Marine Corporal Matt Sanchez, formerly known as ‘Rod Majors’ and ‘Pierre LaBranche,’ has expressed conservative views about his eventful past.

“I don’t like porn, it reduces the mind, flattens the soul,” Sanchez wrote on his blog and on Salon.com.

“That’s not hypocrisy talking, that’s experience… I can tell you that by the time I finished my summer tour of major studios, I was pretty disgusted with myself.

“I’ve moved forward a lot and this past stuff is not something I want to drag into my future,” Sanchez, 36, told blogger Joe.My.God. in an email interview.

Gay bloggers outed the right-wing Marine reservist after he appeared at the weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference, alongside such stalwarts as Ann Coulter, who outraged American when she called former US Senator John Edwards a “faggot.”

The CPAC was attended by many of the 2008 Republican Presidential candidates.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee attended, as did Vice President Dick Cheney.

According to Sanchez, any gayness of his own has long since fled, along with his porn past.

“Boyfriends: 0 Fiance: 2 Wife: 1. I’d say I’m pretty bad at being gay,” he told Joe.My.God.

MSNBC’s Countdown show leapt on these revelations on Wednesday night.

They showed heavily censored stills of Sanchez’s alter egos Pierre and Rod, alongside clips of his appearances on right-wing shows like The O’Reilly Factor.

Liberals have slammed Sanchez for hypocrisy.

The Nation’s Max Blumenthal told MSNBC, “It doesn’t matter, inherently, that he was a gay porn star.

“What matters is that he’s a hypocrite who’s advancing the ideological homophobia of the right and helping them exploit this homophobia for political gain.”

Most right-wingers have preserved a dignified silence, but not so O’Reilly’s Fox colleague Michelle Malkin, who said that the “hate-filled liberals on MSNBC” have “attempted to smear” Sanchez, whilst ignoring the “pernicious effects of the pornography industry on the soul.”

The hapless Sanchez fumed to Joe.My.God that, “there’s something about the beleaguered gay psyche that wants to prove to the world that everyone is just as messed up as they are.

“So they start off with the term ‘hypocrite’ and work their way backwards looking for signs of deviant behaviour in hopes of discovering some type of bastard kinship.

“That’s why I’ve had the term ‘self-loathing’ thrown at me so often. The gay community eats its own in a frenzied hope of self-serving fulfilment.”

Saguenay radio host Louis Champagne fell foul of the authorities at popular radio station CKRS when he described the Parti Quebecois as a “club of fags.”

Champagne also said that local factory workers would not vote for gay candidates, which outraged a trade union representing employees in the region.

Corus Quebec, which owns CKRS, has suspended Champagne indefinitely, pending further investigation.

In a press release on Tuesday, Corus branded the DJ’s views ‘unacceptable,’ and stated that they do not reflect the company’s opinion.

The DJ’s remarks provoked a public debate about homophobia in politics, as the Parti Quebecois is Quebec’s main social democratic and separatist party.

Its leader, Andre Bosclair, is openly gay, as is the local candidate for Saguenay, Sylvain Gaudreault.

Last Sunday, Bosclair seemed visibly distressed by attacks on his sexuality.

As PinkNews.co.uk reported, the party leader pleaded for tolerance, but became too emotional to continue his speech.

Bosclair became the first openly gay leader of a major political party in North America when he was elected as party chief in November 2005.

Many political observers agree that 40-year-old Boisclair’s sophistication and pitch for tolerance could be unattractive for voters in more conservative, rural areas.

But before Champagne’s remarks Boisclair’s sexuality had remained below the surface.

Polls have shown that more than 90% of Quebecers are not opposed to a gay Premier of Quebec.

Andre Boisclair was the youngest member ever elected to the Quebec National Assembly at 23 years old.

At that time he also had a reputation as a party animal in Quebec City’s night-life scene.

The Parti Quebecois advocate independence from Canada and the formation of their own French-speaking state in Quebec.

The French-speaking Canadian province is due to hold their general election on March 26.

According to the poll, released on Thursday, age is a crucial factor in determining who opposes or

backs gay unions.

Two political scientists analysed 20 years worth of data on the subject, and discovered that while more Californians still oppose same-sex marriage than support it, the margin is closing fast.

50% disapproveand 43% approve.

However, people born in the 1970s and 80s were more than twice as likely to support gay unions as those born before 1940.

A national Pew Research Centre study released in January mirrors the California analysis, finding that 47% of those aged 18 to 25 favoured same sex marriage, compared with 30% of those aged 26 and over.

“Californians born in each decade tend to be more accepting of gay relationships and more willing to grant them legal recognition than those born the decade before,” explained Gregory Lewis of Georgia State University and Charles Gossett of California State Polytechnic University, who conducted the survey.

Same sex couples cannot wed in California at the moment, but these findings suggest that a change in the law is imminent.

“It’s just a matter of time before a majority of California will be supportive of same-sex marriage,” said project director Mark DiCamillo, according to The Guardian.

“It may take 10 years to replace another decade within the age cohorts, but it’s clear every younger generation seems to be more accepting of that.”

California is more tolerant than most states when it comes to gay couples, and the researchers believe its comparatively young population might explain this liberal attitude.

The state has a high percentage of residents under the age of 18.

“Some people call it the Will and Grace factor,” political scientist Charles W Gossett of California State University told mercurynews.com.

Whatever the reason, being openly gay is increasingly accepted.

Besides age, politics is another influencing factor, with liberals seventy six percent in favour, but a mere 15% of conservatives willing to back gay marriage.

Hundreds of Gambians have lined up to be “cured” by President Yahya Jammeh, who treats his patients by rubbing a mysterious herbal paste into their ribcages and then instructing them to swallow a bitter yellow drink, followed by two bananas.

The therapy is administered repeatedly over several weeks.

According to Mr Jammeh, AIDS sufferers will be cured within “three to thirty days.”

The President announced his alleged cure in January to a gathering of perplexed foreign diplomats.

“Whatever you do there are bound to be sceptics, but I can tell you my method is foolproof,” he said.

“Mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It is a declaration. I can cure AIDS and I will.”

Government radio and TV addresses publicise the treatment, which Jammeh provides for free.

It has the backing of the Gambian Health Ministry.

Mr Jammeh refuses to disclose the ingredients of his herbal concoction, saying only that the treatment uses seven plants – “three of which are not from Gambia”.

His official website claims that patients have experienced a “marked improvement” in their health as a result of the treatment and scoffs at critics who dispute its efficacy.

But in a continent where HIV/AIDS is rife, such claims of miracle cures are alarming the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other health workers.

Experts are particularly concerned that Mr Jammeh orders his patients to stop taking anti-retroviral drugs, which will weaken the body’s immune system and render the patient more prone to infection.

Antonio Filipe, local head of WHO in Senegal, wanted to put the record straight.

“As the World Health Organisation, we would like to state quite clearly the following: so far there is no cure for AIDS,” he said.

Africa’s leaders have been extraordinarily slow to address the problem of Aids.

Last year, the South African minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, suggested that a diet of garlic, beetroot and lemon juice is more effective than anti-retroviral drugs.

The South African government did not provide Aids drugs until a suit by activists forced it to in 2002.

Now Gambia’s president is peddling quack remedies for one of the world’s most pernicious diseases.

An estimated 20,000 Gambians are living with HIV/AIDS.

They are jointly committing $110 million to the project, it has been announced.

They will establish a new research institute, the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative. Its goal is to find a vaccine within a decade.

Canadian PM Stephen Harper has pledged $95.3 million, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has promised up to $24 million.

As well as creating a new research facility, the money will enable Canadian scientists to work with other medical professionals from around the world, and manufacture experimental vaccines for clinical trials worldwide.

“HIV/AIDS is one of the most heart-wrenching health crises the world has ever seen,” Harper said on Tuesday.

“It is one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time. Between Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we will contribute to the effort to develop a safe, effective, affordable and globally accessible HIV vaccine.”

Bill Gates explained that the Canadian initiative is part of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an international alliance of independent organisations dedicated to the development of a preventative HIV vaccine.

”At that time, we recognised that no single company or government alone could take on this challenge, that in fact a number of organisations would need to work together,” he said.

Gates’s foundation has focused on fighting AIDS, other epidemic diseases and poverty in the developing world.

The Microsoft co-founder announced that the number of HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral treatment has increased to 1.4 million, thanks to the success of partnerships between governments and the private sector, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“But that still falls very far short of the number of new people being infected each year,” he said.

“I think scientists would agree that this will be one of the toughest vaccines ever to create, but it therefore needs to be a priority.”

The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise estimates there were nearly 5 million new HIV infections in 2005, and that nearly 40 million people in the world are currently living with HIV/AIDS.

Police came to rescue the men from a pharmacy in Saint Andrew Parish, where they had been hiding for almost an hour.

An angry crowd had gathered outside the pharmacy, hurling insults and threatening to kill the men.

When the police arrived, the mob demanded the men be handed over to them.

The police tried to escort the men to their car, but the crowd began to throw stones at the objects of their hate, hitting one of them on the head.

Finally, officers were forced to disperse the crowd with tear gas. According to the Jamaica Observer, as many as 2000 people were involved in the attack.

Jamaica’s gay rights movement, J-Flag, is forced to operate underground and anonymously.

They told PinkNews.co.uk that far from being heroes, the police acted with equal homophobia:

“They began to beat a man who was trying to make peace in the situation and ended becoming a target as a result,” say J-Flag.

“The police did eventually help the three men and the peacemaker to leave the store, but only after four of them had beaten the peacemaker with their guns and fists, insulting him and calling him a homosexual.

“The men were whisked away in a police car. While in the vehicle, all the way to the police station, the men were taunted by the police with anti-gay epithets.

“The insults continued even when the men arrived at the Half-Way Tree police station, where other police joined in the name-calling.

“The policemen at the station told them that they should be grateful and warned them never to return to Half-Way Tree.”

J-Flag have praised the actions of the shop workers, who called the police and sheltered the men.

They added: “We wish to reiterate that a society in which any Jamaican can be denied his or her rights as a citizen is a Jamaica in which no Jamaican is guaranteed his or her rights.

“We urge the authorities to accord this matter the attention it deserves as a matter of justice and human rights.”

International human rights organisations have described Jamaica as one of the most homophobic places in the world.

Gay and lesbian relationships are largely conducted in secret.

Sex between men in Jamaica is illegal, and punishable with up to ten years in jail, usually with hard labour.

In December 2003, a World Policy Institute survey on sexual orientation and human rights in the Americas said that: “In the Caribbean, Jamaica is by far the most dangerous place for sexual minorities, with frequent and often fatal attacks against gay men fostered by a popular culture that idolises reggae and dancehall singers whose lyrics call for burning and killing gay men.

“Draconian laws against sexual activity between members of the same sex continue to be in force not only in Jamaica, but in most of the English-speaking Caribbean.”

According to Amnesty International, the gay and lesbian community in Jamaica faces “extreme prejudice” and are ‘routinely victims of ill-treatment and harassment by the police, and occasionally of torture.”

Amnesty has highlighted the growing problem of vigilante action against gays and lesbians – Wednesday was just one example of this.

In 2004, the organisation revealed that “gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality,” and that they are one of the “most marginalised and persecuted communities in Jamaica.”

Political parties have ignored the issue of gay rights. Indeed, homophobia is flourishing amongst politicians and the police.

For example, opposition leader Bruce Golding vowed last year that “homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him.”

The slaughter of gay Iraqis by Islamist death squads is yet another tragic consequence of the chaos and carnage in this beleaguered country.

It would seem that no-one is safe from fundamentalist militias, who target Iraqis for “crimes against Islam,” which might include drinking alcohol, having a Sunni name, or not being veiled if you are a woman.

Sectarian blackmail, mutilation, and assassination of gays are rife.

In 2005, Iraq’s leading Muslim cleric, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa ordering the execution of gay Iraqis.

The followers of rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr, too, are proving they are all too eager to murder gays.

Now pressure from gay and human rights groups has forced the FCO to tackle these attacks on gay Iraqis.

As late as May last year, a letter drafted by FCO officials was reluctant to address this problem.

“We are of course aware of reports about the activities of so-called death squads in Iraq who are allegedly targeting people whose values are different from their own,” the letter read.

“This problem has mainly been centred on differences in religious belief and ethnicity, but we are aware of reports that it has now spread to include sexual orientation.

“It is difficult, however, to assess clearly the extent of this problem and how much it reflects criminality and local feuding as opposed to widespread or organised movement against any particular group or groups.”

April 2006 saw more wavering from the FCO over reports of persecution of gays. In a communication, an FCO official gave their opinion that: “The position of homosexuality in Iraqi law is not clear. There is no specific law that we know of against homosexuality but there are others that could be seen to see it as illegal.”

By August 2006, however, the targeting of gays in Iraq was a hot topic. The Observer ran an article: “Gays flee Iraq as Shia death squads find a new target.”

People started writing to the FCO, who prepared the following statement in response:

“We are aware of reports of increasing violence and intimidation against homosexual men in Iraq.

This is in the context of a wider rise in violence against Iraqi civilians including violence against women, sectarian violence and violence against minorities.

“We condemn all violence and intimidation and are working with the Iraqi government to tackle this, including by helping strengthen the capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces. More widely, we are working to promote respect for the rule of law and human rights by and for all Iraqis.

“We raise issues of concern, such as the reports of increasing levels of violence against minorities with the Iraqi government on a regular basis.”

But gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell warns that these murders are an ominous sign of things to come.

Writing in the New Humanist, he accuses some Iraqi police and government ministers of colluding in the killings, and argues that: “the execution of lesbian and gay Iraqis by Islamist death squads and militia is symptomatic of the fate that will befall all Iraqis if the fundamentalists continue to gain influence. The summary killing of queers is the canary in the mine – a warning of the barbarism to come.”

It comes as Anglican leaders meet in Tanzania to debate the church’s position on gay people – a highly controversial issue for the Anglican communion.

The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), who are coordinating the conference, have secured sponsorship and support from over 50 prominent organisations.

They including the Home Office, the TUC, the Gay Police Association, BT Openreach and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Over 200 participants are expected to attend the conference in Bethnal Green, which will hear from leading public figures.

Speakers include Chris Smith, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Revd Giles Fraser, Team Rector of Putney and lecturer in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford, and Kay Carberry, Assistant General Secretary of the TUC and a member of the Commission on Equality and Human Rights.

Brian Coleman, who is Chair of the Greater London Assembly, will open the event.

“By any standard the amount of grassroots and mainstream support for the conference is amazing,” LGCM’s Chief Executive Richard Kirker said yesterday.

“This has the potential to forge partnerships and co-operation across a wider range of bodies than has ever been achieved.

The conference will focus on key issues relating to faith, homophobia and human rights.

The Chairman of the Gay Police Association, Paul M Cahill, yesterday stressed the need for honest dialogue between the gay community and faith communities.

“The experiences of the Gay Police Association are well documented and identify a clear link between the uncompromising teachings of some faiths towards gay people and the rise in homophobic hate crime.

“Homophobia in all it forms and regardless of its justification is a scourge on society and causes immeasurable damage to the lives of many gay men and women.

“We hope that this conference, will be an opportunity to identify common ground so that we can all unite against hatred.”

For more information on the conference, go to http://www.lgcm.org.uk/fhconference/