Showing posts with label being gay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label being gay. Show all posts
Saturday, January 01, 2022
Gay, Closeted, and Heartbroken in Morocco
Friday, September 24, 2021
Southern Baptist Father's Reaction to His Gay Son
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Maintenant je sais exactement !
Saturday, July 31, 2021
The Courage It Takes to Be Who You Really Are
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Yuval Noah Harari - Q&A on Being Gay
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
We Can’t Dissent Against 'New Gay Orthodoxy’, Says Christian Charity
Gay and lesbian rights activists are seeking to be the new “moral enforcers” and it is Christian religious conservatives who now need protection to be allowed to dissent against “the new orthodoxy”, it was claimed.
Core Issues Trust, a Christian charity, is challenging a ban on its London bus advertisement reading: “Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!” It was a response to a bus poster campaign by gay rights group Stonewall carrying the message: “Some people are gay. Get over it!”
Paul Diamond, for the charity, told appeal judges that at the heart of the case was the “ironical” situation in modern British society where ancient Biblical scriptures, which played an important role in forming the nation’s morals, were now in danger of containing views which could no longer be expressed “in a land with a reputation for free speech”.
Mr Diamond said Christian scriptures only permitted sexual relationships between one man and one woman in marriage and people should be entitled to express that view. He said the case raised the question: “Is the belief that homosexuality is a sin worthy of respect in a democratic society?”
The charity accuses the Mayor of London Boris Johnson of unlawfully using his position as chairman of Transport for London (TfL) to obtain the ban in order to secure the gay vote and advance his 2012 re-election campaign. » | Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Saturday, May 29, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: President pardons pair 'on humanitarian grounds' after meeting UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon
A gay couple sentenced to serve 14 years in jail in Malawi have been pardoned after their country's president met Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were tried and found guilty of sodomy and indecency earlier this month in a move that sparked international condemnation.
But after talking with Ban today, Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, announced the pair would be freed.
"These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws," he said after the meeting, at the southern African country's State House. "However, as the head of state, I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions.
"I have done this on humanitarian grounds, but this does not mean that I support this."
He added: "We don't condone marriages of this nature. It's unheard of in Malawi and it's illegal."
Ban praised the decision, but said: "It is unfortunate that laws criminalise people based on sexuality. Laws that criminalise sexuality should be repealed."
He is due to address Malawi's national assembly later and is expected to ask legislators to look at this.
Although the order was immediate, a prison spokesman told The Associated Press they had not received notification to release the pair by Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this week, a cousin of Chimbalanga, Maxwell Manda, said that he wanted to leave Malawi upon his release.
Joseph Amon from Human Rights Watch said the president was responding to the international outcry following the couple's conviction and sentence.
"I hope that other leaders of African countries with anti-gay laws see that this is just not acceptable in the international community," he said. >>> Amy Fallon | Saturday, May 29, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: My friend, President Mutharika, show compassion: In the spirit of your fight against Aids, free Monjeza and Chimbalanga – an open letter to the president of Malawi >>> Elton John | Saturday, May 29, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi has pardoned a homosexual couple who had been jailed for 14 years.
Mr wa Mutharika had been under international pressure to reconsider the convictions of Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20. They were arrested in December after they were united in a traditional wedding ceremony in the conservative southern African country, where homosexuality is illegal.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, met the Malawian president on Saturday in the capital Lilongwe.
Speaking shortly afterwards, Mr wa Mutharika said: "These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws.
"However, as the head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions." >>> | Saturday, May 29, 2010
Related articles and videos here
Friday, May 21, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Two homosexual men have been sentenced to 14 years in prison with hard labour in Malawi for gross indecency and unnatural acts.
In a ruling that provoked international condemnation, Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa told the men, who were arrested after a public engagement ceremony, that he wanted to protect the public from “people like you”.
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, who have been in jail since December, were then driven away from the packed courthouse in the old colonial capital of Blantyre, jeered by a large crowd.
The British Government, Malawi’s largest donor, expressed “dismay” at the sentences, but has not withdrawn aid estimated at about £80 million a year. The US State Department said the verdict was “a step backwards in the protection of human rights in Malawi”.
The judge told the pair: “I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public will be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example.”
The judge said the pair — whom he convicted on Tuesday — had shown no remorse. “We are sitting here to represent the Malawi society, which I do not believe is ready at this point in time to see its sons getting married to other sons, or conducting engagement ceremonies,” he said. >>> Jonathan Clayton | Friday, May 21, 2010
Related articles here
Thursday, May 20, 2010
BBC: In Uganda, plans to introduce draconian new laws against homosexuality look likely to go ahead despite mass protests, a major petition, and condemnation from the international community.
The bill, which proposes the death penalty for so-called 'serial offenders', has already been described as 'odious' by President Obama.
A senior minister in Kampala has suggested that the death penalty could be replaced with life imprisonment.
John Simpson reports from Kampala. Watch BBC video here | John Simpson | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: A court in Malawi yesterday convicted a gay couple of gross indecency and unnatural acts in a case that has highlighted the persecution of homosexuals in Africa and drawn international condemnation.
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, who will be sentenced tomorrow, face at least a decade behind bars. They were arrested in December after testing Malawi’s anti-gay laws with a public “engagement ceremony” before a wedding planned for this year.
The action outraged authorities in the deeply conservative country, one of the poorest in Africa. The men have been in prison ever since, despite an international campaign for their release and reports of maltreatment.
Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa, sitting in the old colonial capital of Blantyre, convicted both men of engaging in gay sex, which he said was “against the order of nature”. The couple’s lawyer argued that their actions had not victimised anyone.
“Unlike in a rape case, there was no complainant or victim in this case,” he said. “Here are two consenting adults doing their thing in private. Nobody will be threatened or offended if they are released into society.”
That argument fell on deaf ears in a country in which gays are now in hiding. Large crowds have jeered and pilloried the men on each occasion that they have been brought to court. At a previous court appearance Mr Chimbalanga, who was sick with malaria, was forced to return to the court room to mop up his vomit. >>> Jonathan Clayton, Johannesburg | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Related articles and videos here
Friday, April 09, 2010
PINK NEWS: It often shocks people to hear this but talk to Iraqi gays who've made it out and they'll tell you – life was better under Saddam.
Baghdad played the role that Beirut does now as a sanctuary for Middle Eastern gay life with clubs which men from the Gulf and Saudi Arabia flocked to.
In sharp contrast, for the past six years Iraq has been the worst place in the entire world to be gay. Far, far worse than Uganda or even Iran. Hundreds of gays, lesbians and trans people have been hunted down and killed in the most vile ways imaginable – and imagination is the right word. Doctors have confirmed reports of men have had their anuses glued shut by militia forces and others have accused the government of being involved.
No one has been prosecuted and the Iraqi government has failed to do anything to stop it. So Iraqi gays have helped themselves. They have created safe houses, although many have been discovered and become a new killing field.
Many have fled but they have faced a cold wall of indifference and they have needed friends and luck to actually make it to sanctuary. >>> Paul Canning | Wednesday, March 24, 2010
TOPNEWS.in: Iraq turns a "blind eye" to torture, murder of gay men >>> Submitted by Sahil Nagpal | Monday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
THE OBSERVER: Changes to legislation will recognise growing trend for same-sex couples to become parents, say campaigners
Gay male couples will be able to use a fast-track route to become the legal parents of surrogate children from next week. On 6 April, changes to the law will permit two men to be named as parents on a child's birth certificate for the first time in British history.
The transition will take effect following the implementation of the final piece of the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. This last section is aimed at helping same-sex and unmarried couples who seek to have surrogate children and will allow them to secure legal parenthood in a new, simplified manner. At present, only married, heterosexual couples can use this route.
"These changes bring the law up to date with the realities of modern 21st-century life and recognise that increasing numbers of same-sex and unmarried couples are having children together," said Natalie Gamble, of the fertility law firm Gamble and Ghevaert. >>> Robin McKie, science editor | Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
THE ADVOCATE: Changing attitudes and increased visibility of LGBT Americans are prompting more and more seniors to come out later in life, a process that is a new subject of study.
The Associated Press reports that people who work with older adults note the trend of seniors coming out, even if no definitive numbers are available. Outings by older stars such as Meredith Baxter, who came out last year at 62, and Richard Chamberlain, who came out in 2003 at 69, inspire some. Seniors Reborn, Coming Out Later in Life >>> Julie Bolcer | Monday, March 15, 2010
abcNEWS: Gray and gay: As acceptance grows, seniors step out of the closet and into a new identity
Those who work with seniors say they're seeing growth in the number of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s coming out of the closet as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
Social scientists have long noted that people are coming out younger and younger. They say there's a similar trend at the other end of the age spectrum.
Growing awareness and acceptance of varied sexualities and gender identities in the U.S. helps explain the shift.
Support groups and services have cropped up to help such seniors. >>> Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer, Miami | Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
BBC: Hundreds of Dutch activists have walked out of a Mass in protest at a Roman Catholic policy of denying communion to practising homosexuals.
On this occasion, the church, in 's-Hertogenbosch, had already decided not to serve communion, so the protesters left, shouting and singing.
The dispute began earlier this month when a priest in a nearby town refused communion to an openly gay man.
The Netherlands was the first country to introduce gay marriage in 2001.
Most Dutch people support gay rights, but the Roman Catholic Church teaches that homosexual activity is sinful. >>> | Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: There was a time in Kampala when gay men would meet for furtive one-night stands, even if they were prevented from forming lasting relationships in a country where homophobia is rife.
“You would just have sex, then disappear. We were secretive out of fear,” said Peter, 39. At one point, things had begun changing for the better. “You could know where a guy lived and hung out; you could start to form relationships, something more permanent,” he said. “Then along comes this Bill that wants to kill us.”
Homosexuality has always been illegal in Uganda, but draft legislation introduced by a born-again Christian parliamentarian proposing the death penalty for gay sex, under certain conditions, has upped the ante. Peter is again living in fear.
Anti-gay sentiment is on the rise in many parts of Africa. In a bellwether case, a gay couple face trial for “unnatural practices” in Malawi; in Kenya, police arrested guests at what is claimed to have been a gay wedding last week — supposedly to protect them from an angry mob. “They are proposing a witch-hunt,” said Peter. “That Bill could put me to death, or in prison, in many ways. They want to legislate us out of existence.”
The draft law proposes the death penalty for having gay sex with anyone under 18, if infected with HIV/Aids, or with someone who is disabled — or for being what the Bill terms “a serial offender”. Gay sex between consenting adults would lead to a life sentence.
It also calls for prison sentences for those “promoting homosexuality” — which could be interpreted to mean any human rights groups — and for anyone failing to report a homosexual act to the authorities. >>> Tristan McConnell in Kampala | Saturday, February 20, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: Being gay is not an illness, say demonstrators as they picket Belfast church
Gay campaigners began a weekend of protests last night against an international conference in Belfast which promotes the controversial claim that homosexuality can be "cured" using psychotherapy and prayer.
The conference is organised by Core Issues, an evangelical Christian group in Northern Ireland which promotes so-called "conversion therapy" and claims to have "saved" numerous homosexual Christians. The star speaker is the Rev Mario Bergner, a Chicago-based Anglican preacher and leading proponent of conversion therapy, who claims to have been cured of Aids and homosexuality through prayer.
In response, a coalition of protesters has begun picketing Ballynahinch Baptist Church, where the conference began last night. The protests are being organised by the Queer Youth Network and the Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce (Scott), a new lobby group set up by gay journalist Patrick Strudwick. >>> Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 20, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Sir Elton John has claimed that Jesus Christ was gay.
In a magazine interview, he said: "I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.
"On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving." >>> | Thursday, February 18, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Ever since Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus with a kiss 2,000 years ago theologians have argued about his motives. But one British academic has now given credit to Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, for a new insight into one of the most controversial passages of the Bible.
The man who spent a lot of his youth “on the run” from the Army in Belfast yet still swears that he has never been a member of the Provisional IRA, believes that Judas was turned informer by the Roman security services of the time in Palestine, just as many of his former comrades in the Republican movement were induced to spy. >>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent | Monday, February 15, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Pastor's explicit stunt condemned as 'twisted homophobic propaganda'
A Ugandan pastor who screened same-sex pornography in a church to try to bolster support for proposed anti-homosexuality legislation has been condemned by gay rights groups.
Martin Ssempa, one of the main backers of a bill that would impose the death penalty for some offenders, aired the explicit slideshow to several hundred people during a church service in Kampala yesterday. Explaining his decision to display the images, the evangelical preacher said it was necessary to educate people "about what homosexuals do".
He told the BBC's Network Africa programme: "In Africa, what you do in your bedroom affects our clan, it affects our tribe, it affects our nation."
While Ssempa represents the extreme end of widely held homophobic views in Uganda, he does carry strong influence. On his website he describes himself as "consultant to the government of Uganda", and his congregants yesterday included David Bahati, the MP who submitted the private member's bill to parliament last year.
The porn stunt caused anger among gay activists. South African-based gay rights group Behind the Mask described it as "twisted homophobic propaganda". >>> Xan Rice in Nairobi | Thursday, February 18, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Western evangelists and gay rights groups are stoking Africa’s bitter rows over homosexuality, writes RW Johnson in Cape Town
The trial of a young male couple charged with unnatural practices and gross indecency after announcing their engagement in Malawi was adjourned last week when one of the accused collapsed in court while enduring jeers from the public gallery.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, was made to return with a mop to clean up his own vomit, even though he has malaria.
He and his boyfriend, Steven Monjeza, 26, have been held in Chichiri prison, Blantyre, for more than a week — in order, the judge says, to protect them from mob violence.
Chichiri has a reputation for overcrowding, disease and homosexual rape. The couple say they have been badly beaten and Peter Tatchell, the British gay activist, describes their conditions as appalling.
Such scenes will only increase the pressure from western human rights activists and donor countries on Malawi’s government to moderate its draconian anti-gay laws, for which the couple have provided a test case. They face up to 14 years in jail.
Following similar donor pressure, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda distanced himself from an anti-homosexuality bill before parliament in Kampala last week. Museveni appealed to MPs to “go slow” on the private member’s bill, which stipulates the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, including homosexual acts by HIV-positive men.
Museveni said he had come under pressure from Gordon Brown, Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in a 45-minute phone call. He was also struck by the fact that a US protest rally had drawn 300,000 people, saying he would have great difficulty attracting such a crowd.
The two cases illustrate the way Africa is becoming a battleground over differing attitudes to homosexuality in the West. >>> RW Johnson in Cape Town. Additional reporting: Rosie Kinchen | Sunday, January 17, 2010
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