Campbell rumoured to do community service for HIV charity

22 July 2008- London- Naomi Campbell is rumoured to be starting her community service at an HIV and Aids charity.

It’s been revealed that the Streatham-born supermodel will spend five weeks working at the Food Chain, starting from tomorrow.

But despite sources from the charity, which has a branch in Tooting, claiming this was true, an official spokesman from the organisation said there were no plans for the 38-year-old to work there.

A London Probation spokesman said they did not discuss details of individual cases.

Food Chain provides home delivered meals and nutritional advice to men, women and children who are chronically sick with HIV-related illnesses.

In June the fiery supermodel was sentenced to 200 hours of labour for assaulting two police officers and verbally assaulting a British Airways captain, after going "berserk" on a plane at Heathrow's Terminal 5 over her lost luggage.

She was also fined £2,300 and ordered to pay £200 compensation to each of the police officers, as well as £150 to the flight captain.

Gay sex games DJ Kevin Greening leaves £500,000 to lover... but nothing to his mother

 
22 July 2008- London, England- A former BBC Radio 1 breakfast show DJ who died during a gay bondage session wrote his mother out of his will, it has emerged.

Instead the DJ left his entire estate to 'life partner' Andrew Lowe, even though he had been seeing other men for at least two years.

Mr Lowe had apparently split from 44-year-old Mr Greening two years before the star's death last December - but they continued to live together and the DJ never changed his 1991 will to reflect the end of the relationship.

Greening's will instructed that his mother Mary would only receive a payout if she had outlived Mr Lowe at the time of the DJ's death. Even then she would only be entitled to half the money, with the rest going to AIDS charity the Terrence Higgins Trust.

Writing in the will Mr Greening, who left £515,575, said: 'After the payment of debts, funeral and testimony expenses and any inheritance tax which may be payable I give my whole estate to the said Andrew Lowe absolutely.' 

Mr Greening presented Radio 1's flagship breakfast show with Zoe Ball and later moved to Radio Five Life and Smooth FM.

Fourth Moscow gay pride to take place on ‘Eurovision day’ in Russia’s capital

22 July 2008- Moscow, Russia-  Next year’s Moscow Pride is set to be staged on May 16 – the same day as the Eurovision song  contest finals and the day before International Day Against Homophobia.

Yesterday, Eurovision officials announced that next year’s event would be staged at Moscow’s Olympiyskiy stadium.

And organisers of Moscow Gay Pride confirmed last night their intent to conduct the gay parade on the day on of the Eurovision final in Russian capital.

“We will conduct the gay pride on the day of the Eurovision final on 16 May 2009,” Nikolai Alekseev told the Interfax news agency  “As usual we will notify Moscow authorities about the conduct of the event.”

He suggested that “that the public event of the fourth Moscow Pride” could be staged on one of the central streets of Moscow.

Moscow won the right to stage Eurovision next year when Dima Bilan won this year’s contest in Belgrade in May.

“We hope that the many gays and lesbians who usually attend Eurovision finals from different countries will join our Pride,” he told UK Gay News this morning.

He also said that, apart from the gay march, the organisers are planning to hold an international conference dedicated to the International Day Against Homophobia which is being marked around the world on 17 May.  

The invitations to take part in the conference will be sent to the Mayors of Paris, London and Berlin as well as many European politicians.

“Russia must show that it is part of the civilized world, of the European family, that it is tolerant and that it is possible to conduct public actions of sexual minorities in Moscow,” Mr. Alekseev said.

In the next few weeks an organizing committee for the forth Moscow Pride will be formed and will include record number of people.

Pride organisers will be getting in contact with the European Broadcasting Union, the organisers of Eurovision song contest, to discuss issues concerning the security of gays and lesbians in the Russian capital.

The song contest, with its ‘camp’ acts, has become an iconic event in the gay European calendar – and the event is starting to gain popularity within the LGBT community in the USA, the world largest television market.

18 July 2008- German- The homophobic lyrics of several Jamaican reggae musicians has moved the German government to consider blacklisting them and restrict their sales and distribution.

The CDs by Elephant Man and T.O.K. could be put on the "Index of Harmful Materials," which, while it would not censor the materials in Germany, would severely limit their advertising and marketing.

The Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons will decide over the next several months if the music will be included on the index, the government said on Thursday in its response to a parliamentary inquiry.

The index includes items such as media which glorify war and violence and are intended to induce hate. Volker Beck, the leader of the Green Party parliamentary group, called on large Internet music sellers to already begin removing the CDs in question from their sales inventory.

"Those in Jamaica who invoke hatred should not earn money with their music in Germany," he said on Thursday in Berlin. Homosexual acts are punishable by law in Jamaica and many musicians from the Caribbean island are accused of promoting violence against gays and lesbians. In its travel advisory on Jamaica, the German foreign ministry reports that homosexuals are often the targets of assault.

Tribunal hears 'gay jibe' claims

 
17 July 2008- UK-A driving school boss called a worker "gay boy" and said he was lucky to have a job, a tribunal has heard.

John MacDonald allegedly described Mark Rowan, 29, as "one of the girls" on the firm's website and told him: "Not many companies employ gays."

The Pro Scot boss, based in Kirkcaldy, Fife, had clashed with the employee when company cutbacks were announced.

The company said Mr Rowan was dismissed after a series of late arrivals at work, which he has denied.

'Perfect opportunity'

Mr Rowan claimed Mr MacDonald had bragged to a colleague about not having "poofs" work at his company and claimed he would find a way to sack him.

The panel at the Edinburgh employment tribunal heard that, when budget cuts and job losses were announced, Mr MacDonald was given the perfect opportunity.

Mr Rowan said: "The staff were all sickened but the general feeling was that I was the one going to be sacked.

"He would refer to me as 'gay boy' and told my colleagues he didn't want 'poofs' working for his company."

Staff walked out on Mr MacDonald, but the boss clashed with Mr Rowan in the car park before he could leave.

Mr Rowan added: "He made a beeline towards me and said if I didn't go back into the office I wouldn't have a job to go back to.

"But the office manager had already locked the doors and left, so I went home."

Mr Rowan said the next day Mr MacDonald locked all the staff in a room and asked why they had walked out.

He went on: "He said that I led the walk-out and that I was the leader. And he said he didn't want to appear to be weak by keeping me on."

After a week out of a job, Mr Rowan said he was invited back to work at Pro Scot on the condition that he apologised.

He said: "Mr MacDonald said that I should feel thankful to have a job back because there weren't many companies that would employ gays."

Mr Rowan said that, after being reinstated, he "felt the axe hanging over my head once more".

Late arrivals

"I was so stressed I was losing sleep," he added.

The panel also heard how Mr MacDonald published profiles on his company's website about each member of staff and described Mr Rowan as "one of the girls in the office".

Mr Rowan said the jibes left him stressed and too scared to confront his boss.

The company has denied the allegations and claimed Mr Rowan was dismissed after a series of late arrivals to work, although he insisted this only happened twice.

Pro Scot also claimed Mr Rowan was making mistakes on a daily basis and would have been sacked anyway.

The company said he chatted to friends on his mobile and used social networking website Bebo throughout the day.

The hearing continues.

10 July 2008- UK- The founder of the Gay Police Association has hit out at local schools for declining to attend a conference tackling homophobic bullying.

Representatives from schools in Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham were among a number of schools in the Thames Valley invited to the event tomorrow.

Hosted by Thames Valley Police and the gay rights group Stonewall, the meeting aimed to tackle incidents of homophobic bullying and homophobia in schools.

But today the Evening Post can reveal no schools in the Thames Valley took up the offer to send a representative to the event – including schools in Reading.

PC Alistair Melling, founder of the Gay Police Association, said he was upset schools in the region did not think it was necessary to tackle gay bullying head-on.

PC Melling, who organised the conference at the police training centre in Sulhamstead, said: “If this was a conference about racism then the schools would be there.

“We have invited a number of schools to the event but no schools are attending. I am really disappointed with this.

“I know schools are busy at the moment with exams and so on but you would have thought they could have found someone.”

PC Melling, who lives with his partner Acting Sergeant Alistair Bosanco-Mitchell in Lower Earley, said he believed homophobic bullying was rife in Reading’s schools.

“I would think there is a lot of homophobic bullying in schools,” he said.

“I think if you look at the general culture these days then ‘gay’ has become a term of insult. I think it’s fallen into general use in schools.

“If you were a gay youngster I don’t think you would necessarily be comfortable in school. I hate to get into this thing about political correctness. It is naff and no good. But calling someone gay is not acceptable.”

PC Melling compared homophobic bullying to racist bullying – both of which he deemed out of order.

He continued: “You would not hear someone say ‘that’s really black’ – that would be racist – so you should not hear someone say ‘that’s really gay’.”

Not all schools in Reading were invited to the conference. Thames Valley Police spokesman David Paull said: “We are not going to give the names of specific schools as there is a risk that this will then turn into a naming and shaming exercise.

“It was schools from across Thames Valley Police area, ie Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.”

Mr Paull added representatives from some local authorities did plan to attend the conference.

Reading Borough Council spokesman Chris Branagan said: “As a local authority, we cannot comment on decisions that may have been made by individual schools. However, we would be very glad to encourage our schools to support any similar event in the future.”

08 July 2008- UK- A Gay couple in East London are furious with the owners of a wedding venue who turned the lovebirds away for “religious” reasons.

Carole van der Berg and Helen Ross were hoping to tie the knot this year after being together for 13 years. They eventually settled on the Country Style Catering and Venue near Cove Rock outside East London for the special occasion.

“The lady said I was in luck because there were cancellations on the date I was proposing and I immediately wanted to see the venue,” said Van der Berg.

Overjoyed by the pending marriage, Van der Berg and Ross went to view the venue, where they were warmly greeted by the owner and made to feel comfortable.

“I was up front about our homosexuality and the lady did not seem to have a problem,” said Van der Berg.

The couple said they discussed the menus and other arrangements, only to be informed later they could not use the venue because the owners’ religious beliefs forbade same- sex marriages.

“For the past 13 years I have been with my soul mate, I have never been discriminated against or been judged as they did to us,” said Van der Berg.

The owner of the venue, Colleen Horrmann, said they were forced to turn down the couple’s request because they were members of Jehovah Witness.

“I like them very much and I have nothing against them but we do not condone same- sex marriages,” said Horrmann.

She said the couple should understand that it was not as if they did not want them to get married – it was a case of not at their venue. “They are making a big thing out of nothing,” said Horrmann.

But constitutional law expert Professor Pierre de Vos, of the University of Western Cape, disagreed.

“The couple can go to the Equality Court to challenge this and the court can order the owners to change their policy,” said De Vos.

He said when providing services like a restaurant, hotel or other venue, owners could not discriminate against others on the basis of their race, sex and sexual orientation, irrespective of their personal convictions.

SAS launches gay website

07 July 2008- SAS Scandinavian Airlines has launched a gay site on its international, www.flysas.com  website, thereby becoming the first European airline with a website dedicated to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender/transsexual (GLBT) market. Even more unique, the website builds on SAS' popular crew tips, providing tips from its own gay crew of the best that Stockholm and Copenhagen has to offer.

The new site, flysas.com/gay, has been launched in time to celebrate EuroPride, which is taking place in Stockholm July 30 - August 2. And next year, Copenhagen is hosting the World Out Games 2009, once again bringing a major gay event to Scandinavia, SAS' home market. SAS is the proud Strategic Partner of the World Out Games 2009 and also its official airline.

SAS has partnered up with Stockholm Visitors Board, Wonderful Copenhagen, Swedish publisher QX and Copenhagen Gay Life to offer gay maps, gay guides and an events calendar that's updated daily for both cities.

Visit flysas.com/gay for the best of what to do in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Scandinavian Airlines International is the long-haul operator of SAS with 1.4 million passengers per year. The fleet consists of Airbus A330s and A340s, serving 10 destinations: New York, Chicago, Washington, Seattle, Bangkok, Beijing, Tokyo, Dubai, Copenhagen and Stockholm. In 2008/09, SAS International will launch flights to Delhi and San Francisco. The company is also responsible for the SAS Group's sales and market activities in EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America.

Minister of equality jeered at London’s gay pride

07 July 2008- UK  –  Harriet Harman MP, government minister of equalities and deputy leader of the Labour Party, was booed and heckled as she spoke from the main stage at the gay Pride London celebrations in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon.

Gay Pride organisers came on stage and appealed to the crowd to stop jeering and listen to what she had to say.

But their appeal had limited effect as the crowd which packed Trafalgar Square expressed their anger at the Government’s approach to gay men and women who seek refuge in the UK after feeling from danger.

“At several points during her speech, a bewildered Ms Harman appeared to waiver and had to struggle to be heard,” said gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who was at the side of the stage – he was also one of the speakers.

“Hundreds of people in the crowd expressed their anger at the way the Labour government is locking up gay asylum seekers, refusing them refugee status and ordering them to be sent back to violently homophobic countries like Algeria, Uganda, Iran, Nigeria, Iraq and Belarus,” he said.

“Those who are returned are at risk of arrest, imprisonment torture, rape and even murder.

“I tried to explain the crowd’s anger to Ms Harman as she left the stage,” he continued.

“But several Gay Pride stewards violently shoved me out of the way and threatened to have me arrested.  It was needless and unjustified aggression.

“As I was being dragged away by the stewards, Ms Harman shouted for me to contact her.  She said: ‘Peter, give me a call and we can discuss your concerns’.

“I will take up her offer.  I plan to present the government with a six-point plan to end the homophobic bias of the asylum system,” said Mr Tatchell.

And in another incident in Trafalgar Square, a transgender was threatened with arrest by official Gay Pride stewards.

Roz Caveney, a long-time human rights campaigner, journalist and transsexual woman, wanted to use the toilet.

“Official stewards who were running the toilets at Trafalgar Square announced that I, and any other transgender or transsexual woman, had to use the disabled toilets and was not allowed to use the regular women's toilets,” she wrote on the Transgender At Pride website. 

“I pointed out to the stewards that I transitioned and had surgery before they were born; I was more polite than a polite thing.  No dice…”

Earlier, Mr. Tatchell marched in the Pride Parade holding a poster placard ridiculing the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It featured a doctored photo of Amhadinejad wearing blue eye shadow, red lipstick, a gold earring and pink nail varnish.

He met the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and urged him to confound his gay critics and show practical support for London's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

Mr Tatchell marched in the parade with actor Sir Ian McKellen and Davis Mac-Iyalla, a leader of the Nigerian gay rights movement.

“Mr Mac-Iyalla was recently forced to flee Nigeria after threats and attempts to kill him, following homophobic denunciations by the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, Rev Peter Akinola. Akinola is a leading figure in the conservative splinter group, Gafcon, which opposes women bishops and gay priests, and which supports punitive legal discrimination against lesbian and gay people,” said Mr Tatchell.

“Davis arrived in Britain seeking sanctuary but was incarcerated in an asylum detention centre.

“The government treated him like a common criminal.

“It took a frantic lobbying campaign to pressure the Home Office to release Davis.  He was only set free from Oakington detention centre at 5pm on Friday, the eve of the Pride London parade.

“Although it is good that he was released, the Home Office should have never incarcerated him in the first place,” added Mr Tatchell.

Speaking from the main stage in Trafalgar Square, Mr Tatchell condemned “President Amadinejad’s violent homophobia” and “the Labour government’s policy of deporting lesbian and gay asylum claimants back to Iran”.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith MP last month refused requests for a moratorium on the return of gay asylum seekers to Iran, claiming “the evidence does not show a real risk of discovery of, or adverse action against, gay and lesbian people who are discreet about their sexual orientation”.

“This is complete nonsense and deeply insulting,” said Mr Tatchell.  “It is like saying that Jews in Nazi Germany were safe if they hid their Jewishness.”

Gay asylum seeker to be thrown out of UK

06 July 2008- Scotland- A GAY asylum seeker has been refused permission to stay in Scotland and told he is likely to be safe in his homophobic homeland provided he behaves "discreetly".

Scotland on Sunday revealed earlier this year that Syrian Jojo Jako Yakob was battling to stay here after suffering horrific abuse because of his sexuality and political activities.

It has now emerged that an immigration tribunal has turned down his request to stay in the UK despite accepting that Yakob is gay and that Syria criminalises and represses homo– sexuality.

In a judgment that has appalled gay rights campaigners, the tribunal suggests Yakob is unlikely to come to any harm so long as he keeps his sexuality under wraps.

Lawyers for the 20-year-old are planning a last-ditch court bid to stop him being deported. Campaigners said they were in no doubt Yakob's life would once again be placed in serious danger.

Yakob, a Christian member of the repressed Kurdish minority in the Arab state, fled to the UK two years ago after being arrested, shot and beaten. He left his home country after surviving a harrowing ordeal at the hands of Syrian police and prison guards. He had been arrested for distributing anti-government leaflets.

When prison guards discovered he was homosexual he suffered horrific beatings and was assaulted so badly that he fell into a coma.

Despite his attempts to start a new life in Scotland, the Home Office ordered his deportation in March and, last week, his appeal against the decision was denied.

The ruling by the Asylum Immigration Tribunal, sitting in Glasgow, states: "Syria criminalises and represses homosexuality. Homosexuals have to modify their behaviour and lifestyle accordingly. We find no evidence that in Syria (Yakob] would conduct himself other than discreetly to avoid repercussions."

The tribunal concluded that case law does not allow homosexuals from repressive countries to international legal protection.

Yakob fled Syria for London in 2006 inside a lorry. He applied for asylum and was granted extended leave by the Home Office, but was arrested in Aberdeen last April after being found in possession of a fake Belgian passport. He was handed a 12-month sentence and sent to Polmont Young Offenders Unit, near Falkirk, until his release on bail this month. His case was first highlighted by Scotland on Sunday in March, when he was served with a deportation order by the Home Office despite the fact that homosexuality is illegal in his home country.

Yakob says he now fears for his life following the tribunal's decision.

"I am very afraid of being sent home," he said. "I am afraid for my life. But I will do my best to win my case and stay in Scotland. I want to stay here, but I can't do anything until I am allowed to stay. I can't get a job, I can't do my computer training – my life is on hold.

"I just want to be happy and live my life.

"They believed that I was gay but they said it was not a problem to be gay in Syria if you keep your mouth shut.

"But how do you live? That is no way to live. I want to live my life and be free, and I could not do that in Syria."

The tribunal determination questioned whether Yakob wanted to stay in the UK to avoid compulsory military service. It also found it "difficult to see" his affiliations to a Kurdish political party, since he was only half Kurdish.

It found Yakob's evidence to have been "self-contradictory and unreliable" and questioned the truth over his Kurdish ethnic origins, his family circumstances, his account of being detained in a Syrian prison and his reasons for coming to the UK.

But gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the refusal was "irrational, ill-informed and insensitive".

He added: "This young man's life will be in danger if he is deported. It's outrageous that our Government is showing such a callous disregard for human rights.

"The Government is fast losing its gay-friendly credentials by its heartless, cruel and vindictive mistreatment of gay asylum seekers."

National Court judge says gay marriage should not be declared unconstitutional

03 July 2008- Spain- The President of Congress, José Bono, in the suit, with the gay and lesbian representatives today. Judge Grande Marlaska was speaking to the European conference of gay and lesbian police being held in Barcelona, while in Madrid gay representatives meet with José Bono in Congress.
Speaking at the opening of the European Conference of Gay and Lesbian Police being held in Barcelona, National Court Instruction Judge, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, himself a homosexual, has said that if the gay marriage law is declared unconstitutional by the Constructional Court in the appeal presented to it by the Partido Popular, it would be a step backwards for gay social recognition as people who are against gay marriage would say ‘You see how they are not equal’.

The judge said it was important for gays and lesbians to come out in the security services as elsewhere.

Meanwhile the President of the Congress of Deputies, José Bono, met today with gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual representatives who are organising a citizen’s pride movement.

This week sees a week of celebrations for gays and lesbians ending with the pride parade in Madrid on Saturday. This year the festival is concentrating on lesbian visibility.

 

03 July 2008 –Hamburg, German- Gene Robinson may have to share his title as the church’s sole “gay” bishop, as a gay Hamburg cleric has been selected by the Lutheran Church in Germany, (EKD) to stand for election as Bishop of Schleswig.

The Rev Horst Gorski, a gay activist in the Lutheran Church, will face the Rev Gerhard Ulrich for election on July 12. German traditionalists warn Gorski’s election will replicate the Anglican Communion’s woes within the Lutheran Church. "Many members of the community would have little understanding for a bishop with this kind of lifestyle," the Rev Ulrich Ruess of Hamburg told Die Welt, warning schism would be a likely consequence.

In a statement posted on the internet, Bishop Maria Jepsen, the EKD’s first woman bishop and a member of the selection committee, defended the shortlisting of Gorski. "After careful consultation, we have nominated two experienced provosts as candidates who have excelled in their localities and in the region in a variety of ways," she said.

The Lutheran World Federation would not comment on this issue, LWF General Secretary the Rev Ishmael Noko told Reuters. "This is a pastoral issue that each church individually must deal with," he said, noting there was no common “position on this issue at the moment.”

In recent years the LWF has faced many of the same North-South strains over homosexuality as the Anglican Communion. The Church of Sweden has instituted same-sex blessings and the Church of Norway has permitted the licensing of gay clergy, while the African Lutheran Churches have rejected the innovations as being un-Scriptural and a violation of common teachings on sexual ethics.

Refuge System, Gay Activist Tells Trade Unionists

03 July 2008- UK- The British government is being urged to "initiate urgent reforms to the asylum system to end the injustice whereby many genuine gay refugees being sent back to viciously homophobic countries like Iran, Uganda, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Belarus and Saudi Arabia."

The call comes from gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage!

Speaking at a fringe meeting, supported by the GMB union, at the TUC LGBT conference in London last night, Mr Tatchell said said that urgent government action was needed to implement five key policy changes to ensure a fair hearing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) asylum applicants

“First, asylum staff and adjudicators should receive sexual orientation and transgender awareness training,” he told the meeting.

“They currently receive race and gender training but no training at all on sexual orientation and gender identity issues.  As a result, they often make stereotyped assumptions: that a feminine woman can’t be a lesbian or that a masculine man cannot be gay.

“They sometimes rule that someone who has been married must be faking their homosexuality.

“Home Office rulings that LGBT refugees should ‘go home and be discreet’ is insulting, humiliating and puts the returnees at risk of arrest, imprisonment, torture, mob violence and even possible murder,’ he insisted.

“Secondly, the government should issue explicit instructions to all immigration and asylum staff — and to all asylum judges — that homophobic and transphobic persecution are legitimate grounds for granting asylum.

“The government has never done this, which signals to asylum staff and judges that claims by LGBT people are not as worthy as those based on persecution because of a person's ethnicity, gender, politics or faith.

“Thirdly,’ Mr. Tatchell continued, “the official Home Office country information reports — on which judges often rely when ruling on asylum applications — must be upgraded and expanded to reflect the true scale of anti-LGBT persecution.

“At the moment, the government’s documentation of anti-gay and anti-transgender persecution in individual countries is often partial, inaccurate and misleading,” he pointed out.

“It consistently downplays the severity of victimisation suffered by LGBT people in violently homophobic countries like Pakistan, Uganda, Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Cameroon, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.

“Fourthly, legal aid funding for asylum claims needs to be substantially increased.

“Existing funding levels are woefully inadequate.  This means that most asylum applicants — gay and straight — are unable to prepare an adequate submission at their asylum hearing.

“Their solicitors don’t get paid enough to procure the necessary witness statements, medical reports and other vital corroborative evidence.

“Fifthly, the Home Office needs to issue official instructions to asylum detention centre staff that they have a duty to stamp out anti-gay and anti-trans abuse, threats and violence.

“Many LGBT detainees report suffering homophobic victimisation, and say they fail to receive adequate protection and support from detention centre staff.

“These shortcomings need to be remedied by LGBT awareness training to ensure that detention centre staff take action against homophobic and transphobic perpetrators, and that they are committed to protect LGBT detainees who are being victimised.

“Labour’s claim to be a LGBT-friendly government rings hollow when it continues to fail genuine LGBT refugees,” he suggested.

“We must insist on an asylum system that is fair, just and compassionate – for LGBT refugees and for all refugees.

“These are systemic failings by a callous and indifferent government that is more interested in cutting asylum numbers than in ensuring a fair, just and compassionate asylum system.

‘The UK's harsh, homophobic asylum policy has provoked two suicides by gay Iranians in the last five years.

“In September 2003, Israfil Shiri, a gay Iranian asylum seeker, died after pouring petrol over himself and setting himself on fire in the offices of Refugee Action in Manchester, after his asylum claim was refused.

02 July 2008- UK- Homosexual soldiers are to be paid travelling expenses to attend Gay Pride parades, while troops are not allowed to claim for trips to the Queen's Garden Party.

Gay troops have been told they can submit claims for their car mileage or train tickets to marches in London on Saturday and in Brighton next month.

Heterosexual soldiers have criticised the move saying they are not allowed to claim money for trips to important functions, including the Queen's Garden Party.

It will also be the first time Army and RAF troops will be allowed to march in uniform, Royal Navy soldiers are already allowed.

One homosexual soldier said: "Any straight guys wishing to have a ****-up in London should just sign up to go on the Gay Pride march. "It's a no-brainer – especially if you're stationed in Scotland.

"A refusal of expenses claims would be a breach of the Sexual Orientation Discrimination Regulations. It would also be a breach to stipulate that you have to be gay to go."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "Personnel will be considered on duty for the uniformed parade element of the Gay Pride event.

"It is normal practice for personnel attending an event on duty to be able to claim for travel expenses."

The spokesman said soldiers are not allowed to claim for trips to the Queen's Garden Party because they are not considered "on duty" when at the event.

02 July 2008- The brother of the president of the United Arab Emirates has been found guilty of beating with his belt an American man who he thought had suggested he was gay.

A Geneva criminal court ordered Sheikh Fallah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan to pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs.

"He was found guilty of causing bodily injury with the help of a dangerous object," defence lawyer Marco Crisante said. "We will likely appeal this hasty and faulty ruling as the facts are contested."

The American plaintiff, Silvano Orsi, said in court two weeks ago that the sheikh had assaulted him in August 2003 after he turned down a bottle of champagne which the sheikh had sent over in the lobby of a luxury hotel along Lake Geneva.

Mr Orsi said that he had told the sheikh, whom he did not know, that he didn't drink alcohol, and an altercation followed.

"The sheikh's version is that he responded to an insult, being called a homosexual, and took off his belt but was unable to use it as a third party intervened," Mr Crisante said.

Mr Orsi, a 37-year-old New Yorker, said he had been unable to work ever since incident in which received blows to the face, hands and body with a belt whose metal buckle broke his glasses. He also said he was taking anti-depressants and suffering from back problems.

In their ruling, the three-judge court denounced the sheikh's "angry and threatening" behaviour, according to the daily Tribune de Geneve.

"One would have expected the accused, at the time on an official visit with his father, not to succumb to this type of outburst and to show proof of greater self-control," the daily said, quoting the judges' decision.

The defendant, the brother of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, did not appear in court.

He was also ordered to pay Mr Orsi 1,000 Swiss francs towards legal costs and to pay court fees of about twice that amount. A further fine of 540,000 Swiss francs was suspended if there are no further incidents in the next three years, the court said.

Mr Orsi, in a statement faxed to a Swiss news agency welcomed the "huge victory" after five years. "I sacrificed part of my life and youth so that the truth be established," he said.

30 June 2008- Brno, Czech Republic- The first-ever gay parade in Czech Republic took to the streets of Brno on Saturday, despite threats by neo-Nazi and other extremist groups. Even a heavy police presence at the march failed to prevent attacks by anti-gay protesters who shouted insults and even threw tear gas at marching gay rights activists.

Around 500 gay, lesbian and bisexual rights activists took to the streets of the Moravian city of Brno on Saturday for the Czech Republic’s first-ever gay march going under the name of Queer Parade. The event started at Brno’s central Náměstí Svobody square where the activists and several thousand on-lookers gathered for a concert. An hour later, the Queer Parade got underway in the city centre. But, despite a police presence, the organizers were forced to take a shorter route due to threats by neo-Nazis and other extremist groups who tried to block the march and even attacked its participants with tear gas.

Jolana Navrátilová, one of the Queer Parade organizers, is a Brno-based gay and lesbian advocate and a member of the Holky v Brně, or Girls in Brno, group. I asked her how severe the clashes with anti-gay protesters were.

“Generally, it wasn’t so bad. But they attacked several people; they had chosen their victims beforehand. They didn’t attack everybody but picked people from the Green movement, gay skins and others. The actual clashes were short but to us, they seemed really long. But generally they just disturbed the pride event."

The police arrested 15 extremists and two of them were charged with public disturbance. While the police have been criticized for allowing the neo-Nazis to get near the Queer Parade participants, police president Oldřich Martinů told Czech TV on Sunday that they did a good job.

“The police did not in any way underestimate the security situation. We deployed 450 police officers in the streets to maintain law and order. The incidents that happened were just individual excesses which we soon got under control. There were around 150 extremists whom we managed to separate from the march. If it hadn’t been for what the police forces did, it could have turned out much worse."

Despite the clashes with anti-gay protesters, the organizers consider the first Czech gay pride parade a success. Jolana Navrátilová again.

Gay man's threat to kill 'love rival'

30 June 2008- Sunderland, UK- A gay man threatened to kill the woman he feared his partner was going to leave him for.

John Gray was in a same sex relationship, but he feared a mutual friend was about to come between him and his partner, Durham Crown Court heard.

'During a session with his psychiatrist Gray talked about this woman taking his partner away from him, ’said Lesley kirkup, prosecuting.

'He said he wanted to kill her and had previously put tablets in her drink which had put her in hospital. 'He went on to show the psychiatrist a picture on his mobile phone of a grave which he said he had dug for her.'

The court heard the psychiatrist was so concerned by Gray's remarks he called the police. 'Gray was arrested that day,' added Ms Kirkup, 'He said he had no intention of carrying out any threats and the picture on his phone was just of a hole in the ground.

'The mutual friend said it was never her intention to break up the pair and she was very concerned by the threats.' Gray, 22, of Seventh Street, Horden, County Durham, admitted making threats to kill on May 14, this year. He has previous convictions for criminal damage, theft and a public order offence.

Robin Denny, defending, said in mitigation: 'He was trying to draw attention to his plight and during this period tried to do away with himself.

'The relationship is now ended and there was never any evidence he intended to carry out the threats. 'Mr Gray has spent six weeks in custody, which as one might imagine was an unpleasant experience for him.

'He now intends to put this behind him and move to Hartlepool to live with his brother.' Judge David Bryant sentenced Gray to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to carry out 60 hours of community work.

The judge said: 'Making these sort of threats is a serious matter and very distressing for the victim. 'Clearly the psychiatrist took a serious view which is why he reported the matter to the police.

'However, you have spent some time in prison and it is to be hoped that has taught you a lesson.' The judge banned Gray from contacting his former friend or from entering her home village of Shotton Colliery for 12 months.

 

Increase in Assaults on Gay Men in Belarus

 
24 June 2008- Minsk, Belarus- There is widespread concern among the gay community in Belarus following an increased number of homophobic attacks over the past four weeks.

Among the victims was Edward Tarletski, a well-known Belarusian gay and member of the Board of Lambda Belarus. 

He was badly beaten on May 21 at around 11pm when he was on his way back to his Minsk home.

According to Mr. Tarletski, he was attacked by three young persons between 20 and 25 years as he arrived at his apartment building.

“I was approaching the entrance, when I saw young people smoking nearby,” he said.

“One of them called me by my surname – to make it clear that it was me, I think.  Another one unexpectedly hit me in face, and I fell down.

“They kicked me many times, mostly in the head.  Then they escaped.  I lost consciousness.  A neighbour then helped me to reach my apartment.

“The villains took nothing: in my bag I had money and camera,” he said.

Mr. Tarletski explained that he had no intention to report the incident to police.  “This would be a waste of time,” he said – adding that this was the third assault on him in the last five years.

Edward Tarletski is a founder of Lambda Belarus, the first gay-organization in Belarus.  In 1998, 2002 he edited and published LGBT magazine Forum Lambda.  He was the organiser of Belarum Gay Pride festivals between 1999 and 2002.  Today, he is on the editorial team of Taboo magazine – and is also known as a ‘drag queen’ performer.

A few days earlier, 25-year-old Vitaly was enjoying a beer with his friends in the Minsk city park.

“A guy walked by and decided that I was gay,” he said.  “He came up and punched me so hard that he knocked out a tooth.

“Others were shocked, but they didn’t react, because they just thought that the attacker had drunk too much.

“I did not report the incident to the police, because it is my experience that the police in particular have a nasty and humiliating attitude towards gays”, he said.

Las week, two young gay guys were beaten by four skinheads after a party in Minsk.  The skinheads made many homophobic remarks during the unprovoked attack which left on of the young men needing medical help..

“I didn’t call to police because I’m not sure that they would take my side when found that I’m gay,” one of the victims said.

Last Sunday, Slava – a 24-year-old gay man – was out with his friend in Gomel.  The pair were the last customers in a bar.

“The owner of the bar together with his son decided to beat us up,” Dlave said.  “They locked the door and we couldn’t escape.

“They badly beat my friend … and I kicked the door in.

“The police showed up, but they behaved as though we were the guilty ones.

“We were taken to the police station together with our attackers,” he explained.  “The police let the attackers go, with­out even finding out who they were.

“The attitude toward us was very humiliating.  It was as if we were the criminals, not the victims.”

Then yesterday,  two older gay guys, both in their forties,  were attacked and beaten by Ten men on the ‘gay beach’ in Gomel.  One of the victims has a smashed lip.

Gay Asylum Seekers Can Be Deported Safely... If They Stay in the Closet

23 June 2008- London- England’s home secretary has said that gays living in the U.K. and seeking asylum from persecution in Iran will be safe in their home country as long as they stay in the closet.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed in a letter to Liberal Democrat Lord Roberts that as long as deported gays and lesbians were "discreet," they could be returned to Iran with "no real risk" or fear of "adverse action" on the part of the Iranian authorities, reported the U.K. newspaper The Independent in a June 23 story.

The home secretary’s letter was written after various Ministers of Parliament spoke out on the need for Britain to stop deporting gay and lesbian asylum seekers, whose lives, the MPs worried, would be in danger once they were back in Iran.

The chief executive of the UK GLBT equality group Stonewall, Ben Summerskill, took sharp exception to Ms. Smith’s letter, saying, "You only have to listen to people who were terrorized by [London’s] Metropolitan Police in the 1950s and 1960s to know that telling gay people to live discreetly is quixotic."

The MPs who called for a change in the immigration policy were moved by the story ofa gay Iranian teen, Mehdi Kazemi, whose life depends upon being allowed to remain in the U.K. Kazemi, the Independent reported, would have been killed if he had been deported back to his home country.

Kazemi’s story served as a case in point for the MPs pressing for the changes in immigration policy. The MPs, reported the Independent, declared that such changes to the law represented the "only moral course" in dealing with gay and lesbian asylum seekers.

The letter that Home Secretary Smith wrote to Lord Roberts voiced skepticism about sweeping changes to immigration policy. The independent quoted the letter as saying, "We recognize that the conditions for gay and lesbian people in Iran--and many other countries are such that some individuals are able to demonstrate a need for international protection."

The letter went on, "We do not, however, accept that we should make the presumption that each and every asylum-seeker who presents themselves as being of a particular nationality or sexuality, regardless of their particular circumstances, should automatically be... allowed to remain in the UK."

Wrote Smith, "With particular regard to Iran, current case law handed down by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal concludes that the evidence does not show a real risk of discovery of, or adverse action against gay and lesbian people who are discreet about their sexual orientation."

Smith, the Independent reported, seemed to indicate a belief that many fewer gays and lesbians than the estimate 4,000 reported by GLBT organizations had been killed in Iran over the last three decades.

The Independent reported on Lord Roberts’ reply, quoting him as saying, "It is not good enough for the Government to say that people will be safe from punishment if they behave discretely."

Added Roberts, "The only ethical course of action is to declare a moratorium on deportations to Iran for all who fear execution."

Lord Roberts, the Independent reported, has sought the backing of 20 other MPs and peers in pressing for reform.

Nine Bishops Attend Anti-Gay Gathering in Israel

23 June 2008-  Kigali, Rwanda- Nine Rwandan Anglican bishops led by Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini are among the 300 Anglican bishops who are meeting at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.

The conference, which opened on June 22 and runs up to June 29, is meant to, among other issues, discuss the future of the worldwide Anglican Church amidst fears of a rift.

It attracted over 1,000 delegates from Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Australia, and South America. The Anglican Church is a Communion of 77 million people.

The Rwandan delegation left the country on June 17 and is made up of all bishops of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, according to the Church's Director of Media and Communication, Grace Mugabe.

It is intended to provide an opportunity for fellowship, to renew their understanding of Jesus Christ, and to proclaim the transforming love of Jesus Christ, among other things.

"The aim of the conference is to revamp the spirit of the Anglican faith. Jerusalem was chosen because it has something to do with the roots of the Anglican faith," Mugabe said yesterday.

During the opening of the meeting Sunday, the conservative Anglican leaders criticised their leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, for his failure to discipline the US Episcopal Church for consecrating an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003, the media reported yesterday.

According to the BBC, the talks are in effect a rival to next month's Lambeth Conference - a ten-yearly gathering of Anglican bishops from all over the world.

Reports indicate that many attending the conference have threatened to boycott the Lambeth conference, accusing the liberals of rewriting the Bible to fit modern trends.

Mugabe said Rwandan Anglican bishops have also resolved not to attend the Lambeth Conference in order 'not to mingle with sympathisers of homosexuals'.

"They cannot mingle with homosexuals unless they (gays) repent," Mugabe said.

Ever since a rift developed in the Anglican Church over gay marriages, the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, headed by Archbishop Kolini gave sanctuary to 130 Anglican Churches that broke away from the Episcopal Church of America, Mugabe added. The churches are grouped under an umbrella called Anglican Mission in Americas (Amia).

23 June 2008- UK- A TV advert for Heinz mayonnaise showing two men sharing a kiss has sparked outrage from viewers.

After less than a week on the air, the commercial is facing claims of being 'offensive' and 'inappropriate' as well as unsuitable for children.

Some parents are annoyed the advert has forced them to have to explain same sex relationships to their children and it is already on track to become one of the most complained about of the year.

The commercial, which is set to run for five weeks, shows a family scene with a young boy and girl getting ready to go to school.

In the kitchen, there is a man preparing sandwiches who the children refer to as 'Mum.'

Their father, dressed in a suit, then enters the kitchen, grabs a sandwich and says to the other man: "See you tonight, love".

The 'mum' then shouts back 'Hey, ain't you forgetting something?,' before the two men engage in a kiss.

He then tells the other man: 'Love you. Straight home from work, sweet cheeks.'

The Advertising Standards Authority is still fielding complaints over the commercial after receiving 200 so far, but has yet to confirm if it will launch an investigation.

Heinz's advert is restricted from being shown in or around children's programmes as a result of rules around promoting products high in salt, fat and sugar.

But it is screened at all other times of the day, including between soaps and TV talent contests.

The BBC also came under fire after media watchdog Ofcom censured the broadcaster over two episodes of EastEnders.

Ofcom received 116 complaints over the portrayal of character Max Branning being buried alive by his estranged wife Tanya in March this year.

The first episode included the man's sedated body being dragged through a dark wood and dumped in a shallow grave. He is then aware as the coffin lid closes on him.

Opening scenes of the second episode portrayed him sobbing as the audience heard sounds of earth being shovelled on top of him.

Ofcom said both programmes had a 'seriously disturbing element to them' at a time when many children were likely to be watching.

It said information provided at the start of the programmes did not prepare viewers for the extent of the 'distressing scenes'.

The regulator said programme makers had not sufficiently respected their audience with the portrayal in a pre-watershed soap.

23 June 2008- Bucharest, Romania- A pro-family organisation in Romania has asked the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to stop a proposed resolution demanding the legalisation of same-sex "marriage" in member states. On June 21, the Alliance of Romania's Families wrote a letter to the PACE committee strongly condemning what it called the Assembly's "extremist" and "undemocratic" attempt to impose homosexual unions onto sovereign states by fiat.

The letter chastised the PACE, saying it had "simply thrown its weight behind the most extreme position," and is seeking to impose its political will on hundreds of millions of unwilling citizens of European member states. While the PACE does not have direct legislative powers, its decisions and resolutions are immensely influential. PACE, founded in 1949, is the oldest of the European international organisations.

Earlier this year, a PACE committee proposed a resolution calling for legalisation of homosexual marriage in all its 47 member states. The committee debating the resolution considered disparate treatment of "same-sex couples" to be "unlawful discrimination" and urged that European countries aspire to be "tolerant, pluralist and broadminded." It criticized central and eastern European countries such as Poland and Latvia for retaining statutes that reserve marriage exclusively for opposite-sex couples.

The Alliance's letter condemned the actions of the Assembly in the issue of same-sex marriage but also in its recent attempts to force agreement on legalised abortion and its condemnation of religious opinions on the origins of creation. The letter, however, says that in the attempt to force states to legalise homosexual relationships, the Committee has gone too far.

"Marriage and the family are institutions, not a fad," says the group that describes itself as a civic movement for the protection of marriage and the family.

"Institutions alone are enshrined in law, fads are not. Societies protect institutions, not fads. Family and marriage are not trivial matters but are designed to ensure society's survival and the perpetuation of the human species through procreation and the rearing of children."

"Homosexual partnerships, civil unions, or same-sex marriage do neither, and by their very nature are incapable to fulfil any of these objectives. Family and marriage predate the emergence of the state and of the phenomenon of homosexuality."

Romania does not recognise same-sex unions, either in the form of same-sex marriage or civil unions. On 13 February 2008, the Senate of Romania voted for an amendment to the Family Code, proposed by Greater Romania Party, to explicitly define marriage as being only between a man and a woman. Previously, the law had only used the words "between spouses". The amendment was approved with 38 votes for, 10 votes against and 19 senators abstaining.

The letter cites as proof that the same-sex marriage issue is a passing social trend, a fad, the fact that in 2006 and 2007, those countries that created "same-sex marriage" or civil partnerings, have experienced a significant drop in the number of same-sex unions contracted. In 2007 only one same-sex "marriage" between Canadian citizens was performed in Toronto, a world centre of the homosexual activist movement.

"We believe and respectfully submit that the Council has overstepped its bounds and has set a slippery precedent which is alarming and worrisome to millions of Romanians," the letter went on.

The Alliance also condemned the PACE's actions as an affront to democratic principles. Citing the European Convention on Human Rights that says the right to marry is a matter of national sovereignty, the Alliance said that matters related to so fundamental an institution as marriage, "must be left to the discretion of each member state's citizens."

"The citizenry must be given an ample opportunity to discuss and debate these issues for itself and come up with solutions best suited and congruent with local cultural and religious sensitivities. PACE's contrary attempts ignore, discount, and necessarily violate these cultural and religious sensitivities. This is unacceptable."

"The citizens of Romania have not surrendered their sovereignty to any international body to define, dictate, and legislate their values and norms. On the contrary, in December 2006, 650,000 adult citizens of Romania submitted to their government a petition requesting that marriage be defined in law as the relationship between one man and one woman. Therefore, we respectfully, yet sternly, ask PACE to respect our norms and values."

The letter also cited the harm legal same-sex "marriage" does to the rights of children to be raised in natural families and the chilling effect it has on religious expression.

The letter concludes with a forthright statement of the Marxist origins of such ideas as same-sex "marriage.

"We are also mindful that the very concepts and institutions which PACE seeks to impose on the Member States find their origins in the teachings of the founders of communism, namely Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

"The elimination of the family and marriage, largely viewed by them as bourgeois institutions designed to oppress women, was one of their ultimate objectives. It is, therefore, to be noted, that PACE's actions are highly offensive to the hundreds of millions of citizens of the Member States who as recently as a generation ago lived under the tyranny of communism.

Gay Catholics on parade

23 June 2008- London, England- Gay Catholics from all over the country will be parading behind a 'Proudly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered & Proudly Catholic' banner in the impending Pride London Parade.

In excess of 500,000 people are expected at the event in two weeks time, whose theme is 'Fairytales, Myths and Legends'.

The two week Pride festival, of which the parade is a part, uses theatre, music, debate, art and entertainment to raise awareness of discrimination and the issues and difficulties affecting the lives of LGBT people around the world.

Gay Catholics have decided to choose the parade event to proclaim the banner's message to other LGBT communities, as well as the rest of the Church.

Many will also be wearing 'Nobody knows I'm Catholic' t-shirts. Catholic groups will also be providing information, advice and pastoral contact at a Trafalgar Square stall, shared between the RC Caucus of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support, and the Soho Masses Pastoral Council.

The Soho Masses Pastoral Council is also holding to Mass on Sunday, 6 July at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory, Warwick Street, near Piccadilly Circus, to which all are welcome.

Third Gay Pride Ban “Lawful”

19 June 2008- Moscow, Russia –  Tverskoi District Court of Moscow this afternoon dismissed the complaint by Moscow Pride organisers against the ban of one of the Gay Pride marches for tolerance and respect for the rights and freedoms of homosexual people in Russia planned for May 1 this year.

The march was scheduled to take place from the Moscow Central Post Office to Lubyanka Square.

During court hearing, Nikolai Alekseev, principle  the organiser of Moscow Pride, said that the Russian legislation does not give the authorities the right to ban any public event if it does not contradict the Constitution.

According to the law, he told the court, authorities are obliged to offer an alternative place or time for the conduct of such an event if it is not possible to stage it in the place where planned.

Mr.  Alekseev underlined that the references of Moscow Government to Article 11 of the European Convention are not appropriate because Russian legislation does not permit a ban of a public event of sexual minorities.

He cited references to the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in which the Court held that the view that the majority can not prevail over the views of the minority and in which the European Court have ruled that public actions of sexual minorities must be provided police protection.

In all the organisers of Moscow Pride sent 155 notifications for the marches between May 1 and 31 this year – five a day.

All of them were turned down by the Moscow Government. However, The court decision delivered today concerns only one march – on May 1.

“As soon as we have the final text of the decision of judge Alexey Sevalkin we will immediately appeal it in Moscow City Court,” Mr. Alekseev following the court hearing.

“Depending on the actual written decision, we will also appeal all the other bans of the marches for which we applied in May.”

He went on to suggest that if “needed, we are ready to take all cases up to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.  Two of our applications concerning the bans of Moscow Pride event in May 2006 and in May 2007 are already awaiting consideration in Strasbourg”.

Earlier this week Moscow Pride organisers sent a new application to the European Court of Human Rights against the ban by the Prefecture of the Central Administrative Area of Moscow of the picketing in support of a call for a travel ban in the European Union by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.  The ban was ruled to be lawful by Taganskiy District Court of Moscow and by Moscow City Court.

The third Moscow Gay Pride successfully staged on June 1, despite tthe ban by the Moscow authorities.

Around 30 activists, following a little subterfuge, total secrecy and a little ‘cat and mouse’, gathered at the monument of Russian composer Petr Tchaikovskiy, said to have been gay, on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street and then, following a brief march, displayed a huge banner from one of the flats on Tverskaya street opposite the office of Moscow Mayor which read: “Rights to Gays and Lesbians. Homophobic of Moscow Mayor should be prosecuted”.

18 June 2008- London, England- The couple's lawyers issued a joint statement which said: "It is with sadness that their relationship has come to an end. Their separation is amicable. They ask the press to respect their privacy at this time and to exercise restraint in any reporting of this matter."

They are the first celebrity gay couple to separate following a civil partnership and could prove a test case for gay "divorces", with McGee, a television researcher, entitled to a slice of Lucas's considerable fortune.

The couple met in a nightclub and exchanged vows in December 2006 after three years together.

After the ceremony in a private members' club they threw a lavish pantomime-themed reception at Banqueting House in London, with Lucas dressed as Aladdin and McGee as Prince Charming. Sir Elton John, Barbara Windsor and singer Courtney Love were among the guests.

Lucas, 34, whose Little Britain catchphrase is "I'm the only gay in the village", said before the ceremony: "We're going to have a civil partnership, or marriage, or whatever you like to call it. We are very much in love, but also it's important to have the same rights as straight couples."

He and McGee, 32, shared a £1.5 million home in north-west London.Civil partnership dissolutions are similar to divorces, with parties able to petition for financial support.

Lucas is by far the wealthier side of the partnership - he and his fellow Little Britain star David Walliams signed a reported £6 million golden handcuffs deal with the BBC in 2006. They are currently filming Little Britain USA.

The split could have far-reaching consequences for civil partnerships in Britain.

Alan Kaufman, head of family law at Finers Stephens Innocent, said: "Whilst one does not wish any split to end up in the courts, family lawyers would welcome guidance from a judge on a case such as this. At the moment we simply don't know whether a judge will look at a civil partnership in exactly the sme way as a husband and wife in a heterosexual relationship. It will be fascinating to see how the courts deal with it."

Norway passes law approving gay marriage

17 June 2008- Oslo, Norway -Gay couples in Norway will be granted the same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed Tuesday.

Norway's upper house of parliament voted 23-17 in favor of the gender-neutral marriage law on the same day that gay couples were marrying in California.

The law replaces 1993 legislation that gave gays the right to enter civil unions similar to marriage but did not allow church weddings or adoption. It takes effect Jan. 1.

"We are so overjoyed. We have worked for this for so long," said Jon Reidar Oeyan, leader of the Norwegian National Association of Lesbian and Gay Liberation.

"Now we are going to celebrate," he said. "I didn't dare until I heard the chairman of the upper house bang the hammer."

A parliamentary majority had announced agreement on the legislation last month, and the lower house voted 84-41 in favor last week.

Opponents, including the Christian Democrats and the Party of Progress, argued that children need both a mother and a father in a traditional family; opposed assisted pregnancy for lesbians, and said the law was rushed through the legislature.

The law gives individual congregations and clergy the right but not the legal obligation to perform wedding ceremonies for gay couples.

About 85 percent of Norway's 4.7 million people are registered as members of the state Lutheran Church of Norway, although far fewer are active.

Since the church is split on gay marriage, the church is likely to allow each congregation to decide on whether to allow gay wedding ceremonies, as it did last year in allowing parishes to decide whether to accept clergymen living in gay partnerships.

In 1989, Denmark became the world's first country to allow civil unions for gays, similar to Norway's outgoing law. In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to offer full marriage rights to gay couples.

11 June 2008- Gambia- A leading human rights group has appealed to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to disavow his reported comments encouraging violence against gays.

In an open letter to Jammeh, New York-based Human Rights Watch also said it was concerned about the arrest or questioning of at least four people in The Gambia's capital Banjul following his statements.

"We urge you to publicly disavow threats and vilification directed against gays and lesbian people in Gambia," said the letter signed by Scott Long, director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program.

"We ask you to affirm publicly and without equivocation that all people should enjoy their rights regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity," he wrote.

Long called on Jammeh to ask police to release all people still detained on charges or under suspicion of homosexual conduct and refrain from such arrests.

The rights group also urged the president to repeal the country's colonial-era sodomy law, which punishes sex between two men with 14 years in prison.

During a political rally last month, Jammeh said homosexuality would not be tolerated in his country and that he would "cut off the head" of any gay person caught in The Gambia, local journalists told AFP.

About two weeks later, two Spaniards were arrested and accused of making a homosexual advance to two taxi drivers.

04 June 2008- Gambia- The two Spanish tourists arrested on Friday in The Gambia, accused of having made "dishonest propositions" to engage into homosexual relationships, yesterday were released without charges and are preparing their return to Spain.

According to confirmed sources from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the release of two Spaniards - 56 and 54 years old - came hours after several senior members of the Ministry got in contact with their Gambian counterparts.

However, the two Spaniards in The Gambia are still said to be "in a dangerous situation". The same sources indicated that the two Spanish tourists yesterday urgently had left the capital of Gambia, Banjul, moving on to neighbouring Senegal by road instead of waiting for a flight. Today, they are trying to catch a direct flight from Senegal to Spain.

The two Spaniards were arrested on Friday in Kotu, 10 kilometres from Banjul. The tourists were accused of having asked local taxi drivers to led them to places frequented by homosexuals. The drivers at first agreed to the request of the Spaniards, but later on informed the police who later arrested them at a tourist resort.

Last month, the President of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, ordered gays and lesbians to leave the country within 24 hours before he would "cut off the head" of any homosexual caught in the country. Mr Jammeh also threatened to legislate "more stringent laws that Iran" regarding homosexuality.

President Jammeh further warned owners of hotels and accommodation centres not to give shelter to homosexuals on the grounds that homosexuality should not be tolerated in a country of "believers and civilized people." He added government would "not hesitate to close down any hotel or lodge that accommodates homosexuals."

Meanwhile, there are concerns over the possible economic consequences of the arrest and detention of homosexuals in the small and impoverished West African country, whose tourist business is one of the most expanding industries. Tourism now contributes a great part to the national economy, as well as the main source of foreign exchange.

President Jammeh's verbal and physical attacks on homosexuals have received massive press coverage is the countries of origin of most tourists. In particular media and blogs directed at homosexuals have started warning against travelling to The Gambia, with many calling for a general tourism boycott of the small dictatorship.

Two held in Gambia on gay charges

03 June 2008- Gambia- Two Spanish men have been arrested in The Gambia accused of making homosexual advances to taxi drivers, police say.

Last month, President Yahya Jammeh's threatened to behead gay people at a political rally and said they had 24 hours to leave the country.

He promised "stricter laws than Iran" on homosexuality and said he would "cut off the head" of any gay person.

Correspondents say a crackdown on homosexuals could hit The Gambia's vital tourism industry.

Mr Jammeh's statements have been condemned by gay rights activists but the AP news agency says it was backed by the country's Supreme Islamic Council, which said the president had taken a "principled stand".

Correspondents say a number of homosexual men have fled to The Gambia from neighbouring Senegal after a crackdown there following arrests at a "gay wedding" in February.

Both countries are predominantly Muslim and President Jammeh cultivates an image of being a devout Muslim.

Homosexual sex is illegal in The Gambia, where those convicted of consensual homosexual acts face jail terms of up to 14 years, reports say.

Gay victims of Third Reich are honoured in Berlin with stark memorial

28 May 2008- Berlin, German- A controversial monument honouring the many thousands of homosexual men and women persecuted and killed by the Nazis was unveiled in Berlin yesterday.

The stark, box-like construction is just across the road from the sprawling Holocaust memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe and only a short walk away from the buried remnants of Adolf Hitler's concrete bunker. The monument, designed by the Danish-Norwegian artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, is about 4metres (13ft) tall. One side has a small window through which viewers can see a 90-minute black and white film of two men kissing.

The film was the first cause of conflict in the ten years of argument that preceded the opening of the gay cube. Lesbian activists complained that they had been excluded because the film showed only men. Now it has been decided to replace the film footage in two years and show women kissing.

Other critics argued that commemorating homosexual victims diminished the memory of the slaughtered Jews. The Government, represented at the opening ceremony yesterday by Bernd Neumann, federal Minister for Culture, now accepts that each group of victims of the Third Reich has the right to mourn its community. By the end of the year a monument will be erected in Berlin to remember the Gypsies killed by the Nazis.

Stefan Maiwald, author of a book about sexual manipulation in the Third Reich, said: “The numbers of homosexuals tortured and killed in the concentration camps does not begin to approach the fate of the Jewish prisoners. But even so, some 10,000 lost their lives in the camps.” Other estimates suggest that about 54,000 homosexuals were arrested by the Nazis and 7,000 were killed in the camps.

Günter Dworek, of the Federation of Gays and Lesbians, the main lobby behind the creation of the monument, said that it was intended to remind people how difficult it was to achieve equal rights for homosexuals.

27 May 2008- Riga, Latvia- Gay Pride events in Latvia should be seen as unlawful and be banned, Roman Catholic Cardinal Jânis Pujâts has said in an open letter to the government.

The letter, also signed by 26 priests from Roman Catholic congregations, was sent to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis, Interior Minister Mareks Segliòð, and the Rîga City Council just days before Riga's Gay Pride and Friendship Days.

The church argues that although the Latvian constitution states that “human rights shall be implemented without any discrimination”, it also says that rights “may be limited in those cases prescribed by law in order to protect the rights of other people, a democratic system of state, the safety of society, and welfare and morals.”

“Given this text in the constitution, Pride marches in Latvia must be seen as unlawful and must not be permitted, because first of all, they are aimed against morality and the family model which exists in our nation and is enshrined in the fundamental law of the state, the Constitution,” the letter says.

“Homosexuality is against the natural order and, therefore, against the laws of God … homosexuals also claim unlawfully to have the rights of a minority.

“A minority is made up of those who are different from the majority of people because of nationality, language, race, skin colour and other neutral characterisations, but not of moral evaluation,” the letter continues.

“That means that there can be no minority of alcoholics, homosexuals, drug addicts or any other people if the minority is based on immoral inclinations. Otherwise this would be direct promotion of immorality.”

The Cardinal and priests argue that because it is impossible to permit “the homosexual march without violating the laws of the country,” foreigners who arrive for the march could instead be offered a conference hall in some Rîga hotel where they could organise “an interest club” without any disturbance to talk about those in Latvia who think as they do.

“A ban on the Pride would also cause these foreigners, who are so full of bravado, to think about the fact that they have no right to publicly propagandise perversion in Latvia and expect that this shameful behaviour is even protected by the police,” the letter states.

“This is humiliation to police officials who, against their conscience, are forced during the Pride event to stand with the gays. Even more, it would be humiliation for our government –and for the entire nation – if we were to feel captive in front of amoral pressure.

“A responsible decision from the men who are in power is expected by everyone who is concerned about the raising of young people – parents, teachers and clergymen,” the letter concludes.

Gay Pride hailed a success

26 May 2008- Birmingham, England- Drizzle failed to dampen the dazzle, glitz and glamour of the annual Birmingham pride event which was as outrageous as ever despite organisers dropping the famous street parade this year.

The city's gay village was transformed into a series of stages and stalls for the giant party led last night by the Cheeky Girls and a Eurovision All Stars Show on Saturday which included past Eurovision winners Brotherhood of Man and Bucks Fizz.

The former Eurovision favourites, including Scooch and Sonia, had the crowds bopping and cheering in Saturday's brilliant sunshine.

Men in stunning costumes, complete with full make-up, wigs and high heels, mingled with ordinary families and grandparents at the event which had a real party atmosphere.

But among all the frivolity came a serious message from organiser Phil Oldershaw, who welcomed new Lord Mayor Coun Chauhdry Rashid on to the main stage in Kent Street to officially open the event on Saturday.

Two sets of balloons were launched - 1,400 red ones to represent the number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV in the West Midlands and 600 navy ones to represent those infected but undiagnosed.

Phil said: "Even in 2008, more than 25 years after the beginning of the epidemic, people with HIV still face stigma and discrimination, sometimes from their own communities.

"HIV testing has never been so easy to access. Over the past year, two health clinics have both provided 20-minute fast HIV tests."

Speaking about this year's event, he added: "It's been a brilliant success this year even without our traditional parade, but it will be back next year. Our stage in Kent Street has had a real community feel."

Is a city that bans its gay pride fit to host Eurovision?

Commentary

26 May 2008- So Russia has won the Eurovision song (read geo-political beauty) contest with “Believe” sung by Dima Bilan.

This means that Russia will host next year’s bash.  And in turn, that probably means Moscow. Moscow?  Hosting the campest TV show on the planet – the show that is iconic around Europe in the gay communities?

The virulently homophobic mayor of Moscow appears to have what he might well describe as another “satanic gathering” on his hands in May 2009.

Already, Pride London, the UK’s largest LGBT Pride, has today reacted with surprise at the news that Moscow will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

And rightly so, as the mayor of Moscow has a total ban on Moscow Gay Pride ever since the first effort in 2006, and sees to it that his bully-boy police treat gays in a heavy-handed way, while allowing anti-gay demonstrations by religious and fascist groups .

“I don’t want to detract from Dima Bilan’s victory; it’s a great song,” Colm Howard-Lloyd, a director of Pride London commented this morning.

“But how can you let a city that denies some of the most basic human rights to LGBT people host the content next year?

“I know thousands of people, and many bars and clubs, hosted Eurovision parties to celebrate the event.&n