pride rally mêlée in which hundreds of police officers watched anti-gay thugs violently beat gay activists, visiting European parliamentarians and other foreign dignitaries. (Story: http://tinyurl.com/2nkl7p.) The police then arrested several of the gay people but few of their attackers.“I...
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This Year’s Latvian Pride is Peaceful
By Rex Wockner Published: June 7, 2007
Third time’s a charm. Gay pride in Riga, Latvia, finally went smoothly this year on June 3.In 2005, the first year, 150 marchers were heavily outnumbered by around 1,000 anti-gay protesters who hurled insults, bottles and rotten eggs; blocked the streets; and forced the parade to be rerouted. The protesters...
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Transsexual Now Mayor of Cambridge
By Rex Wockner Published: June 7, 2007
The new mayor of Cambridge, England, is a male-to-female transsexual, and so is her partner. Liberal Democrat Jenny Bailey, 45, was appointed by fellow City Council members May 24. Her partner, Jennifer Liddle, 49, became mayoress. “People can take me as a role model if they want,” Bailey told The...
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Bloody Attack at Moscow Pride; Thugs Beat Activists and Dignitaries
By Rex Wockner Published: May 31, 2007
Police stopped a May 27 gay pride rally outside Moscow City Hall before it could start, arresting most of the organizers as they arrived, while anti-gay thugs beat up Russian and foreign gays and lesbians who had gathered for the event. Police officers, including hundreds of state riot police, did...
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Lithuanian Pride Rally Banned, Canceled
By Rex Wockner Published: May 31, 2007
The centerpiece of the first-ever gay pride celebrations in Vilnius, Lithuania, was canceled May 23 after city officials refused to authorize it. Organizers had planned to display a 30-meter rainbow flag in Savivaldybes Square, accompanied by the European Union’s traveling “anti-discrimination truck.”But Mayor Juozas Imbrasas banned the truck from entering...
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“Glass Closet” Lesbian Wins Eurovision Song Contest
By Rex Wockner Published: May 24, 2007
Ukrainian Drag Queen Takes 2nd Ukrainian drag queen and cult icon Verka Serduchka snagged second place at the wildly popular Eurovision Song Contest extravaganza May 12 in Helsinki. The contest — famed for its sometimes over-the-top kitsch — is much loved by many European gays. “It’s a homo funfest over...
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More “Homosexual Conduct” Arrests in Iran
By Rex Wockner Published: May 24, 2007
Some of 87 people arrested in a May 10 raid on a private party in Esfahán, Iran, are to be charged with the crime of “homosexual conduct” (hamjensgarai), Human Rights Watch reported May 16. Witnesses said police and Basiji militia led the detainees into the street, stripped many to the...
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80+ Gay Iranians Arrested, Beaten, Held in Jail
By Dennis McMillan Published: May 17, 2007
According to the Iranian Queer Organization, IRQO (formerly Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization – PGLO), 80 members of the Iranian gay community have been arrested by the security personnel in Isfahan. On May 10, close to 10 pm, security forces raided the birthday party of a man named Farhad, and...
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Euro Court Rules Against Warsaw Pride Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: May 17, 2007
Warsaw violated European law when it banned the 2005 gay pride parade, the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously May 3. The man who was mayor then, Lech Kaczynski, is now Poland’s president. The Euro court said the city breached the European Convention on Human Rights’ guarantee of freedom...
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Gay Pride Thwarted Again in Moldova
By Rex Wockner Published: May 10, 2007
Gay pride didn’t go well in Moldova for the third year in a row. Authorities in the capital, Chisinau, banned all public pride activities again, despite a Supreme Court ruling that last year’s ban was illegal. The city says pride events threaten public order, offend Christian values and promote sexual...
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Thai Gays Seek Constitutional Protection
By Rex Wockner Published: May 3, 2007
Thai gays have begun campaigning for GLBT protections in the new constitution being drafted in the wake of last September’s military coup d’état. “[W]e hope the guarantee of rights for the third sex in the constitution will pave the way for amendments in other laws to give gays equal rights,”...
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Moldova Bans Pride Again
By Rex Wockner Published: April 26, 2007
City officials in the Moldovan capital Chisinau have banned all public gay pride activities for the third year in a row, saying such events threaten public order, offend Christian values and promote sexual propaganda. The decision flouts a recent Supreme Court ruling which declared the 2006 ban illegal.“Not only [do]...
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Not Your Typical Hairdressers
By Jacob Anderson-Minshall Published: April 26, 2007
Makeover shows like What Not to Wear and Style by Jury abound these days, illustrating the dramatic impact a new hairstyle can have on a person’s appearance. But some stylists complain their profession still doesn’t get the respect it deserves. “Many people think that our job is easy; especially when...
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Groundbreaking Nepali Activist To Receive U.S. Award
By Rex Wockner Published: April 19, 2007
The founder of Nepal’s only gay group, Sunil Pant of the Blue Diamond Society, will receive the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s annual Felipe de Souza Award and its $5,000 stipend in May. “Blue Diamond Society is one of the most effective human rights groups in the world,”...
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Moscow Spokesman Charges: “Aggressive” Gays “Play With Fire”
By Rex Wockner Published: April 12, 2007
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s press secretary, Sergei Tsoi, said April 6 that activists planning to stage a gay pride parade May 27 are “aggressive” and “play with fire.” The gay community’s “most aggressive members try to impose their convictions on millions of Moscow citizens who deny their lifestyle,” Tsoi told...
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Australian Pop Star Comes Out
By Rex Wockner Published: April 5, 2007
Australian pop-music star Anthony Callea, 24, came out in newspaper interviews and on his Web site March 27. Callea’s No. 1 hit “The Prayer” is the biggest-selling single in Australian chart history.“Yes, I am gay,” Callea wrote on his Web site. “But I want it clear that I am proud,...
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UK Lords Fefuse to Block Antidiscrimination Law
By Rex Wockner Published: March 29, 2007
In a 168-122 vote, the United Kingdom’s House of Lords refused March 21 to block a new law that bans anti-gay discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services. The legislation takes effect April 30 everywhere but in Northern Ireland, where it already has come into force. The Roman...
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Mexico City Civil-Union Law Comes Into Force
By Rex Wockner Published: March 22, 2007
Mexico City’s civil-union law took effect March 16 and journalist Antonio Medina and banker Jorge Cerpa were among the first to tie the knot. The ceremony took place in the plaza outside the offices of the Iztapalapa delegation, one of the city’s 16 local governments. Medina, 38, and Cerpa, 31,...
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Latin Pop Star Comes Out
By Rex Wockner Published: March 15, 2007
Mexican pop-music star Christián Chávez of the group RBD came out on the band’s Web site March 2 after photos of his 2005 same-sex marriage in Canada were published by the Web site latingossip.com. “I don’t want to keep on lying and lie to myself because of fear,” Chávez said....
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Euro Mayors Stand Up to Luzhkov
By Rex Wockner Published: March 8, 2007
Homophobic Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was criticized by the mayors of London, Berlin and Paris as the four men gathered in London, along with the mayor of Beijing, for their annual summit in late February. Luzhkov banned last year’s first Moscow gay pride parade, has repeatedly promised to ban this...
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Iraqi Gay Activist Reports “Sexual Cleansing”
By Rex Wockner Published: March 8, 2007
Some officials in Iraq’s government are colluding with death squads responsible for the “sexual cleansing” of GLBT Iraqis, activist Ali Hili told the Faith, Homophobia and Human Rights conference in London last month. “Iraqi LGBTs are at daily risk of execution by the Shia death squads of the Badr and...
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Nigerian National Assembly Advances Antigay Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: March 1, 2007
The Women Affairs and Youth Committee of Nigeria’s House of Representatives held a hearing Feb. 14 on an extreme antigay bill that some activists had believed was not going to see any action. The measure, which bans same-sex marriage and gay relationships, also seems to outlaw such things as belonging...
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Jamaican Mob Targets Gay Men
By Rex Wockner Published: March 1, 2007
A mob of men, women, teens and children surrounded a pharmacy in Kingston, Jamaica, Feb. 14 and demanded that four gay men inside come out and face punishment for being homosexuals. The crowd formed after another shopper took exception to the men’s presence and began screaming that “battymen,” or faggots,...
The Ukrainian Parliament’s human-rights chief denounced gays again on Feb. 9, reported Kiev’s Our World Gay and Lesbian Center. Leonid Grach, head of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations, said: “My colleagues and I in Parliament have to defend society from infringements upon morality and not...
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Putin Respects Gays But Worries About Birthrate
By Rex Wockner Published: February 15, 2007
Prodded by a reporter, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public remarks about gays Feb. 1. Responding to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s recent denunciation of gay-pride parades as “satanic,” Putin said: “I respect—and will respect—freedom of people in all their manifestations. [But I will not be drawn into] statements...
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Mayor Says Gay Pride ‘Satanic’
By Rex Wockner Published: February 8, 2007
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said Jan. 29 that gay pride parades are “satanic.”“Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as satanic,” Luzhkov said. “We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not...
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Centrist Congress in Mexican State Passes Civil-Union Law
By Rex Wockner Published: January 25, 2007
The Mexican state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, passed a civil-union law for same-sex couples Jan. 11. The state Congress approved the measure 20-13. It was introduced by the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico for more than 70 years until the election of former President Vicente...
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Queen’s Composer Denied Partnership
By Rex Wockner Published: January 18, 2007
The Queen of England’s official composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, has been denied the right to enter an official civil partnership with his longtime partner on the remote Scottish Orkney island of Sanday, where they live. The Orkney Islands Council blocked the wedding, claiming the local Sanday marriage registrar, Charlie...
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Swiss Partnership Law Takes Effect
By Rex Wockner Published: January 11, 2007
Switzerland’s same-sex civil-union law came into force Jan. 1 and the first couple tied the knot a day later in the southern canton of Ticino, Swiss public radio reported. The men, ages 89 and 60, asked to remain anonymous. They have been together for 30 years. The law extends spousal...
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Mexicans Oppose Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: January 4, 2007
Sixty-one percent of Mexicans “oppose a constitutional amendment that would permit same-sex marriage,” a new Parametría poll has found. Seventeen percent support the idea and 14 percent lack an opinion. Forty-one percent “oppose a law that would allow same-sex partners to legally register and obtain some benefits and rights.” Twenty-eight...
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Italian Government to Introduce Civil-Union Legislation in January
By Rex Wockner Published: December 28, 2006
Italy’s government will introduce a bill by the end of January to extend some of the rights of marriage to same-sex and other unmarried couples. The civil-union measure is expected to cover areas such as health insurance, health care decisions, hospital and prison visitation, inheritance, immigration, transfer of leases, and...
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Gay Groups Granted U.N. Voice
By Rex Wockner Published: December 21, 2006
Three gay organizations were granted consultative status by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Dec. 11. They are the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians, the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, and the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. All three groups previously...
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Canada Will Not Reconsider Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: December 14, 2006
Canada’s House of Commons voted 175-123 on Dec. 7 not to reconsider its 2005 legalization of same-sex marriage. A motion put forward by the ruling Conservatives asked if MPs wanted to see introduction of “legislation to restore the traditional definition of marriage without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing...
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South African Same-Sex Marriage Law Takes Effect
By Rex Wockner Published: December 7, 2006
South Africa’s Civil Union Act was signed into law by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Nov. 30 and took immediate effect. President Thabo Mbeki was out of the country. A response to a Constitutional Court ruling which declared the Marriage Act’s discrimination against same-sex couples unconstitutional, the oddly worded Civil...
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Israel Recognizes Gay Marriages From Elsewhere
By Rex Wockner Published: November 30, 2006
Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled 6-1 on Nov. 21 that same-sex couples who marry in places where it is allowed—Belgium, Canada, Massachusetts, the Netherlands or Spain—are considered married in Israel. “The court held that there should be no gay exception to the standard rule of law that a marriage...
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Reports Claim Iranian Gay Was Hanged
By Rex Wockner Published: November 23, 2006
A Web site called Iran Focus reported Nov. 14 that “a gay Iranian man was hanged in public on Tuesday in the western city of Kermanshah on the charge of sodomy.” The report said “Shahab Darvishi was charged with organising a ‘corruption ring,’ deliberate assault, and ‘lavat,’ which means homosexual...
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South Africa Passes Civil Union Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: November 23, 2006
South Africa’s National Assembly passed the government’s Civil Union Bill Nov. 14. The vote was 230-41 with 3 abstentions. The ruling African National Congress party ordered its 293 MPs to vote in favor of the legislation. There are a total of 400 seats in the chamber. The measure now moves...
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Mexico City Passes Civil-Union Law
By Rex Wockner Published: November 16, 2006
The Mexico City Legislative Assembly passed a civil-union law for same-sex couples Nov. 9. The vote was 43-17 with 5 abstentions. The statute, which will take effect by March, grants spousal rights in areas such as property, pensions, inheritance, medical decisions and co-parenting. Heterosexual couples and nonsexual couples also can...
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Poll: Canadian Marriage Registrars Shouldn’t Have To Marry Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: November 9, 2006
Fifty-seven percent of Canadians think marriage registrars should be allowed to refuse to marry same-sex couples if homosexuality offends a registrar’s religious beliefs, a COMPAS poll has found. The federal government reportedly has considered introducing such an exclusion, along with protections for organizations and businesses that don’t want to deal...
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Colombian Senate Approves Civil-Union Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: November 2, 2006
Colombia’s Senate approved a civil-union bill Oct. 10 in a 48-40 vote. The measure still faces action in the House and, if it passed there, would need President Álvaro Uribe’s signature. The bill, known as Project 130, sets up a registration mechanism and grants registered couples marriage rights in the...
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Netherlands Welcomes Gay Iranians
By Rex Wockner Published: October 26, 2006
In a reversal of policy, the Netherlands announced Oct. 17 it will welcome most if not all gay Iranian immigrants. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk previously had taken the position that Iranian gays were not at risk of government persecution or execution if they lived their lives discreetly. Verdonk said she...
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British Lesbian Couple Abandons Marriage Fight
By Rex Wockner Published: October 19, 2006
Two British university professors have abandoned their battle to make the United Kingdom government recognize their Canadian marriage. In July, the High Court Family Division upheld a U.K. law that automatically converted Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger’s foreign marriage into a same-sex civil partnership. The court also slammed the couple...
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Buenos Aires Mayor Says He Isn’t Gay
By Rex Wockner Published: October 12, 2006
The mayor of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Telerman, has said he isn’t gay, he’s just “Frenchified.” “The other day, a daily [newspaper] insinuated that I was gay,” Telerman told Noticias magazine. “But afterward they stopped screwing around, maybe because they saw that it didn’t bother me. I wouldn’t have any...
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Brits Protest Ugandan Homophobia
By Rex Wockner Published: October 5, 2006
About 30 protesters from the queer direct-action group OutRage! and the National Union of Students picketed Uganda’s High Commission in London Sept. 22, protesting against the African nation’s “latest homophobic outrage” — a tabloid newspaper’s recent outing of 58 ordinary citizens. “Uganda is the new Zimbabwe,” said OutRage!’s Peter Tatchell....
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Euro MPs Target Homophobia In Continent’s Schools
By Rex Wockner Published: September 28, 2006
Members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights and other Euro MPs launched a project Sept. 13 to combat homophobic behavior in schools. Among other moves, they unveiled a report on social exclusion of GLBT youth produced by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Youth and...
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Canadian Same-Sex Marriage Expected To Survive Challenge
By Rex Wockner Published: September 21, 2006
Gay people apparently have little to fear this fall when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper engineers a promised vote in Parliament to determine if MPs want to undo Canada's legalization of same-sex marriage. For one thing, the Bloc Québécois and New Democratic parties have promised that all their members--who total...
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Amnesty Condemns Targeting of GLBT Ugandans
By Rex Wockner Published: September 14, 2006
Amnesty International has issued a condemnation of “the ongoing targeting and intimidation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Uganda.” The organization cited new problems after the Red Pepper tabloid newspaper published in its Aug. 8 issue the first names, workplaces and other identifying information of 45 men it...
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South African Government to Introduce Civil-Union Law
By Rex Wockner Published: September 7, 2006
South Africa’s cabinet will introduce a bill in Parliament to create same-sex civil unions. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said the proposed law will complement the Marriage Act, giving same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married people.But that may not go far enough. On Dec. 1, 2005, the nation’s...
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Four Gays Stabbed In Moscow Attack
By Rex Wockner Published: August 31, 2006
A group of young intruders stabbed four gay men in their Moscow apartment Aug. 23 in what authorities labeled a hate crime, according to RIA Novosti. The report said one victim is in critical condition and another is in a coma.Moscow Pride Organizers Prepare Euro Court CaseOrganizers of Moscow’s first...
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24,000 at Int’l AIDS Confab
By Rex Wockner Published: August 24, 2006
Some 24,000 delegates from 170 nations attended the 16th International AIDS Conference Aug. 13-18 in Toronto. In an opening-session address, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called for increased focus on women, accelerated research on microbicides, and stepped-up global prevention...
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Argentina To Lift Military Gay Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: August 24, 2006
Argentina will delete a law that makes it a crime for members of the military to engage in gay sex. In late August, the national government will submit to Congress its plan to abolish the entire Military Justice Code and create a new military justice system. Among scores of changes,...
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Skinheads Beat Estonian Pride Marchers
By Rex Wockner Published: August 17, 2006
Around 30 skinheads attacked marchers in the third gay pride parade in Tallinn, Estonia, Aug. 12. They beat them with sticks, threw rocks at them and bombed them with eggs. At least 15 marchers were injured. Three of them were transported to hospital emergency rooms. Police made at least six...
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Turkey Bans Gay Magazine, Blocks Parade
By Rex Wockner Published: August 17, 2006
The full press run of the summer issue of Turkey’s only gay magazine, Kaos GL, was confiscated by police July 24. Judge Tekman Savas Nemli of Ankara’s 12th Justice Court approved the seizure at the urging of the Public Prosecutor’s Press Crimes Investigation Bureau. The authorities took action for the...
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U.K. Court Rejects Lesbians’ Canadian Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: August 10, 2006
Two British lesbians who tried to get their Canadian marriage recognized in the United Kingdom failed July 31. U.K. law automatically converts foreign same-sex marriages into U.K. civil partnerships, which nonetheless provide all the same rights and obligations. Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, who were married in Vancouver in 2003,...
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Slovenia Offers Registered Partnerships
By Rex Wockner Published: August 3, 2006
A same-sex registered-partnership law came into force July 23 in Slovenia, a country formed from the former Yugoslavia, Belgrade’s B92 radio reported. Gay groups welcomed the law but criticized it for not granting full marriage rights. They also said it’s unacceptable that the ceremonies must take place only in a...
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Latvia Pride Trashed By Mobs Throwing Human Excrement
By Rex Wockner Published: July 27, 2006
The second effort to stage a gay pride parade in Riga, Latvia, was an unmitigated disaster July 22. The City Council and a court banned the parade, claiming police wouldn’t be able to protect marchers from marauding homophobic mobs. So, activists instead staged a religious service at a church and...
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World Pride Parade Canceled But Organizers Promise “Powerful” Replacement Event
By Rex Wockner Published: July 27, 2006
This year’s GLBT WorldPride parade, scheduled for Aug. 10 in Jerusalem, has been canceled because local police say they can’t protect it. However, organizer Hagai El-Ad, executive director of the gay community center Jerusalem Open House, says there will be an alternative public event Aug. 10, and that all other...
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Moscow Pride Organizer Says Church Paid Protesters
By Rex Wockner Published: July 20, 2006
The co-organizer of Moscow’s ill-fated first gay pride parade says the Russian Orthodox Church paid some of the old women and neofascists who protested against and attacked the marchers. Nikolai Alekseev says the church gave “10 euros [each] to 50 babushkas to demonstrate against us in the streets” and gave...
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EuroPride Numbers Contested
By Rex Wockner Published: July 13, 2006
EuroPride, held this year in London July 1, was either somewhat of a flop or a smashing success — depending on whose numbers you trust. Organizers were hoping for a turnout of 500,000 and say they got 750,000. But police said only 40,000 people were present.The march went down Oxford...
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6,800 couples get hitched in U.K.
By Rex Wockner Published: July 6, 2006
More than 6,800 same-sex couples have gotten married under the United Kingdom’s Civil Partnership Act since it took effect in December. The law grants civil partners all the rights and obligations of traditional marriage.In England and Wales, male couples tying the knot have vastly outnumbered female couples — 4,311 to...
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Cameroonian Men Guilty of Sodomy
By Rex Wockner Published: June 29, 2006
Seven of nine men accused of sodomy in the African nation of Cameroon were found guilty in June and sentenced to ten months in prison. Since they have been jailed for over a year following their arrests at a gay bar, they are expected to be released shortly, said the...
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Warsaw Gays March Legally
By Rex Wockner Published: June 22, 2006
After banning Warsaw’s gay pride parade in 2004 and 2005, officials allowed it to take place this year. Police said 3,000 people marched on June 10. Organizers said 10,000. Members of parliament from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden joined the procession. Two thousand police officers protected the parade.Fourteen skinheads,...
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First Outgames Seem Good To Go
By Rex Wockner Published: June 15, 2006
MONTREAL — Is French flair grandiose? Or is it magical? Gay sports aficionados will have their answer in a few weeks.The Gay Games were supposed to be in Montreal this summer. But the Federation of Gay Games and Montreal organizers couldn’t agree on size, scope, vision and control of money....
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Feds to Squash Australian Capital’s Civil Unions
By Rex Wockner Published: June 15, 2006
Australia’s federal government is attempting to squash a civil-union bill passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory, a jurisdiction similar to Washington, D.C. The government has advised the Queen’s representative, Governor-General Michael Jeffery, to use his power to block the law.“We are not prepared to accept something...
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Moscow Mayor: We’re Morally Cleaner
By Rex Wockner Published: June 8, 2006
Three days after an attempt to stage Moscow’s first gay pride march ended in violence, injuries and arrests, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said he blocked the May 27 march because Russia is morally cleaner than other nations. “Our way of life, our morals and our tradition—our morals are cleaner in all...
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Melee at Moscow Pride: Parade Ends with Violence, Injuries Arrests
By Rex Wockner Published: June 1, 2006
An attempt to stage Moscow’s first-ever gay-pride march ended with violence, injuries and mass arrests May 27. Activists took to the streets even though Mayor Yuri Luzhkov had banned the march and was backed up by the Tverskoi District Court. Among those arrested were co-organizers Nikolai Alekseev and Eugenia Debryanskaya....
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U.N. Blocks Gay Groups’ Advisory Status
By Rex Wockner Published: June 1, 2006
A United Nations committee rejected consultative status May 17 for the Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland) and the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. The groups had sought access to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The status was opposed by...
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Moscow Mayor Bans Pride; Gays Will March Anyway
By Rex Wockner Published: May 25, 2006
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov banned the city’s first gay-pride parade May 18. Organizers said the march, scheduled for May 27, will go ahead as planned. They also filed suit against Luzhkov in Moscow’s Tverskoy district court and demanded that President Vladimir Putin fire Luzhkov and that the city’s police chief...
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Canadian Gays Troubled Over Census
By Rex Wockner Published: May 25, 2006
Canadian gay activists are upset with Statistics Canada’s 2006 national census form. The document instructs married same-sex couples to use the “other” category to record their relationship rather than ticking the “husband or wife” box. Stats Can said it hasn’t had time to change the form since same-sex marriage was...
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Australian Capital Territory Passes Partnership Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: May 18, 2006
The Legislative Assembly of Australia's Capital Territory passed a civil-unions bill May 10. The bill was revised after the federal government, which bans same-sex marriage, objected to a section that would have let federally licensed marriage celebrants perform the unions. "I sincerely hope that the legislation will stand," said ACT...
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Polish Gay March Attacked
By Rex Wockner Published: May 4, 2006
The gay pride march in Krakow, Poland, was attacked by members of the rightwing All Poland Youth Group on April 28, the BBC reported. The counterdemonstrators threw rocks and eggs, and chased after the marchers even when they deviated from the planned route. Police with riot shields and clubs prevented...
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CBS Producers Gay-Bashed On Vacation in Caribbean
By Rex Wockner Published: April 20, 2006
wo CBS television producers were severely gay-bashed April 6 on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, according to Florida’s WFOR-TV.Evening News senior producer Richard Jefferson and 48 Hours producer-researcher Ryan Smith were beaten with a tire iron outside the Sunset Beach Bar by four men and two women who identified...
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Canadian Tories Threaten Same-sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: April 13, 2006
Canada’s ruling Conservative Party will follow through on a campaign pledge to revisit the nation’s legalization of same-sex marriage, Justice Minister Vic Toews said April 5. The government will engineer a “free vote” on the matter in the House of Commons—meaning Conservative members of Parliament will be permitted to vote...
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Australian Capital Terrirtory To Enact Civil Union Law
By Rex Wockner Published: April 6, 2006
The Australian Capital Territory will enact a civil-union law granting registered opposite- and same-sex couples the rights and obligations of marriage. The government introduced the necessary legislation in the ACT Assembly on March 28. “Civil-union legislation will give social and legal recognition to couples who are, for various reasons, currently...
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Britain to count GLBs
By Rex Wockner Published: March 30, 2006
The British government will count gays, lesbians and bisexuals in a survey by the Office for National Statistics, The Times reported. The decision follows lobbying by gay groups and government officials who need the information to adequately provide services. “LGB individuals and the community as a whole have historically suffered...
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Czech Parliament Overrides Veto of Partnership Law
By Rex Wockner Published: March 23, 2006
In a surprising move, the Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies overrode President Vaclav Klaus’ veto of a same-sex partnership bill March 15. Klaus called the vote “a defeat for all of us who believe that the family in our society is fundamental, unique, unrivaled.” Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, on the...
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Soccer Player Sues For Libel
By Rex Wockner Published: March 16, 2006
English professional soccer player Ashley Cole, who plays for the Arsenal team, is suing two tabloid newspapers for harassment, breach of privacy and libel over publication of articles that did not name him.The Sun and the News of the World reported that two unnamed bisexual Premiership soccer stars had engaged...
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Moscow Mayor Still Anti-Gay
By Rex Wockner Published: March 9, 2006
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has reiterated his promise to ban the city’s first gay-pride parade this May. Speaking in Berlin Feb. 22 at a press conference with the mayors of Paris, London and Berlin—two of whom are openly gay—Luzhkov said he is “against such a phenomenon in life” and that...
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Hong Kong British Consulate Eager To Perform Unions
By Rex Wockner Published: March 2, 2006
Hong Kong’s British consulate is eager to perform same-sex unions under the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act, The Standard newspaper reported Feb. 15.But the diplomats are waiting for Hong Kong’s government to confirm that it does not object to the ceremonies.The British law allows embassies and consulates to register...
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Britain’s Most Outspoken Queer Campaigner, Peter Tatchell
By Teddy Witherington Published: February 23, 2006
With the passing of civil union legislation and adorable pictures of Sir Elton John and his partner tying the knot beamed around the globe, one could well come to the conclusion that the future for LGBT’s in Great Britain is rosy indeed. Yet, parallel these events, Tony Blair’s Labour government...
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United Arab Emirates Jails Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: February 23, 2006
Eleven of 26 men who were arrested in November at an alleged gay wedding in Ghantout, United Arab Emirates, were imprisoned for six years on Feb. 11, local media reported.The men were convicted under laws that ban obscenity and homosexual activity. A twelfth man was convicted only on obscenity charges...
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Indian Supreme Court Orders Reconsideration Of Sodomy Case
By Rex Wockner Published: February 16, 2006
India’s Supreme Court on Feb. 3 told the Delhi High Court to reconsider a case challenging the nation’s ban on gay sex.The lower court had dismissed the case on a technicality, claiming that the plaintiff, the AIDS organization Naz Foundation, lacked standing to bring the case because Naz had not...
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Czech Republic Passes Gay Partnership Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: February 9, 2006
A same-sex partnership bill passed the Czech Republic Senate Jan. 26. The vote was 45 to 14 with six abstentions. Sixteen senators were absent.The measure previously passed the Chamber of Deputies and now awaits a decision by President Vaclav Klaus, who has hinted he might veto it. The legislation extends...
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U.N. Rejects Gay Groups
By Rex Wockner Published: February 2, 2006
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has rejected the applications for consultative status submitted by the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) and Denmark’s National Association for Gays and Lesbians (LBL).The council’s Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations dismissed the requests Jan. 23 without even holding the customary hearing. The...
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Australia Tries To Stop Citizens From Marrying Overseas
By Rex Wockner Published: January 26, 2006
Australia’s government is trying to stop its citizens who live overseas from entering same-sex marriages in countries that allow them, The Age newspaper reported Jan. 14. The tactic being utilized is refusing to provide written proof to the other nation that the Australian in question is free to marry.In one...
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A Boycott That Betrays the Cause
By Richard J. Rosendall Published: January 19, 2006
In a Jan. 9 e-mail to members of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s International Advisory Committee, IGLHRC Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick and her board liaison for IAC, Adrian Coman, asked for input on whether IGLHRC should join the LGBT World Pride celebration scheduled this summer in Jerusalem....
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Human Rights Watch Criticizes India
By Rex Wockner Published: January 19, 2006
Human Rights Watch denounced India on Jan. 11 over the arrests of four gay men in the city of Lucknow.The men were nabbed at a picnic in a public location Jan. 4 and charged with operating a “gay racket” on the Internet and engaging in “unnatural” sex.Police “accused them of...
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Gay Adoption Now Allowed In England, Wales
By Rex Wockner Published: January 12, 2006
On the heels of the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act, which grants registered same-sex couples the rights and obligations of marriage, England and Wales extended adoption rights to unmarried straight and gay couples Dec. 30.Adoption previously was limited to married opposite-sex couples and single people. The change was passed...
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Aussie Partners Demand Recognition
By Rex Wockner Published: January 5, 2006
As the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act took effect last month, Australian GLBT activists demanded that their government create a national civil-union scheme for straight and gay relationships. “Certification is important when same-sex or heterosexual de facto couples are required to prove their relationship status, in areas as diverse...
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UK Gays Tie The Knot
By Rex Wockner Published: December 29, 2005
Same-sex couples started tying the knot under the United Kingdom’s new Civil Partnership Act Dec. 19. The act grants registered couples all the rights and obligations of marriage.“This landmark measure ends the situation where same-sex relationships were invisible in the eyes of the law, denied any recognition of their commitment,”...
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Gov’t: The U.K. is 6% Gay
By Rex Wockner Published: December 22, 2005
The government has determined that six percent of United Kingdom residents are gay or lesbian, the Telegraph newspaper reported Dec. 11. That’s about 3.6 million people.Government actuaries calculated the figure to help in estimating the financial impact of the Civil Partnership Act that took effect this month. The act grants...
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Belgium’s Lower House OKs Gay Adoption
By Rex Wockner Published: December 15, 2005
The lower house of Parliament in Belgium, one of five countries where gay couples can get married, voted 77 to 62 on Dec. 2 to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The bill now moves to the Senate where it should see action in March. “There are already a lot...
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Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in South Africa
By Rex Wockner Published: December 8, 2005
South Africa’s top court legalized same-sex marriage Dec. 1, saying that banning it violates the nation’s post-apartheid Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Constitutional Court gave Parliament one year to make the necessary changes in law. If Parliament fails to act, the court will rewrite the Marriage...
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Thousands March In Buenos Aires
By Rex Wockner Published: December 1, 2005
Thousands of people marched from the Plaza de Mayo to Argentina’s Congress in Buenos Aires’ 14th gay-pride parade Nov. 20. A lead banner declared, “We want the same rights.” Activists are pushing for a national civil-unions law to match the one in effect in the capital city.Six people were arrested...
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Iran Reportedly Hangs More Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: November 24, 2005
Two more gay men have been executed in Iran, the Iran Focus Web site reported Nov. 13, quoting the daily newspaper Kayhan. Mokhtar N., 24, and Ali A., 25, were hanged in Shahid Bahonar Square in the northern city of Gorgan for the crime of “lavat” (homosexual relationship).According to Iran...
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Fiji Bans Antigay March
By Rex Wockner Published: November 17, 2005
Authorities in Fiji have banned a march by antigay Methodists, local media reported Nov. 10. The Fiji Methodist Church had planned to turn out 3,000 people on Nov. 19 to protest against a recent court ruling that consensual adult gay sex in private is protected by the Constitution. But Central...
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UK Partnership Law May Have Undesirable Consequences
By Rex Wockner Published: November 10, 2005
Activists are concerned that the United Kingdom’s Civil Partnership Act, which takes effect in December, will negatively affect same-sex roommates and unregistered same-sex couples. “All cohabiting same-sex couples will experience a reduction in state benefits as a side effect of the new Civil Partnership Act,” said the gay-rights group OutRage!....
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Jerusalem WorldPride 2006: To Be Or Not To Be?
By Teddy Witherington Published: November 10, 2005
“Jerusalem WorldPride 2006 will gather people from all over the world to bring a message that is needed throughout the Middle East and beyond: that human rights transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries, that our differences can be respected peacefully, and that love knows no borders. There is no better place...
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Aussie Military Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Families
By Rex Wockner Published: November 3, 2005
The Australian Defence Force extended equal partner and family benefits to military personnel in same-sex relationships Oct. 21. Australia lifted its military gay ban in 1992.“Military personnel and their families make sacrifices for their country, often having to relocate between posts regularly,” commented Australian Coalition for Equality spokesperson Rod Swift....
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Man Murdered In London Cruising Area
By Rex Wockner Published: October 27, 2005
A 24-year-old bar manager was kicked and punched to death on London’s cruisy Clapham Common Oct. 16. Jody Dobrowski was attacked after midnight by two men who shouted antigay slurs as they bashed him, police said. Several other cruisers heard the screaming and Dobrowski’s cries. Police officers later found Dobrowski...
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Brit Celebs Protest Iran
By Rex Wockner Published: October 20, 2005
Several public figures joined an Oct. 4 protest in London against Iran’s ongoing harassment and executions of gay men. They included actor Jeremy Sheffield, rap star Q Boy, comedian Scott Cappurro, Big Brother contestant Josh Rafter and gay MP Chris Bryant. The action outside Iran’s embassy also received letters of...
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Uganda Bans Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: October 13, 2005
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed a constitutional amendment Sept. 28 banning same-sex marriage. The measure passed Parliament in August. It says “marriage is lawful only if entered into between a man and a woman,” and emphasizes that “it is unlawful for same-sex couples to marry.”Criminal penalties for entering into a...
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New Zealand Gets Five Gay MPs
By Rex Wockner Published: October 6, 2005
New Zealand’s 122-member Parliament has five openly gay members following the September elections, the Sydney Star Observer reported. Labour MPs Tim Barnett and Chris Carter were re-elected, as was transsexual Labour MP Georgina Beyer. Labour MP Maryan Street and National Party MP Christopher Finlayson were elected for the first time.“It...
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Group Posts Photos of Tortured Iranian Gay Man
By Rex Wockner Published: September 29, 2005
The Turkey-based Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization has posted graphic photos on its Web site of an Iranian gay man who escaped Iran after being beaten by the police because of his sexuality. The photos can be seen at pglo.org/pglo-web/english/index.htm.“Amir” said an undercover policeman made a date with him over...
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Latvian Parliament Votes For Marriage Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: September 22, 2005
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, voted preliminarily to amend the nation’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Sept. 15. The measure faces three more votes in parliament and approval by special commissions before it could come into force. Fifty-five of the Saeima’s 100 members supported the amendment,...
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Report: Yasser Arafat Was HIV-Positive
By Rex Wockner Published: September 15, 2005
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was HIV-positive when he died in a Paris hospital last year, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Sept. 8. “An analysis of the confidential medical report on Yasser Arafat’s death reveals three main possibilities as to the cause: poisoning, AIDS or an infection,” the newspaper said....
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Fiji Gay Sex Convictions Overturned
By Rex Wockner Published: September 8, 2005
The convictions of an Australian tourist and a Fijian man for having sex in private in Fiji last April were overturned Aug. 26. Lautoka High Court Justice Gerard Winter struck down the convictions on constitutional grounds, citing rights to privacy and equality. State prosecutors said they may appeal the decision.Thomas...
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Judge Strikes Hong Kong Gay-Sex Bans
By Rex Wockner Published: September 1, 2005
Hong Kong High Court Judge Michael Hartmann struck down the Chinese region’s bans on gay sex Aug. 24, calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. One of the laws punishes male sodomy with life in prison when one or both of the partners are under age 21. Another bans gross indecency between...
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Japanese Politician Comes Out
By Rex Wockner Published: August 25, 2005
A member of Japan’s Osaka Prefectural Assembly came out as a lesbian Aug. 13 at Tokyo’s gay pride parade. “Homosexual people have often kept silent for fear of discrimination and prejudice,” Kanako Otsuji, 30, told reporters the day before the march. “By declaring I’m homosexual, I would like to highlight...
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Foreign Gay Couples Can Marry In Spain
By Rex Wockner Published: August 18, 2005
Spain’s Justice Ministry ruled Aug. 8 that foreign same-sex couples who live there can get married there. “A marriage celebrated between a Spaniard and a foreigner, or between foreigners of the same sex resident in Spain, will be valid as a result of applying Spanish material law, even if the...
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Moscow Mayor:No Gay Pride Here
By Rex Wockner Published: August 11, 2005
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said July 27 that he will never permit a gay pride parade in the city because he wants “to protect the feelings of Muscovites, who would definitely oppose such an event.”Activists are planning the city’s first parade in May 2006 on the 13th anniversary of the...
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Rape or Sex?
By Rex Wockner Published: August 4, 2005
Activists Claim Rape Charge Made Up To Support Hanging of Gay Teens in IranThe two male teenagers hanged in Mashad, Iran, July 19 were executed not for having sex with each other, as has been reported, but for raping a 13-year-old boy, Human Rights Watch is claiming. The New York...
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Binational Same-Sex Couples Can Marry In Spain Despite Early Resistance
By Rex Wockner Published: August 4, 2005
Despite an earlier court statement to the contrary, an authoritative official body has now said that nonresidents of Spain will be allowed to marry a same-sex Spanish partner in Spain regardless of whether the nonresident’s home nation allows gay marriage.Spain legalized full same-sex marriage on July 3.The Junta de Fiscales...
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Antigays Trash Latvia’s First Pride Parade
By Rex Wockner Published: July 28, 2005
Latvia saw its first gay-pride parade July 23 after the Riga Regional Administrative Court slapped down a ban on it issued by city leaders three days earlier. The approximately 150 marchers were heavily outnumbered by around 1,000 antigay protesters who hurled insults, bottles and rotten eggs; blocked the streets; and...
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First Same-Sex Marriage Takes Place In Spain
By Rex Wockner Published: July 21, 2005
Spain Saw Its First Same-Sex Marriage July 11. A law extending ordinary marriage to same-sex couples and legalizing gay adoption took effect July 3, following a 187-147 vote by the Congress of Deputies.After eight days of paperwork, the first gay couple was able to tie the knot. The wedding, between...
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Vietnamese P.M.: We Have Few Gays
By Rex Wockner Published: July 14, 2005
There aren’t very many gays in Vietnam, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said June 27. Visiting Canada, Khai was asked how his government handles the equality rights of gays and lesbians, according to the Canadian Press wire service. He laughed and said: “This is not a serious problem in Vietnam...
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Spain Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: July 7, 2005
Spain legalized full same-sex marriage and gay adoption June 30. The vote in the Congress of Deputies was 187 to 147 with four abstentions. The Senate had rejected the bill, but it is the Congress that has final say. Gay couples were allowed to begin the process of getting married...
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Slovenian Parliament Passes Partnership Law
By Rex Wockner Published: June 30, 2005
Slovenia’s National Assembly approved a same-sex partnership bill June 22 by a vote of 44 to 3. Forty-three other deputies were missing for the vote. Gay-rights groups denounced the bill, saying they were shut out of the process and that it doesn’t go nearly far enough.The measure grants registered couples...
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Tijuana Pride Fizzles: Organizers Fail to Show
By Rex Wockner Published: June 23, 2005
Tijuana’s 11th annual gay-pride parade failed to happen June 18. More than 50 people gathered at 4 p.m. outside the Alliance Against AIDS Clinic on 1st Street, saying they received e-mails or saw Web postings about the parade. In fact, a detailed Web page www.yque.4t.com promoted the parade and listed...
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Polish Gays March Despite Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: June 23, 2005
Some 2,500 GLBTs marched in Warsaw, Poland, June 11 even though Mayor Lech Kaczynski banned the gay pride parade. Kaczynski had said he opposed both “propagating gay orientation” and holding the event on the same day Warsaw unveiled a monument to anti-Nazi hero Gen. Stefan Rowecki.Around 300 antigay protesters hurled...
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Swiss Voters OK Partner Law
By Rex Wockner Published: June 16, 2005
Swiss voters approved a same-sex registered-partnership law June 5. Fifty-eight percent of voters favored the measure.Although numerous European nations have enacted such laws, this was the first time the matter was put to a public vote in Europe—and the first time in the world that voters passed a gay-partnership law....
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Two Million Attend São Paulo Pride
By Rex Wockner Published: June 9, 2005
Around two million people turned out for the ninth gay-pride parade in São Paulo, Brazil, May 30, making it the world’s largest gay-pride celebration. Police, organizers and media outlets agreed on the attendance figure.The parade traversed eight-lane, skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista and featured drag queens, go-go boys, giant rainbow flags and...
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They Do: Amazing Race Couple Lynn and Alex Tie the Knot in Ottawa
By Rex Wockner Published: June 2, 2005
By Rex Wockner and Shaun LongstreetThe gay couple from the most-recent season of TV’s The Amazing Race—Lynn Warren and Alex Ali—got married here June 1.Eight of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories have granted same-sex couples full access to marriage. There are no residency requirements or, except in Quebec, waiting periods.We...
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Northwest Territories Gays Sue For Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: June 2, 2005
A gay couple in Canada’s Northwest Territories sued the territorial government May 19 for access to marriage. “Colin and I both wish to legalize our relationship,” Jason Perrino said in the lawsuit filed with partner Colin Snow. “It is my wish that my stepdaughter will grow up and recognize her...
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Amsterdam Issues Warning To Gay Tourists
By Rex Wockner Published: May 26, 2005
The Amsterdam Tourist Board has issued a warning to gay visitors following the high-profile gay-bashing of Washington Blade/Window Media Executive Editor Chris Crain.Early on April 30, Crain was called a “faggot” and severely beaten by five Moroccan men as he and his boyfriend walked hand-in-hand through central Amsterdam.”It seemed like...
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Graft Scandal Threatens Canadian Marriage Bill
By Rex Wockner Published: May 19, 2005
Legislation legalizing same-sex marriage that has nearly completed its journey through the Canadian Parliament may be doomed.But even if the bill dies, same-sex marriage likely will remain legal in the seven provinces and one territory that have legalized it. Five other provinces and territories have not done so.The problem is...
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New Zealand Civil-Union Law Takes Effect
By Rex Wockner Published: May 12, 2005
New Zealand’s first same-sex weddings took place in early May after a comprehensive civil-union law came into force. In Wellington, civil-union “poster boys” John Jolliff, 75, and Des Smith, 65, tied the knot in the city council chambers May 1 before 200 of their friends and family members after arriving...
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New Zealand Liberalizes Immigration Laws
By Rex Wockner Published: May 5, 2005
New Zealand’s new Civil Union Act, which took effect April 26, treats married and partnered couples, gay and straight, the same for immigration purposes. The laws are liberal enough to provide an option for a same-sex couple from two other countries to emigrate together to New Zealand.Officials look at such...
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Spanish Parliament OKs Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: April 28, 2005
Spain’s Congress of Deputies voted to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption April 21. The vote was 183 to 136 with six abstentions. The bill now moves to the Senate where it should pass as well, although the Senate’s approval is not necessary for the bill to become law.The measure modifies...
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Gay Men Jailed in Fiji Released On Bail
By Rex Wockner Published: April 21, 2005
An Australian tourist and a Fijian man sent to prison for two years in Fiji April 6 for engaging in consensual gay sex in private have been released on bail after appealing their convictions. Tourist Thomas Maxwell McCosker, 55, a retired university teacher from the state of Victoria, and Dhirendra...
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105 Men Jailed In Saudi Arabia For Homosexual Conduct
By Rex Wockner Published: April 14, 2005
Around 105 men were sentenced to jail and flogging in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in late March and early April for alleged homosexual conduct. The men were arrested March 10 at a private party for dancing and “behaving like women,” reports said.On March 26, a Jeddah court, meeting in a closed...
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Death of an Authoritarian Freedom Fighter
By Richard J. Rosendall Published: April 7, 2005
Like many former Catholics, I have never lost my fascination for Holy Mother Church. When she gets you early, she never quite lets go. I thought of this while the cable news stations were in deathwatch mode for Pope John Paul II, and as his death was reported I recalled...
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Three Religions Target Gays In Jerusalem
By Rex Wockner Published: April 7, 2005
A dozen Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders ganged up on gays in Jerusalem March 30, strongly denouncing August’s planned Jerusalem WorldPride 2005 march and festivities.“We are shocked to have received notice that a worldwide assembly of 10 days including an immodest parade devoid of minimal propriety is scheduled to be...
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Nevis Rejects Gay Cruise Ship
By Rex Wockner Published: March 31, 2005
The Caribbean Island of Nevis—part of the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis—barred a cruise ship carrying 110 mostly American gays from docking March 23. A police boat halted the Source Events/Windjammer Barefoot Cruises ship and took the captain to shore for a meeting with port, police, customs and immigration...
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Hungarian Pol Comes Out
By Rex Wockner Published: March 24, 2005
A veteran party leader in Hungary’s governing coalition, Free Democrat Klára Ungár, came out March 10 on the TV talk show Strucc. “It is simpler for me to say that I am homosexual rather than having others saying this to me,” Ungár, 46, said. A former member of Parliament, Ungár...
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Netherlands To Lift Adoption Ban
By Rex Wockner Published: March 17, 2005
A bill introduced in the Netherlands’ Parliament March 9 will lift the ban on adoption of foreign babies by same-sex couples. Such couples already have adoption rights for babies living within the country. The bill, which was introduced by a coalition representing a parliamentary majority, is expected to pass.“However, not...
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Ontario Legislature Redefines Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: March 10, 2005
Nearly two years after the province’s highest court opened marriage to same-sex couples, Ontario’s Legislative Assembly formally redefined the institution Feb. 24.Legislators rewrote the definitions of “spouse,” “spousal,” “marriage,” “marital,” “husband,” “wife,” “widow” and “widower” in 73 laws to include gay and lesbian couples. They also exempted religious officials and...
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UK Navy Wants Gays Out of the Closet
By Rex Wockner Published: March 3, 2005
The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy is partnering with leading gay-rights group Stonewall in an effort to increase gay enlistment and encourage more sailors to come out of the closet, The Sunday Times reported.Vice-Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent said sailors’ coming out would contribute to a culture in which “all our people...
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Canadian Prime Minister Embraces Same-Sex Marriage
By Rex Wockner Published: February 24, 2005
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin strongly defended same-sex marriage Feb. 16 as Parliament began debate on the bill to legalize it nationwide. Courts already have legalized same-sex marriage in eight of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.“I rise in support of a Canada in which liberties are safeguarded, rights are protected...
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U.S. Christians Target Same Sex Marriage in Canada
By Rex Wockner Published: February 17, 2005
Christian activist organizations in the United States are sending money to Canada in an attempt to thwart Parliament’s legalization of same-sex marriage. Courts already have legalized same-sex marriage in eight of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. Passage of a bill pending in Parliament would extend marriage rights to the other...
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Gay British MP Reveals HIV Status
By Rex Wockner Published: February 10, 2005
Gay British Member of Parliament Chris Smith, 53, revealed Jan. 29 that he has been HIV-positive for at least 17 years. Smith, who has been in Parliament since 1983, also served as Prime Minister Tony Blair’s culture secretary from 1997 to 2001.“When I first heard about it, I was really...
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Canadian Military OKs Gay Weddings
By Rex Wockner Published: February 3, 2005
The Canadian Forces OK’d performing same-sex weddings on military bases Jan. 19.Full same-sex marriage has been legalized by court order in eight of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. The federal government plans to redefine marriage nationally to include same-sex couples this year.The military’s 150 chaplains won’t be required to marry...
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British Schools To Out Historical Figures
By Rex Wockner Published: January 27, 2005
British schoolchildren will be taught that historical figures such as William Shakespeare, Florence Nightingale, Isaac Newton and Alexander the Great were gay or bisexual, The Guardian reported Jan. 18.The course modules, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, are part of the government’s first gay history month, which will...
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Israeli Ruling Extends Adoption Rights
By Rex Wockner Published: January 20, 2005
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Jan. 10 that lesbian partners have the right to adopt each other’s children. Adoption previously had been an option only for married and common-law opposite-sex couples, local newspapers said. The case involved a lesbian couple of 15 years who utilized a sperm bank to...
