Sudan: New Magazine Causes Hope Amongst Gays

via GayStar News, by Dan Littauer

A new online lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender magazine in Sudan, north Africa, is a first for the country where homosexuality is still punished by death and an opportunity for gay people to start discussing their lives and hopes for the future.

Rainbow Sudan published articles discussing topics including being gay in Sudan, the history of homosexuality in the country, Islam and sexuality, being lesbian and Muslim, poetry and more.

Sudan is one of the strictest countries in the world which criminalize homosexuality. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal and, according to Article 148, capital punishment applies to a man or woman engaging in such acts.

Punishments also include lashes and imprisonment.

Even without that, being out can have serious social and economic consequences - it typically means a loss of jobs prospects, ostracisation from family and community, even murder by so called 'honour killings'.

We spoke to Rainbow Sudan editor Mohammad and other Sudanese gays and lesbians about the magazine and their life in Sudan.

Mohammad himself is a 32-year-old man, living in the capital Khartoum. He is energetic, comfortable about his sexuality, full of charm and wit. He also has a scholarly side; he loves poetry, history and sociology.

He told us that ‘to understand the gay community in Sudan you have to understand the religious factor here… it is a big taboo and regarded one of the biggest sins possible.’

Ibrahim, also 32 years old and a well-respected public figure, explained what that taboo means in practice.

‘If you are outed in Sudan the consequences are very serious: social rejection and even punishment according to the Sudanese law,' he said. 'The internet is my only life-line, I can talk with people, learn about LGBT issues and occasionally arrange to meet people. I have to be so careful, I if would be caught, exposed or worse, arrested, it would ruin me completely.’

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.]

David Kato Vision and Voice Award

via visionandvoiceaward.com

David Kato - human rights activist, friend, and colleague - was murdered in his home in Kampala, Uganda on 26 January 2011.

In recognition of his life and courage, and the continued struggle of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals around the world, partners committed to eliminating violence, stigma and discrimination have established the David Kato Vision & Voice Award.
Inspired by his work, the award recognizes the leadership of individuals who strive to uphold the numerous dimensions of sexual rights for LGBTI people. Sexual rights are an evolving set of entitlements related to sexuality that contribute to the freedom, equality and dignity of all people, and are an important aspect of human rights. The realization of these rights is also an integral element to a meaningful HIV response among these marginalized groups.

Click here for more award and nomination information.



[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.]

Slate: Why are bisexual women more likely to have tried anal sex?

via Slate.com, by William Saletan

Have you heard the latest report on Americans' sex habits? The study, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Identity in the United States, comes from the National Survey of Family Growth, the country's most respected periodic sex survey. Media reports about the study have noted what seems to be a resurgence of virginity. But the data also show something more surprising: Compared with women who are totally straight, women who are slightly bisexual are more likely to have tried various sex acts with men. In fact, compared with totally straight women, women who are fully bisexual or lesbian are more likely to have tried anal sex.

Why?

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.]

Poll finds majority in California support gay marriage; where do Times readers stand?

via Los Angeles Times, by Gerrick D. Kennedy

Less than two years after Californians approved a ban on gay marriage, a new poll found that more residents support same-sex unions than oppose them.

A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California released in March found respondents backing gay marriage 50% to 45%. And a Times/USC poll last November found a 51%-to-43% division on the issue.

The poll shows Democrats and liberals supporting same-sex marriage by large margins and Republicans and conservatives opposing it by equally lopsided margins. There is also a huge variation by age, with registered voters younger than 30 supporting same-sex marriage by roughly 3 to 1, while a majority of those 64 and older were opposed.

Here what others have to say about this and Read the rest.

‘Queering the Census’ Seeks Inclusion of Sexual Orientation in Decennial Count

via Global Shift, by Ashley Michelle Papon

“Even in the absence of federal recognition of our relationships, we have an opportunity to say on an official form that, ‘Yes, we are married,’ ‘Yes, our relationships are every bit as equal to everyone else’s,’ ” Josh Friedes, executive director of Equal Rights Washington, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) advocacy group in Seattle, tells the March 30 edition of The Seattle Times.

Click here to read the rest.

Hostility, not homosexuality, flies in the face of true Koranic teachings

via Fridae, by Bramantyo Prijosusilo

The recent cancellation of a planned Asian-wide conference of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in Surabaya reveals how far our society is from respecting human rights — and how close it is to slipping into religious fascism, writes Bramantyo Prijosusilo.

The police, who had earlier issued a permit — which is not really required by law — chose to bow down to Islamo-fascist groups such as the notorious thugs known as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), who stormed hotels where they thought delegates of the conference were staying on Friday and demanded that all non-heterosexuals leave Surabaya. Reading journalists’ reports on the commotion and comments on news Web sites and on Facebook walls, it is obvious that any sexual orientation other than hetero is widely believed to be an illness that is contagious and immoral. Homophobia is alive and well in Indonesia.

Read the rest.

Homophobia divides Africa

via afrol News, by afrol staff

afrol News, 23 March - Homophobic laws in Uganda and an anti-gay court case in Malawi are only two current examples demonstrating a conservative wave regarding sexual minorities in Africa. But in other countries, in particular South Africa, gays and lesbians are enjoying increased freedom.

There is a belt of current conservative reactions to homosexuality spanning from Zimbabwe to Ethiopia, including most of Southern and East Africa. One after another, countries in the region hit international headlines over homophobic actions.

International human rights groups are busy condemning what seems to be a wave of gay bashing in the region. Some northern donor nations, including the UK, Sweden and Norway, have included discrimination against homosexuals in their lists of unacceptable human rights violations, threatening to cut aid if the bashing goes on. Church communities are split in a north-south division over accepting homosexuals. It all looks like a war of values between Africa and Western nations.

But that is only at a superficial level. Indeed, the issue of gay rights in Africa is greatly advancing. Even repressive headlines, such as the Malawi court case against a gay couple accused of "unnatural offences", can be read the other way, as an advance for gay rights.

Malawi is an example of deeply conservative societies, where traditional religion is mixed with Anglican church values formed during the colonial era. In Malawi, a vast majority had not even heard about homosexuality before the young gay couple was arrested in late December. Homosexuality was a non-matter, it did not exist in Malawi, even the more educated people thought.

But now, homosexuality is the big issue of talks in Malawi. While the great majority of Malawians have found they do not approve of this "foreign" thing as it goes against their conservative values, some few indeed defend that homosexuals should not be discriminated. It is the first time this point of view has been heard in Malawi. With time, it may grow stronger.

In Namibia and Botswana, also conservative countries but with a longer tradition of being open to outside impulses and with greater middle classes, many organisations now openly defend gay rights against discrimination and the occasional homophobic statements by political and church leaders. Here, the taboo is about to be broken.

The great taboo breaking in Africa has already happened in South Africa, the first country world-wide to protect sexual minorities explicitly in its constitution. Here, same-sex marriages by now are allowed and increasingly accepted. Here, forceful organisations are based, fighting for gay rights across the African continent.

But interestingly, even South Africans remain conservative regarding homosexuality. A 2006 survey found that more than three-quarters - 78 percent - of South Africans felt that sexual relations between two adults of the same gender were "always wrong". Less than one in fifteen at a national level thought that homosexual relationships were "not wrong at all".

Read the rest.

South Africa: Lesbians and HIV: Low risk but not no risk

JOHANNESBURG, 14 July 2009 (PlusNews) - Women who sleep with women (WSW) are not at risk of HIV transmission – or are they? AIDS advocates warn that it is time for a wake-up call about who is and is not at risk.

HIV prevention among WSW and lesbian women remains off the prevention agenda, said Beverley Palesa Ditsie, a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Organization of the Witwatersrand.

"When it comes to same-sex relationships other than male-to-male, [HIV] transmission is something we think we don't have to talk about," she commented at the launch of a new book on same-sex sexuality and HIV, published by the Human Sciences Research Council.

Zethu Matebeni, a fellow at the University of Witwatersrand's Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER), who spent three years studying Johannesburg's black lesbian community, agreed that myths about the risk of female-to-female transmission were not being adequately addressed.

Rape as punishment

No data exists on HIV prevalence among lesbian women or WSW globally or in South Africa, but limited research by the gay and lesbian organization, OUT, indicated that the high rates of HIV in the WSW interviewed could be attributed mainly to rape, transactional sex and sexual violence.

Lesbian women in South Africa are being raped by men who believe it will "cure" them of their sexual orientation; women in townships in Johannesburg and Cape Town report a rising tide of brutal homophobic attacks, murders, and the widespread use of "corrective" rape as a form of punishment, notes a report published earlier this year by the international NGO, ActionAid.

According to OUT's research, only about 40 percent of WSW knew their HIV status, which often carried the same burden of stigma and silence it would in any relationship, Matebeni told IRIN/PlusNews. "Some women say it makes your partners think you have been sleeping around when it's not the case."

She said negotiating safe sex could be difficult for women even in loving, consensual relationships. It was also difficult to access barrier methods like finger condoms or dental dams - thin squares of latex rubber placed over the vagina or anus during oral sex to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

"Often, we don't know how to talk about safer sex because there aren't protection methods and, of the ones that are out there, many of them are extremely unpleasant – they make you feel ugly, and feeling beautiful is very important in sex."

Matebeni called for more attention to the HIV-prevention needs of women in same-sex relationships.