Army sergeant denies sending texts to lesbian soldier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.