Canada warns tourists visiting anti-gay Russia.

Canadian foreign minister John Baird says St Petersburg gay gag law is contrary to country's 'core values'.

 

Photo by Andrew Rusk

 

The Canadian government is warning gay tourists visiting Russia after St Petersburg passed a gay hate bill.
Earlier this month, the governor of St Petersburg, Georgiy Poltavchenko, signed a bill into law which is designed to gag the local gay and transgender population.
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is now warning gay travelers to Russia to 'avoid displaying affection in public, as homosexuals can be targets of violence.'
'Canada’s ambassador has written to the Russian government to express our deep concern and, yes, we have at his request, put a travel advisory on our website,' Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said today in parliament, according to The Toronto Star.
Baird also told parliament that the law 'runs contrary to core Canadian values of freedom of speech, of human rights and the rule of law.'
The law effectively prohibits public discussion of LGBT issues and similar rules have also been introduced in the country's Ryazan, Arkhangelsk and Kostroma regions.
Gay rights campaign group AllOut.org has urged holidaymakers to stay away from the city and Russia until the law is repealed.
Russia recently announced that it wants to spend $11 billion dollars in five years to attract tourists from around the world and All Out hope to hurt the popular holiday destination in the wallet.
'By validating a new regime of censorship and intolerance, Governor Poltavchenko has diminished the reputation of his city with the stroke of a pen,' said Andre Banks, executive director of AllOut.org.
'Over 95,000 people have promised not to visit the "new" St Petersburg after this law goes into effect. Travel companies are considering revising their scheduled trips to the city.
'Together, we have sent a very clear message to St Petersburg and leaders like them around the world - there will be a high price to pay for advancing the cause of bigotry and intolerance.'
The St Petersburg proposals have attracted widespread criticism, including diplomatic pressure from the US State Department and Europe, a large-scale digital petition and a European Parliament resolution against them.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

Russian Court Refuses to Register Gay Pride Group for Olympics .

Sochi Court Rejects Gay-Pride Group.  

16 March 2012

The Moscow Times

 

A Krasnodar region court has refused to register the Pride House in Sochi organization on the grounds that fighting homophobia is immoral.
The group, started by activists from the web portal GayRussia.eu, aimed to open a space for holding conferences and other events in the run-up to and during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
A Krasnodar region court in November rejected an application by the group to officially register. The group appealed but was turned down again last month.
In its decision, published online this week, the court said it was refusing to register the organization on the grounds that its aims contradicted "public morality" and could result in the destruction of society's notions of good and evil.
"[The group] will be capable of enacting large-scale ideological influence on citizens, and the goals of the movement must not go against the bases of law and order or public morality," the court said.
New York's Human Rights First condemned the decision.
"The organization is concerned that the court construed homosexuality as 'extremist' behavior and urges the Russian government to amend vague anti-extremism laws to prevent their misuse," the statement said.

Πηγή.Τhe Moscow Times

Dubai police chief denies gay party arrests.

The Dubai Chief of Police has denied reports of 30 arrests in the emirate but says homosexuality is illegal and against the local norms.
Emirates 24/7, a Dubai based paper, reported that Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai police’s commander-in-chief has denied the report published by PinkNews.co.uk saying that a group of about 30 people, some of whom are reportedly gay were arrested during a private party on 9 March, at the Shangri-La hotel, in Dubai.
In addition he is quoted as saying that ‘Homosexuals and homosexuality exists in all countries of the world, but is prohibited in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as behaviour contrary to norms, customs, traditions and religion as well.’
The paper also quoted an unnamed Dubai police officer saying: ‘The UAE Penal Code prohibits anything that might conflict with religion, values, customs and traditions.’
The United Arab Emirates Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender group (UAE LGBT), however, has collected first hand witness accounts which the campaigners insist prove that the party did happen and arrests arrest did take place.
Adilah, a lesbian member of UAE LGBT, said: ‘My friends were at the party and it did happen, we now know that the hotel security staff tipped off the police who then proceeded with the arrests.
‘People were released the following day after signing a testimonial they would “not do it again”, although two people we know of are still unaccounted for and may be still held in prison because of their sexuality.
‘If “Homosexuals and homosexuality is prohibited in the UAE as behaviour contrary to norms, customs, traditions and religion as well”, then what about drinking, live music, celebrating Christmas and Easter? Aren’t those behaviours contrary to norms, customs, traditions and religion of the UAE? Or are they ok because UAE tolerates it for the sake of economy/profit?
‘And if the “The UAE Penal Code prohibits anything that might conflict with religion, values, customs and traditions,” but yet tolerates everything mentioned above for the sake of economic prosperity and touristic reputation, shouldn’t it take into consideration not to penalise homosexuals for being gay in their private settings?
‘Instead of persecuting LGBT people for leading personal lifestyles, we suggest they continue to promote no public displays of affection for both gays and straights, and hopefully the homosexuals they despise so much, but who contribute to the GDP of the UAE, can be aware of the do’s and don’t's in this land, just like everyone else, leading safe lives and not “offend” anyone who doesn’t necessarily lead the same lifestyle,’ she suggested.
Abdullah, the chair of the group stated: ‘The UAE engages in behaviour that is regularly at odds with the customs and religion of the country but that is because we are a diverse multicultural country and their actions should be reflecting that.
‘Outlawing homosexuality is contradictory and homophobic and does not equal good governance. We should all be equal under the law. Their duty first and foremost should not be terrorizing our community especially when we are in a private setting.
‘Denying the reports is equally damaging as it raises a sense of panic and confusion in the community, I personally implore the lieutenant to review his statements and protect the integrity of Dubai police.’
Ali, a 25 year old law student from Dubai and member of the UAE LGBT group affirmed: ‘I wish countries like the UAE would be a little less self-contradictory; at least for the sake of their own integrity if not Islam.
‘If alcohol – which is prohibited – could be served to Muslims and non-Muslims alike in controlled spaces, I see no reason for the charges pressed against the two boys that may still be held in custody, whatever their private expression was, no big deal should be made of it.
‘My problem is not with the rules or the laws’, he stressed, ‘my problem is with the officials cheating themselves and more importantly their faith in order to gloss over our country’s image.
‘If the reason for the alcohol allowance is the diversity of people, then let it be known that a human reality is sexuality, which includes LGBT. And we deserve equal treatment.’

Πηγή:www.pinknews.co.uk

Madonna urged to cancel St Petersburg gig in August.

American-Russian journalist Masha Gessen calls for St Petersburg boycott over ‘gay propaganda’ law.

 

Photo by Rodrigo Fernandez.

 

A Moscow-based journalist has today urged pop idol Madonna to cancel a concert in St Petersburg on 9 August because of the ‘homosexual propaganda’ law in the city which went into effect on Saturday.
Writing on the New York Times Latitude blog website, Masha Gessen, who holds dual American and Russian nationality and lives in Moscow, pleads with readers ‘not to visit’ St Petersburg which she describes as ‘one of the most beautiful cities on earth’.
‘I am especially asking you not to go if you are the singer Madonna, who is scheduled to play a concert there on 9 August,’ she writes.
‘And if you are Mercedes-Benz or PepsiCo, the two foreign companies that have signed on as partners of this year’s economic forum, scheduled to take place there 21 to 23 June, I am asking you to pull out.’
She also urges anyone who has been asked to participate in any of the many conferences and festivals that will take place in the city this summer to decline the invitation and for those considering a holiday there to ‘take your vacation somewhere else’.
The new law, which was reported internationally during the bill stages as it passed thought the city legislature, makes it an administrative offense to engage in ‘the propaganda of male homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism among minors’.
The law defines propaganda it as the intentional and unregulated distribution in a publicly accessible manner of information that can harm the health or the process of moral and spiritual development of minors, including forming among them the false perception that traditional and non-traditional relationships are socially equal, Gessen writes.
Also an offense under the law is the public display of affection among same-sex couples.
Fines range from up to 5,000 roubles ($172 €125) for individuals and up to 1 million roubles ($34,400 €25,000) for organisations.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

French gay couple lose adoption appeal at European Court.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against a lesbian couple from France who were seeking to jointly adopt a child one of them had conceived.
Valérie Gas and Nathalie Dubois had a child through artificial insemination in Belgium but the law in their native France forbids unmarried couples from jointly adopting a child.
Mme Dubois will continue to be recognised as the girl’s biological mother but her partner will not as the Court ruled that this law applies equally to gay and straight couples.
France’s Civil Solidarity Pacts, or PACS as they are usually known, confer some domestic partnership rights, but fewer than a marriage would.
Crucially in the case decided last week, the system is open to both gay and straight couples who are equally barred from adoption while in a PACS.
Though a straight couple in France can marry if they choose and thus become eligible for adoption whereas a gay couple cannot, the Court ruled that there was no right to a gay marriage.
Mme Dubois and Mme Gas’ daughter was born in 2000. The French courts accepted that they were bringing her up jointly but ruled that the only way Mme Gas could adopt the girl would be for Mme Dubois to relinquish all her parental rights, as joint parenting was only permitted by a husband and wife.
The European Court of Human Rights found that this rule would be applied in the same way to a straight couple in the gay couple’s situation so did not amount to discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The couple maintained that their rights under Articles 14 (prohibition of discrimination) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights were being infringed by the law.
The applicants argued that since a straight couple in their situation could circumvent the bar to adoption by marrying, they were being discriminated against.
But a chamber of seven judges upheld the European Court of Human Rights’ earlier view that gay couples do not yet have the right to access marriage equally.
It referred back to a 2010 case, Schalk and Kopf v. Austria, in which it affirmed that governments were not obliged to offer gay couples equal rights to marriage.
However, as Professor Robert Wintemute explained to PinkNews.co.uk last year when discussing the Equal Love campaign’s legal challenge of the UK’s ban on gay marriages, the court had expressed in an opinion in that case that the article governing the right to marriage may not always be interpreted as referring only to straight couples.
He said: “Although the court ruled that Article 12 of the Convention did not yet impose an obligation on European governments to allow same-sex couples to marry, the court changed its interpretation of Article 12, saying that it ‘would no longer consider that the right to marry enshrined in Article 12 must in all circumstances be limited to marriage between two persons of the opposite sex’.
“When more Council of Europe countries than the current seven (out of 47) allow same-sex couples to marry, the court will be willing to consider ordering all of them to do so. The number of European countries that allow same-sex marriage increased from three in 2005 to seven in 2010, and could double again while this case is pending.”
Since the Equal Love campaign’s legal challenge to lift the ban on gay marriages and straight civil partnerships was launched, the government has unveiled proposals to allow gay couples to marry. A public consultation began last week into how to introduce equal marriage rights, but the government does not yet plan to allow straight couples to access civil partnerships.

Πηγή:www.pinknews.co.uk

Nepal will host Asia's first gay Olympics.

LGBT sportspeople will compete in track and field, volleyball, football, martial arts and tennis in Kathmandu in September.

 

The national stadium is booked, top class athletes have been drafted in as coaches and referees and the date is set for Nepal to host Asia’s first gay Olympics this September, the organisers announced yesterday.
‘The aims for organising this event are to mainstream LGBTs into the larger society, promote healthy lifestyles and promote health mentally and spiritually,’ said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay politician and head of gay rights group Blue Diamond Society and the LGBT travel company Pink Mountain.
Another gay sports tournament, AsiaPacific Outgames debuted in 2008 in Melbourne and was held in Wellington in 2011, but has yet to be held in Asia. Nepal has expressed interest in hosting the next tournament in 2014.
Nepal has some of the most progressive attitudes to LGBT rights in Asia. The national consensus last year recognised a third gender, and earlier this year one of the country’s biggest sit com stars proudly announced his child’s gender realignment surgery.
In 2008 Nepal's Supreme Court ruled that it would end discrimination to LGBT people, including the right to marry. The law allowing same-sex marriage is likely to be part of the new constitution which is expected to be finalised before 31 May this year, following a six month extension.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

“Greece is lying about gender identity legislation. Greece's political fraud.“

Athens 8 March, 2012

Greek Transgendered Support Association
(Court of first appeal no. 7646/2010 – Metropolitan District of Athens no. 19388)
http://www.transgender-association.gr/
transgender.support.association@gmail.com

Press Release

Subject: “Greece is lying about gender identity legislation. Greece's political fraud.“

The Greek Transgendered Support Association (TGSA) with this press release denounces the Greek delegation to the United Nations, which, by means of its permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Giorgos Kaklikis reported that:

“As about discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Greece has strong anti-discrimination legislation, which prohibits, among others, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition to that, the Greek government, is presently investigating the subject of recognition of same sex couples. I would like to emphasize that we fully support your efforts in this field and we urge you to continue the work that you do in that direction”.

These, among others, where the words of the Greek ambassador to the UN, Mr Kaklikis in the 19th Assembly of the Human Rights Council, addressing the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (video of the ambassador's speech can be found in the following url: http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/03/greece-item-2-13th-meeting-19th-session-human-rights-council.html).

We wish to strongly denounce the Greek Representatives to the UN for spreading unabashed lies and for political fraud, because the legislation in Greece makes absolutely no provision for discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

We wish to denounce the state for its stance in the matter of gender identity and anti-discrimination legislation. Despite the continuous encouragement of the Greek Transgendered Support Association and other local organizations, despite the continuous encouragement of the European Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, for the inclusion of gender identity in anti-discrimination legislation, and also the legislation against the dissemination of hate speech and hate crime, the Greek state has taken absolutely no steps towards that direction.

Instead, the Greek state through its Representative in the United Nations is lying in a provocative manner, commits political fraud against its international partners and in essence is mocking its citizens.

The Greek Transgendered Support Association (TGSA) will continue with all its resources the interventions towards all the Parliamentary Parties and bodies in Greece but also all international organizations, for the inclusion of gender identity in the anti-discrimination legislation but also the legislation against the dissemination of hate speech and hate crimes, as well as towards the recognition of gender identity.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

http://www.transgender-association.gr/
transgender.support.association@gmail.com

Πηγή:www.lesbian.gr