1 May

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Some Zambian Fudge: Photo: Mydish

The proposed new constitution for Zambia has been published and does not make its position on homosexuality clear, reports Zambian Watchdog. It does not out rightly rule homosexuality. It merely says on article 54 ‘that State shall recognise and protect the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society and the necessary basis of the social order. (2) A person who is eighteen years of age or older has the right to freely choose a spouse of the opposite sex and marry.’

Pink Paper

The Protection of Freedoms Act, which will enable men to wipe the records of thousands of convictions for consensual gay sex under now-repealed laws, has received Royal Assent today.

An estimated 16,000 convictions could now be eligible for removal from police records along with malicious convictions for “loitering with intent”. Men may now apply to the Secretary of State to disregard convictions under section 12 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, the offence of buggery, under section 13 of that Act, covering gross indecency between men and under section 61 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which governed “the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal”, as long as those involved were over the age of 16 and the action would not now be regarded as an offence.

The proposed Burnley Gay Pride has been cancelled due to a lack of support and commitment.

SP

29 March

Thursday March 29 2012

(L-R) Peter Lawrence and Don Gallagher. Sky

A gay banker has won his appeal against a decision to award his former partner £1.7m of the couple’s wealth. Peter Lawrence, 47, claimed West End actor Don Gallagher was receiving more than he was entitled to because judges had taken into account a £2.4m London flat he bought before they got together. The case is believed to be the first involving a civil partners to reach the Court of Appeal.

Lord Justice Thorpe said same-sex partnerships enjoy exactly the same rights as straight marriages under the law but said the original financial calculations had followed “too theoretical a map”. The 55%-45% division of assets seemed unfair given the fact Mr Lawrence’s flat had soared in value while the couple were together, he said. “Whether approached on a needs basis or a fair-sharing basis, I would propose a lump sum of £350,000,” said the judge.

Now an interesting snippet. The Law Commission is currently reviewing legislation on how married couples and civil partners can claim financial support from one another after a divorce or dissolution, which includes looking at ‘non-matrimonial’ property which has been acquired before a relationship begins or has been received as a gift or through inheritance. The commission is expected to report back in 2013.

Disturbing news from Moscow. A bill banning the “promotion of homosexuality” to minors was introduced into the State Duma on Thursday, less than a week after similar legislation came into force in St. Petersburg. Novosibirsk regional lawmakers submitted the bill, which calls for fines of up to 500,000 roubles for promoting a gay lifestyle in the media and through “public activities that promote homosexuality as normal behavior.” “The propaganda of homosexuality is widespread in modern Russia,” says a note attached to the bill..

The legislation argues that exposure to a gay lifestyle is particularly dangerous for children and teens who are not able to properly evaluate what they are seeing. The bill will stir fears in the gay community about an increase in discrimination and a crackdown on every manifestation of homosexuality — from gay-pride events to the arts and media.

Giles Chichester: PA

Giles Chichester, a Conservative MEP for the South West who represents the Tory Party in Brussels, has written to the Prime Minister urging him not to legalise same-sex marriage which he calls a “bizarre” move that will prompt a grassroots party revolt.

Mr Chichester believes it is a “mystery” why Mr Cameron is pushing the “militant gay agenda” championed by pressure groups. While supportive of same-sex civil partnerships, he warns the proposals, launched this month, are among a series of policies working to “undermine the traditional family”…. “Should this measure go through, it will cause many Conservatives to question their loyalty to a party which is no longer supporting values inherent to the party.”

Sunil Gupta at an earlier exhibition at London’s Tate. Jeff Mather Photography

Meanwhile the same European Parliament adopted its annual report on EU citizenship – in which it laments that same-sex couples still face disproportionate obstacles when moving inside the European union. The European Parliament “reiterates its previous calls for Member States to ensure freedom of movement for all EU citizens and their families, without discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or nationality”. Specifically, the Parliament reminds Member States that they must implement the rights granted under the Free Movement Directive, not only to married heterosexual couples, but also to registered partners and same-sex spouses.

A gay art exhibition in India has been stopped. The exhibition celebrating gay life which opened in Delhi last week has been closed by police following an anonymous complaint of obscenity. The exhibition at the Alliance Française featuring photographer Sunil Gupta’s work is titled Sun City and Other Stories: Paris-San Francisco-Delhi. The exhibition opened to a rapturous response last week.

The police say they received a complaint on Saturday. An officer reportedly said: “[the caller] said a blue film was being played at Alliance Française. Since it is a diplomatic area, the police cannot enter the premises. Hence an area assistant sub-inspector went [there] and spoke to the manager and they decided to take action accordingly.”

“The absence of leadership and role models in the gay community leads to lack of identity, purpose and direction for gay men. There is no compelling vision for the future that serves as the motivation to change the old mindsets about sexuality that permeate the gay lifestyle. Gay men need a new vision that catapults the gay community into a more fulfilling and meaningful future.

The evidence for the problem is easily seen in gay media channels and by listening to the opinions of heterosexuals about gay men. A person can come to a Pride Parade and witness the demonstration of sexual acts, eroticism and sexual innuendo instead of being presented with new ideas and inspiration to live a meaningful and purposeful life,” says Paul Angelo.

“It is important to act now because sex-centered lifestyle doesn’t work any longer. Love, happiness, good health and financial independence require more than sexual compatibility. In addition, the world is changing faster than ever and the economic and social hardship will only get worse in the coming years. By acting now, gay men can get a head start in creating the ultimate lifestyle and in enjoying the benefits of a loving partner, successful career and a healthy lifestyle.”

Oh, dear. Life was so much simpler when all you had to worry about was your Ring of Confidence.

SP

14 March

Wednesday March 14, 2012

AP

There are about 2.5 million gays in India of whom 7% are HIV-positive, according to figures submitted by the Indian government to their Supreme Court. The Aids programme has already reached 200,000 men in same-sex relationships and the hope is to raise that number to 400,000. The prevalence of HIV in the group is 6.54%-7.23%. Overall, the number of HIV-infected people in India is just 0.2% of the population as the country’s Aids control programme has been successful in reducing the number of new infections.

A Ugandan gay rights group filed suit against an American evangelist, Scott Lively, in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday, accusing him of violating international law by inciting the persecution of homosexuals in Uganda. The lawsuit alleges that beginning in 2002, Mr. Lively conspired with religious and political leaders in Uganda to whip up anti-gay hysteria with warnings that homosexuals would sodomize African children and corrupt their culture. The bill has just been reintroduced.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on member states to ensure gay couples inheritance rights are respect around the EU. Individual countries who do not recognise legal partnerships between gay couples should not be able to deny a gay widow or widower the rights they have to their late spouse’s estate under the law of their home country, and a state “should not be able to apply the public-policy exception in order to set aside the law of another State or to refuse to recognise, or, as the case may be, accept, or enforce a decision, an authentic instrument, or a court settlement from another Member State when doing so would be contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in particular Article 21, which prohibits all forms of discrimination.”

Meanwhile, here’s your chance to suggest specific gay, transgender and intersex protections in a new consultation on the draft Commonwealth Charter. The Royal Commonwealth Society wants comments to the Draft Charter of the Commonwealth before Friday 23 March 2012. That does not give us much time, chaps.

The current draft Charter re-affirms the human rights commitments of the Commonwealth nations, of which 41 of 53 member nations still criminalise gay sex.

You can download the draft Charter here. (Opens a pdf). and you can take part in the consultation here.

SP

1st March

Thursday March 1st 2012

Wishing all our readers in Wales a very happy St David’s Day.

Craig Roy. Daily Record

Craig Roy was caged for life for the killing of Jack Frew. He armed himself with a knife and lured his victim Frew, 16, into woods where he stabbed him 20 times and slit his throat. Ordering Roy, 19, to serve at least 18 years before he can ask to be released, judge Lord Doherty told him: “You carried out a brutal, sustained and merciless attack which left your victim dead and mutilated.”

Defence QC David Burns said the psychiatric evidence still showed that Roy had a number of personality traits and disorders – including paranoia. “Clearly these features and deficits in his personality must have contributed to the shaping of the terrible events that led to the death of Jack Frew. Apparently Roy was incapable of controlling the very adult emotions he felt during this time.”

Al Fischer. On Top

Al Fischer, a gay teacher has been fired from a Catholic school after planning to marry his partner of nearly 20 years Charlie Robin during a quiet ceremony in New York. Charlie Robin says the couple is not interested in making a political statement. They were marrying to show each other their commitment. What they did not expect to happen was Fischer losing his job. He was a music teacher for St. Ann Catholic School. Robin says his partner lost his job after sharing news about the marriage with other workers.

Malaysia’s High Court on Thursday dismissed a bid by activists to challenge a police ban on a gay arts festival, in a rare legal case involving gay rights in the Muslim-majority nation. Organizers of the “Sexual Independence” festival had hoped to overturn a ban imposed last November on the event, which would have featured musical performances, talks on sexuality issues and a poster exhibition. Festival organizers said they would appeal the verdict. “Once again, we see a situation where the voices of extremists have drowned out our voices promoting tolerance, moderation, understanding and acceptance,” they said in a statement. International rights groups had urged the court not to reject the petition. “The police ban looked like blatant discrimination in 2011 and looks that way now,” Graeme Reid, director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

A lesbian woman in Washington DC wants a Catholic priest relieved of his duties after he denied her communion at her mother’s Maryland funeral because she lives with another woman, she said on Wednesday. The local archdiocese has apologized for the actions of Father Marcel Guarnizo, but Barbara Johnson, who is gay and lives with her lesbian partner, said that was not enough.

SP