MARCH 2010

March 31:  Gibraltar:   Gay Group Accuses Chief Minister of Homophobic Crusade “At Tax Payers Expense”. News that the British Government has filed to intervene in the forthcoming Supreme Court hearing on the gay age of consent issue has been welcomed by Gibraltar Equality Rights Groups (GGR).

March 31:  Russia:   Russian Court: Ban of ‘Gay Propaganda to Minors’ Is Constitutional.  The Russian Constitutional Court has dismissed a complaint that the laws of Ryazan region prohibiting “propaganda of homosexuality” to minors are in contradiction with the the country's Constitution.  Nikolai Baev, who was one of two gay activists arrested last September in Ryazan, said this morning that the decision of the Constitutional Court legalised official homophobia in Russia.

March 30:  UK:   Fine of £1,000 for Anti Gay Preacher Is Excessive – Tatchell.  The conviction and £1,000 fine imposed on a homophobic Christian street preacher in Glasgow was condemned this morning by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell as “an attack on free speech and a heavy-handed, excessive response to homophobia”.

March 29:  Indonesia:   Gay Humanists Condemn Surrender to Anti Gay Mob in Indonesia.  The decision by Indonesian police to surrender the threat of mob violence by banning an international conference led by ILGA-Asia, a branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, was condemned last night by the UK’s Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA).

March 27:  UK:   Exeter Gay Pride in Pictures.   Three pages of pictures of the inaugural Gay Pride in Exeter, which got underway this morning with a parade through the city centre.

March 25:  Gibraltar:   Gay Group Wins Long Battle for Housing Equality as Government Drops Same-Sex Ban.  The ‘Rock’s’ lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender equality group, GGR, was celebrating last night following the government’s announcement that it has changed its policy in housing allocation to recognise the right of a lesbian couple to joint tenancy of a government flat.

March 24:  Hungary:   Hungarian Constitutional Court Affirms Registered Partnerships for Gay Couples.  By Tamás Dombos (Háttér Society).   The Hungarian Constitutional Court has declared that the Registered Partnership Act, which came into force on July 1 last year giving same-sex couples the equivalent legal status as married couples, is in line with Hungarian constitution requirements.

March 23:  Iraq/UK:   Outrage as UK Government Refuses to Act on Asylum Application of Iraqi Gay Leader. The refusal of the UK government to give priority to the asylum application of gay Iraqi is hindering the work of Iraqi LGBT, the London-based group that assists gay Iraqis who face persecution – and death – in their country.  Ali Hili, who runs Iraqi LGBT without pay, told UK Gay News this evening that he has had to turn down invitations to speak in the USA as, being an asylum seeker, he has no passport.

March 23:  Malawi:   Government and Judiciary Split, Suggests Gay Malawian Exiled in London.  The delays in the trial of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga – and the postponed verdict – are a sign that the Malawian government and the country’s judiciary are split, a gay Malawian exiled in the UK said yesterday.  Edi Phiri, a gay Malawian who fled his country after he was badly beaten and had threats to kill him, was the keynote speaker at the protest ,staged outside the Commonwealth Secretariat yesterday lunchtime.

March 23:  UK:   New Criminal Gay Hatred Law Effective from Today in UK.  From today, a much-needed new criminal offence outlaws threatening behaviour or materials intended to stir up hatred against people on grounds of their sexual orientation.

March 22:  EU:   Gay MEPs Slam European Commission after Trade Deal with Countries Jailing, Killing Gays.  Two openly gay members of the European Parliament today slammed European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs over the revised ‘Cotonou Agreement’, which delineates political and trade relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.

March 22:  Malawi:   Amnesty: Two Gay Men Facing Trial for ‘Gross Indecency’ Must Be Released.   Amnesty International has called on the Malawian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, after a judge today ruled this morning that they will face trial in April on charges of “gross indecency”.  And in New York, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) was “dismayed” by the court ruling.

March 20:  Jamaica/USA:   Jamaica’s Gay Underground Christians.  Commentary by Rev. Irene Monroe.   Sometime in the late hours of Saturday night the call will come in.   Philbert (not his real name) like many of his Christian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) buddies wait anxiously for the call in order to know the time and place of the van pickup, and where it’ll drop them off to a safe and secluded place for Sunday worship.  Every Sunday Philbert and his friends have to worship in a different space.   The risk is too high if it’s found out they’re queer.

March 19:  UK:   Birmingham Teen Named Stonewall’s Gay Equality Youth Champion.  A teenager from Birmingham is the first-ever Stonewall Youth Awards winner.  Eighteen-years-old Danny Fryer was named as the winner of the award at the inaugural ceremony at Pearson publishers in London on Wednesday evening.

March 17:  Lithuania:   Lunacek and Cashman to Lithuanian Seimas: Don’t Ban Baltic Gay Pride.  Gay Pride marches symbolise a day of peaceful celebration and engagement with other citizens – not separately from society, but as a full and equal part of it, the co-presidents of the European Parliament ‘Intergroup’ LGBT Rights have said in a letter to the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament).  And the publication of the text of the letter comes as at least two “hate groups” on Facebook were uncovered – both calling for violence against “sexual minorities”.

March 17:  UK:   Lesbian, Gay Christians Condemn High Court Decision on Roman Catholic Adoption Agency. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement has condemned today’s decision in the High Court to allow Catholic Care’s appeal for an exemption from the sexual orientation regulations.

March 17:  UK/Malawi:   London Protest in Support of Gay Malawian Couple Facing Jail.  A protest outside the Commonwealth Secretariat in London is to be staged on Monday, the day when a Malawian court is due to hand-down the verdict in the trial of gay couple Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga on charges of homosexuality.

March 16:  Australia:   Gay Tasmanian Couple Gives Thumbs Up to Official Relationship Ceremony.  One of the first couples to have an officially-recognised Tasmanian relationship ceremony has gone public on what having a ceremony means for them.

March 15:  Lithuania:   Politicians Try to Scupper Baltic Gay Pride Parade With Petition to Prosecution Office. A Lithuanian MP is attempting to scupper plans for the Baltic Gay Pride parade scheduled for early May in the Lithuanian capital, UK Gay News learned today from the office of the European Parliament’s all-party ‘Intergroup’ for LGBT rights.

March 14:  Poland:   Poland to Stage Summer-Long Gay Themed Exhibition at National Museum.  Poland’s National Museum in Warsaw is to stage an “Ars Homo Erotica” exhibition this summer.  It will present over 200 artworks from antiquity to the twenty-first century, with Greek vases with frolicking youths, male nudes by the “old masters and mistresses” of sculpture and painting to contemporary Central-Eastern European LGBT art commissioned especially for the exhibition.

March 10:  UK:   A Safe Haven for Gay Women From Across the World: GayGirlNet.com Celebrates Its 14,000th Member.   GayGirlNet.com, the lesbian social networking site ‘with a difference’, has just celebrated both its 14,000th member and an extensive upgrade which brings its functionality in line with the biggest social networking sites.

March 1:  Uganda:   UK Scouts: Ugandan Anti Gay Bill Is “Discriminatory” and “Incompatible With Scouting Values”.  Opposition to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda has been expressed by the chief executive of the Scout Association UK, Derek Twine, who describes the proposed legislation now going through the Ugandan Parliament as “discriminatory” and “incompatible” with scouting values.

March 1:  Lithuania:   Lithuanian ‘Anti Gay’ Law on the Protection of Minors Enters Statute Book Today.  The controversial Lithuanian Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effects of Public Information comes into force today.  The law, in its earlier drafts, was seen as one of the most ‘anti gay’ pieces of legislation to have been passed by a member state of the European Union.