Decriminalizing Homosexuality
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Uganda Wants to Kill and Imprison Gay People
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Should LGBT People Be Losing Patience With Obama?
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Pushing for LGBT Equality in Zimbabwe
The Malaysian Government Thinks that Homosexuality Causes Swine Flu
Published August 09, 2009 @ 06:05AM PT
Every so often there's a story on the global health circuit that is so absurd, it causes our proverbial record to scratch. Like the time that South Africa's former Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, said that ingesting lemon juice and potatoes could help treat HIV. Or when evangelical groups like Word Relief, who received millions of U.S. federal dollars in PEPFAR funding under President George W. Bush, told people in countries like Mozambique, Kenya and Haiti that condoms don't work to prevent STDs.
Well, now it's time to count Malaysia's government-run news service as part of the global health lie factory. Today they're out with an article from a physician that says homosexuality and masturbation make the body an easy target for Swine Flu (otherwise known as H1N1). The scary part is that the news service in question, Bernama, runs their stories in nearly every part of the country. Lies and misinformation, get ready to spread.
The doctor at the center of the article, V. M. Palaniappan, used to teach ecology at the University of Malaysia. Maybe he should have stuck with ecology instead of wading into the waters of global health. Here's his rationalization behind his theory, which almost reads like a non-sequitor from Alaska's former governor. Check it out:
Dr. V. M. Palaniappan said that homosexuality and masturbation caused the body to develop friction heat which in turn, produced acid and made the body hyperacidised.
"Thus, the body becomes an easy target for H1N1 infection," he told Bernama, emphasising however, that normal sexual union between members of the opposite sex was absolutely safe....
Ah, yes. It's only the homosexual sex that causes friction heat. Must be all that dance music we listen to while getting it on...
Two words come to mind. Medical crackpot. Yet the government of Malaysia gives this guy a voice with which to reach people across the country, and offer medical advice. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that Malaysia criminalizes homosexuality with penalties ranging from twenty years in prison to whippings and beatings. Or that Malaysia's ruling political party is so vehemently anti-LGBT, that they even have a sub-section of the party known as the "People's Anti-Homosexual Voluntary Movement."
Anyone else thinking that we could start a reality show under the title of, "When Countries Attack Global Health"?
Bollywood Tackles LGBT Rights
Published August 05, 2009 @ 07:10AM PT
Last month, the Delhi High Court in India threw out Section 377, a statute in India's penal codes that criminalized homosexuality. The decision was roundly celebrated by LGBT rights activists and public health activists. (And roundly criticized by opponents of LGBT rights, and conservative religious sects.)
In the wake of that decision, Bollywood has been outspoken in its support for LGBT rights, and overthrowing the statute that up until last month, criminalized homosexuality for India's roughly 70 million LGBT folks. To be sure, the status of Section 377 is still in a bit of limbo. The Supreme Court of India has asked the government to weigh in on the matter, and up until now the government has remained largely silent.
But Bollywood has not been quiet in their support. A well known Indian court drama, "Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai," is going to feature an episode focusing on LGBT rights, and a number of high profile celebrities have come out in support of the Delhi High Court's decision, and have urged Indian authorities to enact a full repeal of Section 377 across the country. Here are a few of our favorite Bollywood quotes on Section 377:
Celina Jaitley: "It's a turning point in the history of human rights in the world's largest democracy. It's also a personal victory for me since I've been fighting for gay rights. Now they can walk with their heads held high. This is a new beginning."
Mahesh Bhatt: "This is a defining moment in the history of free India. No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only ‘queer’ people are those who propagate hate."
Upen Patal: "I think it's a great move forward by the government and for Indian society. Everyone should have the right to choose whom they want to be without the fear of being labeled a criminal."
And those are just a select few. To see scores more quotes from Bollywood, click here.
Taking on Russia Over Same-Sex Marriage
Published July 22, 2009 @ 07:12AM PT
Talk about David vs. Goliath! Despite long odds, a lesbian couple is taking on the country of Russia, attempting to get their marriage recognized officially. It's a daunting task, given that Russia has a history of suppressing LGBT rallies, using state authorities to beat down gay rights activists, and censoring LGBT activities. But, as one of the women told Radio Free Europe, somebody has to start the push for equal rights sometime.
The background of the story is pretty interesting. The couple, Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shepitko (the Irinas!), walked down to a Russian marriage registry in May 2009, dressed in contrasting black and white tuxedos. They were joined by a number of foreign journalists, and when they got to the marriage registry they asked to have their relationship recognized by the state. And for a few moments at least, the state officially recognized their marriage application (chock it up to confusion by the state's marriage registrar).
But then Russia, being Russia, rescinded their application and has since denied them any possibility of getting married. Now the women are trying to take their case global. They are currently looking to travel to Norway or Canada - two countries that currently allow foreign gay and lesbian couples to get married within their borders - get hitched, and then travel back to Moscow and petition the state to recognize their marriage.
It's a well thought out plan, except for the fact that Russia is unlikely to care. Still, that's not stopping the Irinas. Here's what Irina Fedotova-Fet told Radio Free Europe:
Somebody has to start it sometime. We are the first real couple to fight for same-sex marriage to be recognized [in Russia]. We hope that we can set a precedent, and that more and more people will follow our example.
The couple is even prepared to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary. And it likely will be. Despite the fact that Russia decriminalized homosexuality in the early 1990s, a large percentage of the country still considers LGBT rights to be at a minimum taboo, and at most contrary to Russian traditions.
That's slowly changing in some parts, and Russia certainly has an active LGBT rights movement, despite the constant threat of violence they face. On many levels, that's why it's so heartening to see the Irinas taking such a bold and public stand on the issue of marriage equality. They may face violence and threats for their action, but they're doing it to ignite a movement and push for equal rights.
Homophobia Spreads HIV/AIDS in Africa
Published July 21, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
HIV/AIDS in Africa has many faces. One of them that's not terribly well reported - but still nonetheless shocking - is the face of HIV/AIDS in gay male populations. This week, a study in the Lancet sheds light on just how devastating this disease is on gay men throughout the continent. The results, above all else, show the dire effects that homophobia can have in spreading HIV/AIDS.
First, the numbers. Gay men in many African countries are more than 10 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than their straight counterparts.
Next, the analysis. Here are just a few of the reasons why researchers believe gay men in Africa are much more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than straight men:
- Prejudice toward gay people leads to isolation and harassment, which results in many gay men engaging in risky, underground sexual practices;
- Within sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS in gay men is driven by cultural, religious and political unwillingness to accept LGBT people as equal members of society;
- A lack of education: one activist in Burundi told the BBC News that men understand that you can get HIV/AIDS from having sex with a woman, but not from a man. Failing to educate properly about the transmission of HIV/AIDS leads to higher contraction rates; and
- HIV/AIDS rates among gay men are often under-reported by public health officials, leading to very little attention being given to the epidemic among Africa's queer population.
The evidence here is stark: homophobia balloons HIV/AIDS rates. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30 countries criminalize homosexuality, with a few (including Niger and Sudan) that prosecute homosexuality as an offense worthy of the death penalty. In a climate like this, it's no wonder that it's hard to do HIV/AIDS education work among gay male populations. As Time Magazine writes, "...one reason it has been so difficult to reach gay men with AIDS-prevention messages: most of them don't want to be found."
Finally, the solutions. The researchers who conducted the study, including folks with Oxford University, the Population Council of Ghana, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute, all recognized several steps that should be taken in order to curb HIV/AIDS rates among gay men throughout Africa. Among the ideas?
- Delivering basic HIV/AIDS prevention supplies to at-risk populations, including dispersing condoms;
- Train HIV/AIDS workers in how to work with queer populations; and
- Destigmatize and decriminalize homosexuality.
That last one is certainly going to take some work. But the results of this study, again, can't illuminate the problem any brighter: criminalizing homosexuality, and driving large numbers of queer people underground, only incresaes HIV/AIDS. That's a problem that we can't afford to keep perpetuating any longer.
The Arabic Word for Gay is Not Pervert
Published July 15, 2009 @ 10:41AM PT
One of the first LGBT books to be translated into Arabic from English has hit the press. Gay Travels in the Muslim World, a collection of true-life stories explaining what it's like to be gay in a region of the world where the issue of homosexuality is commonly perceived as complicated (to say the least), has been translated by the publisher Arab Diffusion. The only problem?
The publisher did a number on the title, choosing to translate the word "gay" with the word "شاذ" (shaath) -- which in Arabic happens to mean pervert or deviant. Unfortunately, "Pervert Travels in the Muslim World" doesn't sound so interesting and informative.
This incident raises important issues about LGBT rights and the Muslim world. Neither are monolithic blocks, of course, but as Global Voices Online points out in some truly excellent commentary, the concern over this translation chosen by the publishers highlights a larger concern over the pejorative terminology used by Arabic media to descibe LGBT people.
The issue isn't new by any means. CNN reporter Hala Gorani (who has received plaudits from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for her LGBT reporting) wrote several years ago about trying to cover the issue of homosexuality in the Middle East:
I then asked our Arabic speakers at CNN what word they thought was the best translation for "gay" in Arabic.
Heads were scratched. "Luti," one suggested. "Shaz," another offered in an e-mail.
Those terms are widely understood, but essentially translate as "pervert" or "deviant" in Arabic.
The only neutral term in existence is the recently coined "Methleen Al Jins," meaning "the same kind or gender" -- the closest equivalent of the word "homosexual."
So this is an issue so taboo, there isn't even a commonly understood non-pejorative word to describe it in the Middle East!
Yikes. What's an LGBT person to do when the only words used to describe their sexual orientation are akin to people who break the law or do disgusting things?
Well, in the case of the translation over Gay Travels in the Muslim World, one can protest. That's what one of the contributors to the book, Richard Ammon, is doing. Here's what Ammon said about the book's unfortunate translation of the word "gay" into "pervert":
It is doubly regretful for me to have this book, an honest testimony of gay Muslim life, have its title mistranslated with the use of a pejorative term that demeans gays. It is regretful that we have come so far in the struggle for gay rights and recognition only to be publicly smeared by a single unaware Jordanian publisher.
The issue of language is just the tip of the iceberg. With the uptick in violence committed against LGBT people in Iraq, with the Iranian President blaming the recent uprising of activists on "thieves and homosexuals," and with Ethiopia leading the campaign against a UN statement calling for global decriminalization of homosexuality, it's clear that the issue of LGBT rights in Muslim parts of the world will continue to be a hot topic (and one that will require serious changing of minds and hearts).
India Down, Singapore Next?
Published July 06, 2009 @ 06:40AM PT
With the ruling last week from the Delhi High Court in India that decriminalized homosexuality (at least within the National Capital Territory of Delhi), eyes now shift toward another Asian country where efforts to decriminalize homosexuality could potentially be on their way: Singapore.
LGBT rights supporters (both straight and gay) held what might be the country's first ever public rally tied to gay rights earlier this year, where hundreds of people gathered in "pink dots" to show their support for tolerance and respect. And in 2007, their former Prime Minster, Lee Kuan Yew, openly questioned why the country still criminalized sexual orientation. That same year, Singapore overturned bans on oral and anal sex for heterosexual couples, but unfortunately left bans in place for LGBT couples.
Laws that criminalize homosexuality in Singapore are remnants of British colonialism - much like they were in India. Over the weekend, Singapore's Law Minister, K. Shanmugam, made somewhat of a weird statement when talking about the law. On one hand he said that the government won't get involved in overturning bans on homosexuality. But on the other hand he said that the government would not prosecute people under the law. His direct quote: "The way the society is going, we don't think it's fair for us to prosecute people who say that they are homosexual."
Weird. So on one hand, Singapore will keep on the books a law that prosecutes people and is a leftover from colonialism. But on the other hand, that law won't be enforced. So what's the point of keeping the law?
With India now in the process of ending its ban on homosexuality, the international community will be looking at other countries, including and perhaps especially Singapore, to see if they follow suit. As Human Rights Watch has documented, these British Colonial-era laws are decrepid relics, and they deserve to be overturned, not only out of respect for civil rights, but basic human rights as well.
Five Things Barack Obama Should Tell Pope Benedict XVI About LGBT Rights
Published July 05, 2009 @ 07:09AM PT
On July 10, President Barack Obama will have his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, during an international trip that will take Obama from the Vatican to Ghana to Russia. It's a meeting of two world powerhouses, as one of the most recognizable religious leaders gets introduced to one of the most powerful Presidents on the planet.
The Vatican is billing this meeting as "the opposite of Bush." In other words, they plan to praise Obama's approach to foreign policy, which is much more in line with Catholic Social Teaching, but kvetch about Obama's social policies when it comes to issues like reproductive health or the civil rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. But instead of letting the Vatican frame this meeting, the Obama team could themselves give Pope Benedict XVI a few lessons on progressive values in the 21st century, and why it would benefit the Church to open its arms and its minds a little bit when it comes to the subject of LGBT rights. Here are five things we'd like to see Barack Obama tell Pope Benedict during their upcoming meeting.
It's bad to oppose UN statements decriminalizing homosexuality. Earlier this year, the Obama administration made history when it alllowed the United States to sign onto a United Nations statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. More than 60 countries signed onto this statement, but one region didn't sign on: The Vatican. Not only did they not sign on, they were vehemently opposed to it. That put the Vatican in line with Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and a host of other countries that throw homosexuals in prison, fine them, beat them, assault them, and in many cases, murder them. Here, Obama could give the Vatican a little lesson in morality -- it's bad to oppose UN statements that say to the world "Don't lock up and physically abuse gay people."
The Catholic Church in India is on the wrong side of history. Last week the Delhi High Court in India ruled that the country's laws penalizing homosexuality were on the wrong side of history, and reversed the criminal statute that often times was used to harass, lock-up, and abuse LGBT people in India. Instead of celebrating this decision as a victory for human rights and a key decision in the public health battle against HIV/AIDS, the Catholic Church in India went ballistic, with one Catholic leader in Kerala saying that homosexuals should be "nursed back to normalcy through proper treatment and counseling." Instead of viewing homosexuality as something that can be "treated," Obama could take the opportunity to remind the Vatican that LGBT people make up part of the diverse fabric of the global community, and their existence isn't something that is abnormal or worthy of reparative therapy.
It's OK to be a Democrat and to be Catholic. In U.S. politics, particularly in the 2004 and 2008 elections, there has been a huge effort by radical Catholic groups in the United States - led by the Cardinal Newman Society and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights - to define Catholicism as being incompatible with the Democratic Party. These efforts are largely motivated by the fact that most Democrats tend to be progressive on reproductive health and civil rights for LGBT people. But it's not incompatible to be a Democrat and to be Catholic. In fact, the Catholic Church traditionally (up until the last decade or two) has had a history of progressive politics that runs contrary to many politicians in the GOP: support for eliminating the death penalty, support for policies of peace over war, support for the human rights of immigrants, and support for government leadership in ending poverty. Obama can take this opportunity with Pope Benedict to remind the Vatican of the leadership that Democrats often take in working for the principles inherent in Catholic Social Teaching, and condemn the misleading representations of Catholicism that folks like the Cardinal Newman Society or the Catholic League continue to proffer for political expediency.
Climate change is much worse than homosexuality. During his year-end address in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI compared the threat of climate change to the evil of homosexuality. It was a ridiculous charge and one that did nothing but spread homophobia and misinformation. Obama should remind Benedict that climate change threatens the whole planet, while homosexuality threatens no one.
Let other countries decide how to handle marriage equality. The Vatican has taken a global leadership role in speaking out against same-sex marriage, attacking the government of Spain for enacting same-sex marriage, and going after politicians in Italy who are working to do the same. Obama could tell the Vatican that, regardless of whether they think same-sex marriage is moral or immoral, they should refrain from getting involved in the bedrooms of LGBT people in countries around the world. Moreover, Obama could take a moment to affirm the families of dozens of LGBT people who work for him, and personally tell Pope Benedict that LGBT families foster love, respect and responsibility just as much as straight couples.
