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Tim's Blog – August 2009 Archive (45)

Mexico:- Festival por los Derechos LGBT

Music, dance and impromptu street performances by dancing strippers marked this weekend's first LGBT Rights Festival in Mexico City, an event which was supported by the Gobierno del Distrito Federal.

The event has received plenty of press coverage: you can read one example in La Jornada, which also published the photo above by… Continue

Added by Tim on August 31, 2009 at 12:00 — No Comments

USA:- Promoter cancels concerts by homophobic Jamaican singer

Activist groups are claiming success after Live Nation cancelled a series of concerts by reggae performer Buju Banton. The promoter received hundreds of emails condemning plans for the singer to appear at House of Blues in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Las Vegas, and late last week, the company which owns the venues pulled the gigs. (Read more at… Continue

Added by Tim on August 31, 2009 at 11:30 — 1 Comment

El Salvador:- Church and government fall out over gay marriage ban

José Luis Escobar Alas, Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador, is less than happy with the country's ruling party. The left-wing FMLN has gone back on a promise made earlier this year to support an amendment to El Salvador's constitution which would prohibit same-sex marriage.

The archbishop says that "we must all obey natural law, and the society which contradicts it self-destructs". And curiously, he also argues that banning gay… Continue

Added by Tim on August 30, 2009 at 19:30 — No Comments

Ghana:- Double lives in a country where gay sex is illegal

In Ghana, male homosexuality remains illegal, and it's socially unacceptable in many areas. This week, a radio station sent an undercover reporter to a gay birthday party in Sekondi-Takoradi, and the report reads like something you could have read in a Sunday newspaper in the UK in the 1960s.

"He said some of the men were holding ladies bags and purses and wore tight jeans and equally tight T-Shirts, while others were also in anklets and silky wrappers tied to their… Continue

Added by Tim on August 30, 2009 at 10:30 — No Comments

USA:- 40 years together, but still not married

This week, Ron Schwizer and Doug Kimmel gathered with friends and neighbours for a party to celebrate their 40th anniversary. They'll have to wait a little longer for legal recognition: Maine's gay marriage law is being put on hold pending a decision on whether there will a referendum on the issue later this…

Added by Tim on August 29, 2009 at 23:30 — No Comments

Italy:- Concern at recent attacks on the gay community

The firebombing of popular gay disco Qube in Rome this week is the latest in a series of incidents which is causing concern amongst gay groups. Fortunately, the club was closed for refurbishment, so there was no one inside when the building was attacked in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Last week - also in Rome - a man was arrested for violently assaulting a gay couple kissing on the street, and in Rimini, unknown assailants attacked another couple at the… Continue

Added by Tim on August 29, 2009 at 22:30 — No Comments

Uruguay set to authorise gay adoptions

Uruguay's senators are soon to take an historic vote, which could well make the country the first in Latin America to allow gay couples to adopt children.

Despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church and others, commentators think they'll vote yes. The amendment to Uruguay's adoption laws has already been passed by the Cámara de Diputados, with 40 votes in favour and 13 against. More en Español at… Continue

Added by Tim on August 29, 2009 at 22:30 — No Comments

UK:- Gay travel company Mantrav International starts US push with New York office

Though the past year has seen big names in gay travel disappear from the UK, Mantrav International has survived to celebrate its 19th birthday and is now opening a New York office, just off Times Square.

Despite the British financial crisis, their Club Mancha resorts in Gran Canaria (particularly popular with gay men from the UK) have apparently done well, and overall across the group,… Continue

Added by Tim on August 28, 2009 at 19:00 — No Comments

USA:- Catholic Church in New Jersey says gay marriage threatens "the public good"

Bishops in New Jersey, who have always been keen to deny the right of gay and lesbian couples to get married, are stepping up their campaign. They say "we can't stand by in silence".

Last weekend, they leafleted their congregations with a five-page letter signed by no less than six bishops, explaining their opposition.

"In the Church’s view same-sex “marriage” is not a civil right. A strong desire does not

make a… Continue

Added by Tim on August 28, 2009 at 12:00 — No Comments

Italy:- Italian national football not ready for openly-gay players, says coach

Marcelo Lippi, the Italian team coach, says that having a gay couple in the country's national squad would have "negative connotations".

He believes the media pressure on an openly-gay players would make having a public relationship impossible, and "cause conflict". Not surprisingly, Italian LGBT rights campaign group… Continue

Added by Tim on August 27, 2009 at 18:30 — 1 Comment

UK:- Conservatives hold Conference Pride event - and paint their logo with a rainbow

Gay voters in the UK - at a national level, at least - have a greater choice these days when it comes to the ballot box, as all the main parties now broadly support gay rights.

Britain's Conservative Party in 2009 under the leadership of David Cameron has a very different take on gay equality from the one it had in the 1980s when it introduced the notorious Section 28. At… Continue

Added by Tim on August 27, 2009 at 16:30 — No Comments

USA:- Iowa is the next target for campaign against gay marriage

One of the main groups behind California's Proposition 8 has now turned its attention to Iowa.

The National Organization for Marriage is aiming put a referendum on the state ballot in two years' time to overturn the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision last April that legalized marriages between same-sex couples.

They're calling their campaign the… Continue

Added by Tim on August 27, 2009 at 16:16 — No Comments

USA:- Campaigners call for a swift end to HIV travel ban

George Bush may have promised to change the law, but a year on from that the US government still has a ban on people living with HIV from travelling to or taking up residence in the country.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US Department of Health and Human Services has proposed removing HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance for immigrants to the United States.

Civil… Continue

Added by Tim on August 25, 2009 at 20:00 — No Comments

UK:- X Factor hopeful comes out as bisexual

The X factor remains a powerhouse of UK TV ratings, and already 27 teacher year-old Danyl Johnson, seen above before this week's few minutes of fame, is making headlines not just for his talent but also his sexuality.

What talent show wannabes get up to between the sheets is often the subject of UK tabloid newspapers, and Danyl's confession to the News of the World that he "wouldn't rule out… Continue

Added by Tim on August 25, 2009 at 19:30 — 2 Comments

Spain's Sergio Lara is Mr. Gay Europe 2009

For the second year running, the Spanish contestant has walked away with the title of Mr. Gay Europe.

26 year-old Sergio Lara won the title this past weekend in Oslo, Norway. He has a psychology degree, and spends much of his spare time working with an HIV/AIDS group. He says he will fight "to normalise the situation of gays across the world", and will take part in the… Continue

Added by Tim on August 24, 2009 at 20:30 — 1 Comment

Scotland:- Row over videos at Glasgow gay art exhibition

A video interview with a naked 63 year old who came out to his family in his late 40s and is HIV positive is at the centre of row between artist Dani Marti and Culture and Sport Glasgow (CSG), the body which runs the city's museums and galleries.

CSG has been accused of censorship at the sh[OUT] exhibition after it refused to show… Continue

Added by Tim on August 24, 2009 at 12:30 — No Comments

USA:- Chihuahua with pink earrings stolen outside Florida gay bar

According to the various press reports, 4-month old Hudson Hayward Hemingway, complete with earrings, was stolen by a man with a Britney Spears tattoo outside popular Wilton Manors gay bar Georgie's Alibi. You couldn't make it up. Having a pet stolen is a terrible thing, but this does read a bit like a sub-plot from an episode of Will and Grace or similar… Continue

Added by Tim on August 24, 2009 at 12:00 — 1 Comment

Senegal:- 17 year-old faces trial for having gay sex

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and queer muslim group The Inner Circle are outraged at reports that a 17 year-old Senegalese man will stand trial on August 24 for sexual acts “against nature” and that two other men were convicted… Continue

Added by Tim on August 23, 2009 at 10:52 — No Comments

World's press make the most of claims by Michael Jackson's "secret lover"

As with so much of what was said and written during the life of Michael Jackson, it's virtually impossible to gauge the truth or otherwise of the claims of clinic employee Jason Pfeiffer that he was the superstar's gay lover.

In an interview with Australian magazine Woman's Day, Jason - who worked for Michael Jackson's dermatologist - says it was "a short romantic love story that ended… Continue

Added by Tim on August 23, 2009 at 10:44 — No Comments

USA:- Are there more bisexual men than you'd think - and are they more prone to ill-health?

This week's Bi Health Summit in Chicago had an interesting keynote speech from Canadian researcher Cheryl Dobinson on the subject of the health of bisexual people. I'd be interested to know what others make of some of the things she had to say.

"Research shows that bisexual people—who make up about half of those who identify as GLB—face huge health… Continue

Added by Tim on August 22, 2009 at 16:00 — 1 Comment