4861.  |
Turkish Gay Activist Faces Prison- 12/9/06- Kaos GL (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
A criminal court case has been filed in Ankara, Turkey against the chief
editor and owner of Kaos GL Magazine which is the only LGBT Turkish
magazine that has been published since 1994.<br>
Umut Guner, who is the owner of the magazine on behalf of Kaos GL and vice
president of Kaos GL Association, is being accused of publishing
pornographic issues based on Turkish Penal Code, Article 226. If he is
convicted, he may face up to three years of jail sentence.<br>
Turkish Penal Code, Article 226, Part 2 says: âA person who broadcasts or
publishes obscene images, printed or audio material or who acts as an
intermediary for this purpose shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a
term of six months to three years.â<br>
(It is crucial to remind that one of Kaos GLâs requests during the Penal
Code review in 2005 was amending the âobscenityâ article in the Turkish
Penal Code by clearly defining what constitutes âobscenityâ.)
(PDF - 37 Kb) Document Date: 9 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 580)
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| 4862. |
Argentina- Court orders registration of Argentine trans group- Rex Wockner International # 658 -2 News Articles 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Court orders registration of Argentine trans group<br>
Argentina's Supreme Court ordered the Justice Department to officially
register the Association for the Struggle of the Travesti and
Transsexual Identity on Nov. 22.
The department's General Inspectorate of Justice had declined to
recognize the group and was backed up by a lower court which said the
association's goals went against "the common good."
<br><br>
20,000 at Buenos Aires pride <br>
Some 20,000 people turned out for Buenos Aires' 15th gay-pride parade
Nov. 25, organizers said.<br>
The procession began at the famous Casa Rosada and proceeded up Avenida
de Mayo to a rally and dance at the Plaza of the Two Congresses.
(PDF - 39 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 535)
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| 4863. |
Brazil votes for antidiscrimination law- Rex Wockner International # 658 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Brazil's lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, passed a bill
Nov. 23 banning discrimination based on sexual orientation under penalty
of one to five years in jail.<br>
The measure would apply in areas that include housing, employment and
public accommodations. It also criminalizes attempts to prevent public
displays of homosexual affection and prohibits offensive references to
sexual orientation.
(PDF - 36 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 602)
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Chinese AIDS activist arrested, released- Rex Wockner International # 658 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Beijing police arrested AIDS activist Wan Yanhai, director of the
nongovernmental Aizhixing Institute of Health Education, on Nov. 24.<br>
They forced him to cancel a conference about HIV transmission via blood
transfusions that was scheduled to take place Nov. 25-30, then released
him Nov. 27.
(PDF - 39 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 451)
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| 4865. |
Guatemalan transvestites murdered- Rex Wockner International #658 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Two transvestites were gunned down outside a bar in Guatemala City Nov.
22.<br>
The two individuals, who were hit several times each, were at least the
10th and 11th transvestites murdered in the nation this year.
(PDF - 35 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 673)
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| 4866. |
Poland: Poznan Rainbow Parade a success- Rex Wockner International #658 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Despite a history of government hostility and bans across the nation, a
gay-rights parade came off smoothly in Poznan, Poland, Nov. 19.<br>
Reports said police cleared neo-Nazi protesters and other homophobes
from the parade's path as marchers approached and occupied the city's
Freedom Square.<br>
Last year's parade was banned by Poznan officials. When about 65 people
tried to march anyway, they were pursued by members of the group All
Polish Youth chanting "Let's gas the fags."
(PDF - 37 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 440)
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| 4867. |
South African same-sex marriage law takes effect- Rex Wockner International # 658 12/4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
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.<br>
A response to a Constitutional Court ruling which declared the Marriage
Act's discrimination against same-sex couples unconstitutional, the
oddly worded Civil Union Act provides for the "voluntary union of two
persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or
civil union."
(PDF - 45 Kb) Document Date: 4 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 619)
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| 4868. |
Thailand OKs Gay, Transsexual Soldiers- Gay.com 9/10/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
(Bangkok) Thailand on Wednesday removed restrictions on gays and transsexuals serving in the military.<br>
Thailand has a draft but gays and transsexuals have been barred from serving under the "mental disorder" exemption. <br>
All Thai men at the age of 20 are required by law to register to serve. Recruits are selected through a lottery system, but each year thousands of LGBT draftees are rejected.
(PDF - 200 Kb) Document Date: 10 Aug 2006 (Downloads: 515)
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| 4869. |
3rd SESSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL-JOINT STATEMENT-UNHCR- 12/1/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
3rd SESSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL<br>
JOINT STATEMENT<br>
H.E. WEGGER CHR. STRÃMMEN<br>
AMBASSADOR<br>
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NORWAY TO THE
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS IN GENEVA<br>
Geneva, December 1, 2006<br>
I have the honour to make this statement on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity on behalf of the following 54 States, including 18 members of the Human Rights Council:
Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, and my own country Norway.
(PDF - 1,195 Kb) Document Date: 1 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 455)
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| 4870. |
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL-3rd Session-NGO Joint Statement on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and HR (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Numerous Special Procedures have documented violations of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, including use of the death penalty, torture, criminal sanctions, police harassment, violence, rape, beatings, disappearances, denials of freedom of expression, raids and closures of NGOs, and discrimination in education, employment, health and housing. We urge all Special Procedures to integrate these important issues of human rights concern into their relevant mandates.<br>
Too often in the past, these human rights abuses have passed in silence. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour stated earlier this year: <br>
?[V]iolence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons is frequently unreported, undocumented and goes ultimately unpunished. ? This shameful silence is the ultimate rejection of the fundamental principle of universality of rights. "Excluding LGBT individuals from these protections clearly violates international human rights law as well as the common standards of humanity that define us all."
(PDF - 187 Kb) Document Date: 1 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 437)
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REPORTE ANUAL 2005 Sobre Derechos Humanos de Lesbianas, Gays Trans y Bisexuales en el Perú-4/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Raiz Diversidad Sexual<br>
March 06
(PDF - 229 Kb) Document Date: 1 Mar 2006 (Downloads: 488)
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| 4872. |
UN STATEMENT ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY-12/5/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
NGOs FROM AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATE HISTORIC
UN STATEMENT ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY<br><br>
NGOs from around the world welcomed a landmark statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, delivered last Friday at the United Nations Human Rights Council by Norway on behalf of 54 States.<br>
The statement condemns human rights violations directed against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, commends the work of UN mechanisms and civil society in this area, calls on UN Special Procedures and treaty bodies to address these issues, and urges the Human Rights Council to pay due attention to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including consideration at an upcoming session.<br>
âThis is the largest-ever statement delivered at the UN on sexual orientation issues, and the first ever to explicitly highlight human rights violations based on gender identity.â said John Fisher, Co-Director of ARC International. âWe are encouraged by the measurable increase in cross-regional support for sexual orientation and gender identity issues in recent years. The time has come to ensure that human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity receive the international scrutiny and condemnation they demand.â<br>
âNumerous Special Procedures have documented violations of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons,â said Chris Sidoti, Director of the International Service for Human Rights. âThese violations include use of the death penalty, torture, criminal sanctions, police harassment, violence, rape, beatings, disappearances, denials of freedom of expression, raids and closures of NGOs, and discrimination in education, employment, health and housing. Too often in the past, these human rights abuses have passed in silence. Now, the era of invisibility is over.â
(PDF - 158 Kb) Document Date: 5 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 507)
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Egypt: Prisoners of Sex- New York Times- By NEGAR AZIMI-12/3/06: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03arabs.html (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
But sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular are increasingly becoming concerns of the modern Arab state. Politicians, the police, government officials and much of the press are making homosexuality an âissueâ: a way to display nationalist bona fides in the face of an encroaching Western sensibility; to reject a creeping globalization that brings with it what is perceived as the worst of the international market culture; to flash religious credentials and placate growing Islamist power. In recent years, there have been arrests, crackdowns and episodes of torture. In Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, as in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates â even in famously open and cosmopolitan Lebanon â the policing of homosexuality has become part of what sometimes seems like a general moral panic.<br>
Egyptâs most famous crackdown got under way at a neon floating disco, the Queen Boat, docked on the wealthy Nile-side island of Zamalek, just steps from the famously gay-friendly Marriott Hotel. In the early-morning hours of May 11, 2001, baton-wielding police officers descended upon the boat, where men were dancing and drinking. Security officials rounded up more than 50 of them â doctors, teachers, mechanics. Those who were kept in custody became known among Egyptians as the Queen Boat 52. The detained men were beaten, bound, tortured; some were even subjected to exams to determine whether they had engaged in anal sex. In the weeks that followed, official, opposition and independent newspapers printed the names, addresses and places of work of the detained. Front pages carried the menâs photographs, not always with black bars across their eyes. The press accused the men of sexual excesses, dressing as women, devil worship, even dubious links to Israel. Bakryâs newspaper, Al Osboa, helped lead the charge.
(PDF - 131 Kb) Document Date: 3 Dec 2006 (Downloads: 706)
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City Council in Ukraine Bans Homosexuals- Prima News- 11/16/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
UKRAINE, Ternopol. (Our Own Correspondent). A group of city council members in Ternopol have enacted a ban in the city on performers who are members of sexual minorities. The council members say that homosexuals and lesbians too actively propagandize their ideology.
(PDF - 110 Kb) Document Date: 16 Nov 2006 (Downloads: 564)
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| 4875. |
Gay Ukraine News and Reports 2000-05- GlobalGayz.com (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
1 Ukrainian Gay Group Seeks Funding 1/01<br>
2 Ukrainian Gays Gather 10/00<br>
3 From Under a Couch, an Effort to Stop Corruption in Ukraine 2/01<br>
4 Travel Story about Kiev, Ukraine 10/04<br>
5 Ukrainian politics and society excludes minority groups, especially gay people 2/05<br>
6 Kiev, Ukraine (Gay Travel Story)<br>
7 Two International Conferences in Ukraine in September/October 2005<br>
8 Concluding Statement from the international conference 'Our World: extending the Borders' 10/05<br>
9Another Christian Perspective on Homosexuality:
Reply to the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Homosexuality Opposing their Homophobic Statement 1/06<br>
10 Jewish community leader in Ukraine resigns over issue of same-sex unions 10/06
(PDF - 856 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jan 2000 (Downloads: 596)
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Include Prostitutes, Homosexuals In AIDS Fight, Annan Urges- Radio Free Europe 6/1/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
June 1, 2006 -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on countries, particularly in the Islamic world, to involve prostitutes and homosexuals in campaigns to prevent and treat AIDS.<br>
Annan was speaking at the start of a three-day UN meeting yesterday on how best to combat the disease.
(PDF - 158 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jun 2006 (Downloads: 449)
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Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint- BY Tris Reid-Smith- Pinkpaper.com 11/9/06 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may have been murdered.<br>
Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secret meeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November. <br>
They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim who heads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights group Outrage. <br>
Hili said: âFor the last few months they had been documenting the killing of lesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our office in London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the death squads. <br>
âSuddenly there was a lot of noise, then the connection ended.â <br>
Just days later, Haydar Kamel, aged 35, the owner of famous menâs clothing shop in the al-Karada district of Baghdad, was kidnapped near his home in Sadr city. The kidnappers were members of the Mahdi army, an Islamist militia loyal to fundamentalist leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
(PDF - 214 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jan 2005 (Downloads: 556)
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Lesbian and Gay Ukraine- gaytimes.co.uk 2006 (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
Public attitudes towards homosexuals are generally tolerant in Kiev and Kharkov, but in rural areas, especially in the Western Ukraine people are still extremely conservative and quite homophobic. Despite increasing westernisation since the collapse of communism, the Ukrainian gay scene is still quite small. In Kiev there are about 5 bars and clubs. There is a also a small scene in Kharkov and Simeiz in Crimea. In the last 3 years a gay magazine has started being published called "Odin Iz Nas" (One of Us). Bear in mind that Ukraine is still a very poor country where a foreigner is considered incredibly rich so you may find attractive Ukrainian guys befriending you in the hope of being able to migrate to the West. Also be aware that since 1995 there has also been a huge increase in HIV and AIDS with infections jumping from virtually zero before 1995 to around 20,000 a year from 1996 onwards. The former Soviet Union is still quite hard for foreigners particularly the lawlessness and corruption. There is also still a lot of hideous architecture and not many obvious tourist attractions although the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station might make an interesting though sobering visit.
(PDF - 132 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jan 2006 (Downloads: 599)
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Niger Current Update HIV (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
(PDF - 1,894 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jan 2000 (Downloads: 577)
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Niger Current Update SO (Sexual Minorities & HIV Status)
(PDF - 2,153 Kb) Document Date: 1 Jan 2000 (Downloads: 615)
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