Olympics adds gay pink ring to flag.

International Olympic Committee will unveil new flag at London closing ceremony for Russia and Brazil games to push LGBT sport.

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to alter the Olympic flag for four years in a global drive to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.
Gay Star News can exclusively reveal today (1 April) that a pink ring will be added to the Olympic flag to symbolize lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex sportspeople.
The new flag will be unveiled at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 games and will be used for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It will also fly during the Paralympic Games in both countries.
An IOC source told Gay Star News: ‘The idea has been in the pipeline for the last couple of years.
‘The executive board [which runs the Olympics] hoped to have it all confirmed in time for the 2012 London games, but the merchandise had already been produced and it was just too late.
‘But now they are pressing ahead. The board now realize the level of homophobia and transphobia in sport is a major issue and know they won’t be able to retain credibility unless they do something dramatic to tackle it.
‘The executive have been persuaded they have to show leadership and other sporting bodies, clubs, managers and individuals will only follow if we lead.’
The five Olympic rings currently on the flag – blue, black, red, yellow and green – represent the five continents involved in the games.
The design dates from 1912 and the Olympic organizers apparently feel the temporary addition of a pink ring is an appropriate way to celebrate the 100th anniversary.
The IOC insider said: ‘What better way to celebrate the flag’s centenary than to show the way sport has to modernize if it’s truly going to embrace everyone in the world?’
Earlier this week, lesbian former jockey and BBC Sports presenter Clare Balding told guests at the Stonewall Equality Dinner that she believed the London 2012 Olympics would be the most gay-friendly to date.
But the IOC may have been influenced by the apparent homophobia of authorities in Russia, who are hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.
They have banned the planned LGBT Pride House festival from happening in Sochi with the judge in the case ruling that any gay event of that kind could ‘undermine the sovereignty and the territorial integrity’ of Russia itself.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

Facebook warned over 'third gender' option.

Nepal's first openly gay politician Sunil Babu Pant warns Mark Zuckerberg after he failed to address gender concerns.

 

Nepal's first openly gay politician Sunil Babu Pant has threatened to publicly denounce Facebook unless the site allows users to list their gender as 'other'.
Pant, who this week opened the south Asian country's first 'third gender' toilet, says he is unhappy about not getting a reply from the social networking site to a letter he sent requesting the change.
In the correspondence, directed at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Pant appealed for an addition to the site's current male and female only gender options.
He hopes Facebook will add a facility for users to list themselves as neither male nor female.
'I write today as an avid user and admirer of Facebook,' said Pant in his letter.
'Your product has revolutionized the way we communicate and express ourselves around the world.
'It has brought communities together, which were otherwise thousands of miles apart, and resulted in collaboration and partnerships, which have improved the world.
'However, people who do not identify as male or female continue to be sidelined by Facebook’s options. As you allow users to identify only as male or female, many in the LGBTI community feel as if they are hidden on the site, unable to identify as their true selves.'
But an official Facebook statement, published by ZDNET.com, states that: 'People can already opt out of showing their sex on their profile.
'We’re constantly innovating on our products and features and we welcome input from everyone as we explore ways to improve the Facebook experience.'
Pant has reportedly branded the remarks 'irresponsible' and warned that, 'Until Facebook changes its position I am deactivating my Facebook account for now and if the genuine demand is not considered I will leave Facebook for good.'

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

‘This silence is what feeds the beast of oppression’.

Activist responds to claim campaign for LGBT rights is making life worse for gay people in Malaysia.

 

It's a dark hour for LGBT rights in Malaysia. Conservative Islamist politicians have decided to make suppression of homosexuality a political platform (one suggesting gay 'rehab' centres), there's been a series of gang attacks on transsexuals and the authorities quickly dismissed an appeal on the ban of the sexualities freedom festival Seksualiti Merdeka, which was held in 2008 to 2010 but banned in 2011.
One of the organisers of Seksualiti Merdeka, LGBT rights campaigner Pang Khee Teik has now responded to people within the community who have said that LGBT rights campaigning is making life worse for gay people in Malaysia.
Pang quotes a letter on the Seksualiti Merdeka blog that says: 'According to many of my friends, they were doing just fine getting around under the radar until Seksualiti Merdeka “decided” to fight for LGBT rights publicly. Now they blame Seksualiti Merdeka and its organisers for the scrutiny that they are being put through.'
In his response, Pang recognises the fears of the anonymous source of the letter, saying that he too was afraid to live openly as a gay man. ‘We live under the radar because we think under the radar is where we belong,’ he says.
But Pang argues that LGBT life doesn’t have to be underground in Malaysian society. ‘This silence is what feeds the beast of oppression,’ he says. ‘If we refuse to feed the beast, it will starve. Yes, it will get angry and it will sniff for blood. When we stop being afraid, the beast will find more ways to make us fear it again. It bares its fangs and howls louder. It snaps its jaws at us. It is afraid. Of us.’

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

Trans child committed to mental institution.

Activists protest German court's decision to institutionalize an 11-year-old transgender child

 

Activists will protest a German court’s decision to commit an 11-year-old trans child to a mental institution.
Alex Kaminsky currently lives with her mother, who supports her gender identification as transsexual.
However, her divorced father objects to his child's decision and, after the advice of a new nurse working on the case, the Youth Welfare Office in Berlin obtained a court order, allowing them to hospitalize Alex.
The nurse claimed that the mother had ‘induced’ the child’s transsexuality and therefore Alex had to be removed from her sphere of influence.
Despite an appeal by the mother, Berlin’s Kammergericht court ruled on Thursday (23 March) that Alex can be forcibly institutionalized in the Berlin Charité hospital, according to German lifestyle magazine Naz.
The Kaminskys’ lawyer called the ruling ‘startling’ and said: ‘The view that transsexuality can be induced over years without any resistance is nowhere represented in the expert literature. That is an invention of the nurse.’
Activists are outraged by the decision and will protest outside the Berlin senatorial department for youth today (26 March) at 3pm.
The ‘Stop Alex forced institutionalization at once’ group say it is ‘not an isolated story’.
Their appeal states that, ‘Institutions like the youth office and the Charité use force on humans through enforcement and psychological pressure. Each gender and each gender identity is a right, not a disease.’
More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition against the decision.
And the Brussels-based International LGBTQ Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) have expressed their concern for the child's welfare.
In a statement, the gay rights group called on the Berlin authorities to intervene with the actions of the Youth Welfare Office and stop the removal of the child from her mother.
‘We find it extremely irresponsible and unacceptable to remove any child from a loving and supportive home without thorough research and consultation with experts.’
The group added: ‘We would like to highlight the endangerment of forced "therapy" to make children fit into the gender roles the society thinks are right for them.
‘IGLYO follows the wealth of research that shows that reparative therapy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity can be seriously harmful to the child.’
The Kampinsky lawyer says he will appeal to the Verfassungsgericht constitutional court.

Πηγή:www.gaystarnews.com

Gay adoption law is rejected in Slovenian referendum.

A national referendum in Slovenia has rejected a new family law that included a clause to allow same-sex couples to adopt children under certain circumstances.
Had the law been passed, it would have allowed gay couples to adopt the biological children of their partner, but would not have allowed them to adopt children of a third party. The law was initially drafted by Slovenia’s previous, left-wing government.
About 55 per cent of the votes counted in the referendum rejected the law. This rejection is something of a double blow, as a new family law cannot be drafted for another year.
Conservative Catholic, Serbian Orthodox and Muslim communities in Slovenia got together and signed a petition prior to the referendum, asking their fellow Slovenians to reject the law, stating: “Marriage and family are of utmost importance for the development of the human person and society.
“For this reason, we all have an obligation to protect the values of marriage and of family as a community of a husband and a wife, and children.”
Ironically, Slovenia has allowed official registration of same-sex relationships since 2006 and is seen as a relative haven of tolerance in the Balkans.

Last week the European Court of Human Rights rejected a case brought by a French lesbian couple who wished to have the right to jointly adopt in France.
Same sex couples have been able to jointly adopt in the UK since 2007.

Πηγή:www.pinknews.co.uk

Albania: Proposed gay pride march provokes homophobic comments.

With gay rights activists in Albania set to organise the country’s first ever gay pride parade in Tirana on May 17, religious groups and the Royalist Party have been quick to denounce the proposed plans.
Reacting to the plans, announced on Friday, Albania’s deputy defence minister and leader of the Royalist Party, Ekrem Spahiu, had this to say: “My only commentary on this gay parade is that they should be beaten with truncheons.”
Meanwhile, both Muslim leaders and the Catholic Church have also spoken strongly against the plans. “Such public demonstration is an abuse of human rights and freedoms and presents a danger for the morals and tradition of the Albanian family,” one Mr Agron Hoxha, representing the Muslim community, told local media. Echoing these comments was the spokesman for the Catholic Church, Gjerg Meta, who said that “homosexuality is opposed to the natural order and the morals of society.”
This is not surprising, given that most of Albania’s population of 3.2 million are Muslims, and the patriarchal society is deeply homophobic. However, since the country formally applied to become a member of the European Union, it has taken steps to outlaw discrimination against sexual minorities, mainly on the basis of recommendations from the Council of Europe, passing two laws to that effect in 2009 and 2010.
Albanian gay rights organisations have been quick to react to Mr Spiahu’s outburst. “This is a call to violence, and we will ask through our lawyers that Spahiu be convicted, in accordance with Albanian law, to a prison sentence of up to five years,” said Kristi Pinderi, spokesman for an anti-discrimination organisation. These comments were also reiterated by the LGBT wing of Human Rights Watch.
However, the Royalist Party has officially released a statement saying homosexuality “is a sexual deviation, a vice, a misfortune or a curse that cannot be tolerated.”
Update: The Associated Press reports that Albania’s prime minister has issued a rebuke to Spahiu’s comments, saying they were “unacceptable” and “an excess.”

Πηγή:www.pinknews.co.uk

Nobel peace prize winner defends law criminalising homosexuality in Liberia.

The Nobel peace prize winner and president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has defended a law that criminalises homosexual acts, saying: "We like ourselves just the way we are."
In a joint interview with Tony Blair, who was left looking visibly uncomfortable by her remarks, Sirleaf told the Guardian: "We've got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve."
Liberian legislation classes "voluntary sodomy" as a misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in prison, but two new bills have been proposed that would target homosexuality with much tougher sentences. The normally charismatic and eloquent Nobel laureate, when questioned, was brusque, "I won't sign any law that has to do with that area. None whatsoever," she said impatiently.
Blair, on a visit to Liberia in his capacity as the founder of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), a charity that aims to strengthen African governments, refused to comment on Sirleaf's remarks.
When asked whether good governance and human rights went hand in hand, the British former prime minister said: "I'm not giving you an answer on it."
"One of the advantages of doing what I do now is I can choose the issues I get into and the issues I don't. For us, the priorities are around power, roads, jobs delivery," he said.
Over his 10 years as prime minister, Blair became a champion for the legal equality of gay people, pushing through laws on civil partnerships, lifting a ban on gay people in the armed forces and lowering the age of consent for gay people to 16.
A Catholic convert, he called on the pope to rethink his "entrenched" views and offer equal rights to gay people. But gay rights, he said, were not something he was prepared to get involved in as an adviser to African leaders.
With Sirleaf sitting to his left, Blair refused to give any advice on gay rights reforms. He let out a stifled chuckle after Sirleaf interrupted him to make it clear that Blair and his staff were only allowed to do what she said they could. "AGI Liberia has specific terms of reference … that's all we require of them," she said, crossing her arms and leaning back.
There have been no recent convictions under the sodomy law, according to the latest US state department human rights report. However, anti-gay activists have promoted two new bills which would take the legislation much further. One would amend the penal code to make a person guilty of a second-degree felony if he or she "seduces, encourages or promotes another person of the same gender to engage in sexual activities" or "purposefully engages in acts that arouse or tend to arouse another person of the same gender to have sexual intercourse", carrying a prison sentence of up to five years.
The second bill – drafted by the ex-wife of the former president Charles Taylor – would make gay marriage a crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Jewel Howard Taylor told the Guardian: "[Homosexuality] is a criminal offence. It is un-African." She went on to say: "It is a problem in our society. We consider deviant sexual behaviour criminal behaviour.
"We are just trying to strengthen our local laws. This is not an attempt to bash homosexuals."
The gay rights debate erupted in Liberia after the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, announced in December that America's foreign aid budget would promote the protection of gay rights, prompting speculation that funds would be tied to rights records.
The announcement brought unprecedented attention to homosexuality in a country where until recently gay people and lesbians lived in secret, but generally not in fear for their lives. Since Clinton's remarks, Liberian newspapers have published numerous articles and editorials describing homosexuality as "desecrating", "abusive" and an "abomination".
"Over the last six months, we've seen a worrying increase in anti-gay rhetoric, intolerance and indeed attacks on individuals fighting for the rights of Liberians in same-sex relationships," said Corinne Dufka, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in west Africa.
In the past month alone there have been at least six homophobic attacks in the capital, Monrovia.
One 21-year-old gay man, who recently left Monrovia to move to the countryside after some of his friends were threatened, said he now lived in fear of mob violence, a common occurrence on the streets of Monrovia. "You and your brother walking down the street, they may actually jump on you and beat you, kill you, and when they say: 'Oh they are gay, that's the reason we killed them,' nothing will come of it," he said.
Homosexuality is already illegal in 37 African countries. In Uganda, a bill proposing custodial sentences for homosexuality is still being considered, although it no longer contains the provision for the death penalty. Ten women were recently arrested in Cameroon accused of being lesbians, while in Nigeria, homosexual activities are punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Sirleaf was awarded the Nobel peace prize last year for her work in campaigning for women's rights. The 73-year-old became Africa's first female president in 2006 and was elected for a second term last year. "If she tried to decriminalise the [current anti-gay] law it would be political suicide," said Tiawan S Gongloe, the country's former solicitor general. Without a majority government, Sirleaf desperately needs the support of other MPs to tackle other issues such as corruption, exploitation of the country's natural resources and mass youth unemployment, he said.
After 14 years of civil war that ended in 2003, Liberia is still one of the poorest countries in the world.
Gongloe also said the country was still not ready for a debate on gay rights. "Liberians need public education on the issue. Our society is not at that point yet to have a civil conversation on the issue," he said.
While President Sirleaf said she would not sign any bill that changes the current sodomy law, she also won't sign the recently introduced, much tougher, bills. "If she vetoes the proposed laws, she will have done the right thing," said Corinne Dufka from Human Rights Watch, who has written to Sirleaf on the issue. 'If she moves to scrap the existing 'voluntary sodomy' law which criminalises consensual same-sex acts, she will have left a truly positive legacy on behalf of gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender Liberians.'
At an African Union summit earlier this year Ban Ki-moon urged African leaders to respect gay rights and to stop treating gay people as second-class citizens and criminals.
When pushed on the UN secretary general's comments, with Sirleaf at his side, Blair responded: "I'm not saying these issues aren't important, but the president has given her position and this is not one for me."
• This article was updated on 21 March 2012 to restore material cut in the editing process. The restored material clarifies the stance that Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is taking on laws concerning homosexuality in Liberia. That is: she refuses to dismantle the existing anti-sodomy law, while also refusing to sign two new bills that toughen the law.

Πηγή:www.guardian.co.uk