APRIL 2010

April 30:  UK:   Gays, Tories and the Polish PiS: An Inconvenient Truth That Won’t Go Away as Election Day Approaches.   UK Gay News Commentary.   To paraphrase a saying on statistics: there are lies, damned lies, and political spin, especially at election time.  So just how serious is the Conservative party when leader David Cameron insists that the party is now gay-friendly?

April 29:  Lithuania:   Lithuania’s ‘Protection of Minors’ Law and Gay Pride Discussed at European Parliament Public Hearing.   The recent law Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effects of Public Information in Lithuania was vetoed twice in its early life, but what is in place effectively criminalises homosexuality, a Lithuanian MEP said this morning at a public hearing organised by the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights.  And a member of the Lithuanian Seimas, Rokas Zilinskas, added that the new law says that promotion of sexual intercourse to minors is illegal, and that the forthcoming Baltic Pride early next month  “will not fall under this law”.

April 29:  UK:   Film Documenting Homophobia in Italy Through Eyes of Gay Couple Set for London Screening.  A film about how the lives of a gay couple in Italy changed when the Italian Government announced a draft law that would give rights to unmarried gay couples and the homophobia that followed, is to get its first-ever London screening ahead of its DVD release in June.

April 28:  Moldova/Ukraine:   Gay Event Planned This Weekend In Moldovan Capital Is Cancelled After Court Ruling.  The planned peaceful demonstration in Central Square of Chişinău, the Moldovan capital on Sunday, the culmination of the annual “Rainbow over the Dniester”, has been cancelled, effectively by as court decision.  And there is a similar situation in neighbouring Ukraine, which has led to a joint statement condemning the bans from the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT rights, ILGA-Europe and Amnesty International.

April 27:  Iraq:   Amnesty: Iraqi Authorities Failing to Protect ‘At Risk’ Civilians.  At risk groups in Iraq Such as men perceived to be gay, religious and ethnic minorities, journalists, and women and girls, have particularly been targeted, with the Iraqi authorities failing to protect them, Amnesty International says in a 28-page report published today.

April 24:  UK:   Gay Humanists Warn Against ‘Anti Gay’ Street Pastors Who Could Soon Be Preaching on London Streets.  Serious concerns were expressed today by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) in the wake of reports that Westminster City Council’s plans to encourage religious street pastors in the borough, which includes central London’s Soho – virtually a “gay village”.

April 23:  Uganda:   Another American Anti Gay Preacher Heads to Uganda for ‘Crusade’ Against Homosexuals.   American gay-hating evangelist Lou Engle, the founder of TheCall movement, is heading for Uganda next month for “a crusade” against the “vice” of homosexuality.  Last night, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) condemned the visit.

April 21:  UK:   Miliband Launches Labour’s International Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Election Manifesto.  British Foreign Secretary David Miliband pledged this evening that the UK would be a “relentless champion” on the world stage for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, if Labour were re-elected next month for an unprecedented four term.

April 21:  European Union:   Recognising Gay ‘Marriages’ Across the European Union “Not a Priority” for the Commission.   The EU-wide mutual recognition of same-sex unions was “not a priority for the moment”, an official from the European Commission has said at a press briefing.

April 19:  Malawi:   Gay Malawian Prisoner Steven Monjeza Is Very Ill.  By Peter Tatchell.   Steven Monjeza remains very ill in the notorious Chichiri Prison in Blantyre, Malawi, according to people who have seen him in the last two days.  I have been sent an appeal to get him medical help.  Mr Monjeza, who is on trial with his same-sex partner, Tiwonge Chimbalanga, has been sick for more than two weeks.   He is vomiting, coughing and suffering from pain and pressure in his chest.   His eyes are jaundiced.   He is thin and weak, with barely enough energy to smile.   People who saw him at the weekend are very worried about his condition.

April 19:  UK Election:   Green Party Election Manifesto Has 14 Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Rights Policies.  The Election Manifesto of the Green Party, launched at the end of last week in Brighton by leader Caroline Lucas, contains 14 policies for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, including full equality in civil marriage and civil partnerships.

April 12:  UK Election:   Tatchell: David Cameron and George Osborne Fudge Gay Rights.  “David Cameron and I are very happy to consider the case for gay marriage,” Shadow Chancellor George Osborne today told gay rights campaigners, Peter Tatchell and Tamsin Omond, at a meeting yesterday morning at the City Inn hotel in London.  Mr. Tatchell then pressed Mr. Osborne on exactly what he meant.  “He declined to give any assurances that a Conservative government would conduct a review of the law,” Mr. Tatchell of OutRage! said.

April 8:  UK Election:   Commentary: ‘Dave the Dodger’ Yet Again Fails to Tackle Gay Discrimination in His Ranks.  While this morning’s Election Campaign most reported ‘sound bites’ seem to revolve around whether or not the Conservative plans for the economy were worked out, according to Gordon Brown, “on the back of an envelope”, the one thing that just won’t go away in the age of ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ issues is the utterances at the weekend of a senior member of the Tory shadow cabinet about gays and bed and breakfast businesses.

April 8:  Jamaica:   Jamaica Stages First Public ‘Gay Pride’. Imagine. Gay Pride in Jamaica.  The words of William Urich, the chair of InterPride Committee on International GLBTI Human Rights, on the first public Pride even on the Caribbean island which was staged yesterday.  Officially, it was the Walk for Tolerance from Howard Cooke Park, along Howard Cooke Boulevard and ending on the beach.

April 6:  Malawi:   Court Case Drives Gays Deeper Underground.  An engagement ceremony has landed a same-sex Malawian couple in jail, propelled their country into international headlines, and pushed men who have sex with men (MSM) further towards society’s risky margins.

April 6:  UK Election:   Openly Gay Labour Minister for Europe: Conservatives Flawed on Economy and Equality.  The Conservatives are a risk to the economy and equality, Labour have said  in one of the opening salvos of the UK General Election campaign.

April 6:  France/Iraq:   Urgent Housing, Support Appeal to Parisians for “Brave and Heroic” Gay Iraqi.  An urgent appeal to assist a gay Iraqi who fled his country for Europe a year ago was launched this morning by Iraqi LGBT. Help is being sought in Paris where the young destitute man is being sent.

April 5:  Russia:   Nikolai Baev: Will Russia Follow the Council of Europe’s Decision on the Fight Against Gay Discrimination?  Commentary by Nikolai Baev.   Russia is part of the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe which ratified the new recommendation, Yet Russia’s Executive and Judicial authorities keep professing a well developed homophobic ideology.