The Chairman of Strabane District Council is set to open the town’s first gay bar at an official opening next Friday night, the ‘Journal’ can reveal. Sinn Fein Councillor Gerard Foley says that he hopes the opening of the Central Bar will attract “some positivity” to the town. Colr. Foley added: “Chatting to people around the town, they seem to be all in favour of this gay bar.  ”I think it should do well, it will take some people a while to adjust to it, the same way they had to adjust to the peace process but in the end they will accept it,” he said. See  Strabane district council chairman to open gay bar
Derry Today, UK

Ivan Toms, who has died in Cape Town at the age of 54, was just about everything the old apartheid government abhorred: loudly gay, loudly anti- conscription, loudly pro the poor and downtrodden and loudly anti- apartheid.

He was born in Durban on July 11 1953 and went to Durban High School.

Two life-changing things happened to him while putting himself through medical school at the University of Cape Town: he became a committed Christian and he realised that he was gay.

For a long time he tried desperately to make this go away, hoping that prayers and the laying-on of hands would change his sexual orientation.

After being assured by a priest friend that God accepted him as he was, he rushed around telling everybody who cared to know, and many who didn’t, that he was gay, and he became an outspoken champion of gay and lesbian rights. By this time he had a theology degree as well as a medical one and he had hopes of being a lay preacher at his Anglican church. Instead he was pretty much shown the door, told that he could welcome people and hand out hymn books if he must, but nothing more.

He left the church, although his belief in God remained unshakeable.

In 1979 he felt that God was telling him to build a clinic in the sprawling Cape Flats squatter camp known as Crossroads. It was the first and for many years the only clinic serving about 60000 people. He was the only doctor although he quickly built up a team around him, training women as receptionists and nurses.

See  Ivan Toms: Bold campaigner against bigotry
The Times, South Africa -

Manse: A Chinese gay magazine

Given current debates about China and Tibet, what stances do both societies have on LGBT issues?

Before Communist China occupied it in 1948, Tibet was a theocracy, ruled by a monastic hierarchy, whose population growth tended to be low, given the high proportion of celibate Buddhist monks and nuns in the mountainous Himalayan nation. The current Dalai Lama believes that lesbian and gay sex are closed to his school of Buddhism, in which they are depicted as “bad” forms of sexual contact, although monogamous heterosexual recreational sex with birth control is okay. However, it should be noted that he acknowledges that there is global Buddhist debate on the subject, does not claim infallibility, although from this perspective, lesbian and gay Buddhists are not “good” Buddhists. He also stated he did not believe that homosexuality should be subject to criminal sanctions.

As for China, it had a rich tradition of male homoerotic literature, with accompanying candid artwork. Emperors, nobility, civil servants and peasants all embraced same sex love, especially in cases of exemplary spousal fidelity between partners and otherwise virtuous ethical conduct. Taoism and Chinese Buddhism didn’t concern themselves about regulating gay sex, and while Confucianism was puritanical and family oriented, it was only intermittently so.

More of Being gay in China or Tibet
Gay NZ, New Zealand 

With many common misconceptions towards those who suffer from HIV and AIDS, staff at AIDS Niagara are working with the community to dispel myths and create a better understanding about the complex. Jody Yurchuk, education support co-ordinator with AIDS Niagara, spoke to members of the Rotary Club of Port Colborne Centennial yesterday and explained what services the St. Catharines-based operation provides to Niagara residents who suffer from the disease. “HIV is a complicated disease. It’s a very intelligent virus,” she said, explaining why certain doctors chose not to treat patients with HIV, with the closest HIV treatment facility being in Hamilton. She said HIV and AIDS were once associated with the male gay community but said its increasing rate is now being associated with young women as more people are being educated and tested. “It’s not primarily a gay disease, it’s an everybody disease.”

See The changing face of AIDS; Speaker says AIDS no longer associated … Welland Tribune

SCOTTSBORO - Jackson County Circuit Judge John Graham today ordered the Scottsboro City Board of Education to allow a gay couple to attend Scottsboro High School’s senior-junior prom tonight.

Chelsea Overstreet, 17, a junior at the high school, and her date Lauren Martin, 16, a sophomore at the school, were initially told by school officials they could not attend because the school board does not allow students of the same sex to attend the prom together, their lawyer Parker Edmiston of Scottsboro said in a press conference this afternoon.

Because there is no state law specific to the issue, Graham cited a federal court ruling that prohibits public schools from barring same-sex couples from proms.

  Court orders Scottsboro High to let gay couple attend prom
The Huntsville Times - al.com, AL 

The number of people in the United States reported to have HIV increased by about 50 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to data released this week by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

In 2006, at least 52,878 Americans were reported having HIV, compared to 35,537 in 2005, according to the CDC’s annual HIV/AIDS surveillance report. Experts said that part of the increase is due to large states like California and Illinois being included in the CDC’s estimate for the first time, as well as increases in risky sexual behavior that are also being borne out in rising STD rates.

 CDC announces sharp increase in U.S. HIV cases
By RYAN LEE

A national gay rights organization is filing arguments in a case that will decide whether Iowa’s ban on same sex marriage is legal.

The New York-based group has spearheaded same-sex marriage drives across the country.

 IA Gay Marriage Ban Attracts National Attention
KCAU, IA 

Coronation Street is to become the latest British soap opera to add a gay character, following EastEnders which is about to air a bisexual storyline. But fellow ITV drama Emmerdale will lose two gay characters.  Top soap Coronation Street adds gay character as Emmerdale axes two
PinkNews.co.uk, UK 

Plans to stage an exhibition on gay footballers at a Preston museum have been given the boot.

University of Central Lancashire lecturers Mac McCarthy and Louisa Jones wanted to showcase their research into gay teams at Deepdale’s National Football Museum.

Museum bosses were supportive, but the Football Foundation charity rejected a bid for nearly £135,000 to stage the exhibition and a three-year community outreach project.

A letter from the foundation stated: “Trustees do not feel the museum would be the most appropriate delivery agent for this particular agenda.”

The foundation is part-funded by the FA, which recently launched a Kick Homophobia Out Of Football campaign.

Mr McCarthy, senior lecturer in UCLan’s tourism and leisure management department, said: “There were people who thought perhaps the museum was not an appropriate venue. I don’t know why that was. We are having to rethink what we can do and are having a meeting with the museum next week.”

Researchers had spoken to players and fans in the Gay Football Supporters’ Network about their experiences and the prejudices faced.

 Gay football display gets the boot
Lancashire Evening Post, UK

When Americans cast ballots on November 4 to elect a president, some states also will ask voters hot-button questions like whether or not to ban gay marriage.

Such “ballot initiatives” — proposed amendments to state constitutions or legislation — have become a staple of U.S. elections and have played a role in recent presidential races.

Two that have qualified for November’s ballot stand out: one to ban gay marriage in the presidential battleground state of Florida — where votes for Republican and Democratic candidates have been closely split in recent elections — and another in Colorado to roll back affirmative-action policies aimed at helping minorities overcome discrimination.

Initiatives to ban gay marriage played a role in President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election as they propelled the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base to the polls.

They may not have the same impact this time, as Republican John McCain is viewed by many religious conservatives as soft on core issues like gay marriage and stem cell research.

“I have a hard time envisioning social conservatives who want to ban gay marriage in Florida getting excited about John McCain at the polls,” said Daniel Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

 Hot button ballot issues back in election
Reuters -