Group appeals to Burundi to drop law banning homosexuality
(Burundi) Human Rights Watch has appealed to Burundi to repeal a law passed in April that makes homosexuality illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison reports CNN.
In a recently released report, Human Rights Watch said that many gays and lesbians face great discrimination in the eastern African …
Tags: April, Cnn, Discrimination, Gays And Lesbians, Group Appeals, Homosexuality, Human Rights Watch, Prison ReportsApple using double-standard for gay iPhone apps?
Apple is maintaining a double-standard when it comes to gay-themed iPhone apps, a developer claims. Attempting to draw publicity, Terry Ray claims that his iGaydar title was rejected from the App Store on the same day as Bruno — an app based on the Sacha Baron Cohen movie — was approved. iGaydar was rejected for “objectionable content,” despite being considerably less graphic than the Bruno app, according to Ray.
iGaydar pretends to detect a person’s sexuality, first displaying a random percentage and then announcing a tongue-in-cheek statement, such as “Honey, not even your priorities are straight.” By contrast the Bruno app lets users undress Cohen’s character, and touch various body parts which can elicit potentially offensive responses. Bruno is only on the App Store as a result of major studio backing and publicity, Ray charges.
Apple has rejected a number of apps with sex-related themes in the past, even when the titles did not show anything explicit. Naughty Loaded Dice was briefly blocked earlier in July, while an e-book reader, Eucalyptus, was temporarily blocked in May. Though only meant as general-purpose reading software, one of the books available for Eucalyptus is the Kama Sutra, a centuries-old Indian religious text that Apple deemed “inappropriate sexual content.”
See Apple using double-standard for gay iPhone apps?
| Published by |
 |
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/apple-using-d…
Conservatives reject funding for Montreal gay festival
A gay and lesbian arts festival that was told it met all government criteria under a new tourism stimulus program learned Tuesday it was rejected for funding.
The news arrived at Montreal’s Divers-Cite a few weeks after tension swept the Conservative caucus over funding for Toronto’s Pride week, and just days before the beginning of the event.
The directors of Montreal’s Divers-Cite had actually sprung to the defence of Stephen Harper’s government earlier this month, telling The Canadian Press that the Conservatives had never treated them differently. Some in the gay community attacked them for their comments.
They had submitted a bid under the new Marquee Tourism Events Program for $155,000 to add performers and promotion to this year’s $2-million event.
Government relations and marketing director Paul Girard said bureaucrats handling his file at Industry Canada told him his application met all the criteria, and had been sent up to Minister Tony Clement’s office for final approval.
When he phoned to check on the bid Tuesday, Mr. Girard says he was told by a senior bureaucrat that the $100-million program had received so many requests, the government simply had to make a choice.
“We knew that anybody that was to be refused and didn’t meet the criteria got a quick No,” Mr. Girard said. “As time advanced, we became more and more confident.”
Paul’s sister Suzanne, the festival’s director, says the organization was completely shocked by the response. Divers-Cite has received funding from Economic Development Canada for several years, as well as Canadian Heritage.
See Conservatives reject funding for Montreal gay festival
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/conservatives…
India: Legal gay sex ruling challenged
A landmark ruling that legalized gay sex between consenting partners in India was challenged Thursday in the country’s high court, lawyers said.
The supreme court issued a notice to the nonprofit Naz Foundation that had won a lower-court verdict after a seven-year legal fight to decriminalize gay sex.
Notices also were issued to the federal government and the New Delhi high court, which ruled last week that consensual sex between partners of the same gender was legal.
An astrologer filed a petition challenging the ruling. The petitioner argued that no constitutional right is violated by the Indian penal code’s Section 377, which had outlawed gay sex, said his lawyer Praveen Agrawal.
The petition also cited Indian culture and health as grounds for seeking a stay on last week’s ruling, he said.
The supreme court posted the next hearing for July 20.
Last week’s ruling meant the law — Indian penal code section 377, which had previously criminalized consensual homosexual acts between adults — was partly struck down but remains in place as far as forced homosexual acts are concerned.
The verdict affects law enforcement all around India because it deals with a law enacted by the federal parliament.
See India: Legal gay sex ruling challenged
CNN Internationa
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/india-legal-g…
Granderson: Critiques of Obama put gay African-Americans in a bind
Complaints by LGBT leaders over a perceived lack of movement on LGBT issues by President Barack Obama risk alienating African-American gays and lesbians from the gay-rights movement, according to writer LZ Granderson. He writes, “Hearing that race matters in the gay community may not be comforting to hear, but that doesn’t make it any less true.” CNN
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/granderson-cr…
Time to review policy on gays in US military: Powell
American attitudes have changed and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays serving in the U.S. military should be reviewed, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell said on Sunday.
President Barack Obama favors overturning the policy, which bars gay troops from serving openly in the military. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked military lawyers to look at ways to make the law more flexible, hailed by gay rights groups as a “seismic political shift”.
“The policy and the law that came about in 1993, I think, was correct for the time,” Powell said on CNN’s State of the Union.
“Sixteen years have now gone by, and I think a lot has changed with respect to attitudes within our country, and therefore I think this is a policy and a law that should be reviewed.” he added.
See Time to review policy on gays in US military: Powell Reuters
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/time-to-revie…
Religious groups in India have warned they will…
Religious groups in India have warned they will oppose any move to legalize homosexuality as the federal government prepares to hold talks on a law that classifies same-sex acts as crimes.
India’s Hindu nationalist main opposition has in the meantime called for a national debate on the legislation that law minister M. Veerappa Moily last week said would come up for a discussion within the government.
“This is a sensitive issue and warrants a debate within the Indian society at large before arriving at any decision,” said Sidharth Nath Singh, spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
An Indian court is due to give its judgment on a petition filed by a nonprofit group that has challenged the anti-gay provision of the penal code.
In a news conference last week, Moily refused to spell out his government’s stand on it because it awaits judicial determination. But his comments that the federal home minister was “contemplating” a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues on the law drew widespread coverage in the largely conservative country.
“Hope floats at rainbow parades,” read a caption on a front-page picture from a gay parade in New Delhi in Monday’s Times of India newspaper.
Participants in that march demanded repeal of Section 377 of the penal code, which criminalizes private consensual sex between adults of the same gender in the country. 
Watch a New Delhi march in support of gay rights »
Religious leaders, however, oppose any suggestion to scrap 377, describing homosexuality as “unnatural.”
“We are against calling homosexuality a criminal activity, but we are certainly in principle against legalizing it, because that would mean the state endorsing same-sex relationships,” said Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
Homosexuality “violates fundamental norms of a family,” he said.
See India faith leaders: Anti-gay law must stay CNN International
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/religious-gro…
National Guard: Gay Iraq veteran must leave service
A panel of New York National Guard officers has recommended that an Iraq war veteran who acknowledged his homosexuality must leave the service, his supporters said Tuesday.
First Lt. Dan Choi disclosed in March that he is gay, challenging the 1994 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that requires the military to discharge troops who disclose their sexual orientation. Tuesday’s ruling, made after a daylong hearing, is a step toward stripping Choi of his officer’s commission and ending his career.
“It’s disappointing, but not unexpected,” said Sue Fulton, a spokeswoman for Knights Out, a group of gay and lesbian West Point alumni Choi helped found.
See National Guard: Gay Iraq veteran must leave service CNN International
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/national-guar…
Gay footballers battle for world domination
One year before the FIFA World Cup kicks off, 26 teams of gay and lesbian footballers are battling for global supremacy in the Gay Soccer World Championships
Co-ordinated by the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA), the tournament, which began on Sunday, is being hosted by the Federal Triangles club in Washington D.C., and supported by the local Major League Soccer (MLS) side D.C. United.
IGLFA spokesman Michael Pranikoff told CNN that the competition has been running annually since 1992.
“We started very small. There were just a few clubs from around the world. But we have gone from strength to strength. Last year the tournament was in London and sanctioned by the Football Association.”
Pranikoff said there are no professional players involved, but the standard of play is strong and the teams in the top divisions are very competitive.
Although the tournament involves club sides — rather than national teams, there is still a strong international feel with players from the U.S., United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Argentina, Italy, and Norway all taking part.
The London Stonewall Lions are the reigning champions in the men’s division and expected to figure in Sunday’s final at Trinity Washington University, he said.
Despite the competitive nature of the event, Pranikoff said there are also less serious divisions where there is a more important message.
See Gay footballers battle for world domination
CNN International -
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/gay-footballe…
The Human Toll Of Anti-Gay Hate
How does a family react to a son’s life taken because he is gay? The toll taken on those left behind is explored in PBS’ documentary Beyond Hatred premiering tonight. On the night of September 13, 2002, in Leo Legrange Park in Rheims, France, Francois Chenu was brutally murdered by three neo-Nazi skinheads. When the trio came upon Francois they asked him if he was gay and he answered yes. The twenty-nine-year-old fought back as the men beat him, then, when it was over, he called them cowards, prompting the men to kill their victim. Acclaimed Director Olivier Meyrou dispenses with the dramatic reenactments. In fact, the film mostly ignores Francois’ death by drowning, opting instead to concentrate on the lives of the family left behind. It’s powerful filmmaking, to say the least. Meyrou catches up with Francois’ parents and three sibling two years after his death, as the killers’ trial is about to open. The documentary focuses on the mundane lives of the Chenu family, allowing us to sense the strength necessary to continue after such a brutal crime.
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
| Published by |
|
Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/human-toll-of…
