NOVEMBER

Nov 30:  UK:  More Attacks on Christian Anti-Gay Campaign.  The row over the recently-launched campaign by a Christian group to effectively scupper the Government’s plans to introduce a ban on discriminating against gays in the provision of goods and services has deepened.
Nov 30:  UK:  Gay Refugees Abused at London Asylum Centre.  By Peter Tatchell.  This weeks’ riot by detainees at the Harmondsworth immigration and asylum detention centre in west London was entirely predictable, given the centre’s grossly inhumane conditions.  
Nov 29:  Ireland:  Equality Authority Welcomes Gay, Lesbian Partnership Report.  The Irish Equality Authority today welcomed the publication of the Report of the Working Group on Domestic Partnership. 
Nov 29:  Europe:  European Parliament Asked to Have Minute’s Silence to Mark World Aids Day.  The European Parliament could be marking World Aids Day with a minute of silence in its plenary session in Brussels on Friday. 
Nov 29:  USA:  Prominent Scientists Tell Court No Evidence Exists to Bar Lesbians and Gays in Military.  In a brief filed last week with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the American Sociological Association (ASA) and five distinguished social scientists indicate there is no evidence supporting the exclusion of openly gay military personnel from the armed forces. 
Nov 29:  UK:  Christian Campaign to Rob Gays of Rights Is ‘Truly Poisonous’.  A “truly poisonous” campaign is being waged by Christians to render unusable legislation that would protect gay people from discrimination in the provision of goods and services, says the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA). 
Nov 28:  USA:  Now Senior Military Leaders Ask First Circuit to Overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.  Fourteen senior retired military leaders have filed a brief urging the First Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court ruling regarding the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service members, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) announced today. 
Nov 28:  South Africa:  South African Civil Union Bill Passed by National Council of Provinces.  The South African ‘Civil Union Bill’ has taken a further step to becoming an Act when it was approved by the National Council of Provinces this morning in Cape Town, making the gay and lesbian 'unions' on target to be in place for the court-imposed December 1 deadline. 
Nov 28:  Faroe Islands:  Group in Tasmania Helps Gays in Faroe Islands in Fight Against Discrimination.  Gay rights advocates in the Australian island state of Tasmania have written to Australia-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark asking her to point out the benefits to her childhood home that have come from its greater acceptance of gay and lesbian people.
Nov 27:  USA:  Renowned Constitutional Scholars Ask First Circuit to Consider ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Challenge.  A group of renowned constitutional scholars has filed a brief asking the First Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a District Court ruling and allow a lawsuit to move forward in an appeal by twelve military veterans battling the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law prohibiting military service by lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans.
Nov 27:  Nepal:  Metii Dies at Her Birthday Party After Possible 'Spiked' Drinks.  A 25-years-old ‘metii’ has died in hospital in Kathmandu and nine others were hospitalised after drinking what is thought to have been ‘spiked’ alcohol at a birthday party on Friday night. 
Nov 27:  Russia:  Moscow Gay Pride Documentary Premiers at National Film Center.   The documentary “Moscow Pride ‘06” had its world premiere at the National Film Center in Moscow.  It was screened to more than 60 guests.  
Nov 27:  UK:  Abysmal Lack of Support for Healthcare Professional Living with HIV, Survey Finds.   There is a serious absence of resources and information to support individuals living with blood borne infections such as HIV and Hepatitis, a survey by the Gay & Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists (GLADD) reveals. 
Nov 26:  UK:  GALHA’s Sanderson Elected President of National Secular Society.  Terry Sanderson, a long-standing member and committee member of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA), has been elected the new president of the National Secular Society (NSS). 
Nov 26:  Nepal:  Metis: Victims of Political Change in Nepal?  By Sunil Pant in Kathmandu.  After the recent peace deal between the Nepal Government and the Maoists, metis (cross dressing effeminate males), like every other Nepalese, were hoping that their rights would be ensured and they would also enjoy freedom and safety.  
Nov 24:  UK:  Sexually Abusive Language Aimed at Teachers and Pupils.  Nearly one in five primary teachers and two-thirds of secondary teachers have been subjected to sexually abusive language by pupils – some of it homophobic – the UK’s largest teaching union, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), revealed today. 
Nov 24:  World:  ‘Declaration of Montreal’ Launches Website.  A new website was launched today to promote the ‘Declaration of Montreal’, which was endorsed at the international conference on LGBT human rights, which was held in the framework of the 1st World Outgames in Montreal in July 
Nov 24:  European Union:  Gay Parliamentary Intergroup Acts to Improve Contentious ‘Statement of Principles’.  The European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights publicly reacted today to the revelations in the press of the European Parliament Bureau's recent decision to reject an amendment to include sexual orientation in its statement of principles. 
Nov 23:  South Africa:  Medical Experts and Religious Leaders Put Heads Together on HIV.  An unlikely meeting of science and religion took place this week when the ‘Voices of Reason’ conference brought together Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and faith-based organisations (FBOs) with medical experts in the field of HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nov 23:  UK:  Manchester Unites To Raise Awareness of HIV for World AIDS Day 2006.  The leading health promotion agencies in Manchester have come together to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in the city by producing more than a million pages of information for World Aids Day, December 1. 
Nov 23:  Latvia:  Court Rules Latvian Laws Regulating Public Demonstrations Are Unconstitutional.  The Constitutional Court of Latvia today declared unconstitutional a number of provisions of a Latvian law regulating public demonstrations and pickets. 
Nov 23:  Australia:  Victoria State Elections: Labour Opens the Coffers.  By Doug Pollard (Melbourne Star). Labour Ministers have made a number of promises to the Victorian gay and lesbian community if they are returned to power in Saturday’s election. Arts Minister Mary Delahunty, who’s retiring, announced $160k for the Midsumma Festival – the local equivalent to Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, payable over three years. Then on Sunday, Health Minister Bronwyn Pike pledged a quarter of a million dollars towards the relocation and re-equipment of Australia’s only full time gay and lesbian radio station Joy Melbourne. 
Nov 22:  UK:  New Members Boost for Croydon Gay Group.  Croydon Area Gay Society (CAGS) has reported a dramatic increase in its membership – current numbers are up 35 per cent on the same time a year ago.  
Nov 22:  Denmark:  Copenhagen Prepares for World Outgames 2009.  It might be almost three years away, but the World Outgames 2009 is already taking shape in Copenhagen.   
Nov 22:  UK:  63,500 Adults Now Living With HIV In the UK – Up By 5,200 in Year.  An estimated 63,500 adults are now living with HIV in the UK, according to a report released today by the Health Protection Agency.  This latest figure – based on 2005 statistics – includes both those who have been diagnosed and also around a third (20,100) who remain unaware of their infection.  This is a rise of 5,200 since last year. 
Nov 22:  Latvia:  Smits: Gay Issue Is Not Urgent.  Janis Smits has said that “the gay issue” is not an urgent matter for the Latvian Parliamentary Human Rights Committee.  The outspoken and homophobic MP was chosen on Monday by committee members to be its chairperson.
Nov 21:  UK:  Gay MP Uses YouTube For Homophobic Bullying Message.  An openly gay Liberal Democrat MP is using YouTube to get across the message of homophobic bullying.  Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West, has produced the video for anti-bullying week.
Nov 21:  European Union:  Gays Omitted from European Parliament’s Secretariat Equality and Diversity Statement.  Sexual orientation is excluded from the new equality and diversity “Statement of Principles” of the European Parliament’s secretariat.  And the omission is no accident.   
Nov 21:  UK:  GaydarRadio Launches ‘Radiothon’ for World AIDS Day.  Award-winning GaydarRadio will mark World AIDS Day on Friday, December 1 with a fund-raising outside broadcast special at selected venues across London which aims to boost charity coffers, stop the spread of HIV and help end prejudice. 
Nov 21:  HIV/AIDS:  Global AIDS Epidemic Continues To Grow.  The global AIDS epidemic continues to grow and there is concerning evidence that some countries are seeing a resurgence in new HIV infection rates which were previously stable – or declining.
Nov 20:  UK:  Brighton Green Councillors Call For Investigation into HIV/AIDS Cuts.  Green Party councillors have asked Brighton and Hove City Council to investigate the impact of recent budget cuts on people living with HIV and AIDS in the city.
Nov 20:  France:  Gay Algerian Teen Faces Deportation from France.  Karim must be allowed to say.  That is the view of French LGBT activists on the possible deportation of a teenage gay Algerian. 
Nov 20:  UK:  UNISON Calls for Robust Anti-Discrimination Laws to Protect Gays and Lesbians.  A government Minister has pledged support for LGBT human rights issues not only in the United Kingdom, but across the world.
Nov 20:  UK:  Exceeding Expectations: Ending Homophobia Through Education.  A new Manchester initiative aimed at ending homophobia through education called ‘Exceeding Expectations’ has launched a newsletter to be distributed to all adults working at secondary schools across the city.
Nov 20:  Latvia:  Fiercely Anti-Gay Politician Selected at Chair of Latvian Parliament Human Rights and Social Affairs Committee.  The Lativan Saeima (Parliament) has confirmed this afternoon the nomination of Jānis Šmits as the chairperson of the Saeima’s Human Rights and Social Affairs Committee.  And Europe is outraged.
Nov 20:  El Salvador:  Send a Card to El Salvadorean Gay Activist and Take Part in Amnesty’s Greetings Card Campaign.  Amnesty International is encouraging people across the UK to send a message of solidarity to William Hernández – a gay activist in El Salvador who has received death threats apparently intended to deter him from campaigning – as Amnesty launches its annual Greetings Card Campaign.  
Nov 19:  Australia:  Melbourne’s Gay Registry Scheme Sends Bracks a Message.  Victorian human rights group, Civil Union Action! (CUA), has welcomed Melbourne City Council’s pledge to set up a relationship registry for same-sex couples, noting that the council acted because the State Government had failed to do so.
Nov 18:  UK:  Transgender Day of Remembrance.  While Monday November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance, many UK events to mark the date are being early over the weekend.
Nov 18:  Europe:  Jailing People for Passing on HIV May Threaten Public Health, Conference Told.  The conviction and imprisonment of people with HIV for transmitting their virus is counterproductive and may even threaten public health, the Eighth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection was told this week.
Nov 18:  European Union:  Green MEP Proposes Blueprint for New EU Anti-Discrimination Legislation.  Dutch Green MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg has presented a proposal for a directive on anti-discrimination to the European Commission.  “At present, there is no EU legislation to prevent someone who is gay or disabled from being refused a loan or housing,” she said.
Nov 17:  UK:  Blair Ignores Human Rights Abroad  – Liberal Democrats.  The British Government must not ignore Iran’s human rights record, the Liberal Democrat party said yesterday following the Queen’s Speech which outlined the Government’s plans for the next 12 months.
Nov 16:  United Nations:  Petition to UN for Resolution to Decriminalise Homosexuality Goes On-Line.  A petition calling for UN Resolution to decriminalise homosexuality world-wide will be going on-line tomorrow (November 17).  It is being coordinated by the international anti-homophobia group IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia).
Nov 16:  United Nations:  Today Is International Day for Tolerance.  In 1996 the General Assembly of the United Nations invited member states to observe the International Day of Tolerance on 16 November.
Nov 16:  Poland:  ILGCN Condemns Polish President’s Fear of Gay Culture.  Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s comments to the BBC’s Newsnight programme while visiting London that gay culture could make “heterosexual culture disappear” is dangerous, paranoic homophobia, says the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network). 
Nov 15:  UK:  Home Office Will Listen To Lesbians and Gays On Immigration Issues.  The UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group’s fight to put the human rights abuses of LGBT people from around the world onto the agenda, has taken a big step forward with the group’s appointment as an observer to the Advisory Panel on Country Information (APCI).
Nov 15:  European Union:  Amnesty Gets Tough With European Union Over Gay Rights.  If the European Union wants 2007 to be “European Year of Equal Opportunities”, it needs to ensure as of now that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people can freely express, assemble and associate in countries such as Poland and Latvia, Amnesty International said today.
Nov 14:  UK:  BBC: Gay and Lesbian Couples Should Not Apply.  An astonishing – and discriminatory – line appeared in an article on the BBC website about a fundraiser for the annual Children in Need appeal, involving the popular BBC television programme Strictly Come Dancing.  
Nov 14:  USA:  Lesbian, Gay Military Veterans Appeal Court Ruling on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  Twelve lesbian and gay veterans of the ‘war on terror’ yesterday filed a brief in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, in Massachusetts, challenging the constitutionality of the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual service personnel.
Nov 13:  Iran:  Ten Arabs Set to Hang in Iran.  Ten Ahwazi Arab rights activists are scheduled to be hanged in Iran this week, according the Iranian media.  They will by hanged from cranes in public, using the slow strangulation method, which is deliberately designed to maximise and prolong their suffering.
Nov 13:  Belarus:  Minsk Gay Culture and Human Rights Conference Cancelled.  The planned international conference on LGBT culture and human rights in the Belarus capital was cancelled hours before it was due to start last weekend.
Nov 13:  Russia:  Gay Russia Reacts to Elton John's Desire for Moscow Pride Gig.  “We should, en masse, go to Moscow next year if they'll have us,” declared Elton John in yesterday's Observer.  “We want you,” chanted Russian Gay activists last night.
Nov 12:  European Union:   European Commission to Get Tough Over Gay Rights.  The European Commission has indicated that it will get tough with European Union member countries who fail to fully implement directives that give gay men and women equality rights.
Nov 12:  UK/Russia:  Russian Gay Activist Tells London Audience He Will Fight On.  Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev has vowed to fight on after Moscow Pride 2006 was officially banned by Moscow’s mayor and the resulting protest was disrupted.
Nov 12:  Australia:  Commit to Civil Unions, Bracks Urged.  Victorian human rights group, Civil Union Action! (CUA), has called on the Bracks Government to commit to formal partnership laws for same-sex couples in advance of the state election.
Nov 12:  UK:  Elton John's Remarks On Religion Promoting Hatred Are “Self-Evidently True” Says Gay Group.  The UK Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) has given its backing to Sir Elton John’s claim that religion promotes the hatred of gays, saying that it is self-evidently true.
Nov 12:  Australia:  Bracks Registers Interest in Gay Vote.  By Doug Pollard.  Steve Bracks has sent two Labor MPs to talk to the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby about a possible Partnership Registration Scheme, based on the Tasmanian model. 
Nov 10:  Belarus:  Three Gay Activists Arrested and Released after 22 Hours on Eve of Gay Conference.  Three gay activists were released yesterday evening, 22 hours after being arrested in an apartment where they were attending a meeting of the organising committee of an International LGBT conference to be held in Belarus this weekend.
Nov 10:  Poland:  Kaczynski Slams ‘Gay Culture’ in Europe.  President Lech Kaczynski, arguably the most homophobic Head of State in Europe, has, again, attacked what he called a “gay culture” in Poland – and across Europe.
Nov 4:  Nepal:  We Want Your Support, Pleads Nepalese Lesbian After Forced Separation.  As a human beings we want to live together.  That is simple the message from 27-years old Nepalese lesbian Nirmala Lawati who has been forcibly separated from her partner of five years, Nirupa Rai.
Nov 4:  Israel:  Open Letter on Jerusalem Gay Pride: Your Support Is Urgently Needed.  From Mikie Goldstein.  In six days’ time, on Friday, November 10, the Jerusalem March of Tolerance and Pride is due to set off from Independence Park, on a 1 mile trip to Liberty Bell Park – a three month delay of Jerusalem WorldPride, postponed due to the war in Lebanon.
Nov 3:  UK:  Rupert Everett Kicks Off Manchester’s World AIDS Day Events in the Gay Village.  Actor Rupert Everett will be getting a new two-week Winter Festival underway later this month.  The festival is designed to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, raise money for HIV/AIDS charities and to mark World Aids Day.
Nov 2:  UK:  Top Gay Artists Think Pink for World AIDS Day.  Hastings, the home of the ‘saucy postcard’, will be raising eyebrows once more next month with the launch of a major new art exhibition, Think Pink!, bringing together a bevy of the UK’s leading gay artists.
Nov 2:  UK/Russia:  Moscow Gay Pride: Banned, Bloodied … But Back.  Russian Gay Activist to be Honoured by Humanists in London.  Homophobia at Moscow Pride last May – and in other Eastern European countries – is the subject of a panel discussion and film presentation organised by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) in London next week.
Nov 1: Movie:  Borat – Parody or Prejudice?  By Peter Tatchell.  Is Borat parodying prejudice or pandering to it?
Nov 1: USA:  New Parody Video by Gay Activist Mocks GOP Chairman Mehlman’s Denial of Responsibility.  Gay activist Mike Rogers yesterday released a parody TV ad on YouTube that mocks the hypocrisy of Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), in a direct response to the RNC’s now-infamous “call me” ad in the Tennessee Senate race.