March 2006

March 29:  Poland:  Did Homophobic Politicians Pretend to be Gay Terrorists?  Shortly before last year’s presidential elections in Poland, a series of false bomb alarms paralysed the capital city of Warsaw, the blame being subsequently put on “gay terrorists”. 
March 29:  UK:  Homophobia Is Mental Health Risk for Young Gays, Northern Ireland Report Says.  One quarter of young gay or bisexual men in Northern Ireland have attempted suicide, thirty percent have self harmed and over two thirds of the respondents have considered suicide, a report to be published later today says.  
March 29:  South Africa:  HIV Positive Inmates Hungry for ARVs.  HIV-positive prisoners are literally starving for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at South Africa’s Westville Prison, in the east coast city of Durban.Some 242 inmates embarked on a hunger strike early on Monday, citing a failure by the department of correctional services and the health ministry to provide them with the life-prolonging drugs. 
March 28:  Poland:  Too Dangerous to Evict 200 From Warsaw Gay Club – Mayor.  In an astonishing development this evening at Le Madame night spot, the Mayor Brodowski of Warsaw Innercity has ruled out any immediate eviction of the peaceful protestors inside the city’s legendary club. 
March 28:  Russia:  Council of Europe Asks Moscow Mayor To Review Gay Pride Ban.  The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe has written to the mayor of Moscow asking that he “review” his decision made public last month that he would ban the Gay Pride Parade, scheduled for the end of May in the Russian capital. 
March 28:  Poland:  The Two Who Stole Le Madame:  Polish Political Twins Target Gay Club  Officially, Warsaw’s famed Le Madame club  – once a gay club, but more recently a venue for everyone, “gay, straight, whatever” – should have closed at the weekend.  But some habitués have decided this is not to be and are refusing to leave the haven of left-wing thought and expression in a right-wing country. 
March 24:  Europe:  Antwerp To Host EuroGames 2007.  The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) has named Antwerp as the city that will host the eleventh edition of the EuroGames to be staged next year. 
March 24:  Europe:  Euro Gay Group Call for Unrushed and Open Debate on EU Fundamental Rights Agency.  ILGA-Europe, together with the Human Rights and Democracy Network, the Social Platform of European Social Non-Governmental Organisations, the Concord and many national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations in Europe, is asking the EU Austrian Presidency not to rush with the decision over the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. 
March 24:  Russia:  Russian Jewish Community Aligns With Moscow Mayor Against Gay Pride.  A Russian Jewish group is backing the decision of the Mayor of Moscow, Juri Luzhkov, to ban the planned Moscow Gay Pride, scheduled for May 27. 
March 23:  UK/Netherlands:  MEP Urges ‘EU’ Returns Directive Debate to Help Gay Iranian Asylum Seekers.  An MEP has described as “simply unacceptable” the problem often faced by asylum seekers in UK, and other EU countries, in getting the truth of their cases heard.  Green Party Euro MP Jean Lambert (London) spoke out after reading the story of ‘Ramin’ on UK Gay News website. 
March 23:  Nigeria:  Obasanjo Must Withdraw Bill to Criminalize Gay Rights.  As Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo prepares to visit the United States, he should reaffirm his commitment to the human rights of all Nigerians and withdraw proposed legislation to introduce criminal penalties for same-sex relationships and marriage ceremonies, human rights groups say in a joint statement released today. 
March 23:  UK:  Cashman Commends Condom VAT Cut in UK.  British Labour MEP Michael Cashman has welcomed Gordon Brown’s decision to reduce value added tax (VAT) on condoms and other contraceptives in Britain and Northern Ireland. 
March 23:  UK:  Why I Support Freedom of Expression.  By Peter Tatchell. Gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains why he is taking part in Saturday's March for Free Expression in London.  He has been critisised following his agreement to speak at the rally in Trafalgar Square. 
March 22:  UK/Iran:  Gay Iranian Speaks of Escape from the Basij, Fear of Being Returned to Iran.  A young gay Iranian in his mid-twenties is living under the threat of being deported from the United Kingdom back to Iran.  Four years ago he escaped from his native country after coming within seconds of being caught by the Basij police who raided his boyfriend’s house while he was there. 
March 20:  UK:  Liberal Muslim Theologian Pulls Out of Tatchell Lecture After Threats.  Liberal Muslim theologian Sheikh Dr Muhammad Yusuf was to have called for a reconciliation of Islam with democracy and human rights, including human rights for women and gay people in a lectures this evening (March 20) in London. 
March 18:  Sweden/Belarus:  Swedish Gays Protest on Behalf of Friends in Belarus. Swedish gays today joined politicians and representatives of human rights organisations in a downtown demonstration in the Swedish capital on the eve of the elections tomorrow in Belarus, the last dictatorship in eastern Europe. 
March 18:  UK:  Manchester Lib Dem MPs Join Fight to Save Gay Radio Programme.  Three Liberal Democrat MPs from the Manchester area have joined the campaign to save local community programmes – including Gaytalk – from being axed at the end of the month by BBC Greater Manchester Radio (GMR).
March 17:  Uganda:  Stuck In the Closet: Gays Left Out of HIV/AIDS Strategy.  In a dimly lit karaoke bar in a suburb of Kampala, the capital, Crystal Namanya belts out Madonna’s Get into the Groove, following the words as they run across a television screen.  This is no ordinary karaoke evening.  Nearly everyone in the bar is gay, something most Ugandans consider un-African and un-Christian. 
March 16:  Czech Republic:  Czech Gays ‘Over the Moon’ As Prime Minister Delivers His Promise.  Gay men and women in the Czech Republic celebrated well into the night yesterday.  And for good reason. At precisely 18:17, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament outvoted the veto of President Václav Klaus of the Registered Partnership Bill by the narrowest of margins. 
March 16:  Russia:  Russian Orthodox Patriarch Supports Moscow Mayor Over Gay Parade Ban.  The Russian Orthodox Church has today back Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov’s decision to ban the city’s first-ever Gay Pride parade in the city, Russian news agency Interfax is reporting today. 
March 14:  Nepal:  Another Wave of ‘Sexual Cleansing’ by Nepal Police.  By Sunil Pant in Kathmandu.  We are very frustrated and concerned of such regular arrest and abuse of Metis (effeminate cross dressing males) by Nepal police. 
March 14:  UK:  Manchester Gays ‘Sent To Coventry’ – By BBC.  Gay men and women in the Greater Manchester area are furious.  On Thursday March 30, the shutters will come down on Gaytalk, a 30-minute magazine radio programme that first went on the air ten years ago. 
March 13:  World:  Moscow Gay Pride: The Turning Point for IDAHO. In the autumn of 2004, following the publication of the Dictionnaire de l’Homophobie”, a book he was the chief editor of, Louis-Georges Tin – known as a brilliant young doctor in humanities – decided to go further and to launch the idea of an International Day Against Homophobia based on the success of other days such as International AIDS Day on December 1 each year.  
March 10:  UK:  First Gay UK Politician Set To Register Partnership.  He was the first to play a gay man in a major role in a British television series, back in 1986 in Eastenders when the character of Colin Russell was introduced.  He was ‘one half’ of the first gay kiss on British television – again Eastenders.  Now Michael Cashman, the former actor and now a Labour MEP for the West Midlands, is set to be the first British politician to register a civil partnership. 
March 10:  USA:  Heartbroken Brokeback Fans Say “Thanks” With Ad in Daily Variety.  In an unprecedented show of support for the gay love story Brokeback Mountain, a website discussion board has spearheaded a campaign to collect donations from around the world to place ads in trade and national publications in support of the movie.  
March 9:  UK:  100 Days To Go Until London’s Biggest Ever Gay Pride.  Last weekend, over half a million onlookers lined Sydney’s world famous Oxford Street for this year’s hugely successful Sydney Mardi Gras.  The next major world event in the gay and lesbian calendar will also reach its climax with crowds of up to half a million people joining a colourful parade down another world famous Oxford Street – this time in London for EuroPride06 Day.
March 9:  UK:  IDAHO-UK 2006 Campaign Launched.  Plans are going ahead for some major initiatives in the United Kingdom to mark this year’s International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) on May 17. 
March 9:  European Union:  Frattini Has Done His Home Work, Say Gay Euro Parliament Group.  The European Parliament’s Intergroup on gay and lesbian rights is upbeat following a meeting with Commissioner Frattini to discuss strategies to fight homophobia and discrimination of LGBT people. 
March 8:  USA/International:  IGLHRC Pleased With Progress in US Government Human Rights Report.  The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) finds that the U.S. State Department’s annual report on human rights, released today, has more fully documented violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and people with HIV/AIDS than in previous years.
March 8:  Netherlands/Iran:  Dutch Threat to Return Gay, Lesbian Iranians Slammed by HRW.  Dutch Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk’s threat to end a six-month moratorium on deporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) asylum-seekers back to Iran rests on serious misunderstandings of Iranian law, Human Rights Watch said today. 
March 7:  UK:  Scottish Students Protest Gay Discrimination in Blood Transfusion Service.  Inequality in the Scottish blood transfusion service is being highlighted this week with a series of events being held by students across Scotland.
March 7:  UK:  Gay Travel Group Man Around Group on Acquisition Trail.   The Man Around Group has acquired the German travel business Ulla Kartner, it was announced yesterday.  The acquisition means that the German market is added to the Group’s activities in the UK, Italy and Spain.  
March 3:  Russia:  Luzhkov, Putin and Moscow Gay Pride.  Commentary.  The brouhaha over May’s Moscow Pride and the homophobic remarks made by the Mayor of the Russian capital could well go down in Russian political history as something that extends beyond the question of gay and human rights and right into the Kremlin to the desk of President Putin.
March 3:  UK:  Transsexuals in Croydon Take Significant Step Forward.  Which Loo?  Do you use the Ladies or the Gents?  It’s a problem if you’re changing gender – especially if you’re changing from male to female.
March 2:  EU/Russia:  Gays – and Others – Protest At Russian Embassy in Warsaw - Paris Also Stages Protest.  Some 30 demonstrators braved the freezing temperature to protest outside the Russian Embassy in Warsaw this evening to wind-up Europe’s day of action against the homophobic outbursts of the Mayor of Moscow and his stated ban of Moscow Gay Pride scheduled at the end of May.
March 2:  EU/Russia:  Outraged Europe Protests Gay Parade Ban by Moscow Mayor:  Day of protest open in Vienna and London.  As demonstrators picketed the Russian embassies in London and Vienna at lunchtime today demanding that the ban on Moscow’s Gay Pride Festival is lifted, London’s Green MEP, Jean Lambert spoke out in anger against the Mayor of Moscow’s homophobic attitude.