Gay News

The Ukrainian Parliament announced on June 19 that a draft law against the spreading of homosexual propaganda among minors had been submitted by deputies of the ruling Party of Regions.

In its current form, the legislation would impose fines of up to 11,900 hryvnyas, or around $1,500, for spreading homosexual propaganda to people under 18.

The move comes almost three months after a similar law was proposed in the State Duma lower house of parliament in neighboring Russia, and after lawmakers in the Russian city of St. Petersburg approved such a measure.

Kuwaiti media has been reporting a continuation of the morality campaigns which also target lesbian, gay and transgender people.

On the 8th of June 10 adolescents, ranging from 16 to 18 years old were entrapped during a raid and the police suspects they were conducting satanic rituals and incident acts . The Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai in addition claimed that they are also suspected of homosexuality . Kuwaiti police received complaints the group held nightly meetings in a disused building in  Kuwait city.

Later Al-Rai reported that 20 men and one woman were arrested in another raid for suspicious parties. The Kuwaiti Times alleged that some of the people were found to be intoxicated . Al-Rai claimed that some of the suspects were arrested in previous raids and were released after signing a document that they will not repeat their activities.

The daily Al-anba reports that other raids were targeted at illegal migrants some were found to be conducting immoral activities and running brothels .

A transgender Kuwaiti activist told Gay Star News:

These 'morality campaigns' that have greatly intensified this year are 'continuous and relentless'.

Many of the people arrested are just having private parties, but the police allege they were engaged in prostitution, drinking, and so called immoral activities.

Charges are often fabricated and thus this is essentially an assault and violation of people's right to dignity and a fair trial.

People who are arrested in such raids become social outcasts and pariahs, having no voice at all, as their most basic rights are being violated.

So many people in these raids are being thrown into prison without anyone listening to their plight. Some complained of abusive treatment and no human rights group here cares about this matter as they feel ashamed of handling such cases. Such organisations forget the forgetting that the right of any human being for dignity and fair trial regardless of their sex, nationality, race or sexuality.

I call for human rights defenders to intervene in these cases and help stop and prevent such abuses in Kuwait in the future.

According to the activist these ongoing moral campaigns are an attempt by the ruling royal family to appease MPs from the Islamist parties that now have a majority in Parliament with 34 out of 50 seats.

Human Rights First condemns the Tverskoy District Court ruling to uphold the decision of Moscow authorities to ban gay pride parades in the city until May 2112. The Moscow City Hall has banned such events for seven consecutive years, citing numerous letters from public officials, religious organizations, and private citizens urging the authorities to prohibit a demonstration. The European Court of Human Rights pronounced these bans illegal in October 2010.

Human Rights First's Innokenty Grekov said:

This unprecedented ban is not entirely surprising, but Russia's society is evolving at a pace not even Vladimir Putin can control. More people are becoming accepting and tolerant to LGBTI persons. The 100-year ban, along with the discriminatory laws prohibiting promotion of homosexuality that are spreading through local legislatures, show that the Russian government remains behind the times.

It is regrettable that the new city government, led by Mayor Sobyanin, is repeating the mistakes of the disgruntled former mayor Luzhkov, whose vehemently antigay rhetoric and actions are well-known.

Sister Ruby Ramadan Special 2011
Radio Asian Fever (Leeds), 17 August 2011, 12:00 and 18 August 2011, 11:00

Radio Asian Fever (Leeds) is a community radio station that serves the South Asian communities of Leeds.

Two listeners alerted Ofcom to the two programmes above, each approximately fifty minutes in duration and broadcast in Urdu, complaining that the programmes contained homophobic material. Having obtained an independent translation of the content, we noted that each of the two programmes consisted of a sermon delivered by a female presenter, Rubina Nasir ( Sister Ruby ).

In the broadcast on 17 August 2011, the presenter commenced with a Qur'anic verse (Sura Al-Nisa, verse 16) and gave her interpretation of that verse as being highly critical of homosexuality. The presenter also discussed various historical events portrayed in the Qur'an in the context of her main theme of homosexuality.

In the broadcast on 18 August 2011, the presenter focused her discussion on another Qur'anic verse (Sura Al-Baqra, verse 221) and gave her interpretation of that verse as being critical of mixed-faith marriages.

Ofcom obtained an independent translation of the two programmes from the original Urdu into English. We first noted the following two statements made by the presenter in the programme broadcast on 17 August 2011:

What should be done if they do it [practise homosexuality] If there are two such persons among you, that do this evil, the shameful act, what do you have to do? Torture them; punish them; beat them and give them mental torture.

Allah states, „If they do such a deed [i.e. homosexuality], punish them, both physically and mentally.? Mental punishment means rebuke them, beat them, humiliate them, admonish and curse them, and beat them up. This command was sent in the beginning because capital punishment had not yet been sent down.

In the programme broadcast on 18 August 2011 the sermon dealt with the issue of mixed-faith marriages, and we noted the presenter made the following statements: [Mushrak is taken to mean a follower of another religion and shirk is the sin of following another religion].

What happens when a Muslim man or woman get married to a Mushrak Listeners! Marriage of a Muslim man or woman with a Mushrak is the straight path to hellfire;

Have my sisters and brothers, who live with people of bad religions or alien religions, ever thought about what would become of the children they have had with them – and the coming generation?;

Where the filth of shirk is present, where the dirt of shirk is present, where the heart is impure, how can you remove apparent filth. How many arrangements will you make to remove the apparent filth?;

We are saying that Mushraks have no concept of cleanliness and un- cleanliness;

Ofcom considered

Rule 2.3: In applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context. Such material may include... discriminatory treatment or language (for example on the grounds of... religion... and sexual orientation) ....

Rule 2.4: Programmes must not include material (whether in individual programmes or in programmes taken together) which, taking into account the context, condones or glamorises violent, dangerous or seriously antisocial behaviour and is likely to encourage others to copy such behaviour.

Rule 3.1: Material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services.

Rule 4.1: Broadcasters must exercise the proper degree of responsibility with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes.

Ofcom unsurprisingly concluded that the broadcasts breached rules 2.3, 2.4, 3.1 and 4.1.

Ofcom regards the breaches in this case as serious breaches of the Code. In particular, in relation to Rule 3.1, Ofcom views any incident where a licensee has allowed content to be broadcast that is likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder as a significant contravention of the Code. Ofcom therefore puts the Licensee on notice that we will consider these breaches for the imposition of a statutory sanction.

The Indonesian city of Tasikmalaya in West Java is seeking to implement Sharia based laws which would make it compulsory for all Muslim women in the city to wear headscarfs and criminalise homosexuality. The law also outlaws adultery, pornography and the consumption of alcohol within the municipality's borders.

Homosexuality is not an offence under Indonesia's national laws. However many local government areas within the country have sought to ban it by including it in local public morality laws.

The Tasikmalaya law was originally passed by councillors from Islamic parties in 2009 but city officials have taken until now to develop the regulations needed to implement it.

Tasikmalaya city secretary Tio Indra Setiadi told OnIslam.net that the city would set up a squad of Sharia police to enforce the law like those already operating in Indonesia's province of Aceh. He said: people intending to report violations of the bylaw will face difficulties if we don't have an apparatus to enforce it.

The Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has the power to throw out the law within 30 days if he believes it conflicts with constitutional human rights protections, or it can be challenged in the Supreme Court of Indonesia. Recent reports suggest that Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi may also be prepared to act to block the law or require the watering down of some components of it.

A Canadian Muslim gay activist launched her controversial new book in Malaysia despite a government minister's attempts to shut down the event.

Irshad Manji launched Allah, Liberty and Love at a hastily arranged event in the capital Kuala Lumpur after two other venues pulled out of hosting her, according to local publisher ZI Publications.

Jamil Khir Baharom, minister in charge of Islamic affairs, had said Islamic officials and the Home Ministry would not allow the author's roadshow in the country following complaints. He was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying that the book was offensive to Muslims as was Manji's ideology and openly gay lifestyle, which was deemed to be against Islam.

According to Manji's website, the book, now available in the local Malay language:

Shows all of us how to reconcile faith and freedom in a world seething with repressive dogmas... This book is the ultimate guide to becoming a gutsy global citizen.

The book has not been officially banned in Malaysia, thou Manji's previous internationally acclaimed book, The Trouble with Islam Today , is banned.

Manji also faced problems while touring Indonesia before coming to Malaysia. Police shut down several events after the Islamic Defenders Front group held violent protests condemning her liberal views on Islam and her homosexuality.

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, intervened to prevent a Christian advertising campaign from promoting the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality.

The advert was due to say: Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!

A few days before the ads were due to appear on buses Johnson ordered his transport chiefs to pull the adverts booked by two Anglican groups following 'outrage' among gay campaigners and politicians saying that they were homophobic. Johnson said:

London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses.

The adverts were booked on behalf of the Core Issues Trust whose leader, Mike Davidson, claims homoerotic behaviour is sinful . His charity funds reparative therapy for gay Christians, which it claims can develop their heterosexual potential . The campaign was also backed by Anglican Mainstream , a worldwide Anglican group.

The Christian groups insisted the advert had been cleared with Transport for London (TfL). Davidson said:

I didn't realise censorship was in place. We went through the correct channels and we were encouraged by the bus company to go through their procedures. They okayed it and now it has been pulled.

CBS Outdoor, the media company that sells the bus advertising sites, said the ad had been passed for display by the Committee of Advertising Practice.

The campaign was an explicit attempt to hit back at the gay rights group Stonewall, which as part of its lobbying for the extension of marriage to gay couples is running its own bus adverts saying: Some people are gay. Get over it. The Christian groups used the same black, red and white colour scheme as Stonewall and in a statement announcing the campaign accused it of promoting the false idea that there is indisputable scientific evidence that people are born gay .

Update: Asserting the right of freedom of expression to badmouth gays

14th April 2012.  Via article from  bbc.co.uk

A Christian group which had its advertisement pulled from London buses after it was described as anti-gay has said it is considering legal action.

TfL had said the advert was not consistent with its commitment to a tolerant city.

Anglican Mainstream has instructed a law firm to look at whether Transport for London (TfL) acted illegally when it scrapped the adverts. It said it wanted to know what happened to its contract with TfL for the ads, which implied people could be ex-gay .

Tom Ellis from legal firm Aughton Ainsworth said he was going to examine whether the ban was a breach of contract and the group's right to freedom of expression.

Update: Don’t ban it. Get over it!

18th April 2012. See  article from  spiked-online.com by Luke Samuel

The banning of silly Christian bus adverts reveals the contempt in which the mayor holds ordinary Londoners.

Last week, Boris Johnson, the perennially silly mayor of London, announced that he would ban a planned series of posters on London buses which shouted: NOT GAY! EX-GAY, POST-GAY AND PROUD. GET OVER IT! The message was penned by the Christian campaign group, the Core Issues Trust, which believes that homosexuality is curable through therapy and religious teaching.

...Read the full article

Update: Boris Johnson explains that his advert censorship was all about the politics of avoiding offence and backlashes

It seems that he thought he was doing both sides a favour, preventing gays from being easily offended, and preventing the religious nutters from making an arsehole of themselves.

18th April 2012. See  article from  guardian.co.uk

Boris Johnson has said that he feared that there would have been an intense backlash if he had allowed a Christian advertising campaign promoting the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality to be plastered on London's buses.

He talked about his decision to censor the posters as he took part in a mayoral debate jointly organised by London Church Leaders, Faith to Engage, and the Evangelical Alliance.

He said that he made his decision not only because he thought an advert which suggested that gay people could be cured was likely to cause great offence , but also because of the possible reverberations for London's Christian community. Hesaid:

The job of mayor is to unite, the job is to stop prejudice, and actually the backlash would be so intense it would not have been in the interest of Christian people in this city.

Ken Livingstone told the audience that the advert would only have served to reinforce prejudice:

In my view Boris was right to pull them.

Two Russian men have been arrested for illegally engaging in pro-gay propaganda, in the first-ever enforcement of a homophobic new law that bans making statements supporting homosexuality in public.

Police in St Petersburg arrested the pair as they were standing in a central district of Russia's second-largest city and holding up placards reading Homosexuality is normal. i

This St Petersburg law banning favourable comments about homosexuality is a shame. This law is absolutely discriminatory and it takes away the right to freedom of expression and assembly from citizens of non-traditional orientations, said Tatyana Lokshina, spokeswoman for the NGO Human Rights Watch.

Update: Fined

10th May 2012. See  article from  indexoncensorship.org

Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseyev has been fined 5,000 roubles (104 GBP) under a St. Petersburg law for spreading gay propaganda among minors. The fine was imposed after the court ruled that Alekseyev had spread propaganda about homosexual relations among minors when he held a sign in a public place last month that stated homosexuality was not a perversion. Alekseyev has pledged to appeal the ruling

Malaysia has issued a directive to state-owned TV stations ordering them to ban and remove LGBT characters, and says it will expand the order to privately owned stations,

The Information Department has banned shows featuring gay characters, Deputy Information, Communications and Homophobic Culture Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz confirmed. He said the ban was effective immediately but would only start with state-owned TV and radio stations.

If it means cancelling some of the shows, so be it, he told The Star, adding that the decision was to curb the influence of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.

He also said the decision will be expanded to cover privately-owned stations as well as satellite TV providers. As for foreign productions, he said the Censorship Board will remove episodes from running TV shows and bar movies with gay characters from being screened locally.

The directive appeared on the Information Department Facebook page:

Effective immediately, radio and TV stations are asked to stop screening shows which feature gay, effeminate men as well as characters that go against the norm of a religious society because this encourages and promotes LGBT now.

Update: Blather

8th April 2012. See  article from  gaystarnews.com

In the face of justified criticism of Malaysia's homophobic ban an gays on TV, officials have been blathering about the ban, simultaneously both denying and confirming it.

Malaysia has no plan to ban state media programmes featuring LGBT characters ...BUT... retains the right to select suitable content for the public, officials have 'clarified'.

With the message stirring up a hot debate online, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yaim and his deputy sought to explain the official stance only to cause much more confusion.

There is no ban on any artistic performance by any segment of society, including those acronymed as soft men, Rais wrote on Twitter. The ministry ...HOWEVER... reserves the right to select contents suitable to the general public since the country is a multi-racial, religious and cultural one, he added.

Rais's deputy Maglin Dennis D'Cruz added to the contradictory government bollox. Whilst onfirming the ban as a mistake, he noted there is indeed a directive and a guideline will be produced to avoid putting LGBT characters on screen or the air waves.

Florida nutters have been writing masses of letters protesting at LGBT elements in the video games Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

It is suspected that the Florida Family Association is directing the campaign aimed at Entertainment Arts (EA) because of the same-sex relationship content.

The Family Research Council, led by Tony Perkins, is also involved. In a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists! said Perkins.

EA is standing up for same sex relationships in games despite the nutter 'outrage'.

Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment, Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications told gamesindustry.biz .

The letters have been directed to EA's top brass. Many of them threaten to boycott EA's titles if the publisher refuses to remove same-sex relationship content. The letters also infer that the LGBT content is somehow forced upon children, exposing them to LGBT themes.

However the M (17) rated games are not for children, nor do they force LGBT content on a player - it's merely an option for gamers who wish to replicate their real-life sexual orientation.

Albanian religious leaders have had ab whinge at a planned gay pride parade, with a spokesman for the Muslim community claiming it would pose a danger to society. Agron Hoxha spouted:

Such public demonstration is an abuse of human rights and freedoms and presents a danger for the morals and tradition of the Albanian family,

The Catholic Church also opposes the planned parade in Tirana on May 17, said spokesman Gjergj Meta, spouting that:

homosexuality is opposed to the natural order and the morals of society.

The Royalist party, part of Albania's ruling coalition, also opposes the planned parade, which will be a first in the country, spouting:

Homosexuality is a sexual deviation, a vice, a misfortune or a curse that cannot be tolerated, the party said in a statement.