APRIL 2006

April 29:  Moldova:  Moldovan Capital Refuses Gays Permission to Assemble for Pride.  News that the mayor of Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, has turned down a request for a demonstration outside the Parliament building has drawn criticism from the International Lesbian and Gay Association Europe (ILGA-Europe).
April 27:  Russia:  Most Russians Support Prosecution of Anti-Gay Mufti – Poll.  Almost half of Russians asked think that radical Russian Mufti Talgat Tadjuddin should be prosecuted for his anti-gay outburst earlier this year, an opinion poll has found.
April 27:  Austria:  Austria Grants Refugee Status to Gay Man From Iran.  A gay Iranian has been granted asylum in Austria on appeal, after having his application initially turned down. 
April 27:  UK:  Muslim Council Rejects Gay Dialogue.  The Muslim Council of Britain has rejected talks with gay organisations and rebuffed proposals to tackle homophobia within the Muslim community.
April 26:  USA:  Teen Named a Grand Marshal at Atlanta Gay Pride.  A teen who is leading the battle to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at her high school is to be one of the two “grand marshals” of this year’s Atlanta Pride.
April 25:  Poland:  President Kaczynski Urged to Support and Protect Gay Pride Marchers in Kraków.  The Polish president, President Lech Kaczynski, has been asked to publicly support the right of Poland’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens to march peacefully and with full police protection on April 28 in Kraków as part of the third annual March of Tolerance. 
April 25:  Latvia:  Gay Activists to Appeal as Court Acquits Latvian MP for Homophobic Statement.  A court of a Latvian town of Jurmala rejected today a complaint against Leopolds Ozoliòð, member of the Latvian Parliament, for his comments.   
April 24:  Nigeria/UK:  Nigerian Humanists Fight for Survival of Country’s Gay Community.  A leading Nigerian Humanist is courageously standing up for the country's gay community in the face of his government's vicious attack on gay rights. 
April 23:  Poland:  Poland Heads for New Clashes Between Gay Activists and Far-Right Youth.  As gays gear up for the third Kraków Pride, known as Culture for Tolerance Kraków Gay and Lesbian Festival, on Friday, the city’s police are bracing themselves for possible trouble.
April 21:  Cameroon/USA:  Nine Gay Men Acquitted in Major Victory for Human Rights.  All of the “Yaounde 11” have now been cleared of homosexuality charges, it emerged from the Cameroon capital  Yaounde today.  The 11 gay men were detained almost a year ago after police were called to an incident at a nightclub frequented by gay men and women. Two were released without charge earlier this year. : 
April 21:  UK:  Successful Herceptin Legal Challenge Seen As Test Case for PEP.  The recent decision by the High Court this month to allow the prescription of Herceptin for Breast Cancer, even though it costs £21,000, even though it is only 50 per cent effective, has significantly improved the chances of success in the forthcoming Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) legal case, PEP campaigners say: 
April 20:  USA/Iraq:  IGLHRC Calls On Bush Administration to Condemn Violence Against Iraqi Gays. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is calling on the Bush administration to take all appropriate measures to publicly condemn the escalation of violence against gay men and lesbians in Iraq and take all possible measures to ensure their protection. 
April 20:  Russia:  Qur’an Appears to Override Russian Law in Complaint Over Muft’s Anti-Gay Outburst.  The Russian Prosecutor’s Office appears to be guided by the Qur’an rather than Russian law, a gay activist claims.
April 20:  Bashkortostan:  Russian Constitutional Court To Consider Gay Marriage Case.  Edvard Murzin, a deputy in the Bashkortostan State Assembly, is used to being shunned when it comes to his requests that the question of ‘gay marriage’ be considered. Bashkortostan is an oil and natural gas-rich state within the Russian Federation in the southern Ural Mountains region. 
April 19:  Russia:  Moscow Human Rights Bureau Slams Mayor over Threatened Pride Parade Ban. Moscow Human Rights Bureau became the first Russian human rights organization to voice its support for next month’s Moscow Pride Parade.
April 18:  UK:  Gay Brighton Councillor to Stand Down in Next City Elections.  Simon Williams, one of Brighton’s few openly gay councillors, has announced that he won’t be standing for re-election to the city council in elections in 2007. 
April 14:  UK:  Lesbian Rapper Mz Fontaine to Headline National Student Pride.  Lesbian singer and rapper Mz Fontaine is set to headline the entertainment for “Club Night” at the second National Student Pride to be held at Oxford Brookes Student Union next month.
April 14:  UK:  Greens Call for Council to Promote New Sex Ed Guidance.  The Brighton and Hove Green Party has today called on their council to send copies of the government’s new guidance on Sex & Relationships Education to all local schools.
April 14:  USA:  Support Grows in New York for Right of Gay People to Marry.  Support in New York has steadily grown over the last three years for the right of gay people to marry, according to a poll released by Empire State Pride Agenda (Pride Agenda), the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization. 
April 13:  Russia/The Vatican:  Vatican Backs Moscow Mayor’s ‘Ban’ of Gay Pride.  The Vatican’s representative in Russia, Archbishop Àntonio Mennini has said that he supports Moscow’s decision to ban a gay parade in the capital city at the end on next month. 
April 12:  Italy:  Transgender Person Elected to Italian Parliament.  Five lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) politicians have been elected as members of the Italian parliament.  While Europe is more accustomed to the presence and visibility of LGB people in politics, the case of Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender person being elected as a parliamentarian, is probably the first a European ‘first’. 
April 12:  Latvia:  Latvian MP in Court Over Anti-Gay Remarks.  A Latvian MP is in court today accused of “expressing disrespectful and derogatory remarks” against gays last year – and of “breaching ethical and moral standards”
April 12:  UK:   Brighton Council To Be Asked To Officially Recognise IDAHO.  Brighton and Hove, renowned as the ‘gay capital’ of England, could be the first city in the UK to formally commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), to be marked on May 17 in more than 40 countries across the world. 
April 11:  Latvia:  Activists Ask  Permission For Second Riga Gay Pride March.  The Latvian Alliance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their friends Mozaika (‘Mosaic’) submitted an official request to the City Council of Riga for a second pride March on 22 July.  
April 10:  Russia:  Gay Activists Demand End of Russian Ban on Homosexual Donors.  Gay activists in Russia have written to officials raising the issue of the ban on blood donation by homosexuals which, like in many other countries, is still in force in Russia.
April 10:  Latvia:  Homophobic Incident At Riga Anglican Church.  The Latvian State Police has started a criminal investigation following a homophobic incident at the Anglican Church of Riga yesterday (April 9).   
April 10:  Travel:  Where the Boys Are This Summer.  This year’s sensational event takes place from September 24 to 01 October 1 in Bodrum, on Turkey’s Aegean Coast. 
April 9:  Poland:  Warsaw:  Protesting Closure of Gay Club by City Authorities.  Yesterday evening’s demonstration against the enforced closure of Le Madame club was declared “a big political success” by organisers today. 
April 8:  Europe/Nigeria:  Europe Slams Nigerian Government Over Proposed Anti-Gay Legislation.  The European Parliament’s Intergroup on gay and lesbian rights has strongly condemned the Nigerian government over its proposals make same sex relationship illegal and to ban gays and lesbians from forming organisations.  
April 6:  Poland:  Anti-Gay Kaczynski Twins Not 'Over the Moon' At Le Madame Demo.  While a wide-range of performances continue outside the now closed gay Le Madame club which doubles as a cultural and political venue, a mass demonstration is planned for Saturday outside the Warsaw City Council building in Plac Zamkowky. 
April 6:  UK:  Political Parties Committed to Concept of IDAHO.  Statements of support from UK political parties have provided a major boost to campaigners for an International Day Against Homophobia, in time for the big launch of IDAHO-UK tomorrow (April 7). 
April 6:  UK:  Ian McKellen Opens Gay Group's New Headquarters.  Sir Ian McKellen opened the new headquarters of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation in Princess House in Manchester’s ‘gay village’ this afternoon with a gag.  “Here we are in Princess House  – I note that a princess is a young person who one day will become a queen,” quipped the out-gay actor. 
April 6:  USA:  Breakneck Sales for ‘Brokeback’ on First Day of DVD Release.  Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain notched-up phenomenal sales of 1.4 million on the first day of release yesterday (April 4). 
April 4:  UK:  IDAHO-UK Launches With Reading of Dramatisation of ‘Rid England of this Plague’.  The formal launch of the UK arm of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) on Friday will include a look back to England in the 1950s and the “purge of gays”. 
April 3:  Switzerland/Russia:  Moscow Gay Pride:  ‘Let It Be’ Chanted Activists in Geneva Demo.  More than 100 activists from 35 different countries took part in a peaceful demonstration in front of the Russian diplomatic mission to the United Nations.  They were protesting the intention of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to forbid the first gay and lesbian pride in his city as well as the homophobic statements made by religious leaders and public figures.
April 3:  USA:  Brokeback Mountain Released on DVD.  Much has been written about Ang Lee’s film Brokeback Mountain since its world premier at the Venice Film Festival last summer – the movie adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story which was published in the October 13, 1997, edition of the New Yorker walked away with the festival’s “Golden Lion” award.