Mayor Bans Moldovan Gay Pride Parade

That first-ever Moldovan Gay Pride parade I posted about earlier has been banned by the mayor of the nation's capital Chisinau.

Organizers sent out a notice earlier today, part of which read: "It is already sixth time that a peaceful LGBT demonstration is banned in Moldova, despite pressure and criticism of the Council of Europe, European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. From the police, city hall and mass-media we have learned that a number of groups is planning violent attacks on pride participants. We believe that the unlawful decision of the city hall was designed to shift the responsibility for any victims of this violence from local authorities and the police to pride organizers. The actions of the Chisinau city hall and the police are in violation of the European Convention for Human Rights and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, to which Moldovan is a signatory, as well as other international human rights obligations of the Moldovan state. It is also against the European Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which Moldova has aspirations to join."

Many plan to march anyway, in defiance of the order.

Previously
Moldova Kicks Off Pride Festivities with Symbolic Gay Marriage [tr]

(thanks, rex)

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Moldova Kicks Off Pride Festivities with Symbolic Gay Marriage

The small Republic of Moldova, sandwiched between Romania and the Ukraine in eastern Europe, kicked off its Pride festivities yesterday, a feat unto itself as such observances have in previous years been banned. The weekend's not over yet, however, and organizers hope to stage a parade. Here's what happened last year after officials banned the parade from taking place in the capital of Chisinau.

This year, according to gay groups there, it looks like the parade is a go. They write: "The public manifestation will be held under the slogan “All different – all equal” and it coincides with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of GenderDoc-M work in Moldova. The manifestation will take place on Sunday, 11 May from 11 till 12 a.m. the route of the manifestation is planned to start at the National Library and head to the Central Square of the City. We do hope that this year LGBT community will be able to benefit from the new law and nobody will ban it as previous years."

Yesterday's symbolic wedding ceremony included two brides wearing masks, and a fire breather. That's hot!

Moldova became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

First time in Moldovan history LGBT community will have legal public manifestation [gay.md]

Previously
Moldovan Gays Protest Ban on Gay Pride [tr]

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Court: Michigan Gay Marriage Ban Affects Health Benefits

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5-2 today that state employers, including government offices and schools, cannot offer health insurance to the partners of gay employees.

According to the Detroit Free Press, "An amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2004 to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman also prohibits public employers from providing health care and other benefits to the same sex partners of employees, a divided Michigan Supreme Court ruled today.The court majority found that language in the amendment prohibiting recognition of other unions 'for any purpose' included the extension of benefits to gay and lesbian partners of public employees. Several Michigan universities, including U-M and MSU, along with various municipal and school employers had offered the benefits as a means of attracting workers."

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Berlin Dedicates Riverbank to Gay Rights Activist Magnus Hirschfeld

Yesterday, on the 75th anniversary of the day Nazis broke into his offices and burned hundreds of books, Berlin dedicated a stretch of the Spree River to sex researcher and gay rights activist Magnus Hirschfeld.

Deustche Welle reports: "Hirschfeld had founded the world's first institute dedicated to fighting discrimination against homosexuals. He went into exile in France and died there in 1935. The stretch of river bank named after Hirschfeld is near his former institute. According to Germany's Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) and the Mitte district of Berlin, where 'Marcus-Hirschfeld-Ufer' is located, a bronze monument to Hirschfeld will also be erected along the river. The Charite hospital also commemorated Hirschfeld with an exhibition which opened on Tuesday at its Medical Historical Museum. Called 'Sex Burns,' the exhibition focuses on Hirschfeld's work and his persecution by the Nazis."

Alexander Zinn, head of Germany's Lesbian and Gay Association, called the dedication "a first step in the right direction" in acknowledging gay persecution by the Nazi regime.

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Mildred Loving Dies

Mildred Loving, whose 1967 Supreme Court case against the state of Virginia over interracial marriage resulted in the banishment of the last of the nation's segregation laws, died on May 2 at the age of 68. The final sentence in Loving's NYT obituary makes note of her June 2007 statement to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia.

Said Loving at the conclusion of that statement:

"The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry. Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights. I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about."

May she rest in peace.

Read the full, powerful statement AFTER THE JUMP...

***STATEMENT by MILDRED LOVING***

Loving for All

By Mildred Loving

Prepared for Delivery on June 12, 2007,
The 40th Anniversary of the Loving vs. Virginia Announcement

When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married.

We didn’t get married in Washington because we wanted to marry there. We did it there because the government wouldn’t allow us to marry back home in Virginia where we grew up, where we met, where we fell in love, and where we wanted to be together and build our family. You see, I am a woman of color and Richard was white, and at that time people believed it was okay to keep us from marrying because of their ideas of who should marry whom.

When Richard and I came back to our home in Virginia, happily married, we had no intention of battling over the law. We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is?

Not long after our wedding, we were awakened in the middle of the night in our own bedroom by deputy sheriffs and actually arrested for the “crime” of marrying the wrong kind of person. Our marriage certificate was hanging on the wall above the bed. The state prosecuted Richard and me, and after we were found guilty, the judge declared: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” He sentenced us to a year in prison, but offered to suspend the sentence if we left our home in Virginia for 25 years exile.

We left, and got a lawyer. Richard and I had to fight, but still were not fighting for a cause. We were fighting for our love.

Though it turned out we had to fight, happily Richard and I didn’t have to fight alone. Thanks to groups like the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, and so many good people around the country willing to speak up, we took our case for the freedom to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that, “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men,” a “basic civil right.”

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God’s plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

***END STATEMENT***

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Ohio College Administrator on Paid Leave for Remarks About Gays

Crystal Dixon, the University of Toledo's associate vice president of human resources, was placed on paid leave after she published an article in the Toledo Free Press in April responding to a piece in the paper about gay rights, WTOL reports.

Said Dixon: "As a Black woman ... I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are civil rights victims. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. Daily thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle."

She concluded: "My final and most important point. There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27). God created humans with an inalienable right to choose. There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God's divine order."

Said Rob Salem, UT clinical law professor and board member of Equality Toledo: "The problem for me is that this is somebody that is charge of a major department of a major institution. She talks about .... homosexuality being a choice. And those views are refuted by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association."

Gay rights and wrongs: another perspective [toledo free press]
Gays not civil rights victims, UT administrator argues [wtol]

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Sunil Pant Becomes First Gay Parliament Member in Nepal

Sunil Pant, who heads Nepal's gay activist group the Blue Diamond Society, became the first openly gay politician to be elected to parliament in that country, the Times of India reports. There were several gay men running in the nation's first vote since 1999. They were all funded by the Nepal Communist Party (United), a junior partner in the ruling alliance:

"Sunil Babu Pant, a 35-year-old crusader for gay rights who founded the first organisation to protect the rights of the sexual minorities and ushered in a social revolution, now becomes part of Nepal's political history as well after being chosen by a minor communist party to represent it in the 601-member constituent assembly. 'We are honoured to send Pant as our representative to the constituent assembly,' said Ganesh Shah of Communist Party, who’s Communist Party of Nepal-United (CPN-U) has won five seats in the assembly under the proportional representation system. 'We hope it will improve the lives of a people who are the most repressed in Nepal, disowned both by society and their own families,' he added. Pant, a computer engineer from Belarus, founded the Blue Diamond Society in 2002. It is now one of the best known gay rights groups in South Asia, fighting for molested and detained gays, spreads HIV/AIDS awareness, runs a hospice for terminally ill gay patients and provides training and jobs to members of the community."

Said Pant: "Representing a sexual minority I will make sure the new constitution protects sexual groups, people with disabilities, small indigenous castes and others."

Recently
AIDS Patients Evicted from Nepal Hospice Over Anti-Gay Bias [tr]
Five Gay Men in Symbolic Run for Office in Nepal [tr]

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Australia to Offer Matching Rights, Not Marriage, to Gay Couples

Legislation to be introduced next month by the Rudd government will offer gay and lesbian couples a broad new set of rights, the Sydney Morning Herald reports today:

"The federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, will announce today that the necessary legislation will be introduced when Parliament resumes next month for the winter sittings. The measures do not amount to gay marriage; they afford gay couples the same treatment as heterosexual de facto couples in areas such as tax, superannuation sharing and social security...other areas to be reformed include health, aged care, veterans' entitlements, workers' compensation, employment and entitlements. 'In keeping with the election commitment, the changes do not alter the marriage laws,' Mr McClelland said. 'They will make a practical difference to the everyday lives of a group of our fellow Australians who have suffered discriminations under Commonwealth laws for far too long.' All the changes would be operational by the middle of next year; most will begin as soon as legislation is passed."

The legislation is expected to pass through the Senate easily.

Previously
Australian PM Kevin Rudd Says He Won't Overrule Civil Unions [tr]
Australian Voters Reject Howard, Elect Kevin Rudd Prime Minister [tr]

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Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Warns Against Gay May Day Gatherings

In response to word that gay groups planned demonstrations in Moscow on the occasion of the May Day (May 1) holiday, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's representative Sergei Tsoi warned that any actions would be halted by the government.

Said Tsoi: "The council will act decisively and uncompromisingly to prevent attempts to hold such events because society is overwhelmingly opposed to the gay lifestyle and philosophy. It is a matter of surprise and indignation that gays plan to carry out unsanctioned gatherings in various parts of Moscow during the Festival of Peace and Work. There could be bloodshed and no one wants that."

Activist Nikolai Alexeyev said that gay groups plan to apply to hold five events every day throughout May, despite Luzhkov's warning and prior actions against demonstrators.

Said Alexeyev: "This is not a question of security. It is only a question of the personal hatred of the Moscow mayor towards gay people."

He also said the events would not be characerized by flamboyance or nudity: "If everyone sees that these people are not nude or wearing make-up... there will be many questions about why this event was banned."

Last year's gay rights rally in May turned violent and activists reported that Moscow police arrested not the ultra-nationalists and members of the ultra-Orthodox Russian church who began the violence but the gay rights demonstrators at which it was directed. They included Peter Tatchell,d Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass, Italian MEP Marco Cappato, German MP Volker Beck, the leader of GayRussia, Nikolai Alexeyev, and dozens of other activists.

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Bahrain Targets Children in Bid to Rid Country of Gays

In February I posted about a crackdown in the Persian Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain intended to rid the country of gay people. Authorities proposed surveillance of hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas (you know, all the places where gays hang out in huge numbers) as well as stricter surveillance at the nation's customs points ("homosexuals pretend not to be gay by posing 'manly' until they make it past immigration" according to committee secretary Jalal Fairooz).

Now it appears authorities are taking their surveillance one step further, targeting children who display homosexual tendencies, according to Gulf Daily News:

"The committee is also demanding that the Education Ministry carefully monitor students and punishes those veering towards homosexuality. MPs urged the ministry to raise awareness amongst students, possibly through lectures given by visiting health specialists, psychiatrists, or sociologists."

Gays and human rights groups in the region are understandably furious.

Previously
Crackdown on 'Dangerous' Gays Proposed in Bahrain [tr]

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News: Poland, Magnum P.I., Arizona, Howard Dean, The Joker

Arizona ballot measure to constitutionally ban same-sex marriages appears defeated: "The House gave preliminary approval Thursday by a 28-27 vote to put the question on the November ballot. But that OK came only after Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, lined up enough votes to tack on a provision to grant certain rights to unmarried couples living together, whether gay or straight. That move effectively tied the two issues together as a single ballot question, meaning voters who want to make same-sex weddings unconstitutional would be voting for some constitutional rights for gay couples. A spokesman for House Speaker Jim Weiers, sponsor of HCR 2065, said that is unacceptable and that the Phoenix Republican will now kill his proposal."

Magnum P.U.: Matthew McConaughey to take Tom Selleck role to the big screen?

Naomi Campbell a free supermodel after getting arrested for assaulting and spitting on a cop.

Poland passes EU Charter but gets around gay requirements: "This week Prime Minister Donald Tusk reached a deal with the opposition, inserting a clause in the rights bill guaranteeing Poland's sovereignty within the union. The cause is seen as a means where the government can opt out of EU LGBT rights protections. Kaczynski has said he will sign the revised bill."

Perez Hilton says he made out with John Mayer. But is it Pop Fiction?

Redwood City, California man faces hate crime charges for attack on gay neighbors: "Herbert Santos-Coy, 30, remained behind bars Wednesday on one count of felony assault for hate crime purposes, two counts of felony commission of a hate crime and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in state prison. 'There’s nothing the victims did that would have provoked this. It’s an outrage,' Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Santos-Coy and his wife lived next door to the couple on Buckeye Street. On Sunday, the victims were working on their car when Santos-Coy approached them and began hurling anti-gay epithets, Wagstaffe said. Santos-Coy then allegedly struck one man in the face repeatedly before picking up a wrought iron table and swinging it at the couple. Santos-Coy had been drinking but prosecutors do not believe he was drunk at the time of the incident, Wagstaffe said."

Massive archive of gay and lesbian historical items at New York Public Library gets digital gallery and will be organized under new donor committee: "It is a newly organized... committee called LGBT@NYPL; for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Carey Maloney and Hermes Mallea, the cochairmen, are also partners in M (Group), a design company. The goal, Mr. Maloney said, is “to get everything cataloged and digitized and to get an endowment” for the care and maintenance of the collections. Mr. Maloney is to announce at a party at the library this evening that the committee has raised $1.5 million so far. Time Warner has pledged $300,000. The MAC AIDS Fund has pledged $150,000 to improve public access to materials dealing with HIV and AIDS. Estée Lauder Companies has pledged $30,000."

Apparently, gays in London love renting cars.

Tom Brady makes 100 Unsexiest Men of 2008 list: "an overexposed, supermodel-dating, out-of-wedlock-fathering, big-game-losing metrosexual -- with a bowl haircut."

New Heath Ledger Dark Knight photos show The Joker disguised as a nurse.

Sir Ian McKellen speaks at Stonewall Equality Dinner in London: "The Lord of the Rings star spoke about the need to change society and not just the law, and lamented that many who are brave enough to be out on the gay scene still live closeted lives and careers. Sir Ian criticised religious intolerance and said he had wanted Mehdi Kazemi to be his date for the Equality dinner, but he is still in custody in Holland."

Howard Dean tells crowd at University of Wisconsin Madison that he doesn't get gay Republicans: "'They can't become more diverse. Who in their right mind, if they were African-America or Hispanic or Asian-American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?' Patrick Sammon, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, called Dean's statement "callous" and said that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama should publicly state what they think of it."

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Getting the Word Out on Gays and Blood Donation

I don't know who Johnny Boy is but I want to see her punch the wall.

Clip, AFTER THE JUMP (warning: language NSFW)...

The girl's got an audience, although it's disturbing to read some of the comments posted on the YouTube site.

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Cuba to Consider Draft Gay Rights Bill in June

A draft gay rights bill is to be considered by the Cuban government in June, Mexican media is reporting:

"The media said citing Mariela Castro, the director of the governmental National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX): 'a relevant resolution will be signed in the nearest future by the Ministry of Health, which will determine the procedure for such surgery.'

Mariela, who is president Raul Castro's daughter, also spoke recently with the BBC:

"A lot of homosexual couples asked me to not risk delaying getting the law passed by insisting on the word marriage. In Cuba marriage is not as important as the family and at least this way we can guarantee the personal and inheritance rights of homosexuals and transsexuals. I've seen changes in my father since I was a child. I saw him as macho and homophobic. But as I have grown and changed as a person, so I have seen him change...In the early years of the revolution much of the world was homophobic. It was the same here in Cuba and led to acts which I consider unjust. What I see now is that both Cuban society and the government have realised that these were mistakes. There is also the desire to take initiatives which would prevent such things happening again."

Cuban parliament set to consider gay rights bill [ria novosti]
Castro champions gay rights in Cuba [bbc]

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European Mayors Asked to Attend Moscow Gay Pride

Moscow Gay Pride organizer Nikolai Alexeyev has asked London mayor Ken Livingstone (pictured, second from right) and openly gay mayors Bertrand Delanoe of Paris (far left), and Klaus Wowereit (far right) of Berlin to attend Moscow's Gay Pride observance, which has been scheduled for May 30 and 31, UK Gay News reports:

"In a letter to the three Mayors, Nikolai Baev and Nikolai Alekseev point out that in Russia gay men and women face enormous difficulties in publicly expressing themselves. 'You always support the fundamental right of homosexual people to openly manifest and to publicly express themselves,' they say in their letter to the city halls. 'All of you also regularly take part in Gay Pride parades in your own cities.' They go on to say that the constitutional right to freedom of assembly has been violated in the previous two years when Gay Pride Parades have been scheduled, only to be banned by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. 'Taking into account the bans of the public Pride events in the Russian capital in 2006 and 2007, we are not sure that Mayor Luzhkov will permit Gay Pride manifestation this year,' they point out. 'Please take part in our conference and rally,' the organisers ask."

Last year's Gay Pride parade turned bloody and violent. British activist Peter Tatchell and Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass were assaulted on camera. Tatchell and Fairbrass were both then arrested, along with Italian MEP Marco Cappato, German MP Volker Beck, the leader of GayRussia, Nikolai Alexeyev, and dozens of other activists.

The photo of the three mayors above, with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, was taken at a mayoral summit in London in February 2007.

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Barack Obama Writes Open Letter to LGBT Community

Following yesterday's news that the Obama campaign had purchased a targeted ad buy specifically for LGBT media in Ohio and Texas, his campaign has released an "Open Letter to the LGBT Community" in which Obama reiterates his promises to eliminate discrimination, urge the states to treat same-sex couples with full equality, repeal DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Read the full letter, AFTER THE JUMP...

***
Open Letter from Barack Obama to the LGBT community

I'm running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It's wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.

Equality is a moral imperative. That's why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.

The next president must also address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When it comes to prevention, we do not have to choose between values and science. While abstinence education should be part of any strategy, we also need to use common sense. We should have age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception. We should pass the JUSTICE Act to combat infection within our prison population. And we should lift the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. In addition, local governments can protect public health by distributing contraceptives.

We also need a president who's willing to confront the stigma – too often tied to homophobia – that continues to surround HIV/AIDS. I confronted this stigma directly in a speech to evangelicals at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, and will continue to speak out as president. That is where I stand on the major issues of the day. But having the right positions on the issues is only half the battle. The other half is to win broad support for those positions. And winning broad support will require stepping outside our comfort zone. If we want to repeal DOMA, repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and implement fully inclusive laws outlawing hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace, we need to bring the message of LGBT equality to skeptical audiences as well as friendly ones – and that's what I've done throughout my career. I brought this message of inclusiveness to all of America in my keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. I talked about the need to fight homophobia when I announced my candidacy for President, and I have been talking about LGBT equality to a number of groups during this campaign – from local LGBT activists to rural farmers to parishioners at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. Martin Luther King once preached.

Just as important, I have been listening to what all Americans have to say. I will never compromise on my commitment to equal rights for all LGBT Americans. But neither will I close my ears to the voices of those who still need to be convinced. That is the work we must do to move forward together. It is difficult. It is challenging. And it is necessary.

Americans are yearning for leadership that can empower us to reach for what we know is possible. I believe that we can achieve the goal of full equality for the millions of LGBT people in this country. To do that, we need leadership that can appeal to the best parts of the human spirit. Join with me, and I will provide that leadership. Together, we will achieve real equality for all Americans, gay and straight alike.

***END

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Five Gay Men in Symbolic Run for Office in Nepal

Sunil Pant (pictured), the Kathmandu-based founder of Nepal's leading gay rights group the Blue Diamond Society, is running along with four other gay men in a public election for one of 601 seats in a new constituent assembly in the nation's first vote since 1999. It takes place on April 10.

Pant and the other gay men say they hope to "shatter taboos" in the nation. Said Pant: "It is a prejudiced society. We are standing in the elections to fight the discrimination against our community. This is a very symbolic approach to tell all Nepalis that we have equal rights. I feel sad and we feel excluded. As human beings we all like to be loved and respected. We are deprived of the opportunity to contribute to our society and nation."

According to Reuters, "The five candidates have been fielded by the Nepal Communist Party (United), a junior partner in the ruling alliance. There are already signs the taboo may be beginning to lose its grip. In December, the Supreme Court ordered the government to end discrimination against gays and guarantee sexual minorities the same rights as other citizens. Pant feels he has a good chance of winning, saying there are hundreds of thousands of gay and transgender voters across the country to whom he will appeal."

Nepali gay men contesting poll hope to end taboo [reuters]

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Elton John: Nepal Statements, Fashion Statements [tr]
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Spanish PM Zapatero Appears on Gay Magazine, Warns Conservatives

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made his third appearance on the cover of the Spanish gay magazine Zero this month in advance of national elections on March 9, using the occasion to warn the conservative Partido Popular against rolling back LGBT rights:

"'We will continue to make reforms to improve the conditions of all," he said in an interview with the monthly gay magazine Zero, where he appeared on the cover for the third time since 2002. 'We must facilitate the implementation of the rights that we have already approved: the right to adoption (for same-sex couples), of course, and the right to legally change sex,' he said. If the conservative opposition Popular Party of Mariano Rajoy wins the election, Zapetero vowed to prevent 'a single step backwards' in the policies of his government. 'I will do whatever possible so that Mr. Rajoy does not withdraw the rights of any family,' he said. Spain became only the third member of the European Union, after the Netherlands and Belgium, to allow same-sex marriages in July 2005 with a law that also legalised adoptions by gays and lesbians. The measure was heavily criticised by the Roman Catholic Church in Spain and a section of the Popular Party. The PP has gone to the constitutional court to challenge the use of the word 'marriage' in the law, and has vowed if elected to withdraw the right of gays and lesbians to adopt. Homosexuality was legalised in Spain in 1979, four years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco whose regime shipped gays to institutions that some activists have likened to concentration camps. 'We are the envy of other countries for what we have achieved (on gay rights), and we have the support of a lot of countries,' said Zapatero."

Earlier this month, Spanish gay activists rallied in Madrid outside the PP's headquarters.

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Moscow Gay Pride Activists Request Compensation for Treatment

Vowing to "use the compensation for the development of the LGBT movement [lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals] in Russia," Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev asked the European Court of Human Rights to direct Russian authorities to pay them one million Euros in compensation for their treatment in the crackdown of the last two Gay Pride parades, both of which were banned.

I posted about the violence organizers experienced during the Pride parade last May. British activist Peter Tatchell and Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass were assaulted on camera. Tatchell and Fairbrass were both then arrested, along with Italian MEP Marco Cappato, German MP Volker Beck (who was assaulted at last year's rally), the leader of GayRussia, Nikolai Alexeyev, and dozens of other activists. Thirty people were detained in all at what began as a peaceful demonstration meant to mark the 14th anniversary of the decriminilization of homosexuality in Russia. One of the organizers' goals was to deliver a document to the mayor's office signed by over 40 members of the European Parliament protesting Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's decision to ban the march. In January, Luzhkov branded the march "satanic".

Said Alexeyev of the appeal to the Court of Human Rights: "I am absolutely certain of our final victory in Strasburg. The Russian authorities arbitrarily deprived us of the right guaranteed by both the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the European Convention (on Human Rights)."

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Crackdown on 'Dangerous' Gays Proposed in Bahrain

MPs in Bahrain, which already prohibits homosexuality (it's punishable by up to ten years in prison or deportation), are proposing a tougher crackdown on gays which, not surprisingly, is informed by plenty of offensive and ignorant stereotypes:

"The proposal was submitted by MPs belonging to the Al Menbar parliamentary bloc. It is in response to what MPs see as Bahrain's growing gay problem and foreigners found to be gay face deportation, said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz. He said the study was being carried out despite the fact that the Education Ministry claims there are no homosexuals in schools. However, Mr Fairooz had no suggestions on how such a study could be carried out, saying it would be up to the government to decide. 'The Interior Ministry has told us that it already bans suspected homosexuals as they try entering the country from Bahrain International Airport,' said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz. However, he claimed the ministry said homosexuals pretend not to be gay by posing 'manly' until they make it past immigration. 'They look manly as they come to the airport, but when they get in they return back to their unaccepted homosexual attitude,' said Mr Fairooz. 'Homosexuals are found in huge numbers at hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas, which the ministry regularly inspects.' However, he said many homosexuals were slipping through the net because the ministry was having problems determining if they were gay or not. 'Those who look homosexual or offer customers personal services are being caught by police and taken to the Public Prosecution,' he said. He described gays as 'dangerous' and a 'threat to our society and Islamic values'."

Gays to Face New Clamp [gulf daily news]

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Matt Foreman Charges Barney Frank "Squeamish" on Trans Issues

Noting that he is leaving his job and therefore able to talk candidly about some of his experiences, outgoing National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman told Michelangelo Signorile on his radio show Wednesday that he felt Representative Barney Frank was "squeamish" on transgender issues.

Said Foreman: "Of the many things I've loved about being in the Task Force, is that, you know, we're a progressive organization, and we're proud of it, and that we have a history of speaking the truth and seeing the world in a bigger way than just a 'gay-specific,' 'me-first-all-the-time' attitude that affects so much of our movement. I think what really happened [ on ENDA] is [Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] people said 'Look, Congress has a terrible reputation right now, they're not delivering for any progressive causes... What do we have to do to deliver to our progressive allies?' That means labor and health and environment and gays. And, so, I mean, I don't know this for a fact, but I would bet my life that this is what happened: They went to Barney Frank and said 'What do we need to pass ENDA?' Representative Frank, who has always been pretty squeamish on the trans issue, and I guess I can say these things because I am leaving my job...you know, said 'Look the best way to pass ENDA, and the easiest way is to -- let's take out gender identity,' and I don't think the Speaker's people thought this through--didn't think it through--and then they said 'OK, let's do it'."

Frank called the remarks "absurd" and has scheduled an appearance on Signorile's Sirius show today at 3:30 to respond.

PageOneQ has audio clips of Foreman's appearance.

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Gareth Henry, Jamaican Gay Activist, Seeks Refugee Status in Canada

Gareth Henry, one of three gay men who were surrounded by an angry mob outside a pharmacy one year ago today in St. Andrew, Jamaica, is seeking refugee status in Canada.

CBC reports: "Henry says 13 of his friends have been killed in Jamaica since 2004. One 22-year-old friend who was suspected of being gay was chased by a mob, Henry told CBC News. The only place he could run to was the harbour. He couldn't swim. 'Everyone,' said Henry, 'stood and watched him drown.' Henry, who was vocal activist with the country's pioneering gay-rights organization J-FLAG, Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, has had his own troubling experiences. On Valentine's Day last year, he was caught in a pharmacy and surrounded by an angry mob, he said. There was no protection from the police or state. 'When you find police officers who are leading mob attacks, turning up at people's home like myself, pointing guns at my window, with civilians with them, and saying that I need to leave or they're going to kill me, it reinforces homophobia.'"

Henry, a leading activist in Jamaica, says it is a place to which he can no longer return.

Jamaican gay activist seeks refugee status in Canada [tr]

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Stephen Colbert Talks to HRC's Joe Solmonese

Stephen Colbert talked to Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese this week in a new series called "Better Know a Lobbyist." Thoroughly amusing.

Colbert: Have you thought about supporting any Republicans this year? What about Huckabee, are you gay for him?

Solmonese: We're not gay for Mike Huckabee because Mike Huckabee's not gay for us.

Colbert: Tit for tat. No offense.

(via queerty)

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McCain Gay-Baiting in New Romney-Bashing Robo-Call

Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic reports on a new robo-call from the McCain campaign in Florida, where he and Romney are doing their best to destroy one another.

This robo-call, Ambinder notes, raises "the specter of scary homosexuals and their 'special rights.'"

The call: "Mitt Romney thinks he can fool us. He supported abortion on demand, even allowed a law mandating taxpayer-funding for abortion. He says he changed his mind, but he still hasn’t changed the law. He told gay organizers in Massachusetts he would be a stronger advocate for special rights than even Ted Kennedy. Now, it’s something different."

Ambinder notes that it's not clear whether McCain (pictured above with Florida governor Charlie Crist) personally approved the call.

(via americablog)

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Al Gore Speaks Out on Gay Rights

I'm not sure what prompted this, but late last week Al Gore posted a video to his own Current TV on gay rights.

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U of Texas Lecturer on Hunger Strike to Protest Anti-Gay Policy

Uri Horesh, a University of Texas lecturer of Arabic in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, has begun a hunger strike to protest the school's policy of discrimination against same-sex domestic partners of employees. Although the school has a nondiscrimination policy which prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the university cites state law which forbids state institutions from recognizing same-sex unions, and says they would be breaking the law if they extended benefits to same-sex domestic partners. According to Horesh, however, "The university has a responsibility to be more progressive than the state."

Horesh told the Austin American-Statesman: "The fact that the university is conducting itself in this manner makes me feel like I'm a persona non grata here, a person whose rights are less important than others. For some reason, some people in this state and others have a twisted view of what's moral or what's right. You can think whatever you want about same-sex partnerships, but to discriminate against someone because they're gay, that to me is as immoral as discriminating against them because they're black, deaf, blind...I'm not going to start eating until this matter is resolved or I'm taken to the hospital. Whatever happens first."

UT lecturer begins hunger strike to demand domestic partner benefits [austin american-statesman]

(VIDEO)

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Morocco Court Upholds Convictions of Six Men Jailed for Homosexuality

Calling them "prisoners of conscience," Amnesty International has called for the release of six men imprisoned for homosexuality after a court upheld their convictions brought down following an alleged "gay wedding" in the northern city of Al-Qasr Al-Kabir last November.

Reuters reports: "The six were arrested in late November after rumours spread that a party they had held in the northern town of Ksar el Kebir was really an illegal gay wedding. The national press pounced on the story, and Islamist groups condemned what they saw as an attack on public morals and demanded an official investigation. Hundreds of angry residents marched through Ksar el Kebir to demand 'justice' and put pressure on the authorities to hand out harsh sentences. The six men were found guilty and given jail sentences by a lower court last month. They had all pleaded not guilty. The appeal court upheld a 10-month sentence against the party's alleged organiser, identified as F., for homosexuality and the illegal sale of alcohol, defence lawyer Mohamed Sebbar said. The five others had their jail terms cut to between two and four months from between four and six months, he said. All six had pleaded not guilty to the charges. 'It's a very severe judgment because this case is empty,' said Sebbar. 'There is no proof that these men practised homosexuality in the affair of Ksar el Kebir.'"

Said Amnesty's Benedicte Goderiaux: "We're also concerned for their safety. Some of them should get out of prison within about 15 days -- what will happen to them after all the public threats against them?"

Morocco court upholds jail for 6 for homosexual acts [reuters]

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EXCLUSIVE: Victor Garber, Denis O'Hare, Stephen Spinella Join Milk

I have some exciting news to report regarding Gus van Sant's Milk film starring Sean Penn as slain gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, which begins shooting in San Francisco next week.

Towleroad has learned exclusively from Focus Features that Broadway, film and TV veteran Victor Garber (Titanic) has signed on to play Mayor George Moscone, who was shot and killed by supervisor Dan White just moments before White took Milk's life as well.

Tony-award winning actor Denis O'Hare (Charlie Wilson's War, Michael Clayton, Brothers & Sisters) has been cast as State Senator John Briggs who sponsored Proposition 6 (the Briggs Initiative), the 1978 measure that would have banned gays and lesbians from teaching in California's public schools. Milk was instrumental in the battle against The Briggs Initiative and his success in defeating it made him a figure to be reckoned with in California politics and the emerging gay rights movement.

Finally, veteran Broadway, film and TV actor Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) has signed on to play Milk's gay District 5 political rival, attorney Rick Stokes. Milk defeated Stokes, in his fourth attempt at becoming supervisor, after the Castro was given its own voting district.

The three veteran actors join an accomplished cast led by Penn. Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) is set to play assassin Dan White, Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) has been cast as gay rights activist Cleve Jones, a close ally of Milk's who went on to found the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. James Franco (Spider-Man 3) will play Scott Smith, Milk's lover and campaign manager.

San Francisco Supervisor and former teacher Tom Ammiano has been cast as himself in the film.

Last week, I reported that preparations were already well underway by the Milk team to transform San Francisco's Castro district back to the way it was in the 70's by performing a cosmetic facelift that would return classic gay bars like Toad Hall to their original sites.

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News: China, Fabio, Antarctica, Oprah, Dame Edna, Scotland, Britney

Teen gay bashes straight couple after mistaking short-haired girlfriend for a man: "The boy, 16, has been charged in juvenile court with the assault, occurring after asking the man and his girlfriend if they were 'two gay guys.' They then became "f$%^ing gay bastards" as they were thrown to the ground, punched and kicked on a busy Dublin street."

Nightmare Garden: Actor from British children's TV series claims on-set injury and anti-gay harassment: "Isaac Blake claimed he suffered an injured pelvis while wearing the chunky brown and pink costume to entertain millions of viewers as one of the three Tombliboos. The 28-year-old said he had to go to hospital and was forced off work for a week after being made to bend over for long spells for closeup shots while wearing the suit. At an employment tribunal, Mr Blake, a trained dancer, also alleged that he was discriminated against and verbally abused for being homosexual. He claimed a colleague called him a 'bitch' and a 'faggot' but when he made a formal complaint he was told to 'shut up and get on with it'."

OWN: Oprah Winfrey gets her own network! What an appropriate name for it.

Judge orders MSNBC to include Dennis Kucinich in Las Vegas debate today.

Kennith H. Burns, founding member of pioneering L.A. gay rights group Mattachine Society, dies at 81 of lung failure: "In 1953, when McCarthyism was strengthening its grip on the national consciousness, Hay and other Mattachine leaders with communist ties were ousted and Burns assumed a prominent role in the organization. The society moved in a more conservative direction during Burns' tenure as Mattachine president in the mid- to late 1950s. Along with other Mattachine leaders, including Harold Call and Don Lucas, he urged members to temper their public image and assimilate into society. 'We must blame ourselves for much of our plight,' Burns said during this period. 'When will homosexuals ever realize that social reform, in order to be effective, must be preceded by personal reform?'"

Fabio offers up Details on George Clooney West Hollywood catfight: "He laid a hand on me, so it would have been self-defense if I had beaten him down. I could have fucked him up. Oh my god, I could have beaten the shit out of him. I was so pissed off. Right then, I could have knocked him over and beat him. I could have punched him in the face while he was on his back. That's how you really hurt someone—their face can't amortize the punch so it takes, it takes the whole impact."

Dame Edna ill, ordered to rest for six months...

Stuart Ellanson, an inmate serving life sentence for murder of gay man gets 15 additional years for holding a dental technician hostage at the prison: "He held the woman captive in a storage room in the prison's health complex for about five and a half hours before releasing her. He was then arrested. Ellanson is serving a life term for murder as a hate crime in the stabbing death of a man in Superior in 1991. The criminal complaint said Ellanson told investigators he killed the man because he was gay."

MELTING: Antarctic ice loss jumps 75% in a single year.

Britney SNAPS (4:13), and picks up a British accent while doing so.

Outsports looks at the aquatic side of Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth: "'Swimming just came fairly naturally to me, and I really enjoyed it,' said Mackenroth, now 38. And he was very good at it, too. He has three All-American titles and set a national record at the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago in the breaststroke leg of the 4-by-50 meter medley relay. Also in 2006, he finished 12th in the 50-meter breaststroke at the Masters World Championships in Stanford, Calif. 'Swimming has been rewarding,' said Mackenroth, who played soccer and baseball as a youngster and now admits that he, 'was hopeless at all of the other sports.'"

China Daily looks at what gays face in that country: "The more you try to oppress sex, the more resistance will rise up." Time takes a look too.

Scotland's hate crime laws to be widened to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and the disabled: "It aims to strengthen the law to protect disabled people and those from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities by extending statutory aggravations to cover crimes motivated by malice or ill will towards victims."

RESEARCHER: Heterosexual couples have something to learn from same-sex couples: "In a series of studies Green conducted with Michael Bettinger and Ellis Zacks, lesbian couples were found to be emotionally closer than gay male couples who, in turn, were found to be emotionally closer than heterosexual married couples. 'It all comes down to greater equality in the relationship,' Green said in a statement. 'Research shows that lesbian and gay couples have a head start in escaping the traditional gender role divisions that make for power imbalances and dissatisfaction in many heterosexual relationships.' Heterosexual couples could learn from gays couples about sharing housework and childcare, using softer communication in conflict and having more nurturing behaviors toward one another and their children, the researchers conclude."

The Gawker job interview.

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