NewsWell

Presidential candidates asked about gays in the military

2007-11-28T10:09:00.001+02:00

In conjunction with the 14th anniversary of the signing of the military policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the US military, Human Rights Campaign has asked the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls, "If you are elected President, what concrete steps would you take to overturn 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell?'"

Each day this week, one statement will be posted on the HRC Back Story blog at www.hrcbackstory.org. Former Senator John Edwards started things off on Monday by saying, "gay men and women have continually served our country with honour and bravery and we should honour their commitment and never turn away anyone who is willing to serve their country because of their sexual orientation."

Statements from Senators Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson will be posted today through to Saturday.

"Over the course of the next six days, those vying to be our nation's next President will answer a question that has concerned the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community for 14 years-how they plan to dismantle 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" HRC President Joe Solmonese said.

"Public opinion polls show that Americans do not support this discriminatory policy, which has served only to dishonour the brave, patriotic service of 12,000 men and women."

HRC also is launching an advertising campaign around the candidates' statements, encouraging the LGBT community to visit www.hrcbackstory.org and learn more about where candidates stand on the issue of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Government "split" over homophobic incitement law

2007-11-27T12:14:00.000+02:00

The government's chief law officer does not support a new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, according to a report in The Times.

Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, has privately clashed with Justice Secretary Jack Straw over the proposals, which form part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill which is before Parliament.

The Times reports that Baroness Scotland is concerned the homophobic incitement proposals will be blocked or watered down by the House of Lords, and she believes that existing legislation is sufficient to deal with the problem.

In an interview with PinkNews.co.uk published today, Justice minister Maria Eagle defended the proposed new law.

"There is existing legislation about violence against individuals, provisions within the current law that will enable the Criminal Justice System to take a dimmer view of those who get engaged in violence against an individual because of their sexuality," she said.

"If you go and attack someone because they are gay then that is an aggravating feature of the violence offence. That's true.

"But I think that the evidence that Stonewall gave to the public bill committee got to the point on this.

"Because there is no incitement provision at the minute, there is a gap.

"If you go around inciting hatred against a group of people or an undefined group of people on the grounds of their sexuality, that isn't against the law. We think it should be."

Gay equality organisation Stonewall has been lobbying for a new offence of homophobic incitement.

In evidence to a committee of MPs last month Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill quoted extensively from the homophobic lyrics of dancehall star Beenie Man and others to demonstrate the nature of their comments about gay men and lesbians.

MPs were confronted with the words "motherfucker," "pussy-sucker" and "batty-fucker" during his testimony, along with excerpts from BNP leaflets claiming the government were trying to "legalise child sex" by equalising the age of consent.

Tory MP David Burrowes asked if there were examples or evidence of rap lyrics leading to criminal offences by those who have heard them.

Mr Summerskill explained:

"That is, of course, the key issue in incitement. The level of offence that incitement to racial hatred captures is that in which incitement is directed against a community as a whole rather than an individual - in which I do not say that someone should attack you, but suggest that they should attack anyone who happens to be like you.

"As for the context in which these lyrics and leaflets are distributed, in this instance, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed for us last Friday that in the past two years there has been a 167% rise in the number of convictions secured for offences with a homophobic element.

"That is not what is sometimes characterised as cranky complaints, or cases that might not have resulted in a conviction; that is 600 offences."

He went on to say that the Home Office acknowledges that the vast majority of cases of homophobic violence in this country may not be reported and noted that the second anniversary of the homophobic murder of Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common has recently passed.

Some prominent gay people have objected to the law.

The Times journalist Mathew Parris asked if homophobic insults were to become unlawful, "why should we remain free to sneer, in ways inciting hatred, at a person's being Welsh, or Irish?

"Lines of absolute principle are hard to draw," he added, "but some groups may be so weak and fragile as to need the law's protection from hateful speech. I'd like to think we gays are no longer among them."

In The Independent, Johann Hari commented that while the views of Richard Littlejohn and Sir Iqbal Sacranie are the kind that might "encourage thugs who are likely to bottle somebody on a Saturday night," it is better to meet their views in open debate.

"Gay people need to be confident enough to know that our arguments are so strong that they will win in any free, open exchange of views," he said.

Peter Tatchell, writing on The Guardian website, said:

"Introducing legislation prohibiting the incitement of homophobic hatred seems a bit amiss when already-existing laws are not being enforced.

"All incitements to hatred should be treated with the same zero tolerance. But not, in my opinion, by means of criminal sanctions."

Baroness Scotland is scheduled to attend an event this evening in support of LGBT History Month.

Gay pop couple allowed to perfrom in Singapore

2007-11-27T12:13:00.001+02:00

An American gay pop duo previously barred by Singapore authorities have been given permission to perform at an HIV/AIDS awareness concert.

Jason Warner and deMarco DeCiccio, a couple in real life, were stopped from performing their act Jason and deMarco in 2005 when a similar event was being organised by Safehaven, a ministry of the equal rights for all Free Community Church.

At that time, the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore said: "Based on the duo's performance in the United States and information from the website, the couple have used their musical performances and their own example as a gay couple to promote a gay lifestyle" and as such would be "against the public interest."

Amy Tsang, the MDA's director for arts and licensing said that the 2005 concert had been prohibited because it was "open to general members of the public", according to Fridae.com.

This time round, Safehaven has assured the MDA that the concert, which is for over-18s only, "is targeted at the high risk groups" and that its aim is "AIDS education and HIV prevention."

Commenting on their decision to ask the authorities to allow the duo to perform for a second time, the event's co-organiser Peter Goh said:

"We want to give ourselves as well as the authorities another chance to prove that together we can create more space to move the community towards healthy living."

Mr Warner and Mr DeCiccio, who met in 2001, have released five albums and a single.

Both Christians, the pair has starred in a documentary entitled We're All Angels about the anti-gay Christian fundamentalist abuse that they have received.

Mr Goh told Fridae.com: "Jason and deMarco are openly gay and we hope the HIV message will go so much further coming from people who are gay themselves.

"The fact that they are a gay duo makes them really unique.

"There are many openly gay artistes around, but you don't see many gay duos who partner in life as well as in their music careers."

The concert is being organised to tackle the rise in HIV infection rates amongst gay men in Singapore.

According to Action For Aids, 26 per cent of the 357 new HIV diagnoses reported in 2006 were from gay men.

AFA believes, however, that most cases are unreported and that the true figure is closer to 60 per cent.

Director Paul Toh said: "It is critical that gay men in Singapore realise that safe sex is not an option.

"It is totally non-negotiable if we do not want the HIV epidemic to devastate the community as it did in the US in the late 80s and early 90s.

"If we do not intensify our prevention work today, we certainly will find ourselves in the same situation sooner than we think."

Last month the Singapore parliament legalised oral and anal sex in private between consenting straight adults in the first changes to the penal codes in more than two decades.

But the ban on "gross indecency" will remain in place and male homosexuals still face up to two years in prison for gay sex.

During the summer the authorities banned a gay photo exhibition, a gay poetry reading during Pride celebrations and a picnic and fun run from the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Poland rejects new human rights charter

2007-11-27T12:12:00.001+02:00

Gay activists in Poland have spoken of their dismay that the country's newly-elected government are to continue the policy of opposition to the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Before coming to power earlier this month Donald Tusk had signalled he would sign up to the charter, which broadly mirrors the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the Law and Justice party had claimed that Poland was "culturally different" from their EU partners, especially when it came to the rights of LGBT people and the use of the death penalty, and refused to sign up.

In a TV debate during the campaign Mr Tusk pledged to sign Poland up to the EU Charter.

However, in an address to the Polish parliament last week Prime Minister Tusk said he will honour the commitment of the previous government and join the UK as the only nations in the 27-member EU to opt out.

The charter will become legally binding on EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice as part of the new Reform Treaty agreed by the EU heads of government in Lisbon last month.

It will be signed in the city on 13th December.

The treaty needs a two-thirds majority vote in the Polish parliament to become law, which requires the Law and Justice party must to support it. For this reason the government decided to retain the opt-out.

"Poland is not going to protect its citizens on equal level as 25 other EU member states," said Tomasz Szypula, Secretary General of Campaign Against Homophobia.

"In Poland there's no anti-hate speech, anti-hate crime, anti-discriminatory laws which mention sexual orientation and now there won't be the Charter of Fundamental Rights."

Interview: Maria Eagle defends homophobic incitement law

2007-11-27T12:11:00.001+02:00

The government's proposal to create a new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation has not been met with approval by some leading gay commentators.

Well-respected opinion-formers such as Times columnist Matthew Parris and Independent journalist Johann Hari have questioned the need for new laws.

Parris said that the gay community does not need protection from ridicule.

Rowan Atkinson, the star of the inexplicably popular Mr Bean films, has publicly fretted about the implications of such a law on the freedom of comedians to mock gay, lesbian and bisexual people.

The minister piloting the relevant amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Maria Eagle.

The 46-year-old MP for Liverpool Garston has held various junior ministerial posts since 1998, and when we met in her spacious Whitehall office last week she was keen to highlight the work done on gay equality in the past ten years.

As the sister of the only out lesbian MP, Maria Eagle has a particular understanding of the experience of the gay community.

The proposed incitement to homophobic hatred law has been discussed for some time. The Liberal Democrats made its introduction a manifesto commitment in the 2005 elections.

The passage of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Act in 2005 and 2006 led gay rights campaigners to increase their campaign to have their community granted an equal level of protection.

I put the three main arguments put forward in opposition to the government's homophobic hatred provisions to the minister.

The first is that as incitement is already an offence, the new law is unnecessary.

"There is existing legislation about violence against individuals, provisions within the current law that will enable the Criminal Justice System to take a dimmer view of those who get engaged in violence against an individual because of their sexuality," she replies.

"If you go and attack someone because they are gay then that is an aggravating feature of the violence offence. That's true.

"But I think that the evidence that Stonewall gave to the public bill committee got to the point on this.

"Because there is no incitement provision at the minute, there is a gap.

"If you go around inciting hatred against a group of people or an undefined group of people on the grounds of their sexuality, that isn't against the law. We think it should be."

Christian activist groups such as the Evangelical Alliance claim the new law will leave them "living in fear of prosecution" for expressing their Bible-inspired beliefs about homosexuality.

Muslim groups have also criticised the law for the same reason. Ms Eagle confirms that groups have made representations to her on the issue.

She insists that the new law will not have any such effect.

"It has not been our intention to outlaw people expressing their views, whether they be Christians or comedians, about the way other people live their lives.

"You can have protection against incitement to hatred and at the same time protect people's right to express their free views. It's a very important factor of our history and heritage, freedom of speech, and I hope we can do it right."

Concerns about freedom of speech led to a rare Commons defeat for the government in January 2006 over the Racial and Religious Hatred legislation.

Lib Dem peer Lord Lester introduced a clause in the House of Lords which had the effect of seriously restricting the way in which the incitement law could be used.

The Blair government lost a vote on that amendment in the Commons.

Provisions referring to "abusive and insulting" language and behaviour were removed from the law, and prosecutors now have to prove intent to stir up religious hatred, rather than just the possibility of doing so.

Ms Eagle says the homophobic incitement proposal differs from both the race protections in the Public Order Act and the recent religious protections.

The homophobic amendments target threatening behaviour or words that are intended to stir up or incite hatred but not those that are judged as "likely to."

"We are aiming at threatening words and behaviour that are intended to incite. It is very clear from that what we do not want.

"We are taking out abusive and insulting, but we are applying the offences to threatening words or behaviour.

"Partly because that way of expressing ourselves in (the Racial and Religious) legislation was never what we wanted as a government. We did not support it. It only ended up in there because we got defeated.

"I think that in respect of sexuality in particular it would be most inappropriate to have a caveat saying you are allowed to go and abuse and insult gay people."

To bring some clarity to all of this, I presented two high-profile examples to the minister.

Stephen Green, the Christian activist, likes to hand out leaflets at Pride events carrying quotations from the Bible stating that homosexuality is wrong. He's been arrested under public order offences before.

The BNP has in the past handed out leaflets in a council estate saying "All gay people are paedophiles." Would both or either of those be covered by the proposed incitement law?

"I think it depends not only on the intention, which is a key part of the offence, and that will be a matter for the judgment of the individual investigating officer," Ms Eagle explains.

"Police officers make those judgments all the time and CPS make those judgments.

"Obviously the context is going to be important. If you are a preacher and on Sunday morning you tell your sermon of your beliefs and the beliefs of your denomination about gay people then that's different to going and standing outside a gay club and using threatening words and behaviour.

"The intent is the key. That is very clearly unacceptable and that's where we are pitching the offence."

The third objection to the law focuses on its practical purpose. When he announced the proposed amendments, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said of the proposed incitement legislation:

"It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are all now appalled by hatred and invective directed against gay people, and it is now time for the law to recognise the feeling of the public. "

In other words, it is symbolic, a sign to the gay community that their concerns are listened to by the government, but just another new offence to add to the thousands already created by this Labour administration.

"The law lays down a line beyond which it's not possible to go without being on the wrong side of the law and you are subject to being prosecuted," the minister asserts.

"The law as a side effect can send signals, yes, and I think that can be important in areas like this about equality.

"But I am trained as a lawyer and I am not myself inclined to see the law as something that is just sending signals.

"It's putting down a line in the sand, on this side of the line what you do is lawful; on the other side it's unlawful. That's what the law does.

"If it sends signals as a result then that's also important. It's not a cosmetic exercise. I don't think it's right to change the law as a cosmetic exercise."

The leading contender for the Lib Dem leadership supports the proposed new law, while the Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert has stressed "the right balance between freedom of speech, ensuring that the offence must be intentional, and covering threatening language only."

The minister says she expects amendments to be brought forward, and concedes that the Lords are unpredictable, but expects "widespread support" from MPs for the incitement law.

There are proposals to include trans people and the disabled in the proposal, but the government requires an evidence base to make the case for their inclusion.

"One of the things you need to do if you are impinging upon free speech is be able to show for human rights reasons that there is a good reason for that to balance against the free speech rights," Ms Eagle explains.

"I've had some representations as you might imagine as a result of this. Anyone who wants to talk to us about this please do. We do, in order to impinge on free speech in this way, need to show that there is a reason."

The new Justice department, of which Ms Eagle is one of six ministers, takes responsibility for the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

She concedes that parts of the system have been slower than others to tackle homophobia and homophobic attacks, but claims that the specific needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual people are being taken seriously.

"Since the 2003 legislation that made an aggravating factor of homophobic motivation in attacks, the criminal justice agencies, be they police, the judges or the CPS have to take that on board.

"It's partly training, partly cultural change in society. I think we have seen a lot of that, but which is the chicken and which is the egg I'm not quite sure.

"One of the reasons why we have seen such cultural change is a general increased level from younger age groups of tolerance, but in order to promote that you have to have a way of tackling intolerance, and this is part of that."

Ms Eagle knows more than most about intolerance. She has been a Labour member since her teenage years, and her sister Angela made the headlines and gained the respect of many by coming out as the only gay woman in Parliament soon after the 1997 election.

The sisters first attended party conference in 1980 – "you never had to queue in the ladies, put it that way, as there weren't very many women there," she recalls with a smile - and they are the only pair of female twins ever to be elected to the Commons.

The minister embraces the change in British attitudes since the days of Old Labour, not least the fact that the Tories are now keen to stress their gay-friendly credentials.

"You wouldn't have thought that ten years ago, or five years ago, and I think that's good. Tolerance, diversity and equality have always been at the heart of the Labour party and its politics.

"Far more gay and lesbian people are happy to come out now, they are able to do it without having to live their lives hiding away, and that's got to be good for the health of individuals and society generally."

Many MPs and others in politics are yet to step out of the closet.

When I mention that her sister is the only lesbian MP the minister corrects me by saying she is the only one "out," indicating there are others who have thus far not been so brave.

Given the attention Angela Eagle's announcement received, it is understandable why other women have not followed.

"It was a tough thing for her to do," recalls Maria.

"I supported her very much. The previous female MP who had done that, or rather had that done to her, was Maureen Colquhoun, who had a terrible time.

"She was deselected by her own party, the national party had to say hang on, you can't do that to her, reinstated her, and she lost.

"So obviously we were worried about it, but to be honest she prepared it so very, very well, she picked the time perfectly and it came off as well as you could have expected.

"That isn't to say that my father wasn't door stepped, that I wasn't door stepped, our neighbours weren't door stepped, our old head teacher from when we were five wasn't door stepped because, they all were.

"I saw it from being a supportive sister with Angela, how much guts and preparation and everything it takes. It's the same for everybody who decides to come out in their lives. Alright it's not always going to be on the front of all the newspapers but for every person who does that it feels like to them.

"There are gay and lesbian people at every level of every organisation, and I think whether or not they are out is a very personal choice.

"Some people do and do so at an early stage, but I have never talked to a gay or lesbian friend who has not found it to be one of the hardest things they have ever done, and I don't think its right to force people to declare themselves. It's the same with disability.

"When I was a minister for disabled people we had all these arguments and discussions. I just don't think that when you have discrimination, which we still do, that it's right to force people to declare a disability, or their sexuality.

"I am the only person who got forced to declare my sexuality that I know of because of course when Angela came out everybody had to report that I was heterosexual.

"It's quite amusing , when you look at a lot of the information sheets you get about MPs, you get a lot of "Maria Eagle, the heterosexual member for Liverpool Garston."

"Why don't you say everyone else is heterosexual as well, but its just one of the consequences of being a twin."

Despite all that information identifying Maria Eagle as the straight one, she reveals that even the Speaker has mixed them up.

"People just think of us as "the Eagles." Sometimes I wish I had a pound for every time I get mixed up with my sister, because I'd be very rich."

Korean activists come together to fight for orientation protection

2007-11-27T12:10:00.001+02:00

The South Korean government removal of 'sexual orientation' from its Anti-Discrimination Bill has galvanised activists in the csountry.

The Alliance against Homophobia and Discrimination of Sexual Minorities (AHDSM) was formed earlier this month in response to the changes are outraged by the u-turn.

A coalition of 40 LGBT groups in South Korea, AHDSM claim that an investigation conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea showed that discrimination based on sexual orientation, education background and national origin form the basis of most discrimination in South Korea today.

AHDSM has launched a campaign for legislation of the Anti-Discrimination Bill in its original form.

According to the organisation, the seven categories are no longer protected by the bill which leaves them entirely dependent on the legal interpretations of individual judges.

"We are extremely disappointed with the current Participatory Government, which announced early on that it would protect the people from all forms of discrimination," AHDSM said.

"We therefore cannot but call the current Anti-Discrimination Bill, from which seven categories and relief steps have been deleted groundlessly, a de facto Pro-Discrimination Bill."

The government said that the new bill is based on international human rights conventions and examples of similar legislation abroad.

They admitted to removing the sexual orientation category because of the controversy that surrounded its insertion when the bill was drafted just a month ago.

Six other categories have also been deleted from the bill.

These include educational background, medical history, language, national origin, family type and status, and criminal and detention record.

The government has responded to criticism by stating that these deleted categories are now covered in the 'and other reasons [for discrimination]' clause.

NZ gay man bitten during frenzied fatal attack

2007-11-27T12:09:00.000+02:00

A gay man was beaten and bitten to death in a vicious murder in New Zealand.

Andre Gilling and Ashley Arnopp are accused of the attack which included biting off some of their victim Stanley Waipouri's ear and genitalia.

They allegedly attacked 49-year-old Waipouri in his flat in Palmerston North, playing very loud music to cover the sounds of them beating him to death.

"Arnopp said he had a huge amount of adrenalin, these are his words...'and I was just powering for hours'," Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said, according to TV New Zealand.

"Arnopp was found in the flat at the time in clothing and footwear covered in blood, as were his hands and particularly noted by the police were blood deposits, smears around his mouth and his lips."

The Court claims that the two men were high on a mixture of drugs and alcohol when the attack took place.

29 witnessed will be called during their trial, which is expected to take two weeks.

Gay rugby gets bookie's backing

2007-11-27T12:08:00.000+02:00

A gay rugby tournament to be held in Ireland next year has received Ђ100,000 (Ј72,000) in sponsorship from the betting group, Paddy Power.

The deal, the biggest ever secured for a gay event in Ireland, will be used to host the 2008 Bingham Cup, an international rugby tournament that has already sold more than 600 tickets to those living abroad.

The sponsorship was proposed by Paddy Power who view the event as highly appropriate for their brand.

Paddy Power's marketing director Ken Robertson said: "We wouldn't be the sort of company that does what you might expect a bookmaker to do.

"This might raise a few eyebrows when it comes to town, but we're not scared of that."

The Bigham Cup's director Richie Whyte was overjoyed with the support, although he is still looking for sponsorship from a drinks company.

"I think it's hard for some sponsors to imagine what an event like this will be like," he said.

Mr Robertson added that it was no longer just men betting on sports events, with the gay and lesbian market representing an important sector of consumer society.

The Bingham Cup will take place at Dublin University next June. 32 amateur rugby teams will compete.

The event has been held three times since its launch in San Francisco in 2002, once in London in 2004 and then in New York in 2006.

Richie Whyte, Tournament Director said: "Paddy Power have an innovative and risk taking approach to the market. We are delighted that they see the Bingham Cup as a good fit for them both in terms of its sporting potential and public profile.

"The Bingham Cup Dublin will be both the largest amateur XVs rugby tournament held in the country in 15 years and the biggest international gay-oriented event ever held in Ireland.

"Having an international brand such as such as Paddy Power throwing their weight behind it represents a huge development for the tournament particularly in terms of developing mainstream interest. We expect our partnership to enhance an already great tournament and help to make it the biggest and best tournament yet."

Lesbian couple admit murder of 16-year-old

2007-11-27T12:07:00.000+02:00

A lesbian couple in Australia face 15 years imprisonment for murdering a British teenager because she irritated them, according to The Sun.

Jessica Stasinowsky, 20, and Valerie Parashumti, 19, confessed to beating 16-year-old Stacey Mitchell to death with a concrete block before dumping her body in a wheelie bin.

She was found by police in a shed after her parents had reported her missing in December last year.

Ms Mitchell, whose family had emigrated from West Moors, Dorset, was staying with the couple.

The pair, who admitted that they had thought about hacking Ms Mitchel up with a chainsaw, will appear in court in Perth, Western Australia next month.

Welsh minister to launch Stonewall report

2007-11-27T12:06:00.002+02:00

The largest ever survey of Wales' lesbian, bisexual and gay population will be unveiled today at the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly building.

Dr Brian Gibbons, Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, will deliver the keynote speech at the launch of Counted In! which was commissioned by Stonewall Cymru.

The report recommends that the Welsh Assembly provide support and guidance about policies and procedures for organisations looking to embrace equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Counted In! also demonstrates the important contribution lesbian, gay and bisexual people make to the Welsh society, culture and economy but highlights areas where further improvements are needed.

Liz Morgan, director of Stonewall Cymru, said:

"Homophobic hate crime is still under reported. Of those who have experienced hate crime only half have reported it.

"We need to work with the police to ensure gay people feel confident enough to report hate crime.

"It is absolutely crucial that we have this data about Wales' lesbian and gay population, given the paucity of research into LGB issues and the absence of any question on sexual orientation in the National Census.

"We hope this report and its recommendations will be adopted by the Welsh Assembly and will be used to ensure even greater inclusion for lesbian and gay people in Wales."

The report revealed that highly-qualified gay job-seekers are taking their skills to employers who show a commitment to workplace diversity.

Nearly one third of lesbian and gay people said they would be attracted to jobs where there was a good record on equality and diversity and more than 50% stated that having an equal opportunities policy would influence their choice of employer.

Ms Morgan commented:

"In our experience gay and straight people don't want to work for an employer that permits any kind of discrimination and are choosing to take their skills and talents to organisations that promote an inclusive workplace.

"Staff who feel comfortable and supported in work are more likely to be happier and therefore more productive."

Catholic adoption agencies seek ways round gay rules

2007-11-27T12:06:00.001+02:00

Claims by the Roman Catholic Church that the government would be offering money to help them avoid new regulations in their adoption agencies have been dismissed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

In a statement issued last week on the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales website, they claim the government will "pay for further work to be done to explore whether within the law there might yet be ways found which will enable the adoption work to carry on and for our agencies to continue."

Earlier this year the Sexual Orientation Regulations came into force, making it illegal to discriminate against gay, lesbian and bisexual people when providing goods and services, including adoption agencies.

The Roman Catholic Church tried to get an opt-out from the regulations for their adoption agencies, but after a Cabinet row they were unsuccessful.

The Church was given 18 months to adjust its practices so that it can allow gay couples to adopt from its agencies or close them down.

A spokesperson from the DCSF told PinkNews.co.uk: "We don't provide money to get around government regulations.

"The funding is being made available for grants to all voluntary adoption agencies in England and Wales.

"It is being made available for a specific purpose: to enable voluntary adoption agencies to access the legal, financial and/or human resource advice they need to maintain and/or develop their family-finding services for `difficult to place' children, including as a result of changes to the legislative context within which they work."

Reverand Martin Reynolds, from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and himself an adoptive parent, thinks that the agencies should be honest and acknowlede that they have been "allowing gay couples to adopt for years but with only one of the partners registering as the parent.

"The great work that they do should be preserved," he added.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall said: "We are delighted that the adoption agencies are required to comply with the law.

"We trust that agencies, that are already in financial difficulty, will not use the cloak of compliance with the law as an excuse for closure."

MP Chris Bryant, a former Anglican priest, said that he thought the "dogmatic position of the Catholic Church is unnecessary.

"Some very difficult children have found loving homes in gay couples," he added.

Man sues police over hammer attack

2007-11-27T12:05:00.001+02:00

A Brighton man is suing Sussex Police after he claims they did not protect him from the violence of his former partner.

Stephen Smith, 38, was attacked with a hammer by a man he had met on the internet after he made it clear he did not want a committed relationship.

Gareth Jeffrey had bombarded him with text messages threatening to kill him, which Mr Smith said he reported to officers before the attack took place in March 2003.

Among the texts Jeffrey sent was one saying he had lain in wait for Mr Smith in a pub while carrying a carving knife.

The attack, which took place outside of Smith's home when he was on his way to work, left him with three depressed fractures of the skull.

Jeffrey is now serving a ten year sentence after pleading guilty at Lewes Crown Court for causing GBH with intent and threats to kill.

Heather Williams, Mr Smith's lawyer, told Brighton paper The Argus that the Sussex force had failed to adhere to its policy on domestic violence and had breached its duty under the Human Rights Act.

Edward Faulks, the chief constable of Sussex Police, said the introduction of the Human Rights Act had not altered the law on the "duty of care."

Mr Smith's lawyers said he would receive "substantial" damages should he win the case.

Fallout from failed HIV vaccine trial continues

2007-11-27T12:04:00.000+02:00

Just a few short months ago, a spirit of cautious optimism surrounded the prospects for a viable HIV vaccine.

As pharmaceutical company Merck began testing its highly anticipated V520 vaccine, which it had reportedly been developing over a ten year period, there was an undercurrent of excitement among researchers in the HIV community about the radical new approach, which was expected to attack, seek out, and destroy infected cells.

There was a sense of promise: For the first time in years, the study might yield a significant breakthrough in the ongoing fight to contain the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Two months into the study, those hopes were dashed and the HIV community sent reeling as the international Merck trials were shut down after preliminary results demonstrated that the vaccine appeared to be doing more damage than good.

With researchers collectively scratching their heads in confusion, the Merck failure has created some serious impediments for future HIV vaccine trials, forcing the HIV research community to rethink its science, priorities and goals.

The Merck HIV vaccine trials included 3,000 participants, mostly male, in North and South America, the Caribbean and Australia, all of whom were considered to be at high risk of exposure to the virus because of their sexual activity or drug use.

Unlike previous experimental HIV vaccines that attempted to stimulate the body to produce antibodies that would ward off infection, Merck's V520 focused on T-cells that attack and kill cells that HIV had already infected.

But rather than stimulate an immune response to ward off HIV invasion, the vaccine, which employs a few synthetic fragments of HIV loaded onto a genetically modified cold virus (called an adenovirus) may well have altered the immune system to facilitate infection of study participants.

Moreover, the vaccine did not reduce viral loads in volunteers who became infected with HIV during the trial.

Despite this disappointing initial data, there are those in the HIV research community who insist that all hope is not lost.

The first piece of good news. Though the V520 vaccine may have increased the chance of infection, Merck along with the majority of HIV experts agree that the vaccine itself did not and cannot cause HIV infection.

The other piece of good news to come out of the Merck HIV vaccine trials is that there are valuable lessons to be learned from its failure.

According to Dr. Stephen J. Brown, Medical Director for AIDS Research Alliance, which was the only Los Angeles site conducting clinical trials for the Merck vaccine, "The closing of the Merck vaccine study may have an important impact as to the future of most HIV vaccines candidates currently in clinical trials because, like the Merck vaccine, many are designed to similarly stimulate strong cell-mediated immune responses."

Further, in a published statement, AIDS Research Alliance was quick to not discount the outcome of the Merck experiment.

"The results of this study may also provide valuable information as to the future direction of HIV vaccine research.

"Since all vaccine candidates in the pipeline are designed to stimulate only one arm of the immune system, maybe an efficient vaccine against HIV will need to stimulate both arms (including neutralising antibodies, or other cells such as natural killer cells) of the immune system in humans," the statement said.

Despite these arguably positive, if unanticipated, results, there remains substantial concern about the long-term perception that the high profile failure of the Merck trial might have on future studies.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Hildegund C.J. Ertl, an immunologist at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, who is preparing to test another HIV vaccine based on a chimpanzee cold virus next year, has said that the Merck effort will likely alter her study.

Gary J. Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Centre of the National Institutes of Health, has postponed until at least mid-2008 his group’s PAVE 100 HIV-vaccine trial.

That trial uses three shots of DNA followed by a cold-virus booster, albeit one with different components from the Merck product.

Meanwhile, according to various news reports, The National Institutes of Health, which helped sponsor Merck's aborted clinical trial, recently halted recruitment for vaccine trials involving several diseases, including Ebola, because those vaccines, like the failed Merck one, are made with an adenovirus.

Perhaps the greatest problem that lies ahead for future HIV vaccine studies may not be the science or the trials themselves but the recruitment of now skittish volunteers to take part in them.

"I can tell you that as a volunteer in the study, and as someone who worked on the last phase III clinical trial of an AIDS vaccine, I'm less disappointed than I am scared by the early results of this trial," says Jim Key, Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Centre.

"What scares me, of course, is the indication that study volunteers who received the product, and not the placebo, may be at greater risk of HIV-infection than those who didn’t receive it.

"This is a scary concern not just for volunteers in the study, but for the success of future studies. It's already difficult to recruit volunteers for vaccine studies.

"The results of this trial are likely to make recruitment for future studies considerably more difficult.

"I don't believe hopes were high for the Merck vaccine, so I'm not overly surprised it didn’t prove efficacious," Key added.

"What's important to remember, however, is that every clinical trial of a vaccine helps advance the science and if we don't continue to develop and test promising vaccines we'll never stop AIDS."

Still others like Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, seem to believe that the implosion of the Merck trial is only more indicative of the need to balance the quest for a vaccine with developing long-term treatment options and the availability thereof.

"Development of a safe and effective AIDS vaccine is clearly a noble and worthy goal; however, the sad truth remains that more than 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS today, yet barely two million of them have access to lifesaving antiretroviral AIDS treatments," Weinstein said in a statement.

"Treatments that actually do work and help keep those fortunate enough to have access to them alive and well, and which also have also been around, and continually improved, for over a decade.

"These recent failures in vaccine development underscore just how tenuous the quest for an AIDS vaccine remains, and reminds us of what effective, but underused tools, including antiretroviral treatment, we already have available to us today.

"While we long for the day when there is an effective preventive AIDS vaccine, we also call for a re-evaluation of the distribution of limited government resources in the battle against AIDS, and renew our call for a greatly stepped-up commitment to bringing antiretroviral treatment to many, many more of those people still in need worldwide."

The final effects of the collapse of the Merck HIV vaccine trials may not be seen for quite some time to come.

Whether the results of the study will ultimately help or hinder HIV research is debatable, but one thing is for certain.

Though hope for a vaccine may spring eternal, its prospects have, for the moment, most certainly been dealt a short-term setback at minimum.

Howard loses his seat as Australia votes for change

2007-11-27T12:03:00.000+02:00

John Howard has admitted that he's lost the Australian general election to the the Labour leader Kevin Rudd. Mr Howard became only the second Prime Minister in Australian history to lose his own Parliamentary seat.

He said he had telephoned Mr Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".

Mr Rudd said the country had "looked to the future" he said he will be a Prime Minister "for all Australians."

"I want to put aside the old battles of the past, the old battles between business and unions, the old battles between growth and the environment...," he said. "It's time for a new chapter in our nation's history to begin."

Liberal Party Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull successfully defended the Sydney seat of Wentworth, which after boundary changes now includes gay districts such as Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Gay rights have been a theme in this race.

The announcement of a general election prompted evangelical groups in the country to begin campaigning against gay equality.

The Labour party took the line that marriage is for heterosexuals only, and would grant legal concessions to homosexuals, but not the legal status of marriage.

"On the institution of marriage itself, our view is between a man and woman and it's just been our traditional, continuing view," Mr Rudd said in October.

When asked if in the future this position would look as closed-minded as racist beliefs of the past, Mr Rudd said it was what he believed in.

However, Labour will support changes to the law to remove inequities in the tax and benefits system that discriminate against same-sex couples.

A report in June by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) recommended that 58 laws need to be changed to grant gay, bisexual and lesbian Australians equal rights.

"Gay for pay" woman convicted

2007-11-27T12:02:00.000+02:00

A woman was convicted of benefits fraud against the Department for Work and Pensions and Swansea Council after she claimed she was a lesbian and had split from her husband.

Yvonne Lesley Butler from Swansea claimed almost Ј20,000 in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefits between 2003 and 2006. She said that her husband Islwyn Butler had left her after she came out.

In reality, the pair were still living together, although he had briefly moved out of the marital home. She told the authorities that she was a lesbian.

The 53-year-old grandmother admitted two offences of not notifying authorities of changes that would have affected her entitlement to benefits under the Social Security Administration Act.

Her nine-month jail term was suspended for 18 months on the basis that Bulter is the sole carer of her grandson.

New gay HIV infections at highest rate ever

2007-11-24T12:46:00.001+02:00

The latest figures released today from the Health Protection Agency reveal that the number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV in the UK is at its highest rate since the start of the epidemic.

2,700 gay and bisexual men were newly diagnosed last year, the highest number ever.

Across the UK 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men are now living with HIV and estimates suggest this figure is as high as 1 in 10 in London.

The increase in diagnosis comes at a time when the National AIDS Trust claims funding for HIV prevention is inadequate.

In the past 10 years the number of people being seen for HIV care has more than trebled, but a recent National AIDS Trust survey into Primary Care Trusts revealed that in the same period the amount spent on HIV prevention has decreased.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, commented:

"For over ten years the government and health services have been failing to bring HIV in the UK under control and diagnoses among gay and bisexual men continue to rise.

"Funding for prevention and testing must urgently be increased and the Government must make informed policy commitments to control the epidemic.

"But the gay community must also act – gay men, gay businesses, the gay media all must respond to what is in essence a public health crisis for gay men.

"If amongst the general public there was over one in 20 with such a serious infectious disease, it would dominate politics and priorities. If we want wider society to act on HIV, the gay community must take the lead."

7,800 people were diagnosed last year, and the numbers living with HIV in the UK were 73,000 by the end of 2006.

One in three people do not know they are infected.

Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said that urgent action was required.

"Twenty five years on from the discovery of HIV this just isn't good enough," he said.

"We need to renew the fight and we need everyone, from the NHS to individuals, to join us.

"One in 20 gay men are now living with HIV, and levels of STIs are at their highest for 20 years. That's why we’re launching a Call to Action to improve gay men's sexual health.

"Gay men, businesses, politicians, media and the voluntary sector all need to play their part, and act now."

THT has outlined five action points for each group and suggestions range from asking politicians to make sex and relationships education part of the core curriculum to asking gay men to have regular tests for sexually transmitted infections.

In 2006, an estimated 31,100 men who have sex with men (MSM) were living with HIV in the UK and there were approximately 2,700 new diagnoses. Around a third of people with HIV don’t know they have it.

Howard upbeat as Australians go to the polls

2007-11-24T12:45:00.001+02:00

Just hours before Australians go to the polls in a federal election, it looks like the predicted landslide win by Labour could turn out to be a close-run thing.

The opposition party, out of power since 1996, has seen a consistent lead over the incumbent Liberals halve in one recent poll to 4%.

Prime Minister John Howard, seeking a fifth term in office and widely expected to suffer a catastrophic defeat, was upbeat today.

AFP quotes him as telling reporters in Melbourne:

"I believe the coalition can win this election. I believe that there is a bit of a tide coming back. I sense it in the streets."

A poll of 2,600 Australian voters, to be published tomorrow in The Australian, shows Labour on 52% against 48% for the government.

However, other polls show Labour as much as 14% ahead, meaning it is still likely that Kevin Rudd will become Australia’s 26th Prime Minister.

Gay rights have been a theme in this race.

The announcement of a general election prompted evangelical groups in the country to begin campaigning against gay equality.

The Labour party took the line that marriage is for heterosexuals only, and would grant legal concessions to homosexuals, but not the legal status of marriage.

"On the institution of marriage itself, our view is between a man and woman and it's just been our traditional, continuing view," Mr Rudd said in October.

When asked if in the future this position would look as closed-minded as racist beliefs of the past, Mr Rudd said it was what he believed in.

However, Labour will support changes to the law to remove inequities in the tax and benefits system that discriminate against same-sex couples.

A report in June by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) recommended that 58 laws need to be changed to grant gay, bisexual and lesbian Australians equal rights.

These include key changes in the way that gay couples receive benefits from their relationships.

The 68-year-old Prime Minister is a despised by many in Australia's LGBT community.

In 2004 he passed federal legislation banning same-sex marriage and earlier this year said that HIV positive immigrants should not be allowed into the country.

Mr Rudd has led the Labour party since December 2006, and recent revelations that he visited a strip club in New York while on official business did much to endear him to Australians who previously viewed him as grey and boring.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be defending the Sydney seat of Wentworth, which after boundary changes now includes gay districts such as Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey is seeking re-election in North Sydney, another constituency with a high concentration of LGBT voters.

Both seats have seen fierce campaigning and attempts to get out the gay vote.

Tatchell to celebrate 40 years of activism

2007-11-24T12:44:00.001+02:00

One of the best-known gay rights advocates in Britain will soon be celebrating his 40th year of human rights campaigning.

Peter Tatchell began his first campaign in 1967 in his native Australia against the death penalty and opposition to conscription and the Australian and US war against the people of Vietnam.

"It is a great honour and privilege to have been part of the international human rights movement," said Mr Tatchell.

"Over the last four decades, I have been involved in campaigns that have contributed to many spectacular human rights achievements: the fall of the dictatorships in Spain and Chile, independence for East Timor, an end to apartheid in South Africa, peace in Vietnam and the north of Ireland, and the transition to democracy in the former Soviet bloc states of Eastern Europe and the Baltics."

He will celebrate 40 years of human rights campaigning on
10 December 2007, Human Rights Day, by staging a protest.

In the evening he will attend the Human Rights Awards 2007, which is
jointly organised by Liberty and Justice.

After moving to London in 1971, aged 19, he became a leading activist in the Gay Liberation Front (GLF); organising sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve "poofs", and protests against police harassment and the medical classification of homosexuality as an illness.

Recently he was assaulted while taking part in a Pride demonstration in Moscow, and was detained by Russian police.

As well as his campaign work he also regularly writes for The Guardian and hosts a weekly current affairs programme broadcast on internet channel 18 Doughty St, entitled Talking with Tatchell.

He is the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, and party's spokesperson on human rights.

Protests ask Commonwealth to "fight" gays

2007-11-24T12:43:00.000+02:00

A group of anti-gay activists has protested in Uganda against gay rights and accused Europeans of trying to change the law to decriminalise homosexuality.

The demonstration by the Rainbow Coalition against Homosexuality took place at Kololo airport yesterday, and was led by Pastor Martin Sempa, who has generated large amounts of publicity through his attacks on gay people in Uganda.

Yesterday Her Majesty the Queen, who is in the African nation to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, praised the country's work on HIV/AIDS during a visit to a clinic.

Pastor Sempa said: : "If Uganda is leading in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it should do the same to fight homosexuality.

"The government is under pressure to legalise homosexuality. Europeans send people money to change the laws in order to legalise homosexuality."

He urged the Ugandan leadership to use the three-day conference, which begins today, to take the fight against homosexuality to other Commonwealth nations.

There were protests from gay rights activists at the decision to hold the international meeting in Uganda.

Last month James Nsaba Buturo, the country's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, told All Africa news agency that the government is committed to stopping LGBT people "trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society."

Members of Parliament in Uganda have urged the country's government to speak out against gay rights at the CHOGM.

One MP, demanding a "clamp down" against lesbian and gay Ugandans, said that the international event, to be held in the capital later this month, would be a good opportunity to "send a clear message that gays are not welcome in Uganda."

Gay sex is punishable in Uganda by life imprisonment, under laws originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century.

The Queen is on her first visit to Uganda since 1954 and today she opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Kampala.

The meeting, held every two years, is expected to be dominated by discussions about the situation in Pakistan.

53 heads of government, among them Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are in attendance.

Norwegian church lifts ban on partnered gay clergy

2007-11-24T12:42:00.001+02:00

The Lutheran church of Norway has lifted an outright ban on clergy in same-sex relationships.

However, it will allow each bishop to decide whether or not to employ them.

The decision comes after a week of debate at the churches annual meeting, with the 86 member governing synod voting 50 to 34 to change the rules.

Marit Tingelstad, head of the Bishop's Council for Norway's Hamar distric said on state radio network NRK: "This will create peace in the church, and securing for homosexual clergy."

However not all church members are pleased with the decision.

Bishop Ole D. Hagesaeter, of the Bjoergvin district, said, "This is a sad day for the church. It will be a splitting factor and lead to many feeling homeless in the church."

Under Norwegian law, gay couples have rights comparable to those of married heterosexuals, apart from church weddings and adoption.

The church counts nearly 85 percent of Norway's 4.7 million people as members.

Greens launch campaign for Mayor of London

2007-11-24T12:41:00.001+02:00

Sian Berry today launched her campaign to become Green Mayor of London.

Earlier this year the 33-year-old won 45% of the party member's votes to become her party's candidate.

Among the Green pledges unveiled at the launch of her campaign at City Hall was a "living wage" of Ј7.20 an hour for all Londoners working for public employers, cuts to off-peak travel fares and an increase in affordable housing across the capital.

Under the slogan "A Green London is an Affordable London," Ms Berry's said:

"The likes of Gordon Brown who think that you can get people to change their ways without making the alternatives cheaper and easier are living in a fool's paradise, she said.

"And so are people who think social justice and poverty are not 'green issues'. You can't have one without the other."

In 2000 and 2004 the Green party candidate was Darren Johnson, the openly gay London Assembly member.

The election for Mayor of London will be held on May 1st 2008.

Brian Paddick, who as Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner was the most senior gay police officer in the UK, is the Liberal Democrat candidate.

Incumbent Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone is also being challenged by Conservative party candidate Boris Johnson.

Gerard Batten will be the UKIP candidate, Lindsey German has been selected to stand for the Respect party and Richard Barnbrook will be standing for the BNP.

Tabloid journalist Garry Bushell is the English Democrats candidate and the One London party will contest the election but have yet to select a candidate.

In the 2004 election for Mayor of London the Greens came seventh.

UKIP, the BNP and Respect all polled more first preference votes.

Police investigate suspicious death of trans woman

2007-11-24T12:40:00.000+02:00

A forty-year-old trans woman has been found dead at her home in south-east London, according to reports.

Kayiode Dexter Telesford, who had been living for several years under the name of Kellie Telesford, died of strangulation at her home on Leander Road in Thornton Heath.

The police are treating the death as suspicious, and have asked anyone who saw Telesford between the 15th and 21st of November to contact them immediately.

One neighbour told thisislocallondon.co.uk "There's been a lot of police activity round here. I can't believe something like that has happened.

"I heard the police breaking in through the door the other day but I didn't know why. Now I've heard what's happened, it's made me feel very uneasy." he added.

Undercover mission for gay millionaire

2007-11-24T12:39:00.000+02:00

Gay entrepreneur and mutli-millionaire Terry George will feature on an upcoming episode of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire.

The owner of Bent magazine and the 118 G-A-Y directory enquiries service admitted that when he was first approached to do the show he was sceptical but "cried his eyes out" when he watched the first series on DVD.

In the show, participants agree to give Ј30,000 to people who they deem worthy of needing the money.

The twist is that the people who receive the money don't know the real identity of their new moneyed up friends.

It's only after getting to know them that the secret is revealed.

Terry told PinkNews.co.uk:

"I did three jobs. I worked in a care home delivering meals on wheels, then an old people's home, then a chip shop where things were very physical - swinging bags of potatoes around.

"The hardest part for me was the old people's home where I had to feed and change people who couldn’t look after themselves."

Of the filming, he said: "They stuck me in a caravan in Cornwall but I quite liked it.

"It was rough in terms of having to live on a minimum wage. I wasn't allowed to take any money, they even took my Platinum American Express card away.

"I had to beg and borrow tea bags, milk, bread and butter from my caravan site neighbours."

The owner of Leeds club Mission, Mr George was born and brought up on a Leeds council estate and now lives in a Ј3m castle in Calderdale with his civil partner Michael Rothwell.

The couple were one of the first to tie the knot after the civil partnership laws came into place in 2005.

The Secret Millionaire featuring Terry George will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday 28th November.

Mark World AIDS day with cycling and champagne at St Pancras

2007-11-24T12:38:00.000+02:00

A cycling campaign group is planning to hold a ride to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1st.

Southwark Cyclists' bike trek will start at the newly refurbished St Pancras station.

It is being held is in association with voluntary group The Food Chain, who deliver meals to mean women and children who are very ill as a result of HIV-related illnesses.

Those who are taking part are being asked to contribute a donation of Ј10.

All money goes to The Food Chain, which claims Ј10 is "more than enough to pay for 3 people's two-course lunch and a light
evening meal."

After a drink at the Europe's longest champagne bar, which has just opened in the station, the fun moves to St Pancras Church on Euston Road for a free concert with the London Gay Men's Chorus.

Those interested in riding at the event have been asked to arrive at 9am at the Cutty Sark Gardens.

Zoo hosts anti-bullying event

2007-11-24T12:37:00.000+02:00

The Young Anti-Bullying Alliance (Young ABA) is hosting a special event at London Zoo today to mark Blue Friday, the day when all children and young people are encouraged to dress in blue for the day in support of the anti-bullying message.

Young ABA (YABA) is a recently established advisory board of nine Diana Anti-Bullying Award holders – one from each government region.

This week is Anti-Bullying Week 2007, run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), who this year are focusing on 'bullying in the community.'

Gay equality organisation Stonewall and LGBT education group Schools Out are members of the ABA, which is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Research published by Stonewall earlier this year revealed that nearly two thirds of LGB students reported instances of homopbobic harassment.

That figure jumps to 75% of young gay people attending faith schools.

The survey of more than 1,100 young people found that only 23% of all UK schools explicitly condemn homophobic bullying.

92% of gay, lesbian and bisexual pupils have experienced verbal abuse, 41% physical bullying and 17% have been subject to death threats.

The Diana Anti-Bullying Award is a living legacy to the late Princess which is presented to all young people, 18yrs and under, who have tackled bullying in their schools or communities. The Diana Anti-Bullying Award is under the umbrella of the main Diana Award which is presented to young people who inspire the lives of others.

Echoes of Diana as Queen shakes hands with HIV+ man

2007-11-24T12:36:00.000+02:00

Her Majesty the Queen visited a clinic for people with AIDS for the first time today.

During a state visit to Uganda the monarch shook hands with Steven Wakodo, who is HIV+, echoing the famous handshake between Diana, Princess of Wales and an HIV+ person in April 1987.

The Princess's gesture helped overcome the fear of AIDS, demonstrating that the HIV virus cannot be transmitted by touch.

"The scourge of HIV infection and AIDS has touched the lives of too many Ugandan people," Her Majesty said in a speech to patients and staff.

"Centres such as this, which the government of Uganda has done so much to encourage, are essential in achieving our common aim of controlling this cruel disease."

The Queen is on her first visit to Uganda since 1954 and tomorrow she will open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the capital Kampala.

The meeting, held every two years, is expected to be dominated by discussions about the situation in Pakistan.

53 heads of government, among them Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are in attendance.

In a speech to the Ugandan parliament today the Queen stressed the importance of democracy, a clear reference to Pakistan. She also praised Uganda.

"The deliberations and decisions of this House, together with your respect for the rule of law, have had and will continue to have an essential bearing on the country's success in addressing many serious challenges," she told MPs.

CHOGMs are one of the most important events in the Commonwealth calendar and take place every two years in a different country.

Almost one third of the world's leaders are in attendance, and they come together to adopt common positions through consensus.

There were protests from gay rights activists at the decision to hold the three-day meeting in Uganda.

Last month James Nsaba Buturo, the country's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, told All Africa news agency that the government is committed to stopping LGBT people "trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society."

Members of Parliament in Uganda have urged the country's government to speak out against gay rights at the CHOGM.

One MP, demanding a "clamp down" against lesbian and gay Ugandans, said that the international event, to be held in the capital later this month, would be a good opportunity to "send a clear message that gays are not welcome in Uganda."

Ishaa Otto claimed that the gay community is growing:

"It's unfortunate that the government is silent as if there is nothing happening. The society must rise up against homosexuality before it's too late," he said.

"The government should urgently table a new bill that criminalises homosexuality with punitive amendments that guarantee arrests to prevent the spread of gay practices."

Gay sex is punishable in Uganda by life imprisonment, under laws originally introduced by the British colonial administration in the nineteenth century.

2007 has seen the first gay rights press conference and the first anti-gay rally in Uganda.

In August gay rights activists in spoke out about the prejudice LGBT people face in the country.

30 people gave a press conference drawing attention to the state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia they face every day.

They called themselves the "homosexual children of God" and demanded that attacks on LGBT people stop.

Some of the activists wore masks for fear of being identified, while others shocked journalists by outlining the brutality they had faced at the hands of police.

Trans people are also targeted by police and regularly subject to abuse and harassment.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are also on a state visit to Uganda for the CHOGM.

Labour peer defends lesbian sister's parental rights

2007-11-24T12:35:00.000+02:00

The House of Lords continued its debate on the second reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill yesterday.

During the debate a leading Labour peer revealed that his sister is a lesbian who had a child with her partner.

Conservative elected hereditary peer Lord Elton said it was "extraordinary" to remove the need for a father.

"It seems to me grotesque and unpleasant," he said.

"The sensibilities of those who may be bringing children up after they are born must come second to the interests of the child."

Labour's Lord McIntosh of Haringey, leading Humanist, interrupted Lord Elton to give an example of why is point was irrelevant.

"My sister is a lesbian, and she and her partner decided to have a child," Lord McIntosh told peers.

"Her partner bore the child, with the active agreement of a man friend. My sister has no rights whatever over that child.

"She had no legal power to become the equivalent of a father. Fortunately, it has worked well, and the child has grown up happy and contented.

"The effect of the existing law is to take away the equivalent of a father, and the effect of this bill would be to give my sister rights that would be equivalent to those of a father.

"It works in the opposite direction from that which the noble Lord, Lord Elton, is describing."

Lord Elton rejected the point.

"The bill is not perfect, and the noble Lord suggests that there is no way of introducing a right for a woman in this position or a relationship which cannot in my view properly cut out the parenthood of the male," he said.

"I do not rule out the possibility of putting a locus for a second female with the child of a couple, I am undecided on that and it should be looked at, but to rule out the male responsibility seems to go in the face of nature, religion and good sensible politics on the part of a government who are trying to stop overfilling the jails of this country."

Muslim peer Lord Ahmed agreed, and said Parliament does not have the right to "deny a child knowledge of his origins."

He pointed out that "Muslims have a profound belief not just in the sanctity of human life from conception onwards but in the importance of knowing your antecedents: the root from which you spring."

On Monday a peer was taken seriously ill in the House just after speaking in the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill and the sitting was suspended.

Baroness Paisley of St George's, wife of the DUP leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland Ian Paisley, whose speech was interrupted on Monday, mentioned Lord Brennan at the start of her remarks.

"I have been praying that he will have a speedy recovery, and it appears that those prayers are being answered," she said.

"We look forward to having him back in your Lordships' House very quickly."

Baroness Paisley attacked the bill. "This proposal totally disregards the biblical law on mixing kinds or species as laid down in Holy Scripture, and would be an offence to the Creator Himself, who made man in His own image," she said.

"These proposals would also unleash an untameable monster on an already morally diminished people, the end result of which is too fearsome to contemplate."

Other peers were less apocalyptic in the assessment of the proposed legislation, but many speakers were drawn to the proposal to remove the need for a father for children conceived through IVF.

Bishop of Newcastle urged the government to consider the welfare of the baby.

"It seems extraordinary that at this time in our society's life we state in the law that in the welfare and well-being of a child there is no need any more for a father.

"It is surely very odd that the law might provide a birth certificate showing two women as parents of the child. I well understand that comes from a desire not to discriminate, but to have two women, or, indeed for that matter, two men on a birth certificate as parents is a very odd way to put things.

"We have come to see that donor-conceived children should be able to discover the truth about their origins, and of course we all commend the bill's desire to promote the truth.

"So why provide a birth certificate naming two persons of the same sex, when it is simply not true? If the well-being of the child is a key principle, and if truthfulness is a key principle, then above all we have to be honest."

Another Tory elected hereditary peer, Lord Selsdon, said that gay and lesbian civil partners are a "small minority" compared to people who are married.

"Over the past 10 years, I have noticed that in the political world people are paying more and more attention to the views of minorities, because, I suggest, they think that the minority vote might count," he told peers.

"That may not be true, but the wishes and feelings of the majority are often ignored, including the moral feelings. When we look at that, my suggestion is that we have a few technical problems.

"The average age at which a male civil partnership is entered into is 47 and the average age for female civil partnership is 44.

"Therefore, the people involved are above the age at which it is normal to be given IVF treatment on the NHS.

"An accumulation of evidence shows the importance of a father in bringing up children. I suggest that the father has four roles. The first is giving physical, financial and emotional support to the mother. The second is as a secondary, but still very important, attachment figure for the child, adding to its self-esteem and sense of security.

"The third is as a role model, showing a boy what it means to be a man, building his self-esteem, encouraging him to work at school and developing by example his social skills. The fourth is as a role model to both boys and girls, showing them how a man and a woman can live and work together in a loving relationship.

"It is possible, but not proven, that a second mother can perform the first two of the roles that were traditionally those of the father, but she certainly cannot substitute for the father as a male role model.

"When most boys reach the age of seven or eight, they instinctively start to ask themselves what it means to be a man. They seek out heroes to be their role models.

"If there is a father, the child will instinctively love and admire him and will turn to him. If there is not, however, he will look elsewhere.

"With so few male teachers in primary schools today, he may have little alternative but to find a role model in his computer game or, as he grows up, in a gang leader on the street.

"My main concern is not so much with that small minority of children who will grow up in a lesbian household and who will have two women to look after them, but with the fact that (removing the need for a father) and other parts of the bill will send a message to fathers that it does not matter if they abandon their child, and it will send a message to all prospective mothers that it does not matter whether their child has a dad."

Labour's Baroness Hollis of Heigham told the House that she holds "conservative views about the family," but criticised the language used by some of her fellow peers in the debate.

"To suggest, as did the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, that we need to include such a phrase in the bill to placate Fathers 4 Justice is profoundly unwise," she said.

"Should reference to the need for a father be on the face of this bill? Let me be clear. Do I think that the welfare of a child is usually best ensured within a loving, stable family of a mother and father? Yes, I do.

"Do I also think that a single parent or a gay or lesbian couple can be a loving, stable family, as my noble friend Lord McIntosh said? Yes, I do.

"Do I think that fathers should offer emotional and financial sustained support to their children? Yes, I do.

"Do I value their contribution, especially in providing a role model for sons, as the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, eloquently described it?

"Yes, I do. Do I think that many children will want to know who their fathers are? Yes, I do.

"Do I therefore believe that the need for a father should be a consideration for the clinician and the phrase reinstated in this bill? No, I do not."

Baroness Hollis went on to claim that the current requirement for a father is "meaningless, vacuous, empty rhetoric" as single women receive IVF treatment.

"We have been told this by the minister and by clinicians and the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, has emphasised the point. It is not usually salient to the decision whether to offer IVF treatment.

"Instead the assessment is made on whether the woman is in sound physical and emotional health, or, in more conventional parlance, not "flaky", and has family support.

"If we reinsert the phrase, we are doing so because it should be meaningful; otherwise there is no point, and why bother? It would mean that clinicians would and should question the whereabouts of the putative father. If there is no such person, what then?

"Will they still permit treatment, in which case the question was intrusive but irrelevant, or refuse it, which means discriminating against and denying single women and lesbian partners the right to IVF?

"Even if they are young and fertile enough and may have unassisted births and even though, after the most intense and rigorous scrutiny, they may have adopted a child, they may not receive IVF.

"Fathers do belong in children's lives. I firmly believe that. It is just the phrase that does not belong in the bill"

Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve, a crossbench peer and former professor of philosophy, agreed that the need for a father is an ambiguous and impractical phrase.

"Being a father is a deeply understood notion in our and every culture," she said.

"Fatherhood is not something that is up for legislative redefinition. We would do much better to put the emphasis on the notion of the agreed parent and the second agreed parent and, if I had my way, even the third agreed parent.

"We need not challenge in a way that many of our fellow citizens find offensive the importance of fathers in fixing with legal certainty the parental rights of those who actually bring children up."

Baroness Barker, a Liberal Democrat, said that her party beleived this issue should be given a free vote, "in recognition of conflicting and very deeply-held religious and moral views."

The government has indicated the vote will be enforced along party lines.

"It is also our party's policy that individual women and lesbian and gay couples should not face discrimination when they seek fertility treatment," she told peers.

"I say to those noble Lords who have said throughout the debate that they do not wish to be discriminatory in any way, that some of the statements that have been made about fatherhood and parenthood can only be that.

"When heterosexual people agonise long and hard and decide that adoption is not the right course for them or for the children, we support them through the physical and emotional trauma of fertility treatment and we rejoice with them when it is successful.

"But when single or gay people make that same difficult considered decision, we are suddenly surrounded by phrases like "children are accessories" and "nobody has the right to a child."

"Of course nobody has the right to a child, but nothing in the bill suggests that they do.

"All that is suggested is that people are given the same consideration as potential parents.

"I suggest that in seeking to make the changes that noble Lords have indicated, we risk eliminating those single women and gay people who have taken a responsible attitude towards parenthood, who are willing to subject themselves to the intrusive questioning that is quite rightly conducted when people present themselves for this sort of treatment and who are the responsible parents we should be encouraging."

Responding on behalf of the governement Lord Darzi, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, addressed the concerns about the need for a father expressed by many peers.

"I hope that I may be able to address some of the concerns through further explanation of the Government's thinking," he said.

"Many of the concerns raised appear to be motivated not by any practical effect that the clause may have in relation to assisted reproduction but by a general concern for the perceived signal or message that may be derived from its removal. I understand that concern.

"Let me say at the outset that the proposal is not motivated by any attack on fathers or on the concept of fatherhood. Nor is it motivated by a simplistic desire for political correctness.

"The government recognise clearly the extremely important role that fathers can and do play in their children's lives and the consequences that can follow where a relationship breaks down. Many measures taken by this government are aimed at strengthening the role of fathers and ensuring that they are aware of their responsibilities."

The minister pointed out to peers that only slightly less than 1.5% of UK births "result from licensed assisted conception treatments. Hence, we are talking about a few hundred children."

He said that at present there is no requirement in the law as it stands that there must be a father or any man involved in the upbringing of the child.

"There is no ban on single women or same-sex couples receiving assisted conception treatment," he reminded the House.

"The outcome intended to be achieved by the current law is therefore extremely unclear or, as the noble Baroness, Lady Warnock, said, ineffective and wishy-washy.

"Undoubtedly, we want anyone contemplating having children to think through the implications.

"Given the nature of the procedures in question, we are talking about people who will almost invariably have considered very carefully their decision to approach treatment services and who will have decided to act responsibly.

"In addition, the law requires the provision of information and an offer of counselling.

"In relation to fathers, there is clear evidence of poorer outcomes for children where a marriage or partnership breaks down and the father is then absent. It is right and proper that that should be addressed.

"However, in the context that we are discussing today, the available research evidence suggests that it is the quality of parenting that is the factor of prime importance, not the gender of the parent per se."

The bill will now proceed to a Committee of the Whole House.

Army sergeant denies sending texts to lesbian soldier

2007-11-24T12:34:00.000+02:00

An employment tribunal has heard an Army sergeant deny sending texts to a lesbian soldier claiming he could "convert" her.

Lance Corporal Kerry Fletcher, 31, claims she was picked on because of her sexuality and that the staff sergeant sent her text messages indicating he wanted to have sex with her when she was working at an army stables in North Yorkshire.

The sergeant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has maintained his innocence despite an internal army inquiry indicating that he most likely did sent the messages.

"I have been protesting my innocence for the past three years. I still remain innocent and I still didn’t do it," he said.

He told the Leeds tribunal yesterday, that Fletcher had suggested he should be a sperm donor and once said: "You have quite a bulge, I was wondering if it was big or just scrunched up in briefs?"

The staff sergeant described how Miss Fletcher had often been late for duties and insubordinate towards him.

He said after a period of leave he decided "enough was enough" and decided to enforce discipline more severely.

He denied he had singled her out for more severe treatment because she had rejected his sexual advances.

He was asked how he felt when he heard about the allegations Miss Fletcher had made against him.

"I had 20 years of exemplary service. I had never had anything like this happen to me. I was absolutely fuming," he said, according to The Sun.

Police warn child about homophobic abuse

2007-11-24T12:33:00.002+02:00

An 11 year old boy in Gloucestershire has been given a final warning from police for using homophobic language.

The child shouted three times towards his 49-year-old victim as he walked down the street in Dursley.

PC Helen Seymour, Hate Crime Officer for Stroud, Stonehouse and Dursley, said her force take incidence of hate crime "very seriously."

"We thoroughly investigate any reports of hate crime – whether related to race or sexual orientation," she told the BBC.

"The majority of young people are fully aware that it is unacceptable to abuse people, particularly in racist and homophobic terms," she added.

Champion athlete may have gender reassignment surgery

2007-11-24T12:33:00.001+02:00

A former European pole vault medallist has decided to quit the sport, possibly to pursue a sex change operation.

Yvonne Buschbaum said that a persistent achilles tendon injury and a feeling that she was "emotionally in the wrong body" have contributed to her decision to end her career.

The 27-year-old said on her website: "For many years, I have had the feeling I am in the wrong body.

"Those who know me have seen a clear fault. I feel like a man and yet must live my life in the body of a woman.

"I would not like to be misjudged any longer.

"I am conscious of the fact that transsexuality is a difficult topic, but I don't want to be involved in a game of hide-and-seek with the truth.

"I appeal to the public's understanding, to respect my decision and not draw any wrong conclusions."

The German, who won bronze at the 1998 European Championships and came sixth in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 also added: "I am just daring to show what is the real me."

Trans people are not very visible in sport, but earlier this year, former tennis star Renne Richards admitted to Reuters that she regretted the fame she received from her gender re-assignment surgery in 1975.

In April Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner revealed
he was about to undergo a sex reassignment operation and later returned to the Times as a female sports writer.

UN figures indicate fall in global HIV infections

2007-11-24T12:32:00.001+02:00

New data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests the percentage of people around the globe living with HIV has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes.

Officials warned, however, that while the global prevalence of HIV infection, the percentage of people infected with HIV, has levelled off, the total number of people living with HIV is increasing "because of ongoing acquisition of HIV infection, combined with longer survival times, in a continuously growing general population."

According to the data released by UNAIDS/WHO, global HIV incidence, the number of new HIV infections per year, is now estimated to have peaked in the late 1990s at over 3 million new infections per year, and is estimated in 2007 to be 2.5 million new infections, an average of more than 6,800 new infections each day.

The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses has declined in the last two years, due in part to the life-prolonging effects of antiretroviral therapy.

AIDS is among the leading causes of death globally and remains the primary cause of death in Africa.

"These improved data present us with a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities," UNAIDS executive director Dr. Peter Piot said in a release.

"Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment.

"New HIV infections and mortality are declining and the prevalence of HIV leveling," he added.

"But with more than 6,800 new infections and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide."

EastEnders actress wins damages over lesbian story

2007-11-24T12:31:00.001+02:00

Actress Samantha Janus has won substantial damages from a claim that she had engaged in a "three hour drug fueled lesbian orgy."

She sued the Sunday Sport after story entitled "Sam's sex and drugs shame" hit newsstands on 22 July this year.

Two topless photos of Janus, taken by her ex boyfriend Doug Harwood, accompanied the article.

As well as the lesbian claims it was also said that the EastEnders actress took part in "coke-fuelled threesomes."

Her solicitor David Price said: "The truth is that, contrary to the article, at no time did the claimant and Mr Harwood have sexual relations in the presence of others, let alone indulge in a drug-fuelled orgy of the kind described in the article.

He told the High Court: "I am pleased to tell your Lordship that the defendants are here today to apologise to the claimant for publishing the article.

"The defendants have agreed to pay the claimant a substantial sum in damages together with her legal costs.

"They have also undertaken not to repeat the allegations or republish the photographs."

Ms Janus joined the EastEnders cast in May.

US TV host drags the Queen into gay marriage debate

2007-11-24T12:30:00.001+02:00

In the US, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams upset the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and more than a few bloggers earlier this week.

He opened a segment on the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip by saying:

"In an era when marriage is under attack, the United Kingdom is these days celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary, the longest marriage of any monarch."

After receiving several e-mails about the comment, Williams posted a response to MSNBC's blog.

The anchor said he was referring to "our national divorce rate, which is currently somewhere between 40 and 50 percent," when he used the phrase often heard from anti-gay activists.

"Others took it upon themselves to decide that I was somehow attacking gay marriage," he added.

"The simple fact is that nothing could have been further from my mind, as many others easily understood.

"In fact, one comment shared with me today came from a respected member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, who said, 'It seemed to me he was talking about the sky-high heterosexual divorce rates. Marriage is under attack—by straight people. It had nothing to do with the gay marriage movement.'"

GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano sent a letter of his own to Williams yesterday.

"Your blog entry today confirms that your use of the phrase on last night's broadcast was not in any way intended to disparage gay couples and that expression is appreciated.

"However, the primary issue is whether a phrase that has been used predominantly in an ugly anti-gay context can be used in another, tangentially related context (here, marriage in a general sense) without invoking the stereotypes that imbrue its common usage.

"The phrase 'marriage under attack,' like 'defence of marriage,' which you use elsewhere in your blog entry, is designed and used by far-right anti-gay activists to scare people into opposing legal protections for gay couples," Giuliano added.

"Media professionals who talk about marriage-related issues in their reporting should simply and factually discuss them, rather than uncritically repeating rhetoric calculated to make people feel threatened by and afraid of loving, committed couples."

Warning over poppers link to HIV infection

2007-11-24T12:29:00.001+02:00

Poppers usage could increase a gay mans susceptibility to HIV transmission during unprotected sex, a new UK study has found.

The use of the drug facilitates longer and rougher sex, as well as increasing the body's uptake of fluids.

The research, published in the online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections, shows gay men are still the highest risk group in terms of UK HIV infection, with 84% of all new cases in 2005 being the result of gay sex.

The risky behaviour of gay men in the UK is said to be behind the statistic, with 50% reporting having had unprotected sex in the past year.

The re-emergence of syphilis and chlamydia indicate that the sexual health of gay men is a cause for concern.

As regard poppers use, the researchers said:

"The attributable risk of nitrite inhalants to HIV seroconversion among gay men in the UK is high and reduction in their use during HIV serodiscordant unprotected intercourse be adopted as a population level goal/objective by prevention programmes."

It is not the first time drugs have been blamed for raising HIV infection rates.

Use of crystal meth in the gay community has been blamed in the press for a loss of inhibitions leading to dangerous sexual activity.

Poofter licence plates can stay

2007-11-24T12:27:00.000+02:00

A gay man in the US state of Virginia who was told to remove his car licence plates because they spell out the word 'poofter' has now been told he can keep them.

David Phillips has had the plates for eleven years. He previously claimed that the word is only offensive to English people and Virginians would not understand its meaning.

According to the Washington Post, he first heard the word used by performer Boy George in a TV interview and liked it.

"It's just an amusing word that I self-identify with," he told the Post.

Earlier this month the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Mr Phillips to remove the poofter plates because they deemed them to be offensive.

However, Mr Phillips told blog Pam's House Blender that the DMV phoned him and conceded that he could keep using the plates.

In correspondence he asserted his First Amendment right to free speech and to "self-identify in terms that meets no reasonable test for obscenity."

He wants an apology from the Virgina DMV.

Mr Phillips has claimed that he had a sexual encounter with disgraced Senator Larry Craig several years ago.

In April 2006 PinkNews.co.uk reported that a homophobic numberplate had been withdrawn by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after complaints by a leading gay MP.

Chris Byrant felt that plate H8 GAY was offensive to gay people.

Australian opposition leader vows he won't turn gay

2007-11-21T11:28:00.000+02:00

Front runner in the up-coming Australian elections, Kevin Rudd, agreed to answer a question about who he would turn gay for on a TV show last week.

The Labour leader became the first political leader to brave the popular youth variety show Rove Live.

During the programme Mr Rudd admitted to being a "nerd" and also said he could beat current Prime Minister John Howard in a bar fight.

After knocking back suggestions put to him, including those from Dame Edna and Kel from Kath and Kim he appeared to have confessed the only person he would turn gay for was his wife Therese.

According to news.co.au, Mr Rudd's staff admitted he hadn't delivered the answer as well as he had planned to, even though he knew it would be coming.

The opposition Leader was meant to have said, “Not for anyone, because of my wife Therese.”

Rudd has come under attack from gay activists and the Green party for rejecting same-sex marriage. During several recent interviews he has stood by his party line that marriage is between a man and woman, but admitted it was not a popular view in some circles.

Earlier this month John Howard was asked by a shop worker in a mall in New South Wales "Who would you turn gay for?"

The PM laughed off the question, but his consistent refusal to grant equal rights for gay and lesbian Australians has been less easy to avoid.

He has been accused of pandering to homophobia to win votes, and despite opinion polls showing 71% of Australians favouring equal rights for gay people, he is still opposed.

In 2004 he passed federal legislation banning same-sex marriage and earlier this year said that HIV positive immigrants should not be allowed into the country.

Last month Mr Howard, the Prime Minister since 1996, called a general election, which will take place on 24th November.

Rudd still has a winning lead in opinion polls, but with Howard narrowing the gap.

The latest Newspoll of voter opinion showed former diplomat Rudd dropping one point to 54 percent of the vote and Howard gaining one to 46 percent.

If this swing away from the government was uniform across the nation in Saturday's election it would result in Labour gaining the 16 extra seats it needs for victory, The Australian newspaper said.

But the Newspoll survey of some 1,700 voters found Howard is still considered the leader best able to handle the economy, beating Rudd 51 percent to 35 percent.

As the election draws closer, fifteen gay and lesbian couples declared their love for one another in a mass ceremony in Adelaide last week , drawing attention to Australia's "backward" same-sex marriage laws.

The ceremony, entitled Loved Up, was held as part of the state's gay and lesbian cultural festival - Feast Festival.

The 12 female couples and three male couples declared their love before hundreds of family and friends who gathered on the city's Montefiore Hill. The hour-long ceremony was performed by three celebrants.

"What we wanted to do as a festival was celebrate diverse love and put it out to the wider public so that it can be recognised as equal to straight marriage," Mr Clarke, the Feast Festival's artistic director, told AAP before the ceremony.

"Of course it's political, but it's a very personal day and it's going to be a very, very moving day."

Mr Clarke and his partner Nick Pelomis were married last year in the UK, establishing what that country calls a civil partnership with the same rights as marriage.

"It's just backward that it hasn't happened here yet," Mr Clarke said.

The couple chose to renew their vows because very few family and friends were able to celebrate with them in the UK.

The Feast Festival runs until November 25 and is the largest cultural event of its kind in Australia, with 151 different events held over two weeks.

Peer collapses during gay parents debate

2007-11-21T11:27:00.001+02:00

A Lords debate on a proposed new law that would make gay and lesbian parenting easier was adjourned after a peer collapsed in the House yesterday.

The move was aimed at making the need for a father at IVF children unnecessary.

Some peers however said it should uphold the importance of both parents.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains new rules that will allow gay and lesbian couples to become the legal parents of a child conceived through donated sperm, eggs or embryos.

According to the BBC, Lord Darzi had said earlier that it was important to change the law to make sure it "was reflective of modern society."

"The Bill includes clear recognition of same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos," Lord Dazi added.

Lib Dem peer Baroness Tonge said children could be brought up "very well indeed without either parent in some circumstances."

She added: "My party has never discriminated against gay people – which this debate is really about – and we will therefore support the removal of these words."

Labour Peer Lord Brennan, 65, collapsed and required heart massage before the second hearing of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was adjourned to a later date.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Tory party, said on Sunday that the proposals remove the need for a father and therefore threaten society.

Forty-five MPs have signed a motion saying the bill is "profoundly misinformed and clearly undermine the best interests of the child" and the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, has said the bill is "profoundly wrong."

Gay hate crime on the rise in US

2007-11-21T11:25:00.000+02:00

Hate crime incidents in the US rose by nearly 8 per cent last year, according to an FBI report.

There were 7,722 reported cases targeting victims or their property as a result of bias against sexual orientation, race, religion,national origin or physical or mental disability.

The numbers are thought to be higher than reported however, due to only 12,600 of the US's 17,000 local, county, state and federal police agencies participating in the report.

Joe Solomonese, president of the civil rights ground Human Rights Campaign told the St Louis Post: "This FBI report confirms that hate crime protections for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community are long overdue."

He also called on Congress to pass legislation that would expand hate crime statute to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation.

Number of AIDS cases lower than previously estimated

2007-11-21T11:24:00.000+02:00

Global numbers of people with AIDS may have been over exaggerated, according to news reports.

The number in 2006, estimated to be 40 million people, may have been 6.2 million over the real amount.

The decline is largely just on paper -- the new numbers are the result of improved methodology, which shows the spread of AIDS has been losing momentum for almost a decade.

Speaking to The Australian Kevin De Cock, director of the World Health Organisation's AIDS department, welcomed the fall in deaths: "For the first time, we are seeing a decline in global AIDS deaths."

Much of the global drop in AIDS cases is due to revised estimates from India, which this year slashed its numbers in half, from about six million cases to about three million, and to new data from countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite the report, huge regional differences remain and Africa still remains the centre of the epidemic.

AIDS is still the leading cause of death across the continent, affecting men, women and children and according to africaaidswatch.org, 13000 people a day died from the disease in 2005.

Dr Jim Chin, a clinical professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Australian that it was hard to tell if the lowered numbers were evidence that AIDS treatment and prevention strategies were working, or if the decrease was because of a correction of previous overestimates

Banning Gay Pride march was illegal, Supreme Court rules

2007-11-21T11:23:00.001+02:00

Latvian authorities have ruled that a ban on a Gay Pride march in 2006 was illegal.

The event was was banned amid threats of violence from extremist groups.

The municipal authorities in the Latvian capital Riga were told that the event would be cancelled to avoid public disorder after Christians, nationalists and neo-Nazis threatened the parade with violence and a counter march.

Riga City Council appealed a decision earlier this year by the Administrative Court that the ban was unlawful, but the Supreme Court has now confirmed the ruling.

Mozaika, the Easter European countries LGBT organisation, has said that a decision to appeal by the City Council has set an important precedent for Latvia's court systems and on any similar future rulings.

As the country is now part of the EU it is bound by Human Rights Conventions allowing for the right of assembly and to "demonstrate" on issues.

Although the pride festival was allowed to go ahead this year it was confined to a park in the centre of the capital with a limited march.

MEP Raьl Romeva, vice president of the European Parliament's 'Intergroup' for gay and lesbian rights, said at the time: "It is a good start."

"Perhaps in the future Riga Pride will be through the streets of the city."

Arizona city vows to protect LGBT people

2007-11-21T11:22:00.001+02:00

A city in Arizona's Personnel Board has voted unanimously to recommend the city protects gays and transgender people from discrimination.

This is the first of Scottsdale's three part ordinance, including a proposal requiring all of the cities businesses to offer protection for the LGBT community.

There were a few objections to the board's approval.

According to AP, one resident called the situation "abominable" and called that such behaviour was "deviant" and that such a "choice" did not deserve legal protection.

However, board chairwoman Eula Dean said: "I can recall when it was not popular to use people of colour.

"I look to the policy to protect all people at all times in order to make a safe community for all people at all times."

Rick Kidder, president of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, said many businesses already protect gay and transgender people who work for them but businesses would object if they had to spend a lot of money to offer equal protection.

Some businesses have voiced concerns that they may have to alter their toilets and rest rooms.

Arizona is relatively liberal on the map of states of the US and their treatment of homosexuality.

In November 2006 voters rejected a change in the constitution that would have banned gay marriage and civil partnership laws completely.

Over 30 US states have state law or constitutional banning of civil unions with only Massachusetts allowing full gay marriage.

Police offficer cautioned in cruising crackdown

2007-11-21T11:19:00.000+02:00

A total of 32 people, including a police officer, have been cautioned as a result of a crackdown on cruising in a toilet block in Wallasey, Liverpool.

Six people were charged under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for the alleged sexual activity that happened in the toilets on Harrison Drive in the New Brighton area of the city earlier this year.

The police officer involved, who has not been named, was fined 13 days pay for the incident through the forces own disciplinary proceedings.

However the arrests have drawn criticism from the gay community, who claim that correct policy and procedure was not carried out.

Speaking to the Liverpool Daily Post and EchoMike Homfray, chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Police Liaison Group, an independent group funded by Merseyside Police, said: "There is a lot of unhappiness and I feel it did a lot of harm.

"Usually there are warnings put up by police for operations. This was not done. We have been following this quite closely. Policy and procedure was seemingly ignored."

Merseyside Police have defended their actions saying it is standard practice to ask those arrested to identify people they engaged in the offences with.

Two of the six people arrested have pleased guilty to the offences, four are still awaiting trial.

Gay TV network celebrates AIDS awareness

2007-11-20T16:20:00.000+02:00

The Annual Ribbon of Hope celebration is set to be shown on the American gay TV network here! for the second year in a row.

The event, now in its 11th year, is aimed at celebrating those working in television as well as individuals who keep HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention at the forefront.

The ceremony is due to coincide with World AIDS Day on the 1st December.

This is the eleventh Ribbon of Hope celebration. Previous winners have included Sex and the City, The West Wing and E.R who have all won awards for including story lines about HIV/AIDS.

Paul Colichma, founder of here! said in a statement: "The significance of the Ribbon of Hope taking place on World AIDS Day once again presents an important opportunity to renew awareness while addressing the complacency that currently hampers HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment efforts around the world.

"In that vein, here! is honored to be partnering with the Television Academy, once again on this important event and thrilled to be able to make this celebration to here!'s nationwide audience and global online community."

IVF hearing on hold after peer collapses

2007-11-20T16:16:00.000+02:00

A hearing aimed at making gay and lesbian parenting easier in the future has attracted further criticism and was adjourned after a peer collapsed in the House of Lords yesterday.

The move was aimed at making the need for a father at IVF clinics unnecessary.

The Lords however said it should uphold the importance of both parents.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains new rules that will allow the gay and lesbian couples to become the legal parents of a child conceived through donated sperm, eggs or embryos.

According to the BBC, Lord Darzi had said earlier that it was important to change the law to make sure it "was reflective of modern society."

He said the Bill would "update the regulation of assisted reproduction to ensure it is both effective and also reflective of modern society."

Lord Dazi added: "The Bill includes clear recognition of same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos."

Lib Dem peer Baroness Tonge said children could be brought up "very well indeed without either parent in some circumstances."

She added: "My party has never discriminated against gay people – which this debate is really about – and we will therefore support the removal of these words."

Labour Peer Lord Brennan, 65, collapsed and required heart massage before the second hearing of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was adjourned to a later date.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Tory party, said on Sunday that the proposals remove the need for a father and therefore threaten society.

Fourt-five Labour MPs have signed a motion saying the bill is "profoundly misinformed and clearly undermine the best interests of the child" and the leader of Britain's Catholic Church, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, has said the bill is "profoundly wrong.

First gay Somali website launched

2007-11-20T16:15:00.000+02:00

A website aimed at improving communication between Somalian gay men has now gone live.

The site, the first of its kind for the Muslim East African nation, is aimed at the UK Somalian gay community and it is hoped that it will reach those who feel trapped in the homophobic country and show that there are others like them.

A spokesperson for the site, Somaligaycommunity.org, told Pinknews.co.uk: "It is a shame that we are still confronted with so much hate and discrimination for the fact that we are gay, but I believe the only way to overcome this is by educating ourselves and others and having a website like this will play such an important role."

Somaligaycommunity.org is meant to act as a contact and information point for what he feels is a community "in a state of limbo", due to not being attached to the Somali community in the UK or the mainstream gay community.

He says that the vitriolic responses written by some people on the website have been "really shocking."
"I think these people should be respectful of the countries they are in and not say such things."

Some visitors to the site have called it "disgusting", with others calling homosexuality an "evil disease."

GLAAD Honors Transgender Day of Remembrance

2007-11-20T16:14:00.000+02:00

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize those killed because of anti-transgender violence or prejudice. To mark this event, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has released a PSA encouraging viewers to treat others with dignity and respect regardless of gender identity/expression or sexual orientation.

The 20-second spot is part of GLAAD's ongoing "Be an Ally & a Friend" campaign and features transgender actress Alexandra Billings (Grey's Anatomy, ER), as well as T.R. Knight (Grey's Anatomy), Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters), Rex Lee (Entourage), Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) and retired NBA player John Amaechi.

Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded nine years ago to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered Nov. 28, 1998. The annual event is designed to raise public awareness of anti-transgender hate crimes and to encourage people to be allies to the transgender community.

"It is of vital importance that all of us, regardless of our sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance," GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said in a release. "Transgender people face violence and discrimination every day. We all need to show our support by being allies and friends to the transgender community."

GLAAD's "Be an Ally & a Friend" PSA campaign features 22 public figures from television, film and sports. The spots, directed by Nadine Licostie and produced by Licostie and Connie Grazia for Red Thread Productions, encourage people to be allies to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and to help combat discrimination, directing viewers to resources at GLAAD.org.

GLAAD is releasing a new 20- or 30-second version of the PSA approximately every two weeks to be aired through broadcast collaborations with Access Hollywood, national cable networks such as Fox Reality, GSN, IFC, Lifetime, The N, Sci Fi Channel and Sundance Channel; local cable systems and network affiliates; online at LiveVideo, YouTube, AOL Video and MySpace; and others to be announced.

Argentina's sixteenth Pride event is great success

2007-11-20T16:12:00.000+02:00

Argentina celebrated its sixteenth annual Gay Pride ceremony last weekend.

The event was held in Buenos Aires, which recently won the trophy in the Gay World Cup, also held in the Latin American country.

According to Reuters, Cesar Cigliutti, President of the Argentine Homosexual Community said at the event: "After sixteen years our motto is celebration.

"This party is a demand, for there to be gays and lesbians dancing in the street is a demand."

During the evening the event, which took place near the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedeal, attracted crowds of Catholic demonstrators, but they were kept separate from the fun by police.

Speaking to Wikinews, Marнa Josй Lubertino, Chairwoman of the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism said: "This is an advance for democracy, that we can gather so many people to celebrate diversity.

"We must work against all types of discrimination and especially on this day against homophobia, and also pursue the rights not afforded to us; for example, the identity of transsexual people."

The city was the first in South America to legalise same sex unions, in 2002.

Germany's top political and sports analyst comes out

2007-11-20T16:11:00.001+02:00

Imagine what would happen if Katie Couric came out of the closet. This week, Germany got a taste of a surprise like that when top political news and sports analysts Anne Will, announced her five-year relationship with University of St. Gallen Professor Miriam Meckel.

Born in Cologne Germany, Will began working as a reporter at Kцlnische Rundschau (the Cologne Review) while still attending college.

She became a well-respected journalist during the 1990’s and began writing for a variety of news magazines before landing a job hosting the popular German sports show Sportschau.

During the 2000 Summer Olympics, she became more high profile presenting athlete segments and sports commentary and was eventually brought on to anchor Germany’s top evening news show Tagesthemen.

Early last month Will began her own political talk show, Anne Will, which helped catapult her career as a successful political liaison.

While at an event at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, AfterEllen.com reports that the 41-year-old confirmed rumors about her sexuality while posing for a picture underneath the museums placard which reads "Tolerance and Understanding" with her longtime partner Meckel.

"Yes we are a couple," Will explained to reporters, "but we would like to keep our private life private." This was the first time Will had made a public statement about her relationship, although the couple has never tried to hide it even attending the 2002 Federal Press Ball together.

Will’s employers released a statement of support and acknowledged her dedication and perseverance as a talented journalist.

Will has been an advocate for establishing better European-African relations and has been a vocal voice for the abolishment of landmines. Will has used her notoriety to help campaign for UNICEF and other charities, which benefit children all over the world.

Former Tory leader attacks lesbian parents

2007-11-20T16:10:00.001+02:00

A leading member of the Conservative party has launched a full-frontal attack on the rights of lesbian and gay couples to equal parenting rights.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is due before the House of Lords today.

It contains new rules that will allow the gay and lesbian couples to become the legal parents of a child conceived through donated sperm, eggs or embryos.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Tory party, said that the proposals remove the need for a father and therefore threaten society.

"Another nail will have been hammered into the coffin of the traditional family and another blow will have been struck against fatherhood," he wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

"This move could not have come at a worse time.

"Just as we are beginning to appreciate the vital role fathers play in the successful upbringing of children, Labour ministers are sending out the utterly wrong signal that fathers don't matter."

Gay equality organisation Stonewall said the proposed new rules would merely give legal status to gay couples that already exists for heterosexuals.

"At a time when three million children in this country are growing up in single-parent households, it seems odd there should be this obsession with a few hundred who have an opportunity to have a second loving parent," said chief executive Ben Summerskill.

Mr Duncan Smith's comments are at odds with the gay-friendly image the party is keen to cultivate since David Cameron took over as leader.

"To equate lesbian households with so-called 'broken homes', as Iain Duncan Smith has done, is as ludicrous as his attack on all unmarried couples and the Conservatives' bizarre wish to impose fathers on lesbian households suggests that some Tories simply don't understand anything beyond their own traditional backgrounds," said Lib Dem MP Evan Harris.

Mr Duncan Smith's concerns about the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill are likely to be echoed by many members of the House of Lords when the legislation is discussed today.

The Archbishop of York is expected to oppose the bill and many Tory peers will speak out against equality for gay and lesbian couples.

Opposition is not restricted to the Tory party - 45 Labour MPs have signed a motion saying the bill is "profoundly misinformed and clearly undermine the best interests of the child."

The leader of Britain's Catholic Church, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, has criticised the planned Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill as "profoundly wrong."

Senate blocks backdoor appointment of Bush nominee

2007-11-20T16:08:00.000+02:00

Suggestions that the President of the United States was to use Congress' two-week Thanksgiving recess to appoint a new Surgeon General without Senate approval have been quashed by a legislative manoeuvre.

Dr James Holsinger, the President's nominee for the post, last week reportedly told friends that he will be appointed during the recess, side-stepping the need for Congressional approval.

He has been criticised by gay rights groups, physicians and politicians for writing in 1991 that gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy.

The Surgeon General of the United States, nominated by the President and confirmed via majority vote by the Senate, is the chief medical official in the country, and the leading medical adviser to the government.

On Friday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revealed that he has scheduled "pro forma" sessions during the next fortnight, meaning that despite the absence of Senators the body is not in recess.

"My hope is that this will prompt the President to see that it is in our mutual interests for the nominations process to get back on track," Senator Reid said in a statement.

The US President has the power to fill job vacancies such as Surgeon General while Congress is in recess, and his appointees can serve for the rest of the session, that is until January 2009, without confirmation.

President Bush has previously used this power to appoint controversial figures in the teeth of Congressional disapproval, but the White House made little comment on whether he was prepared to do so again to ensure his nominee for Surgeon General took office.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto told CNN: "We don't talk about or speculate on personnel appointments until we're ready to announce them."

Bush's nominee Dr James Holsinger, in a 1991 paper for the United Methodist Church, said that gay sex was dangerous because, "when the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur."

Dr Holsinger now claims now the document is unscientific and does not represent his current views.

Giving evidence in July before the Senate Health Committee he denied he is homophobic:

"Questions have been raised about my faith and about my commitment to the health and well-being of all Americans, including gay and lesbian Americans," he said.

"I am deeply troubled by these allegations, they do not represent who I am, what I believe, or how I have practised medicine for the past 40 years.

"I can only say that I have a deep appreciation for the essential human dignity of all people regardless of background or sexual orientation.

"Should I be confirmed as Surgeon General, I pledge to you to continue that commitment."

Committee chairman Senator Edward Kennedy said he was concerned that if Dr Holsinger is appointed then he could let his personal beliefs affect his professional judgement.

Gay rights groups, the American Public Health Association and 35 members of the House of Representatives are opposed to his nomination.

Last week an American blogger revealed that Dr Holsinger has already resigned from his job on the board of trustees of a Kentucky seminary and is telling friends that: "the President plans to appoint him to the post anyway once the Congress goes into its holiday recess."

In July Dr Richard Carmona, who served as US Surgeon General between 2002 and 2006, said that the Bush administration had censored his speeches and articles to agree with government policy.

He was testifying at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in Washington.

"The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalised and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas," Dr Carmona told the hearing.

"The job of the Surgeon General is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party."

Dr Carmona testified that he clashed with the Bush administration over issues of sexuality and contraception, because he opposed the government's 'abstinence only' sex education policy.

His accusations of political interference were supported by former Surgeons General C Everett Koop and David Satcher, who served in the Reagan and Clinton administrations.

Mr Koop, who served between 1981-1989, spent many years trying to change the perception of AIDS from a moral to a public health issue.

He claims that President Reagan wanted to fire him, but chose not to intervene.

Korea urged to reinstate orientation discrimination proposals

2007-11-20T16:07:00.000+02:00

Plans to drop sexual orientation from a proposed bill on anti-discrimination in South Korea have been met with disappointment from LGBT organisations all over the world.

The bill, the first of its kind in the country was announced in October.

According to news reports and members from the ruling Democratic Labour Party, sexual orientation has since been removed from the draft along with other categories such as ideologies, appearance and military status.

International human rights law is clear that discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited, and South Korea's treaty obligations require it to enforce that prohibition.

A coalition of 40 LGBT groups in South Korea, called the Alliance Against Homophobia and Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities, is asking for a coordinated international response to stop the most recent draft of the anti-discrimination legislation from going before the National Assembly.

Hahn Chae Yoon, director of the alliance, has claimed the move was due to an upcoming presidential election.

Speaking to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights commission she said:

"They have been in power for five years and have a low approval rating.

"The Christian right is connected to big businesses. They are using the anti-discrimination law as an opportunity to say 'What a ridiculous law they are trying to pass.'"

Jessica Stern, researcher in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trangender programme of Human Rights Watch said:

"The current version of the bill is a disappointment. A supposed landmark non-discrimination law has been hollowed out to exclude Koreans, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, who are in need of protection.

"The government should maintain its track record and reintroduce comprehensive categories for protection."

South Korea has previously demonstrated international leadership on LGBT rights.

At a recent session of the United Nations Human Rights Council South Korea, along with 53 other nations, delivered a statement recognizing the abundance of evidence of human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and calling on the UN to give these issues attention

Fire service plans to improve gay representation

2007-11-20T16:06:00.000+02:00

A framework document on the future of the fire and rescue service is set to include plans to improve the representation of the LGB community.

How the service is to "meet the challenges of the coming years" is laid out in two important consultation documents published by the Department for Communities and Local Government today.

Currently less than 0.5% of the fire service are openly lesbian, gay or bixexual, equivalent to less than 270 people.

Nationwide, 7% of the working population identify themselves as LGB.

The government is seeking the views of the fire and rescue service, its partners and employees on the content of the framework before a final version is published in spring 2008.

Speaking at the Fire Conference 2007, Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said:

"The national framework sets out our vision for the fire and rescue service over the next few years.

"One vital component is to ensure that the service has a workforce that is more representative of the local communities it serves.

"Equality and diversity strategy will involve everyone and be relevant to everybody in the service."

Key objectives of the equality and diversity strategy will be the achievement of fairness, inclusion, dignity and respect in all parts of the workplace, and to effectively tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination.

In England the fire and rescue service employs 54,000 staff. 13% cent of all FRS staff are women, but operational representation stands at 2.8%. 3% cent of all staff are from minority backgrounds.

The government consultation comes after a recent conference held in Bristol entitled "Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender Equality in the Fire Service - An Absolute Taboo?"

Last month's two-day event, which was organised by Avon Fire & Rescue Service, was hailed a success.

Gay equality organisation Stonewall worked in partnership with the Fire Brigades Union on the conference in Bristol.

Representatives from the London Fire Brigade, the Chief Fire Officers Association, West Yorkshire Fire Service and the Scottish Transgender Alliance spoke at the event.

The 210 delegates also took part in workshops and sharing examples of best practice with each other.

New homophobic bullying resources for schools launched

2007-11-20T16:04:00.001+02:00

New resources and tools to help school staff fight homophobic bullying have been created by a local authority anti-bullying team.

The new materials are designed to help teachers and other staff "effectively and confidently" achieve the aims set out in the guidance materials on bullying.

This week is Anti-Bullying Week 2007, run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), who this year are focusing on 'bullying in the community.'

Gay equality organisation Stonewall and LGBT education group Schools Out are members of the ABA, which is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Leicestershire Anti Bullying Team has produced its unique whole school resource pack to enable school staff to address homophobia and homophobic bullying in secondary schools.

STANCE takes the form of pack containing ten resource books which will be available to secondary schools from this month.

In addition, a website has been launched to promote and support the materials.

Phil Harbour, Educational Psychologist for the Leicestershire local authority and a member of the Anti-Bullying Team, told PinkNews.co.uk:

"I have been working on this project for nearly two years. When I first began investigating this area, it became quickly apparent that there was a huge amount of guidance and advice that existed, telling schools that they must challenge homophobia/homophobic bullying.

"However, what there is very little of are the resources or tools that school staff must be provided with if they are to effectively and confidently achieve the aims set out in the guidance materials.

"For example, the pack contains posters, lesson activities, staff training sessions and materials, activities to discuss the issues with parents and governors, information leaflets for pupils, LGB role model biographies."

The pack is endorsed by the Football Association and two high-profile sporting personalities.

Research published by Stonewall earlier this year revealed that nearly two thirds of LGB students reported instances of homopbobic harassment.

That figure jumps to 75% of young gay people attending faith schools.

The survey of more than 1,100 young people found that only 23% of all UK schools explicitly condemn homophobic bullying.

92% of gay, lesbian and bisexual pupils have experienced verbal abuse, 41% physical bullying and 17% have been subject to death threats.

C4 cleared over Muslim gay-hate documentary

2007-11-20T16:02:00.000+02:00

The broadcasting watchdog has cleared Channel 4 over a documentary broadcast in January exposing homophobic preaching in UK mosques.

The Dispatches programme portrayed a Birmingham mosque as a haven for extreme views.

Today Ofcom ruled that Undercover Mosque had not misled viewers or offended Muslims.

Undercover footage showed preacher Abu Usamah at Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham calling for gay people to be executed.

"If I were to call homosexuals perverted, dirty, filthy dogs who should be murdered, that's my freedom of speech, isn't it?" he told followers.

A scene in the advertising for the documentary also showed a preacher calling for people to “take that homosexual and throw him off a mountain.”

A complaint made by the West Midlands Police that the show was misrepresenting sections of the Muslim community in the area was not upheld by Ofcom.

Channel 4 had said that the WMP had a "fundamental misunderstanding" in the way in which programmes are made.

They claimed that the show did not inaccurately portray any of the speakers and that the show contained matters of "important public interest."

Channel 4 News at Noon reported that Hard Cash, the production company that made the documentary, are considering legal action against West Midlands Police.

In August the Crown Prosecution Service accused Channel 4 of distorting what the preachers were saying.

A CPS lawyer who examined 56 hours of uncut footage said the production team had cut together excepts from different speeches and thereby distorted what the preachers were saying.

Mr Usamah said that his comments about gay people had been taken out of context and that he was explaining the views of others but did not agree with their stance.

Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, said:

"Ofcom's investigation found thatDispatches had uncovered matters of clear public interest and had handled the material responsibility finding no evidence that Channel 4 had misled its audience.

"In keeping with its remit as a public service broadcaster, it is essential that Channel 4 continues to produce challenging programmes about controversial issues which are responsibly handled.

"In this case the Dispatches team did not shy away from a difficult subject and upheld British broadcasting's strong tradition of investigative journalism."

Barclays sponsor leading gay football team

2007-11-20T16:00:00.000+02:00

Stonewall FC may have narrowly lost out in the final of the gay World Cup earlier this year, but the UK's leading gay football team had some good news to share this weekend.

The team has secured a one-year sponsorship deal with Barclays PLC, who also sponsor the Premier League.

The deal sees Barclays become the exclusive title sponsor of Stonewall FC's three teams, and provide kit and equipment to the club.

As part of the new sponsorship, Stonewall FC will help provide support on Barclays equality and diversity programme.

Stonewall FC club chairman, Liam Jarneki, welcomed the one-year deal.

"Barclays investment is a fantastic opportunity for Stonewall FC to develop in the build up to the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) Gay World Cup in London next year," he said.

"Our aim is to help promote an environment where everyone can enjoy playing football, regardless of sexual orientation."

Gary Hoffman, Barclays Group Vice Chairman, said the sponsorship deal brings together "two things that Barclays is passionate about - diversity and football.

"Barclays is synonymous with football through our long term sponsorship of the Premier League, and through our support for grassroots sports through our Spaces for Sports programme.

"We see this is as an important part of our continuing commitment to the lesbian and gay community, which started in 2001 when we were the first bank to join the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme."

Since its formation in 1991, Stonewall FC has been triumphant in various competitions across the globe, including the 2005 European Gay Championships in Berlin and the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago.

The team returned from Argentina in September 2007, where they narrowly lost out to local side Los Dogos in the final of the IGLFA Gay World Cup.

London team Leftfooters FC won its bid to host the World Cup in August 2008 after IGLFA officials visited facilities at Regents Park.

Ten 11-a-side pitches and six 7-a-side pitches have been reserved for the event, which is supported by the Football Association, Westminster City Council, gay equality organisation Stonewall, the Mayor of London and Visit London.

Hungary considers new rights for unmarried couples

2007-11-20T15:58:00.000+02:00

Gay and unmarried couples in Hungary may soon be able to register their "domestic relationships" following draft legislation which the government is submitting to parliament this week.

According to a government spokesman, David Daroczi, the proposed law, which would take effect from 1st January 2009, would give couples many of the same benefits as married couples, including rights of inheritance and taking each other’s name.

They would not, however, be able to adopt children.

Government statistics show that there were an estimated 349,000 unmarried couples in Hungary in 2005, 12.2 per cent of all families, compared to 62,000 in 1970, 2.1 per cent of all families.

But around 120 other laws would need to be adjusted to make way for the new legislation, many of which would require a two-thirds majority before they are ratified, including support from centre-right opposition.

Tibor Navracsics, parliamentary leader of Fidesz, the main centre-right opposition faction, said that his party could not make a statement regarding the legislation as they were yet to see it.

At present, the Hungarian government is led by socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany who controls 54 per cent of the 386 seats.

Referring to the draft legislation, a statement from the Prime Minister's office said: "The government's objective is to have order, to finally make the laws conform to people’s changed living circumstances."

Hungary was the first former communist state to legalise same-sex partnerships.

Mayoral candidate reveals first gay experience

2007-11-20T15:52:00.000+02:00

The recently-selected Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London will divulge details of his first gay sexual encounter in his memoirs.

Brian Paddick's autobiography Line of Fire is not due for publication until April 2008, just weeks before the election.

Already there is widespread speculation about the contents of the book, which will almost certainly contain heavy criticism of London's Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair.

Mr Paddick was the UK's most senior out gay officer until he stood down from the Met in May.

He clashed with Sir Ian over when the Met knew that they had shot an innocent man at Stockwell tube station on July 22nd 2005.

Sir Ian insists that he did not know Brazilian Jean Charles De Menezes was not a suicide bomber until the next day.

Mr Paddick gave evidence to an independent investigation that suspicions were raised almost immediately.

The Times reports that in his book, Mr Paddick, who rose to the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Met, had his first homosexual sex with a fellow officer, described as "an attractive male PC," in a police lodging house in north London.

He describes the "turmoil" he went through after the experience, and frankly discusses his affairs with other women, his marriage and his attempts to repress his homosexual desires through religion.

Last week 49-year-old Mr Paddick won 73% of the first preference votes in a ballot of London Lib Dem party members to become their candidate for Mayor.

He faces incumbent Ken Livingstone and Tory candidate Boris Johnson in next May's election.

Stephen Fry's panto special to raise HIV funds

2007-11-20T15:51:00.000+02:00

Dame Judi Dench, Elaine Page and Petula Clark are among the stars taking part in a special fund-raising performance of a panto classic next month.

Theatrecares, a charity working to support those living with HIV & AIDS within the arts, has announced a special gala performance of Stephen Fry's new Cinderella at the Old Vic Theatre on Friday 7th December.

This special evening will be hosted by Theatrecares friend and Patron John Barrowman who along with many fellow supporters from stage and screen will be raising funds to support friends and colleagues within the theatre community.

The evening has been organised by a legion of theatrical Fairy Godmothers and Fairy Godfathers, among them Sam Adamson, Baz Bamigboye, Michael Berg, Samantha Bond, Guy Chapman, Petula Clarke CBE, Dame Judi Dench, Steve Devereaux, Sir Richard Eyre, and Elaine Page.

It will begin with a Pre-Performance Gala Champagne and Canape Reception followed by a performance of the Old Vic's new production of Cinderella written by Stephen Fry.

After the show, guests will be joined by members of the production cast and creative team for an exclusive Post Show Party during which there will be an Auction of glittering prizes.

Tickets cost between Ј60 and Ј220 with all proceeds going to Theatrecares.

Book tickets via the Theatrecares website: www.theatrecares.org.uk or by calling 0203 062 8852

Allen resigns after sex solicitation conviction

2007-11-20T15:50:00.001+02:00

A senior Florida Republican has resigned from the state legislature following his conviction for soliciting oral sex from an undercover police officer.

Bob Allen was spotted by police in Titusville, Florida on July 11th acting suspiciously at the men's toilets in a park.

Officers decided to send a policeman undercover to investigate, and within minutes Mr Allen agreed to pay him $20 (Ј10) to allow him to perform oral sex.

Allen was facing 60 days in jail, but last week was sentenced to six month's probation and fined $250 (Ј122) plus $245 costs, ordered never to return to the park where the incident happened, be tested for sexually transmitted diseases and attend a HIV awareness class.

Republican party representatives said last week he should resign from office and threatened to remove him.

On Friday he submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

However, unless a special election is arranged, Allen's resignation will not become effective until February next year.

He had already been removed from the chair of committees and other House assignments.

"Due to the requirements of my family and private life, and in order to seek justice in the upcoming appeal process, I regretfully would like to inform you that I will need to resign my elected position as the Legislator for House District 32, effective February 15th 2008, or when the Secretary of State can certify a replacement through a general election," Allen wrote in a letter to House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Depending on the outcome of that appeal, Allen may still run for state Senate seat.

He had sponsored a failed bill in the Florida statehouse earlier this year, the Lewdness and Indecent Exposure Bill, designed to increase the penalties for committing "unnatural and lascivious acts or exposure or exhibition of sexual organs committed within specified distance of certain locations."

Since his election in 2000, he has been one of the most homophobic politicians in the Florida state senate.

He received the title of "Wicked Witch," which is reserved for "The Worst of the Worst," from Florida's Rainbow Democratic Gay & Lesbian organisation.

Milk movie to begin shooting in January

2007-11-20T15:42:00.000+02:00

Principal photography on a biopic of San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk will begin in January with Sean Penn in the lead role, it has been announced.

Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant, will begin shooting on location in the city ahead of a rival movie.

The Mayor of Castro Street, which has been in development for more than 15 years, is due to be helmed by X-Men director Bryan Singer.

Van Sant directed My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy and Only Cowgirls Get The Blues.

Harvey Milk was probably the first out gay male politician in American history.

Known during his lifetime as "The Mayor of Castro Street," he is regarded as a political icon amongst gay activists for his ability to build the LGBT community into a grassroots political force.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

In his 11 months in office he sponsored a gay rights bill and helped to defeat a proposition that would have seen openly gay and lesbian teachers sacked.

He was gunned down at City Hall by Dan White, a disgruntled former Supervisor, on November 27th 1978.

It had been reported that Matt Damon will play White in the Van Sant biopic but he has dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.

White also killed the city's mayor in his gun rampage.

Milk was recently honoured with a bust on permanent display in San Francisco City Hall, a rare accolade for someone who never held the position of Mayor.

It will be a permanent reminder of the unique place the city of San Francisco had in forming a new, politically active gay identity in the 1970s.

Milk had foreseen his own untimely death, and made several audio tapes to be played if he was assassinated.

One had recorded upon it his most famous statement, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

When White only received seven years in jail for Milk's murder, San Francisco's gay community rioted. More than 160 people were injured.

Many gay and lesbian community institutions are named in his honour, among them the Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco, the Harvey Milk Institute, the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club, and the Harvey Milk High School in New York City.

Poles march for equality as new government takes office

2007-11-20T15:41:00.001+02:00

LGBT rights activists were joined by politicians from green and left-wing parties on the annual Equality March in Poznan, western Poland, on Saturday.

More than 300 people, carrying rainbow flags and banners, took part in the peaceful demonstration in Poland's fifth-largest city, with only a few counter-demonstrators on hand to protest.

It was seen as a key test of the new government's attitude to gay rights events.

In 2005 the police in Poznan detained and interrogated 65 demonstrators during the March of Equality.

This year, the fourth annual march, more than 400 police were on hand to protect the marchers.

On Friday Donald Tusk was appointed Poland's Prime Minister under a new conservative-liberal Civic Platform (PO) government.

Gay rights activists have asked Mr Tusk to consider legalisation of civil unions, the introduction of comprehensive sexual education in schools and the ban of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

While many predicted that the new Prime Minister would usher in an era of reform, others remain cautious but hopeful.

Although the PO is looking to repair ties with the European Union, it takes a similarly conservative position to the former ruling party, the right-wing Law and Justice, on many issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, the current President, caused controversy within the LGBT community for their anti-gay stance.

The pair banned several gay pride marches in the country and on a state visit to Ireland at the beginning of this year Lech Kaczynski said that the promotion of homosexuality would lead to the eventual destruction of the human race.

Clinton leads opponents after debate

2007-11-20T15:38:00.001+02:00

The word on the street is that Hillary Clinton was the star performer during last week's Democratic presidential debates held in Las Vegas.

Pundits across the United States crowned the New York senator queen of the night with just seven weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.

The Los Angeles Times, for instance, said that although Clinton's challengers to the throne, Barack Obama and John Edwards, tried to knock her from her position at the head of the pack, they didn't succeed.

"After spending the first seven Democratic presidential debates largely above the fray, the senator from New York fired back, suggesting that Obama had failed to take a strong stand in favour of universal healthcare," suggested Los Angeles Times writers Mark Barabak and Scott Martelle.

The New York Times offered up a similar summary of the evening's events.

"The most striking change from the seven previous debates was that Mrs. Clinton no longer stayed above the fray, and instead addressed her rivals by name, criticizing their positions and rebutting them as much as the moderator would allow," wrote Patrick Healy and Jeff Zeleny.

David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register not only suggested that Clinton turned in the most solid performance but added that her rivals "blew it. Barack Obama had only an average night, and on a couple of questions he seemed flummoxed."

Healy and Zeleny were not so sure the debate was a washout for Obama.

"The most memorable moments were between Clinton and Obama. They duelled over health care and then over social security, with Obama repeatedly portraying the former First Lady as a traditional politician out of touch with average people.

"Clinton, in turn, suggested that Obama does not understand the partisan nature of Washington, and therefore would not be able to accomplish his ambitious goals."

Yepsen, on the other hand, wrote that "observers can also give lots of points to two of the second-tier candidates, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson. They turned in articulate, Presidential-style performances during the evening."

Murphy-O'Connor: plans for easier lesbian IVF "profoundly wrong"

2007-11-19T11:15:00.000+02:00

The Government's plans to allow lesbian couples to use IVF to bring up children without any lasting involvement from the father have come under fire from politicians and religious leaders.

The leader of Britain's Catholic Church, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, criticised the planned Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill , saying that it is "profoundly wrong" to allow lesbian couples to conceive children in this way. In a letter to The Times, he claims that it subordinates the rights of the child to the desire of the women.

"The Bill proposes to remove the need for IVF providers to take into account the child's need for a father when considering an IVF application, and to confer legal parenthood on people who have no biological relationship to a child born as a result of IVF.

"This radically undermines the place of the father in a child's life, and makes the natural rights of the child subordinate to the desires of the couple. It is profoundly wrong."

The Bill would also allow new cloning techniques to eliminate life-threatening inherited illnesses. In addition, "three-parent" children could be created for lesbian couples where DNA is taken from the couple together with the sperm of a donor.

Former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, said he will oppose the bill with rebel Labour MPs saying: "Just as we are beginning to appreciate the vital role fathers play in the successful upbringing of children, Labour ministers are sending out the utterly wrong signal that fathers don't
matter."

At least 45 Labour MPs have signed a motion saying the bill is "profoundly misinformed and clearly undermine the best interests of the child"

Supporters include the Humanist Liberal Democrat MP, Dr Evan Harris. He told The Times: "The research evidence is clear that children do well in lesbian households and when brought up by mature solo women who plan their motherhood, so imposing a requirement on clinics to consider the need for a father in such cases is both unjustified and unlawful discrimination."

"The Conservatives' bizarre wish to impose fathers on lesbian households suggests that some Tories simply don’t understand anything beyond their own traditional backgrounds."

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said: "At a time when three million children in this country are growing up in single-parent households, it seems odd there should be this obsession with a few hundred who have an opportunity to have a second loving parent."

Perhaps reflecting the wider view of the leadership of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu will oppose the Bill in the House of Lords.

Anger at new US restrictions on HIV+ visitors

2007-11-18T18:55:00.000+02:00

New regulations issued by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which claim to offer a "streamlined," "categorical" waiver for HIV-positive people visiting the country have been criticised by American AIDS activists and immigration reform advocates.

Under current US immigration law, any foreign national who tests positive for HIV is "inadmissible," meaning he is barred from permanent residence and even short-term travel in the United States.

There are waivers available to this rule, but obtaining them has always been difficult.

The White House used World Aids Day last year to announce a change in the rules relating to people with HIV travelling into the USA.

The ban originates from 1987, when fear about the spread of the disease led US officials to require anyone with HIV to declare their status and apply for a special waiver visa.

This led to many people not declaring their status upon arrival. It also meant that no international AIDS conferences could be held on US soil.

President Bush announced that HIV+ people would be granted a "categorical waiver," similar to the 60 day automatic visas that UK business and tourist visitors receive.

Nearly a year later, the DHS has finally issued proposed regulations which Immigration Equality, an organisation that works to end discrimination in US immigration law, claims will make it even harder to get a short-term waiver.

The new regulations purport to speed up the waiver application process because consular officers would be empowered to make decisions on waiver applications without seeking DHS sign off.

However, by using this "streamlined" application process, waiver applicants would have to agree to give up the ability to apply for any change in status while in the U.S., including applying for legal permanent residence.

"Unfortunately, despite using the terms 'streamlined' and 'categorical,' in reality these regulations are neither," said Victoria Neilson, Legal Director of Immigration Equality.

"More than two decades into this epidemic, the United States continues to stigmatise people with HIV and treat this illness unlike any other virus.

"Creating insurmountable hurdles to travel does nothing to protect the American public from HIV."

Under the new rules, a visitor would need to travel with all the medication he would need during his stay in the US, prove that he has medical insurance that is accepted in the US and would cover any medical contingency, and prove that he won't engage in
behaviour that might "put the American public at risk."

The maximum term of the waiver would be 30 days.

United States is one of only 13 countries in the world, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, which ban travel for individuals who are HIV-positive.

"As written, the rule could leave individuals with HIV who obtain asylum in the U.S. in a permanent limbo; forever barred from obtaining legal permanent residence, and therefore cut-off from services, benefits, and employment opportunities," said Nancy Ordover, Assistant Director of Research and Federal Affairs for Gay Men's Health Crisis.

"It seems very disingenuous that the government is claiming to make things easier for people with HIV, but it's really compelling them to forfeit their rights."

In July the European Commission quietly approved an agreement which gives the DHS unprecedented access to the personal information of anyone on a transatlantic flight, including details of their sexual orientation.

The DHS insists on the right to use the information for disease control, and there are fears that gay passengers may be singled out as possible HIV risks.

The plans involve upgrading information which is already sent by airlines to the DHS on the 4-million-plus Britons who visit the US every year, including payment details, home address and the passengers in-flight meal choice.

The agreement adds 19 possible new categories, including information on ethnic origin, political and philosophical opinions, credit card numbers, trade union membership, sex life and details of the passengers' health.

The information will be provided by passengers when making bookings.

The US is not required to provide this information about its citizens.

Franco Frattini, vice president of the European Commission, said more sensitive information would be filtered out, and only used, "in exceptional cases, and to fight terrorism and other serious crimes."

Gay rights group suggests sending flowers to Ahmadinejad

2007-11-18T18:51:00.000+02:00

The Iranian Queer Organisation IRQO is asking people to send two flowers to the President of Iran as a protest against the treatment of gay and lesbian people under his regime.

The idea grew out of the campaign to stop Iranian lesbian Pegah Emambakhsh being deported from the UK.

Her supporters sent thousands of bunches of flowers to her while she was in detention, which caused disruption and helped highlight her case.

Ms Emambakhsh is now out of detention and awaiting her application for ayslum to be heard by The Court of Appeal.

IRQO said in a statement:

"In Iran the courts continue to sentence women, political activists, young people, free thinkers and homosexuals to death.

"There is a need to approach the Iranian President, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, and the judges and tell them, in a peaceful but firm way, that life is sacred in every part of the world and according to all religions - that always invite the faithful to be compassionate.

"It is for this reason that we are asking you to send a white flower (symbol of life) and a red flower (symbol of blood) to Ahmadinejad, asking him not to spill the blood of other innocent victims, and to abandon the path of terror and violence."

In September President Ahmadinejad said in reply to a question posed about homosexuality during his speech at New York's Columbia University:

"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country... In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it."

Despite his claim, Iranian human rights campaigners estimate that 4,000 gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs came to power in 1979.

According to the gay rights group OutRage! "the Islamic Republic of Iran is qualitatively more homophobic than any other state on earth.

"Its government-promoted and religiously sanctioned torture and execution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people marks out Iran as a state acting in defiance of all agreed international human rights conventions."

The Islamic Sharia law followed in Iran makes gay sex illegal, with penalty of death for offenders as young as 14 years old.

Iran caused international outrage in 2005 when two Iranian teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari, 15 and Ayaz Marhoni, 17, from Khuzestan province, were witnessed engaging in homosexual activities in a semi-public area and were hanged for perverting Islamic law.

Singapore reverses ban on Xbox game with lesbian scene

2007-11-18T18:20:00.000+02:00

Computer game Mass Effect will now be sold in Singapore with an M18 rating, it has been announced.

On Tuesday the deputy director of Singapore's Board of Film Censors said that because of "a scene of lesbian intimacy" the game has been "disallowed."

Now the board has said that some "highly anticipated" games will be allowed on sale in Singapore ahead of the introduction of a new ratings system in January.

"The statement (from the board) said that 'this will allow such games to enter the market with immediacy and give the industry and members of the public a better understanding of the benefits of the proposed games classification system,'" reports the Straits Times.

The furore about the game seems to have passed the UK censors by, as the game has been given a 12 rating by the British Board of Film Classification.

"The violence is undetailed and takes place in a futuristic setting," according to the BBFC classification information.

"The single sex scene is brief and undetailed, although there is breast nudity in one version of the scene.

"The sex scene is triggered by the player making a series of choices about becoming more than friends with a colleague.

"If playing as a male character the scene can take place between him and a human woman or a humanoid female alien.

"If playing as a female character the scene can take place between her and a male human or a female humanoid alien.

"The game also contains use of the word 'bastard' and at least one aggressive use of the word 'bitch'. Both of which are acceptable under BBFC Guidelines at '12'."

Gaming site Joystiq had previously questioned why BioWare, the creators of Mass Effect, have allowed lesbian sex but not gay male encounters between characters.

"The game allows for alien lesbian sex, but not any type of male-on-male sex," wrote Alexander Sliwinski.

"Furthermore, all non-alien sex has to be heterosexual.

"The same-sex love issue is by now well-tread territory for BioWare.

"Most fans know by now that Juhani from Knights of the Old Republic is a lesbian and Jade Empire allowed same-sex romance for both genders.

"So why should it be different in Mass Effect?

"Does BioWare think that their audience will clamour for girl-on-alien-girl action while recoiling from man-on-man love?

"And why is lesbian sex only OK if it involves another species? This odd double standard makes us wonder if the game will be a step forward or back for sexual politics."

To watch a clip of the lesbian scene click here.

Tutu hits out at Church of England over treatment of gays

2007-11-18T18:14:00.001+02:00

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican church for being "obsessed" with homosexuality, in a BBC radio interview to be broadcast on Tuesday. He said that if he believed that God was homophobic, he wouldn't be a Christian.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, said he was ashamed of his church because of its treatment of gays. He said that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican communion, has not demonstrated the attributes of a "welcoming God" to homosexuals.

"Our world is facing problems -- poverty, HIV and AIDS -- a devastating pandemic, and conflict," Tutu said.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

He said that the Church acted in an "extraordinarily homophobic" way during the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

Asked if he still felt ashamed, he replied: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.

"If God as they say is homophobic I wouldn't worship that God."

"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race infected society."

During his visiting Professorship at Kings College, London in 2004, he spoke out against homophobia

Nicaragua to decriminalise gay sex

2007-11-18T18:11:00.000+02:00

Consensual gay sex will no longer be a criminal offence in Nicaragua under a new civil code due to come into effect on March 2008.

The surprise news was announced earlier this week by the Nicaraguan National Assembly, reports La Prensa.

Under old legislation passed in 1992, "anyone who induces, promotes, propagandises or practices sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex commits the crime of sodomy and shall incur one to three years' imprisonment."

This article criminalises not only gay men, lesbians and bisexual people in same-sex relationships, but is vague enough to permit the prosecution of individuals for activities such as campaigning for LGBT rights or anyone providing sexual health information or services.

Nicaragua's new code removes all reference to this, reflecting changing social mores in a country which Amnesty International targeted this year for contradicting numerous provisions in international human rights law.

The vast majority of countries throughout the Americas have abolished their sodomy laws.

Josй Pallais, president of the Nicaraguan Parliament's Commission of Justice and Legal Issues, said the changes marked a modernisation, placing legal rights over the state's moral code.

He added: "We are not creating a code of the Catholic Church here, we are creating a democratic code under modern principles and principles of legality."

Abortion will remain illegal, however, after insufficient legislative support to change the law.

Anti-gay church vows to take control of Microsoft

2007-11-18T18:02:00.000+02:00

An evangelical Christian pastor has vowed to take over Microsoft, one of the world's largest companies by packing it with shareholders who will vote against their policy of advocating gay rights.

The Reverend Ken Hutcherson, a former Dallas Cowboys player is the self proclaimed head of the Antioch Bible Church, based in Redmond, the home of Microsoft's headquarters.

Microsoft has a strong diversity policy and LGBT staff enjoy a well-funded employee group.

Mr Hutcherson told a shareholders' meeting that he would be the company's "worst nightmare", threatening that he has the support of not only the 3,500 members of his church, but perhaps also millions of evangelical Christians and orthodox Jews.

"There are 256 Fortune 500 companies alone pouring millions upon millions of dollars into pushing the homosexual agenda," he told the Daily Telegraph. "I consider myself a warrior for Christ. Microsoft don't scare me. I got God with me."

"I told them that you need to work with me or we will put a fire-storm on you like you have never seen in you life because I am your worst nightmare. I am a black man with a righteous cause with a whole host of powerful white people behind me."

Asked why he as a black man grew up during segregation could advocate discrimination, Mr Hutcherson said: "How many homosexuals have you ever seen had to ride on the back of a bus? I haven't seen one. I know that many blacks have in the past.

"I've never seen an ex-black. Michael Jackson couldn't even achieve that. But I've seen ex-gays. We minister to them every day. We talk to them about how to get out of that sin."

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft is no stranger to the LGBT community. In July, a company that invests his wealth purchased a major stake in PlanetOut, the publishers of the Advocate and dating website Gay.com

Cascade Investments LLC joined with a number of other private equity vehicles including Special Situations Funds, SF Capital Partners, PAR Investment Partners LP and Allen & Company LLC to fund a rescue buyout of PlanetOut stock, collectively making them the largest shareholders in PlanetOut.