Europe
Macedonia Activists Oppose Anti-Gay Constitution Change
Civil rights group urges political parties to clarify whether they support or oppose Church-led proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage. The Skopje-based NGO “Plostad Sloboda” [Freedom Square] says politicians must make clear where they stand on calls to change the constitution, outlawing gay marriage. The heads of the five main faiths in the country last… Read more »
Muslims urged to march against gay marriage in France
Muslims join Catholics in fight against President François Hollande’s ‘Marriage for All’ law French Muslims have joined Catholics in protesting the country’s plans to legalize gay marriage and adoption. An open letter signed by 50 Muslim activists calls on religious followers to join a march against the law in France’s capital Paris on Sunday (13… Read more »
Senior Anglican Condemns Gay Bishops As A Compromise Too Far
The leader of a global group of traditional Anglicans has condemned the Church of England for “compromising with the secular preoccupations of the West” in an attack that significantly ratchets up the latest fallout between liberals and conservative over the thorny issue of homosexuality. Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, the Primate of Kenya and the leader of… Read more »
Turkey progress report slammed – no progress for gay rights
Turkish activists claim: Turkey’s own progress report to the European Union ignores repeated critique of the country’s failure to protect LGBT people Activists slammed Turkey’s progress report to the European Union (EU), saying it totally ignores the EU’s recommendations regarding LGBT rights Turkey’s minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said the report… Read more »
Turkey progress report slammed – no progress for gay rights
Turkish activists claim: Turkey’s own progress report to the European Union ignores repeated critique of the country’s failure to protect LGBT people Activists slammed Turkey’s progress report to the European Union (EU), saying it totally ignores the EU’s recommendations regarding LGBT rights Turkey’s minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said the report… Read more »
Anti-gay academic books to be banned in Albania
Following a complaint by LGBT rights group the Albanian government will remove from the market all anti-gay academic books The Albanian office of the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination (CPD) has announced that it will take of the market all academic texts which discriminate against the LGBT community and update any others where same-sex relations… Read more »
Celebrity gay fashion designer brutally attacked in Turkey
One of Turkey’s most celebrated fashion designers and a gay activist was brutally attacked in Istanbul Celebrity Turkish gay fashion designer, Barbaros Sansal, was seriously beaten last night (27 December) in Istanbul, Turkey. Sansal is well known in Turkey for being an outspoken gay activist and for his use of witty language. According to daily… Read more »
Moldova votes for anti-gay bigot ban
Bill which would see people who discriminate against sexual minorities at work face fines or even jail passes second reading in Moldova parliament Moldova has voted to impose fines against employers who discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers. The country’s parliament passed the second reading of a bill which would see those who… Read more »
Ukraine: HIV Coalition urges decriminalization of sex work
Coalition chair: “Sex workers are almost invariably women who have suffered a catastrophic loss of income because of a partner who refuses child support or some similar difficulty. These women need assistance and understanding, not condemnation and criminalization.” Kyiv (UBO) – As a part of meeting its responsibility to take the lead in formulating policies… Read more »
UK lawyers help Cambodia with LGBT rights
Advocates for International Development helps UK lawyers to help a Cambodian human rights group improve LGBT rights UK lawyers are helping a Cambodian human rights center draft proposals for law reform to protect LGBT people in the southeast Asian nation. Lawyers from Linklaters in the UK working for free for charity Advocates for International Development… Read more »
Young, Gay and Homeless
Christmas is almost here, and many of us are looking forward to spending time with our loved ones. But there are some people who don’t have that to look forward to. That is because they are homeless. Being homeless is one of the worst things can happen to someone. I know because I have been… Read more »
Thugs attack launch of Kosovo magazine’s gay sex issue
Guests at Kosovo 2.0 magazine’s Night of Sex event in Pristina allegedly beaten and sprayed with teargas by anti-gay hooligans Thugs attacked the launch of a magazine’s gay issue in the Balkan city of Pristina, allegedly beating guests and throwing teargas. The event on Friday (14 December) to celebrate Kosovo 2.0 magazine’s latest issue exploring… Read more »
Tens of thousands march for gay marriage in France
Demonstrators in cities across France, including Paris, call on the government to pass equal marriage bill Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of France to call for gay marriage to be legalized. Around 150,000 people joined the ‘demonstration for equality’ in Paris’s Place de la Bastille yesterday (16 December), urging the government… Read more »
Resistance… Resilience… Equal Rights
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world. As part of Pride celebrations in 2012, Turkish protestors demanded their rights: “We are here, get used it!,” “Sexual Orientation in the Constitution,” and “Sexual Identity in the Constitution.” In October 2012, together with two Turkish LGBT organizations, we prepared and submitted a shadow report… Read more »
British government should take responsibility for colonial sodomy laws, says Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch deputy director, Asia, tells Gay Star News that the UK government should publicly denounce anti-gay laws that were set up by the British empire The British government should do more to persuade ex-colonies to repeal anti-gay laws, Phil Robertson the deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch told Gay… Read more »
Europe slams Russia and Ukraine laws and says gay rights must be a ‘priority’
The European Parliament has told Russia and Ukraine to drop gay gag laws and said LGBT issues must be a foreign policy priority for the EU The European Parliament has told Russia and Ukraine to ditch plans to fine and jail people who talk positively about gay issues. The LGBT ‘gay laws’ already exist in… Read more »
UK: Home Office threatens to ban Ugandan politicians from entering Britain over anti-gay law
The Home Office has indicated that if Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill is passed by the country’s parliament, the UK may ban senior Ugandan politicians from entering Britain It comes after Conservative MP Mike Freer tabled a question in parliament calling on Home Office Minister Mark Harper to ban Ugandan parliamentarians who are complicit in passing the… Read more »
Scotland refuses to ban ‘any church’ from providing same-sex marriages
All religious institutions – including the Church of Scotland – will be free to decide for themselves if they would like to provide marriages for gay couples, under plans announced today. The move comes after the UK Government yesterday unveiled its formal plans to allow gay couples to marry in England and Wales from 2013.… Read more »
Muslim Extremists in Tear Gas Gay Marais Attack
Five Muslim extremists attacked a gay club in Paris beating the bouncers and spraying some attendants, including the vice president of IDAHO, with tear gas Several people were slightly injured when a homophobic attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning, at the entrance of club Cud, in the gay Marais area of Paris,… Read more »
Violence, arrests disrupt gay-rights protest in Ukraine
Six LGBT-rights protesters and several counter-protesters were reportedly arrested today in Ukraine during a gathering to celebrate International Human Rights Day. The theme of the 100-person protest in Kiev was “Say No to Legislative Violence against Human Rights,” which focuses on a bill before the parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) that would prohibit “gay propaganda.” The… Read more »
Russian Authorities Launched An Anti-Gay Media Campaign
On December 19th, 2012, the Russian State Duma will consider in the first reading a draft law on a nation-wide ban of the so-called ‘propaganda of homosexualism’. On November 30th, an observer of ‘Rossiyskaya gazeta’ (‘Newspaper of Russia’) published an ideological article on “traditional values” [1]. The author proposes that each state has the right… Read more »
Medvedev: No need to regulate homosexuality in Russia
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a press conference Friday that he sees no reason to limit homosexuality by law. “Not every moral issue, behavioral habit or communication issue between people should be regulated. This is why not all relationships between people are subject to a legal interpretation,” Medvedev said in response to a question… Read more »
PM Medvedev says Russia does not need a national gay gag law
Russia’s former president tells journalists the country has no plans to pass an anti-gay propaganda bill on a federal level Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says Russia does not need any law banning gay propaganda. The former president added that his statement reflects his position and the position of the ruling United Russia party. ‘Not every… Read more »
Belgian PM says country is going backwards on gay tolerance
The Prime Minister of Belgium has stated that anti-gay hate is on the rise setting the country on a backwards path from tolerance Tolerance in Belgium towards LGBT people has been eroding in the last three to four years, suggested Elio Di Rupo, the country’s Prime Minister. Speaking in Antwerp, Belgium (4 December) during a… Read more »
Paris gay-friendly mosque denounced by Islamic leaders
Islamic leaders in Paris are condemning the opening of what’s been described as Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque. Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Grande Mosqueé in Paris, told France 24 that the mosque goes against the rules of Islam. He said: “Worshippers go to a mosque to worship god, they don’t go to demonstrate their sexuality”.… Read more »
Norway princess makes secret India trip to care for gay surrogate babies
New Delhi hospital mistakes Crown Princess Mette-Marit for palace nanny after she travelled to subcontinent to help gay fathers Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit secretly flew to India to care for a gay palace employee’s twin babies, born to a surrogate mother in the subcontinent. The royal made the trip in late October after the worker… Read more »
Venice looks to suspend partnership with St Petersburg over anti-gay laws
The Venice Municipal Council is currently considering ending a partnership with the Russian city of St Petersburg over the latter’s recently adopted anti-gay laws. The law equates homosexuality with “paedophilia” and was passed by the city on February 29 of this year – despite more than 270,000 people signing an online petition against the measure.… Read more »
Voice & Vision 2013 Award Recipient
Turkish activist recipient of 2013 David Kato Vision & Voice Award Johannesburg – The 2013 David Kato Vision & Voice Award has been awarded to Ali Erol: a leading lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) activist in Turkey. The award will be announced at the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s 60th anniversary celebrations in South… Read more »
2013 David Kato Vision and Voice Award
AIDS-Free World’s Maurice Tomlinson, recipient of the 2012 David Kato Vision and Voice Award, delivered this speech in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the ceremony honoring the 2013 recipient of the award. Access changes attitudes. This is true of any civil rights struggle. If you are not at the table, you can’t challenge the hateful rhetoric… Read more »
Gays and lesbians in Italy worry about their future
Fear life as senior more difficult for gays than heterosexuals Rome(ANSA) – Homosexuals in Italy fear their future will be more difficult than that of heterosexuals, according to a survey released Wednesday. Fully 55% of gays and lesbians surveyed say they are concerned about their future in Italy, and 52% said that being homosexual and… Read more »
Gay People Living in Fear in Greece
What was supposed to be a fun evening for Stamatis Peramatzis, turned out to be a nightmare. As the 39-year-old was walking out of a parking lot together with his partner in an Athens mall, a man out of nowhere appeared and screamed: “Faggots, we will kick you out of Greece and you will never… Read more »
Princes William and Harry back gay-run HIV charity
Princes William and Harry follow in mom Diana’s footsteps by backing Terrence Higgins Trust Britain’s pin-up Princes, William and Harry, have been asked to be ambassadors for the country’s leading HIV charity, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT). The organization was started when Terry Higgins became one of the first to die of AIDS in the UK… Read more »
UN rules Russian ‘gay gag’ law violates human rights
UN Human Rights Committee passed a landmark ruling saying a Russian law against ‘homosexual propaganda’ is discriminatory, violates the basic right for freedom of expression and unconstitutional The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) found Russia’s application of Ryazan region anti ‘homosexual propaganda’ law against LGBT rights activist Irina Fedotov to be in breach of… Read more »
A pro human rights event and against homophobia was brutally crushed by police and attacked by far-right groups in Kyiv, Ukraine Several participants were beaten up and six detained during an event to unite all human rights advocates against homophobia and censorship by police and anti-gay far right groups. The event was held today (8… Read more »
Moscow lawmakers reject ‘gay gag’ bill
Regional parliament in Russia rules anti-gay ‘propaganda’ bill conflicts with federal law Moscow’s regional parliament has rejected an anti-gay ‘propaganda’ bill similar to homophobic laws passed elsewhere in Russia. The proposed law, which would ban ‘non-traditional sexual orientation propaganda to minors’, was filed with the Duma on 16 November by the local Council of Municipal… Read more »
Italian boy commits suicide after Facebook and school gay hate
15-year-old boy loved to wear pink trousers and pink jumpers, but was derided on Facebook and at his high school A 15-year-old boy has committed suicide after having been bullied on social networks and at school in Rome, Italy. ‘AS’, a student from the Cavour high school, in Rome’s city center, loved to wear pink… Read more »
France: ‘Mosque for gays’ with mixed prayer groups to be opened in Paris
A mosque aimed specifically at gay people, and which would provide mixed gender prayer groups, is set to open in Paris at the end of November. Mohammed Ludovic Lütfi Zahed, a gay muslim, plans to open his mosque in the hall of a Buddhist chapel on 30 November, in which men and women will be… Read more »
Italian gay man given paid leave for same-sex marriage
Tuscan company Publiacqua ignores law to give employee two-weeks off to marry his husband An Italian gay man has obtained two weeks leave from his company to marry his husband in Brazil. The news is making headlines in Italy, a country that does not recognize same-sex unions, partnerships or marriages. Gioacchino Di Gioia from Prato,… Read more »
Comment: Coming out as gay at a Catholic high school
PinkNews.co.uk reader Andrew Doughty writes about what it’s like to be a gay teenager in a British Catholic school in 2012. I’m sure we’ve all the heard the words ‘Faggot’, ‘Queer’, ‘Dyke’ and many other, ‘pleasant’ terms thrown around at some point in our lives. In a high school setting this could seriously knock a… Read more »
Vatican vows to fight gay marriage after gains in U.S., Europe
Vatican City (Reuters) – The Vatican, reacting to strong gains for gay marriage in the United States and Europe, on Saturday pledged never to stop fighting attempts to “erase” the privileged role of heterosexual marriage, which it called it “an achievement of civilization”. For the second consecutive day, Vatican media weighed in with forceful editorials… Read more »
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