Activists Hopeful on Repealing Anti-Homosexuality Law in Jamaica

viaThe Guardian by Sarah Boseley

They are one of the world's most beleaguered gay communities, brutalised by violence, hounded by a law that makes homosexual acts a crime and driven into the shadows in a country where four in five people admit they are homophobic. But now gay people in Jamaica are cautiously optimistic that change may be in the air.

A new government has begun making noises about an end to discrimination and repealing an anti-gay law. Portia Simpson Miller, standing for election as prime minister in December, declared that "no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation", and indicated she would be willing to have gay people in her cabinet. "I certainly do not pry or do not have any intention to pry into the private business of anyone," she said. She won by a landslide.

Maurice Tomlinson, a Jamaican law lecturer and legal adviser to the advocacy group Aids-Free World, says he is delighted by the change of mood – although it has yet to lift the sense of insecurity felt by Jamaica's gay community. Tomlinson, a prominent voice for gay rights on the island, has fled his home because of death threats that followed his marriage to his male partner in Canada after a picture was published in the Toronto Star.

"I was advised to go into hiding," said Tomlinson, in London to collect an award named after murdered Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato for his advocacy work. "I went into a safe house for about three days because my passport was with the UK high commission waiting for a visa to come here.

"Right now I'm not sure if I will be able to go back to teaching this semester."

Tomlinson says Jamaican police have told him that attitudes on the island are unfortunate but "will not change until the law changes".

Even so, he does not yet want the conscience vote on the sodomy law that the prime minister suggested during the election. "Over 80% of Jamaicans have identified as homophobic," he says. "We want more time to explain to the Jamaican people how harmful the law is."

He wants them to know that the law contributes to the spread of HIV, which has a 32% infection rate among gay men compared with 1.6% in Jamaica's general population. Fear of being attacked and murdered drives lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people to hide their sexuality. The prevalence of HIV puts them at risk but they do not get help to stay safe. Some gay men marry in a bid to seem straight to the outside world and that puts their wives and children at risk of HIV, says Tomlinson.

Read the Rest.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Obama and Clinton Pledge to Protect Gay Rights Throughout the World

via The New York Times, by Stephen Lee Myers

The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that the United States would use all the tools of American diplomacy, including the potent enticement of foreign aid, to promote gay rights around the world.

In a memorandum issued by President Obama in Washington and in a speech by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton here, the administration vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize homosexual conduct, abuse gay men, lesbians, bisexuals or transgendered people, or ignore abuse against them.

“Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and distinct,” Mrs. Clinton said at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, “but in fact they are one and the same.”

Neither Mr. Obama nor Mrs. Clinton specified how to give the initiative teeth. Caitlin Hayden, the National Security Council’s deputy spokeswoman, said the administration was “not cutting or tying” foreign aid to changes in other nation’s practices.

Still, raising the issue to such prominence on the administration’s foreign policy agenda is important, symbolically, much like President Jimmy Carter’s emphasis on human rights.

With campaigning already under way in the 2012 presidential contest, Mr. Obama’s announcement could bolster support among gay voters and donors, who have questioned the depth of his commitment. He chose the Rev. Rick Warren, a pastor who opposes same-sex marriage, to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. Mr. Obama himself has not come out officially in favor of same-sex marriage. But he successfully pushed for repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prevented gays from serving openly in the military. And the Justice Department has said it will no longer defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The initiative also invites attacks from Republicans trying to appeal to a conservative base in the primary and caucus states.
One Republican candidate, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, said: “President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”
It could also irritate some American allies, including countries like Turkey, where there have been reports of harassment, and Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is banned and sex between people of the same sex is punishable by death or flogging.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Global Coalition for MSM Health and Human Rights Announces Five-Year Strategy

via The Global Forum on MSM and HIV

A global coalition of concerned stakeholders has come together to develop a collaborative strategy to promote the health and human rights of men who have sex with men (MSM). The group of more than 40 participants from over 25 countries, half of whom are people living with HIV, convened as part of a community-led process to create a five-year strategic plan for the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF).

“There are very few venues for different sectors of the global MSM response to come together from around the world to strategize on a collective way forward,” said Dr. George Ayala, Executive Officer of the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF). “This was an opportunity for grassroots advocates, service providers, researchers, regional MSM networks, multilaterals and major funders to talk face to face about where we need to go as a global movement and the most effective way to get there. The results are quite significant.”

The strategic plan, released earlier today, lays out five priority areas to maximize impact in MSM communities across the globe: promoting health; advancing human rights; improving information and research; increasing investment; and facilitating partnership and engagement with local advocates. Each of these priority areas is to be addressed using three primary strategies: monitoring community-level experience; initiating and supporting advocacy; and strengthening community systems.

“This meeting has come at a crucial juncture in the course of the global epidemic,” said Othman Mellouk, a member of the MSMGF’s Executive Committee. “HIV rates are still unacceptably high among MSM in every world region, yet the response is extremely under-resourced and program coverage is abysmally low. The full spectrum of the global MSM response must work together to meet these challenges with a coordinated strategy. This plan is a rally call for that kind of action.”

MSM bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic around the world, with infection rates among MSM passing 20% in countries as diverse as Thailand, Mexico and Senegal. Despite the clear need for programs and resources, less than 2% of international funding for HIV prevention is targeted at MSM and fewer than 40 out of 184 countries report to UNAIDS that they have national targets for HIV program coverage for MSM. Current data indicates that fewer than one in ten MSM are reached by HIV prevention programs worldwide.

The new document will guide the MSMGF’s work to respond to this crisis over the next five years in coordination with MSM movements that have emerged at the country and regional level. Building on significant recent developments in research and policy, the plan aims to ensure that the MSMGF is investing time and resources in programs that are highly effective, align with the needs of regional networks, and support the work of grassroots implementers across diverse global contexts.

“In the coming years, the MSMGF will be engaged in a number of collaborations and in-country technical support initiatives across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East,” said Dr. Ayala. “This plan provides our organization with a comprehensive blueprint for effective action, a strategy that has use beyond the MSMGF for all sectors of the global MSM response. The completion of the document is not the end of a process, but rather the beginning of a continuing global dialogue on how we can work together for the health and human rights of MSM around the world.”

Read the full Strategic Plan here.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Kenyan ex-pat (and IRMA Steering Committee Member) aims to help gay countrymen

[We are so proud of IRMA Steering Committee Larry Misedah - shown on the left in the pic below. His compelling story is a must-read. Of note, Larry will be joining a group of IRMA members in Addis Ababa this December for Project ARM - Africa for Rectal Microbicides organizing and strategizing activities taking place in advance of the ICASA 2011 conference.]


via Bay Area Reporter, by Heather Cassell

Excerpt:

Until recently, Kenyan LGBT individuals were isolated, believing they were the only ones in their community; some expressed the desire to take their own lives, said Misedah. Older gay and lesbian individuals were forced to marry people of the opposite sex. Younger queer Kenyans felt comfort from their problems with alcohol, said Misedah, who also felt the cold hand of isolation until he came out.

Coming out liberated Misedah, he no longer suffered from the isolation and instead became a beacon for others.

"I felt sort of obliged in order to speak for those who did not have a voice," said Misedah. "I just felt that we needed to speak more and let the society know the challenges that LGBTI people were facing."

He worked first with Ishtar MSM, one of Kenya's first organizations to provide health services to men who have sex with men. He served as the spokesman for Sexual Minorities Uganda's first media campaign. Misedah, in collaboration with IGLHRC, drafted the first Declaration on Transgender Rights for Central and East Africa in 2007 and continued to work on capacity building in Africa with IGLHRC. He spoke at the African AIDS conference in 2009.

Misedah, among others, risked the threat of up to 14 years of imprisonment under Kenya's penal codes sections 162 and 165 for attempted or homosexual behavior under "carnal knowledge against the order of nature."

Misedah, who came from a well-to-do family, found himself banished from his family and cut off from his educational support at the university, where he eventually obtained his bachelor's degree in environmental planning and management, he said.

Usually, families look the other way in regards to their LGBT family members who have financial resources and contribute to their families. Poor queer Kenyans, however, often find themselves in "deep trouble," said Misedah.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Meet Amadou Moreau: Another New Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate!

“Advocating for the cause of minority groups in general is on my everyday to do list.”

Amadou Moreau is an IRMA advocate from Dakar, Senegal. There he is also a sociologist and demographer and Vice President of Global Initiatives at the Global Research and Advocacy Group (GRAG) - and he loves his job. HIV related matters are among key issues GRAG advocates for, as well as youth education across the developing world and gender-based violence.

He stays up to date on IRMA through the listserv and is hoping to become more involved through greater collaboration between IRMA and GRAG. He believes this relationship could be an asset to “enhance education and advocacy initiatives” and that IRMA collaboration with other groups, like GRAG, could do the same.

To Amadou, rectal microbicides are important among new HIV prevention technologies because they could be easy and safe to use and could add an important element to prevention packages. He has learned that across the developing world, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, it is not easy to advocate for rectal microbicides. However, he believes that with commitment and creativity IRMA advocates can succeed. He is excited to work with IRMA to bring more positive change to those who need it most.

Read more Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate bios.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

SWAZILAND: HIV prevalence among factory workers "50 percent"

Via PlusNews.

A new government study has found that more than half of workers in Swaziland’s garment industry are living with HIV, and officials are realizing that the once-hailed promise of manufacturing employment has become a financial and medical nightmare for tens of thousands of Swazi women.

“HIV prevalence among factory workers is 50.3 percent,” said Nhlanhla Nhlabatsi, an epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health. Nhlabatsi presented the data last week as preliminary findings for Swaziland’s first Behaviour Sentinel Surveillance Report to be released in its entirety later in the year.

About 30,000 Swazis, mostly women, are employed in garment factories financed by Taiwanese investors and operated by managers from mainland China.

The survey also found that most factory workers were well informed about HIV/AIDS, and 90 percent of workers interviewed were aware of the female condom and other methods of preventing HIV.

Government officials will now begin investigating the gap between knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention and workers’ susceptibility to HIV. The prevalence rate for textile industry employees is significantly higher than the 26 percent rate among sexually active adult Swazis.

“Women comprise the largest number of workers at the garment industry plants. They work long hours at wages so low some of them are known to turn to prostitution to support themselves and their families,” said Alicia Simelane, an HIV testing and counselling officer at the Matsapha Industrial Estate, where Swaziland’s industry is concentrated outside the commercial hub of Manzini.

The link between “sweatshop” wages and the risk of HIV has been known for years, but the statistical impact of the risk is only becoming apparent now.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Homophobia stymies HIV fight in Islamic countries

Via New Scientist, by Andy Coghlan.

Stigma and homophobia against gay men is hampering efforts to manage a growing epidemic of HIV in Islamic countries, warn epidemiologists this week.

"The stigma is a barrier to HIV prevention services," says Laith Abu-Raddad of the Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar in Doha. He heads up a team that is assembling, for the first time, data from the Islamic world on the growing prevalence of HIV in practising gay men.

They report that the arrival of HIV in the gay community has been relatively recent compared with other regions of the world, but warn that it is on the rise. In Pakistan, for example, the prevalence of HIV in transgender male sex workers rose from 0.8 per cent in 2005 to 6.4 per cent just three years later.

Historically, HIV epidemics have often begun in minority, high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men or intravenous drug users, then spread to the general population. A problem in much of the Islamic world is that men having sex with men is illegal. That, coupled with homophobia, hampers efforts to contain the virus by making gay men too scared to seek treatment, a pattern that has been seen in eastern European countries, India and sub-Saharan Africa.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Former Ex-Gay Ugandan Man Now Regrets Past Homophobic Comments

Via Behind the Mask.

A man who in 2009 renounced homosexuality at a public forum in Kampala has now told Behind the Mask that he regrets his previous actions and would like to be forgiven by the LGBTI community.

Saying that he felt “there is a fire in the belly saying gay is really who you are,” Mr George Oundo, known amongst Uganda’s LGBTI community as “Ms Georgina,” said that although he had renounced homosexuality on national media, at an opportune time he would ask the Kuchu community (Ugandan slang for LGBTI) to take him back.

Speaking on Wednesday July 27, 2011 to Behind the Mask outside the magistrate’s court in Kampala where three Christian evangelist preachers have been charged with making homophobic smears against a rival preacher, the now former ex-gay Oundo said he once again believed, “being gay is natural and inborn.”

The accused preachers, their lawyers, Henry Ddungu and David Kaggwa, together with David Mukalazi and Deborah Kyomuhendo (agents of the accused) face charges of conspiring to injure Pastor Robert Kayanja’s reputation by claiming that Kayanja sodomised boys in his church. The two lawyers are charged with allegedly commissioning false affidavits.

In March 2009 Oundo spoke at a Christian seminar and said he previously supported homophobic preacher Martin Sempa and legislator Mr David Bahati in their claims that homosexuals recruit children in schools and deserve the death penalty.

Speaking on Wednesday however, the now former ex-gay man said that he regrets the comments.

Looking sad, Mr Oundo, who once helped to establish an LGBTI human rights advocacy group in Kampala, said that although the preachers had given him some money and built him a house in Muyenga-Bukasa, a posh suburb of Kampala, he still had gay feelings. “I have never even become born again. I just do not want to be born again.”

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

U.S. to Take Another Look at Gay Blood Donation Ban

Via the National Journal, by Maggie Fox.

A policy that bars gay men from donating blood for life is “suboptimal,” advisers to the Health and Human Services Department said on Tuesday, and needs another look.

HHS asked a committee of experts on blood and tissue donations to reexamine the policy and see if there is a way to let at least some gays donate blood.

“If the data indicate that a change is possible while protecting the blood supply, we will consider a change to the policy,” HHS said in a statement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an HHS agency, has banned blood donation by any man who has had homosexual sex because of the risk of the AIDS virus. Soon after the AIDS pandemic began in the 1980s, people such as hemophiliacs who received frequent blood transfusions or blood products began to become infected with the deadly and incurable virus.

Men who have sex with other men, including gay and bisexual men, have an HIV infection rate 60 times higher than that of the general population, the FDA says. They have an infection rate 800 times higher than first-time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than the rate of repeat blood donors. Tests cannot pick up a new HIV infection in the blood with 100 percent accuracy; because blood is often pooled, many people may be at risk from a single infected donor.

But the Red Cross, always struggling with blood shortages, and other groups such as gay-rights organizations oppose the blanket policy. They say that there are other ways to screen out donors at high risk of HIV infection. Sen. John Kerry, D–Mass., has also been pushing for a change in policy.

“We’ve been working on this a long time in a serious way, and I’m glad Secretary [Kathleen] Sebelius responded with concrete steps to finally remove this policy from the books,” Kerry said in a statement. “HHS is doing their due diligence, and we plan to stay focused on the endgame – a safe blood supply and an end to this discriminatory ban.”

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Homophobia in Ghana

Understanding the Drivers of Homophobia in Ghana

Via PlusNews.

Recent condemnation of homosexuality by religious and political leaders in Ghana has led to a climate of fear preventing men who have sex with men (MSM) from accessing vital health services, say local NGOs.

The minister of Ghana’s Western Region, Paul Evans Aidoo, publicly described homosexuality as “detestable and abominable” after media reports in late May that 8,000 homosexuals had registered with health NGOs in the country’s west (the information appears to come from records kept by the NGOs of people who accessed services for MSM). Aidoo has since called for increased security in the region and the arrest of all homosexuals. Other religious leaders and politicians have followed suit, condemning homosexual activity.

As a result, far fewer MSM are accessing safe sex education and support programmes run by the Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights (CEPEHRG) to prevent the spread of HIV, said MacDarling Cobbinah from the Coalition against Homophobia in Ghana and a member of CEPEHRG.

“It has brought about a lot of fear and stigma for the people. It is difficult to organize programmes,” Cobbinah said. “It is very difficult for people to walk freely on the street… The call for arrest has really pushed people down.”

He added that one of his colleagues was recently accused of being gay and beaten up by a group of men.

Cobbinah said numbers had dropped at a regular HIV peer education programme that once had more than 20 people attending; two weeks ago only half the people came, and last week no one came, he told IRIN on 27 July. “They said, ‘If we come, we might be arrested.'”

An estimated 25 percent of Ghanaian MSM were HIV-positive in 2006, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to the UN World Health Organization, since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s, MSM have been disproportionately affected by HIV. The organization said social discrimination of MSM led them to delay or avoid seeking HIV-related information, care and services.

Other organizations in Ghana are also facing obstacles to providing vital services. An NGO based in the Western Region’s capital Sekondi-Takoradi, which distributes condoms and safe sex information to MSM, told IRIN that since Aidoo increased security and called for arrests they have felt threatened.

Male-to-male sexual relations are a crime in Ghana. Considered a misdemeanor, it carries a maximum sentence of six months, according to Kissi Agyabeng, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana. However, despite Aidoo’s calls for a crackdown, arrests do not yet appear to be taking place.

A spokesperson for the Sekondi-Takoradi NGO, who did not want his name or the organization’s name published for security reasons, said the NGO was now coming under pressure from the government to stop their work on HIV prevention if they did not reveal the names of MSM who have registered to use their services.

Stopping this work would affect thousands of people. In 2008, 2,900 people accessed their services, and by this year numbers had quadrupled, the spokesperson said.

...

Read the rest of the article here. For a fascinating personal story from a gay Ghanaian, read Paula Stromberg's article A Good Day in Ghana here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Building the momentum to prevent HIV in MSM

Via The Lancet, by Thomas J Coates.

Larry Kramer, on accepting the Tony Award last month from the Theatre Guild-American Theatrical Society for The Normal Heart as Best Revival of a Play said: “To gay people everywhere, whom I love so dearly…we are a very special people, an exceptional people, and…our day will come.” My day came in 1982 when I secured an Assistant Professorship in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. I set about establishing a behavioural medicine clinic fully integrated into general medicine practices, researching chronic disease prevention, and teaching interns and residents about psychological issues. One guest speaker, a social worker, led a discussion with the residents about the special medical needs of gay men. He was dead a month later from what later became known as AIDS.

The “special and exceptional people” cited by Kramer had lived through the 1970s and fought for human rights in the USA. That was followed in 1981 with the scourge of AIDS that could have knocked the wind out of the gay community. Instead, the community rallied and used its skills and talents to advocate for resources to develop community-based systems of care and prevention, and to ensure that human rights were not trampled.

Unleashing that energy and skill to build a global movement to improve HIV prevention and care services for men who have sex with men (MSM) is long overdue. Momentum is building and Chris Beyrer and co-authors make an important contribution. The Global HIV Epidemics among Men Who Have Sex with Men documents the extent of the HIV epidemic and outlines what needs to happen to ensure that everything possible is being done to prevent and treat HIV infection in MSM worldwide.

This volume documents the need in terms of the numbers, but also addresses the scenarios in which HIV epidemics among MSM exist in low-income and middle-income countries. The first scenario they describe, characterising the HIV epidemic in most of Latin America, is one in which MSM are the predominant exposure mode for HIV infection in the population. In these countries MSM are ten to over 100 times more likely to have HIV than the general population. By contrast, eastern Europe and central Asia have the highest rates of HIV among injection drug users (IDUs), but MSM are still several times more likely to have HIV than the general population. A different scenario is found in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV is widespread among heterosexuals, but even in these contexts MSM can have two to 20 times higher prevalence of HIV than the general population estimates. South, southeast, and northeast Asia are characterised by epidemics that have equal contributions from MSM, IDUs, and heterosexuals, although MSM are still at least ten times more likely to have HIV than the general population.

The needs come not only from the numbers. Beyrer and his co-authors document well the lack of prevention technologies focused on male-to-male transmission. They note that much effort has been expended on encouraging voluntary HIV counselling, testing, and behavioural interventions to decrease rates of unprotected anal intercourse by encouraging less risky sexual behaviours. Although important, such strategies are probably insufficient to produce immediate or lasting change in HIV transmission. Male circumcision may be effective for reducing acquisition of HIV through anal intercourse but we will never know for sure because of the challenges of conducting a trial to prove efficacy. Antiretroviral-based prophylactic approaches provide the best opportunity for managing HIV among MSM. In the wake of the IPREX, CAPRISA 004, and HPTN 052 trials, it is now time to accelerate efforts to determine if similar benefits can be obtained with rectal use of these or similar compounds. In some countries, like Peru where the epidemic is concentrated in MSM, providing universal access to care with MSM-sensitive services could actually change the overall trajectory of disease spread.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

UPDATE ON UGANDA GAY-DEATH BILL

Via Mamba Online.

A member of parliament in Uganda says that the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill is likely to be made law within two months.

MP Otto Odonga, a member of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in the country’s new parliament, told US professor and blogger Warren Throckmorton via Skype that the bill's author, David Bahati, will re-introduce the legislation as soon as possible.

"It will be expedited this time around and passed within one, maybe two months time,” Odonga said.

He added that the current committee would be able to make use of the report supporting the bill issued by the previous committee during the last parliament.

In May, legislators failed to debate and vote on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill after that parliamentary session ran out of time and was dissolved.

Originally introduced in October 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill allows for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality” and includes various criminal penalties for anyone who fails to turn over gay people to the police or who "promotes" homosexuality.

An international petition opposing the bill was signed by over 1.6 million people. It has been condemned by numerous governments around the world, some threatening to suspend aid to Uganda if it is passed.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Gay Pride Rally in St. Petersburg Banned, Participants Arrested: Blog Updates

Via UK Gay News.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

10:35: Nice weather over St. Petersburg today. The city is enjoying what is called white nights. During this time of the year, there is light until very late at night.

12:45: A witness reports a lot of police near the monument to Peter the Great in central St. Petersburg. Skinhead groups have not yet been seen. The action is due to start in 75 minutes from now.

13:20: Details of the action are known to GayRussia but for safety reasons, we cannot write about it... a few more minutes to wait.

13:43: Anti-Gay groups which have been allowed by the city hall to stage an anti-gay protest a week ago did not show up – yet.

13:45: A first group is celebrating Pride on a boat, waiving Rainbow flags in front of the Statue to Peter the Great which is located near the river Neva. The boat is passing and tourists are taking photos of the participants waving their flags from the boat.

14:00: A second group started to unveil banners and flags shooting slogans “No to homophobia” or “Equal Rights”. A poster carried by trans activist Anna Komarova showed “Trans Rights are Human Rights”, one carried by Nikolai Alekseev played with the rumour that St Petersburg governor is alcoholic: “Alcoholism is a disease, homosexuality is not”. An another one carried which cannot be translated said “сосуЛИ Я? Тебя волнует?”

14:02: Everyone with a banner has been arrested. A very short action but participants have been able to waive their slogans in front of a large group of photo correspondents, TV crews and journalists.

14:05: Police have arrested a homophobe and are taking him to a police van. As he is being put into the van, he is giving Nikolai Alekseev ‘the finger’ While entering the van, he is showing Nikolai Alekseev with the finger and said “If you put me with him, I will kill him”. He is finally put in the same bus but in a separate compartment.

14:14: From the police van, Nikolai Alekseev explains: “We had a Pride of two minutes before being arrested and a homophobe started to attack us.”

14:40: Anna Komarova reports that Alexey Kiselev was beaten by a police officer inside the police station.

14:47: Nikolai Alekseev reports that after he told the police he will tweet about the beating of Alexey Kiselev inside the police station, the police replied to him: “Please tweet hello from me to Dmitri Medvedev”

14:55 Alexander Sheremetev, one of the organizers of Slavic Pride was beaten by a homophobe at the protest. His attacker has also been arrested.

16:25: The police said the activists will be charged with organising an illegal action but perhaps also of resisting police order. This second charge could lead to a 15-day prison sentence.

17:55: Nikolai Alekseev reports that he is with others in one room while trans rights activist Anna Komarova is in a cell without access to mobile phone.

Alexander Sheremetiev

19:00: Alexander Sheremetiev, one of the organisers who was attacked by a homophobe during the action has been taken to hospital in an emergency under police escort.

20:20: Andy Thayer from Gay Liberation Network is asking American, and a ‘veteran’ of three Gay Prides in Moscow has just said that he is calling the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. “Gay Pride demonstrators brutally attacked & arrested in St Petersburg, Russia – facing poss 15 days in jail. Flood Russian embassy with calls to protest: 202-338-3263,” Thayer has posted on Facebook. Thayer was among those arrested at Moscow Pride last month.

20:50: In Berlin, gay activists are wasting no time. In 10 minutes (20:00 Central European Time) a protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin. Is scheduled to start. The protest is organised by Norbert Blech, Maik Diekmannshemke, and Charles Meacham who were all in Moscow last month for the Pride. Berlin staged their Gay Pride (Christopher Street Day).

23:30: Detainees managed to keep a mobile phone. They told us that they have been put in two different cells (5 in one and 9 in another). “It is suffocating in this cell and the police denied us water,” said the text message we received.


Sunday, June 26, 2011

01:00: “It is like a torture in this cell. We cannot sleep. It is so hot. We are all wet,” says a text message received from Nikolai Alekseev in his police cell.



The protest in Berlin. Protestors
carry images of those arrested.



9:58: Overnight, Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner, reacted to yesterday’s suppression of Slavic Pride. “The arrest, mistreatment and detention of LGBT activists is illegal under Russia’s constitution, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. It is alarming that this homophobic repression is taking place in Russia’s most liberal city, St Petersburg. The Council of Europe must take disciplinary action against Russia over it’s further violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Russian government must not be allowed to defy the ECHR with impunity.” Tatchell has regularly attended Pride attempts in Moscow since 2006 where he was arrested and severely beaten.

11:00: SMS message from Alexander Sheremetiev: “We are still in the cell, no info on Court hearing. It was supposed to start at 10am but it is 11am now.”

11.20: On Twitter, Nikolai Alekseev reports: “It was my third overnight stay in police detention. One after Moscow Pride in 2007, one after Slavic Pride in Moscow in 2009. It was an unbelievable night. I would say this should be considered as torture. Cell 4 by 2 meters with wooden benches for 10 people.

12.40: The Court hearing has not yet started the hearings.

12.51: Nikolai Alekseev reports from inside the Court via SMS: “Police entered the court room to talk with the judge. No one else is there. You can guess the justice we might have!”

13.18: Nikolai Alekseev reports from Court via Twitter: “Breaking! First court verdict. Anton Sutyagin fined 500 rub (12 euros) for illegal protest, hearing on disobedience postponed to 6 July.”

14.08: Nikolai Alekseev reports by phone: "Alexander Sheremetyev who was beaten by the homophobe at the protest is released. His hearings are transferred to 6 July so he is not fined yet. Varvara Krasutskaya is with me out of the Court, she was also fined 500 roubles. Anna Komarova was fined 1,000 roubles on the basis that he had been arrested before in St. Petersburg.”

14.39: Chief organiser of St. Petersburg Pride and head of Equality, Yuri Gavrikov, is released. Fined 1000 rub, hearing on other charge on 11 July.

14.39: Nikolai Alekseev reports via Twitter: “I adore all who took part in Slavic Pride. Fabulous Belorusians! Amazing locals. So devoted activists.”

Read the rest of the entries here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

David Kato: Lawyer Demands Speedy Trial in Letter to High Court Registrar

Via Behind the Mask.

Six months after the murder of gay rights activist, David Kato, a Ugandan lawyer has written to the Registrar of the High Court demanding a speedy trial.

Mr Francis Onyango, Kato’s lawyer, told Behind the Mask on Thursday June 23, that [if the case took any longer] prosecution witnesses to the case were likely to forget the sequence of events or relocate to other areas in the country. He explained that he had chosen to write to the Registrar in Jinja town because the Mukono High Court where the case is expected to be heard is under the Jinja High Court jurisdiction registry.

Mr Onyango said, the Registrar should take into account the circumstances surrounding Mr. Kato’s death and fix the hearing in the next Criminal season of the high court criminal session. It is not known when the criminal session will begin, although it had earlier been anticipated to start in April this year.

The main suspect, Mr Nsubuga Sydney was charged with Mr Kato’s murder, which is thought to have taken place at Kato’s home in Mukono district, about 25 km east of Kampala.

Judicial officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to make media statements, said there was a back log of election petitions in Uganda’s country court systems resulting from February’s General Election and that these were overwhelming Uganda’s court system.

However, other lawyers said it was most likely the criminal court season would begin in July when courts receive a financial disbursement at the beginning of the government’s fiscal year. Courts need money from government to facilitate witnesses coming to court.

"This (the delay in hearings) will occasion a miscarriage of Justice as the key witnesses will be unavailable to testify,” Mr Onyango said in a letter to the Registrar.

Mr Nsubuga Sydney, Alias Enoch, was recently committed to the High Court from a lower magistrate’s court to begin hearings of the case.

Under Uganda’s Constitution, capital offenders including rape, defilement and rape suspects are not allowed to enter into any plea before magistrates, because the High Court is the only institution with Jurisdiction to try them.

However, legal experts note that it could take four to five years, before the suspect’s trial is completed. On average, suspected criminals in capital spend an average of about two and half years awaiting trial.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

IGLHRC Shocked at Possible Passage of Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill; Rights Protections for All Ugandans Precarious

Press Release via IGLHRC

Contacts:

Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director, IGLHRC (New York)
Tel: (347) 515 0330; Email: cjohnson@iglhrc.org

(New York, 6 May 2011) The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned at reports that the now infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda may be passed by that country's Parliament. The Bill, first introduced in October 2009, was ostensibly "shelved" by Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni following an international outcry. However, public hearings on the Bill took place today in the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. The remaining stages of the legislative process – namely second and third readings of the bill and presidential adoption – could be completed within the remaining week of the current parliamentary session.

"We are shocked that after more than 2 years of engagement with the government of Uganda about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, this heinous piece of legislation may still become law," said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC Executive Director. "Governments, world religious and political leaders, and HIV prevention experts have all appealed to Ugandan parliamentarians to put their distaste and fear of LGBT people aside and use their better judgment for the good of the country."

The Bill reaffirms existing penalties for consensual same-sex relationships, and criminalizes the "promotion of homosexuality" and failure to report homosexual activity. The Parliamentary Committee itself has said that the provisions of the Bill are redundant and unnecessary. Most controversially, the Bill would punish "aggravated homosexuality" – including activity by "serial offenders" or those who are HIV positive – with the death penalty. To IGLHRC's knowledge, the provisions related to the death penalty remain part of the Bill, despite statements by the Bill's author that these would be removed. The Bill not only violates multiple protections guaranteed by the Constitution of Uganda, but also contravenes the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and other international human rights treaties to which Uganda is a party.

"There can be no reason to pass this Bill other than to take the attention of Ugandans – and the rest of the world – away from the fact that Uganda is slipping into political chaos," stated Johnson. "Clearly the issue of homosexuality is being used to deflect attention from the crackdown on democracy and freedom of speech that has led to at least 5 deaths, more than 100 injuries, and hundreds of arrests in the last month. IGLHRC stands firm with all the people of Uganda as they struggle to maintain their freedom and dignity."

See our previous work on Uganda

For more information, visit Uganda's Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law website



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Namibia: HIV Keeps Locals Out of Foreign Universities

Via allAfrica.com, by Jana-Mari Smith

Banning HIV-positive Namibians from obtaining overseas scholarships is discriminatory, unconstitutional and a human rights violation. These, and other concerns, were raised by the AIDS Law Unit at the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) in a press statement yesterday.

The statement referred to recent newspaper advertisements by the Ministry of Education offering international scholarships, which stipulated that Namibians who are HIV positive do not qualify for the opportunity. The ban on HIV-positive applicants from taking up the education opportunities offered by countries such as China, Cuba and the Slovak Republic, among others, goes against the grain of Namibia's purported stance on equal opportunities for all.

One of the advertisements offers a Cuban medical scholarship to young Namibians from low-income families. The notice specifically requires a health certificate "acknowledging HIV-negative tests". A medical scholarship offered by China asks applicants to "undergo a thorough medical check-up, including HIV-AIDS tests". An official at the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) yesterday told a prospective applicant that neither China nor Cuba will accept HIV-positive applicants.

"These are their policies," he said, adding that these countries do not want foreigners to "go and multiply your HIV there". An official at the Directorate of Scholarships and Awards within the Ministry confirmed that an HIV-positive applicant does not stand a chance. "That is their requirement. You cannot go there if you are HIV positive". The press release from the LAC yesterday condemned the condition attached to the scholarship offers. The ostracising of HIV-positive individuals is "discriminatory and unconstitutional".

The LAC argues that the exclusion of HIV-positive students from educational opportunities "unreasonably discriminates against young people living with HIV-AIDS and excludes them from having the same kind of opportunities".

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Fearing No Evil

Via Poz, by Regan Hofmann with Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr.

David Kuria works for the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya where he risks his life daily to provide safe sanctuary and advocacy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Africa and around the world.

Now, he is running for Kenya’s Senate. A basic tenet of his work is showing that a global push for gay rights helps bolster the fight against HIV. His dream? A day when no LGBT person has to choose between being openly gay—or being killed.

In October 2009, David Bahati, a member of Uganda’s parliament, proposed an “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” (a.k.a. the “kill the gays bill”). It was an attempt to legalize a phenomenon spreading around the world: hate crimes against gay people.

Homosexuality is currently illegal in Uganda (and can result in up to a 14-year jail sentence); Bahati’s proposed bill intensifies the criminalization of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with people younger than 18. The bill also includes provisions for Ugandans who engage in same-sex relations outside the country—people can be sent back to Uganda for punishment.

Not that there are many safe places to go; laws against same-sex relations exist in nearly 80 countries. Finally, the bill outlines penalties for individuals, companies, media organizations or nongovernmental organizations that support LGBT rights. (As in, if you know your neighbor’s gay and don’t say so, you can get into huge trouble yourself.) It engenders nothing short of a witch hunt.

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

New recommendations to reach 2015 goals for AIDS response

Via unaids.org

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, investments in the AIDS response are yielding results, according to a new report released today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Titled Uniting for universal access: towards zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, the report highlights that the global rate of new HIV infections is declining, treatment access is expanding and the world has made significant strides in reducing HIV transmission from mother to child.

Between 2001 and 2009, the rate of new HIV infections in 33 countries—including 22 in sub-Saharan Africa—fell by at least 25%. By the end of 2010, more than 6 million people were on antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries. And for the first time, in 2009, global coverage of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV exceeded 50%.
 
“World leaders have a unique opportunity at this critical moment to evaluate achievements and gaps in the global AIDS response,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the press briefing in the Kenyan capital. “We must take bold decisions that will dramatically transform the AIDS response and help us move towards an HIV-free generation.”  
 
“Thirty years into the epidemic, it is imperative for us to re-energise the response today for success in the years ahead,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, who joined Mr Ban for the launch of the report. “Gains in HIV prevention and antiretroviral treatment are significant, but we need to do more to stop people from becoming infected—an HIV prevention revolution is needed now more than ever.”

Mobilizing for impact  In the report there are five recommendations made by the UN Secretary-General to strengthen the AIDS response:

• Harness the energy of young people for an HIV prevention revolution;
• Revitalize the push towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2015; 
• Work with countries to make HIV programmes more cost effective, efficient and sustainable;
• Promote the health, human rights and dignity of women and girls; and Ensure mutual accountability in the AIDS response to translate commitments into action.

Read the full report

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Kenya: How discrimination is a barrier to good health

via guardian.co.uk

Complex issues, such as health and poverty, are often best illustrated by following individuals and showing how the issues affect their lives. That is why the Guardian is producing a series of films about some of the global issues that feature in Christian Aid's manifesto for change, Poverty Over.

The first film – on sexuality-based discrimination, human rights and HIV in Kenya – is available to view here on the Guardian's Christian Aid website from Monday. Same-sex relationships are illegal in the country, but prejudice and fear about them go far deeper than that. This film shows how hatred has a negative impact on the health of gay people in Kenya.

Anti-gay feeling is common in Kenya. Some politicians, religious leaders and sections of the media have stirred up this hatred. In November last year, for instance, the prime minister, Raila Odinga, called for a nationwide crackdown on gay people. Odinga ordered the police to arrest anyone found having sex with someone of the same gender and said that the country's constitution made it clear that homosexual activity was not to be tolerated.

This has obvious implications for men who have sex with other men, as they are often unable to access care if they become infected with HIV. Clinics that are known to treat gay men are threatened, medical practitioners may be unwilling to help them, they are often isolated and unable to access any kind of information. Many of these men are married, and risk infecting their wives with HIV.

The red-light areas of large cities in Kenya also show that, despite the rhetoric, there is a thriving gay sex industry. Many of the male sex workers have been thrown out of their family homes for their sexuality; they report that they are often compelled by clients to have sex without condoms.

Yet a growing gay community, and some inspiring gay rights and HIV activists, are doing their best to ensure that more people in Kenya are made aware of safer sex, condoms are made available, and prejudice against men who have sex with other men is addressed.

To find out more, view the film online from Monday, March 14. The site also has other interesting content that will engage, outrage, inspire and inform you, including Thursday webchats (1pm-2pm) when you can post questions for Christian Aid advisers. Additional films will be uploaded every week.

Source.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Malawi refuses ‘homosexuality’ aid condition

via NY ASA Times

Malawi government on Wednesday took a strong stand against bilateral donors saying it cannot compromise its sovereignty to legalise homosexuality in order to get aid.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Dr George Chaponda led a team of Presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba, Information and Civic Education Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda and Gender, Women and Children Welfare  Minister Tereza Mwale in addressing a news conference in the capital Lilongwe.

During the news conference, the officials were reacting to reports that Germany government has cut aid following Malawi’s failure to repeal laws that criminalize homosexuality and its enactment of laws seen as restricting media freedom.

Ntaba: Immoral to force Malawi to be a homosexual nation just to give us aid

And the United States of America government has delayed to release $350 million grants amid concerns of new laws to curb individual freedoms in the southern African nation.

Justice Minister said although Malawi has strict laws against same sex relationships “the international community should note that since such acts occur in private and that Malawi laws on privacy are enriched in the constitution it is very difficult to prosecute homosexuality.”

“We are not ready to change the laws to satisfy donors. We have to understand that as a country you need to have certain principals for the benefit of the country,” said Chaponda.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]