Per la prima volta in un paese arabo un personaggio pubblico, in questo caso uno scrittore, si dichiara pubblicamente gay. Eppur si muove verrebbe da pensare. In Francia, nel gennaio del 1972, lo scrittore Guy Hocquenghem aveva fatto lo stesso con una lettera pubblicata da Le Nouvel Observateur.

Recentemente la stampa marocchina affronta la questione omosessuale in maniera abbastanza positiva e rispettosa.

Di seguito il link diretto della lettera pubblicata dallo scrittore su Tel Quel

http://www.telquel-online.com/367/actu_maroc1_367.shtml

Sempre recente l'intervista a Samir Bergachi, coordinateur général de l’Association Kifkif de défense des droits des homosexuels.

http://www.maroc-hebdo.press.ma/MHinternet/Archives_829/html_829/berkachi.html

La Leadershio Conference of Women Religious è attualmente oggetto di inestigazione da parte del Vaticano.

Le suore, apparentemente, hanno posizioni dottrinarie in merito al ruolo della donna all'interno della chiesa e nella società e in merito alle persone gay che evidentemente infastidiscono le gerarchie vaticane composte, occorre ricordarlo, solo da uomini.

The Vatican has launched a doctrinal investigation into the leadership of Catholic sisters in the United States, reportedly because they have not sufficiently promoted the Vatican line on homosexuality and other issues.

Calls to the Vatican spokesman were not returned late Wednesday. A spokeswoman of the conference, Sister Annmarie Sanders, declined to comment beyond the statement. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041502829.html

http://ncronline.org/news/women/vatican-investigates-us-women-religious-leadership

http://ncronline.org/news/women/women-religious-meet-vatican-accusers-rome

http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrpressreleases/publicstatements/Statement2-20-09.pdf

Ancora una volta la Presbyterian Church (USA) ha deciso di mantenere le porte chiuse all'ordinazione di pastori gay e lesbiche. Dopo che la scorsa estate la chiesa aveva deciso a livello nazionale di procedere ad una cauta apertura, lasciando ad ogni singola comunità di scegliere secondo coscienza di avere o meno pastori gay, ora la conta dei voti a livello dei sinodi locali necessaria per la ratifica definitiva del cambiamento, ha dato esito negativo.

Unico segnale positivo appare il fatto che la maggioranza omofoba pare essere divenuta meno ampia rispetto al passato.

So even though a majority of the 173 presbyteries have voted to retain “fidelity and chastity,” there’s been a visible, almost visceral shift in the support – with the final vote when all the presbyteries have weighed in expected to be closer than ever before.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/04/presbyterians_bending_toward_justice.html

http://www.pres-outlook.com/component/content/article/44-breaking-news/8719-fidelity-chastity-ordination-standard-remains-in-place-in-pcusa.html

Sicuramente lodevole è il fatto che il Burundi abbia eliminato la pena di morte. Molto meno invece è che abbia reso illegale l'omosessualità con tutto quello che ne consegue per gli uomini e le donne gay ma anche per coloro che possono essere accusati di essere omosessuali a scopo di vendetta o per fini politici.

In molti paesi in via di sviluppo inoltre l'accusa di essere lesbiche, con tutto quello che ne consegue, è lanciata molto spesso nei confronti delle attiviste che si battono in generale per i diritti delle donne.

But some lawmakers criticised the provision criminalising homosexuality, saying it had tarnished the legislation.

"Unfortunately, this penal law is also a regression because it now makes homosexuality a criminal offence, whereas it had been tolerated until now," said MP Catherine Mabobori, who abstained during the vote.

The government of Burundi's latest move comes in the context of considerable hostility to homosexuality in the East African region. Two-thirds of African nations maintain criminal penalties for consensual same-sex behaviour.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h-3WcJkCR9P8Y6lNSbWCEl5LPr9A 

http://www.afrol.com/articles/31801

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAFR160042009

Mentre gli Stati Uniti arrancano ancora ad eliminare il bando contro gli omosessuali nell'esercito, dall'america latina lo stato dell'Uruguay annuncia pubblicamente di ammettere senza riserve le persone gay tra le proprie fila.

Purtroppo la notizia è associata ad un'altra decisamente negativa. Il Perù ha invece adottato misure omofobe contro i polizitti gay "colpevoli" di dare scandalo.

The Uruguayan president, Tabare Vazquez, scrapped a law from the 1973-85 dictatorship that barred gay people from military academies, cementing his country's reputation as one of the most progressive in the region.

"The Uruguayan government does not discriminate against citizens based on their political, ethnic or sexual identity," Vazquez said.

The defence minister, Jose Bayardi, signed the decree this week. The ban had categorised homosexuality among the "mental illnesses and disorders" that rendered military recruits unsuitable to serve.

Latin America, long a redoubt of conservative Catholicism, homophobia and machismo, has mellowed in recent years. Colombia and Mexico City moved to grant more rights to gay couples, Buenos Aires opened a flagship gay hotel and Paraguay signalled it too would allow gay people in the military.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/15/south-america-gay-rights

La Chiesa di Scozia ha recentemente approvato una sorta di moratoria nei confronti dell'ordinazione pastorale di persone gay dopo il caso del pastore Scott Reenie.

In a ground-breaking move, the church's ruling body voted by 326 to 267 in support of the Rev. Scott Rennie, the church said in a news release Sunday.

The 37-year-old's appointment at Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen, on Scotland's northeast coast, provoked opposition from traditionalist members of the church and has led to fears it could cause a damaging split.

More than 400 Church or "Kirk" ministers and almost 5,000 Church of Scotland members are said to have signed an online petition, organized by the Fellowship of Confessing Churches, against the appointment.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/24/scotland.church.gay.minister/index.html

A debate on a call to ban openly homosexual people from appointment to the ministry was torpedoed by an 11th-hour motion that dominated the General Assembly yesterday.

Instead of proceeding with the vote – which many traditionalists had warned could split the Kirk – members agreed to establish a commission to study the issue and report back in 2011.

Until then, no more openly gay ministers can be appointed and no members can speak in public on the issue of openly homosexual, non-celibate ministers.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Kirk-orders-ban-on-gay.5300732.jp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/8065563.stm

Discrimination based on sexual orientation is at a high in the capital compared with the rest of the country, a new study due out today finds. The report from the Centre for Alternative Social Analysis (CASA) also showed that younger people are most subjected to sexual discrimination.

Eighteen percent of people in Copenhagen have felt discriminated against because of their sexuality in the last year, compared to eight percent in northern Jutland.

The latest data from the National Police shows that approximately 3,400 people were subjected to homophobic attacks in 2008. According to the City Council’s office for integration, at least 64 percent of hate crimes take place in public areas, and of these, the majority of complaints list sexual orientation as the basis for attacks.

However, attacks are not just limited to individuals and a number of businesses within the gay community have been targeted as well.

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/local/87-local/45908-gays-face-worrying-level-of-discrimination.html

Israel's interior minister and chief rabbis called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to call off Tel Aviv's annual gay parade to keep the "abomination" away from children's eyes.

"The holding of a parade similar to those held in the past on its current route constitutes a grave insult to the feelings of the public, especially to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim public," the letter said.

Appunto. Il pubblico ebraico, islamico e cristiano. Gli estremismi religiosi su questo fronte, come anche in altri, sono ben uniti

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090610/lf_afp/israelgayreligion_20090610182315

Forbidden è il titolo di un report preparato da Human Rights Watch sulla condizione di gay e lesbiche in Burundi.

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/30/forbidden-0

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/burundi0709_brochure_web.pdf

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/07/29/burundi-gays-and-lesbians-face-increasing-persecution

The project, "Forbidden: Institutionalizing Discrimination against Gays and Lesbians in Burundi," consists of printed and online narratives, photos, and voice-recorded testimonies of Burundian gays and lesbians that bring to life the daily struggles faced by the small lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Burundi. Members of the community talk about how they have been fired from their jobs, beaten by parents and neighbourhood youth, and evicted from their homes.

Human Rights Watch called upon the government of Burundi to listen to the voices of Burundi's gays and lesbians, and to urgently reform the criminal code so as to end state discrimination against this group of Burundian citizens.

L'appello per la raccolta di fondi che riporto contiene vari newsclip che riportano i dettaggli della recente violenza omofoba a Tel Aviv. 

http://www.jewishmosaic.org/page/load_page/172

http://www.jewishmosaic.org/resources/show_resource/245?condition=Press+Releases&resource_order=resource_type

Dalla stampa israeliana ci sono questi due articoli interessanti, di cui uno riporta le riflessioni di un rabbino ortodosso.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3757204,00.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249275681103&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Come segno di speranza pongo alla vostra attenzione questo video destinato a giovani gay e lesbiche in Israele.

Iraqi militias are carrying out a spreading campaign of torture and murder against men suspected of homosexual conduct, or of not being "manly" enough, and Iraq authorities have done nothing to stop the killing, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

One man told Human Rights Watch that militiamen kidnapped and killed his partner of 10 years in April: "It was late one night, and they came to take my partner at his parents' home. Four armed men barged into the house, masked and wearing black. They asked for him by name; they insulted him and took him in front of his parents. ... He was found in the neighborhood the day after. They had thrown his corpse in the garbage. His genitals were cut off and a piece of his throat was ripped out."

The killers invade homes and pick people up in the street, witnesses and survivors said, interrogating them before murdering them to extract names of other potential victims. They practice grotesque tortures, including gluing men's anuses shut as punishment. Human Rights Watch spoke to doctors who said that hospitals and morgues have received dozens of mutilated bodies, living and dead.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/17/iraq-stop-killings-homosexual-conduct

http://www.hrw.org/node/85050

Over the past year women human rights activists have faced repeated attacks in the Serbian media including being threatened with lynching.

Such attacks are made by parliamentarians, members of ultra-right organizations and members of the security services indicted for war crimes. Other defenders have had their property destroyed, their offices attacked or been beaten by members of neo-Nazi groups.

The briefing also focuses on those who defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT). Since 2001 the LGBT community in Serbia has been unable to hold a Pride Day parade due to serious threats by right-wing and religious organizations. Such organizations have already made unveiled threats against the organizers of this year’s parade, scheduled for 20 September.

"The LGBT community is marginalized even within civil society and criminal investigations into assaults on LGBT people, even where the perpetrators have been identified, are rarely resolved," Sian Jones said. 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/human-rights-activists-under-threat-serbia-20090914

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR70/014/2009/en/62eed1a1-0150-4999-aca5-6909720e053b/eur700142009en.pdf

Irshad Manji, la cui foto è nella presentazione del mio sito, è una vera femminista, le cui idee non sono contaminate dal relativismo culturale. Nel suo sito Moral Courage riporta di un'organizazione che aiuta le persone omosessuali a scappare dall'Iran.

After nine years of activism, Arsham still receives regular threats against his safety and reputation. However, he points out that while dealing with backlash is a constant part of his work, the negative messages “are nothing” compared to the supportive messages that he receives.

Arsham says that while negative attacks are personal, he tries to take them in stride: “It’s not all about me anymore; it’s about all of those who are looking forward to my activities in order to have a little bit more freedom. I can tolerate it when some people say something harmful against me. Because it is not just my rights, it is everybody’s rights.”

While IRQR operates without any paid staff, it boasts an impressive success rate. More than 70% of IRQR’s clients have gained refugee status or are in the middle of the resettlement process. IRQR is quite successful in assisting refugees with financial support from private donations.

http://www.moralcourage.com/get-involved/moral-courage-champion-fights-for-iranian-gay-rights/

http://www.irqr.net/

One of the big news stories in Denmark in recent weeks has centered on a small Copenhagen neighborhood called Tingbjerg. Over the years it has been turning gradually into a Muslim enclave in which non-Muslims have been increasingly subjected to harassment and criminality. Among these victims has been the openly gay pastor of Tingbjerg Church, who earlier this month, after several years of being persecuted by local Muslim youths, quit his post and fled the neighborhood, thereby making headlines around the country and sparking widespread discussion and debate about a very widespread phenomenon - namely, the ongoing Islamization of urban areas across Western Europe.

http://www.rights.no/publisher/publisher.asp?id=59&tekstid=2891

The country’s leading politicians, including Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, attended a Sunday service to show their support for an ousted vicar at the weekend.

Police and Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) agents discreetly kept watch on Tingbjerg Church on Sunday as the prime minister, Danish People’s Party leader Pia Kjærsgaard, former Social Minister Karen Jespersen and a host of other ministers and local politicians showed solidarity with the vicar, Ulrich Vogel.

There was suggestion that Vogel’s homosexuality was the reason he was being targeted by vandals, but the vicar told Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper that the root of the problem is much more widespread.

‘As a vicar I represent an institution and normality that isn’t welcomed by these young people. Furthermore, lots of others who aren’t homosexual have been harassed,’ Vogel said from his undisclosed location.

About 70 percent of the 5000 residents in the area are from a non-Danish ethnic background and Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech suggests that a lack of integration is to blame for the troubles in the area.

Uccidere una persona a causa dell'odio motivato dalla disabilità, dal genere, dall'orientamento sessuale e dall'identità di genere della vittima sarà un'aggravante.

Questi crimini non solo solo attacchi personali ma mandano un messaggio ad un determinato gruppo sociale, ad esempio le donne, con il quale si intende trasmettere la paura ad entrare negli spazi pubblici.

US President Barack Obama Wednesday condemned crimes meant not to break only bones "but to break spirits" as he celebrated a landmark hate crimes law as a new step forward for US civil rights.

Obama signed an act outlawing offenses motivated by a person's race, gender, identity, color, sexual orientation, or mental of physical disability, ending a years-long crusade by crime victims and relatives.

"Today, we have taken another step forward," Obama said. "This is the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more than a decade."

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091028/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticssocialrightsobama

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_gay_marriage_maine

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=8990602

Porastella! Deve essere davvero terrorizzante vedere alcuni abbracci tra innamorati. O forse il solerte tassista è stato sconvolto perchè almeno uno dei due fidanzati non corrisponde alo stereotipo degli omosessuali? Per capire cosa intendo vi invito a vedere la foto di Paul Bruno all'interno dell'articolo.

Battute a parte, ancora un altro esempio di come i cosidetti diritti religiosi non siano altro che un pretesto per non seguire le regole comuni ed imporre al resto del mondo la propria visione retrogada.

An overzealous cabby allegedly booted a gay couple when he spotted the duo sharing a warm embrace in the back of his cold car.

Paul Bruno and his partner hailed the yellow cab Monday night at 13th Street and First Avenue and sat close, Bruno told The Post.

But the driver, identified by Bruno and city records as Medhat Mohamed, was apparently appalled by their shows of affection -- and pulled the cab over two blocks into the trip.

"You guys have to get out of the taxi! Hugging is not allowed in here!" the driver said, according to Bruno.

Stunned, the lovebirds exited and watched the taxi peel away.

"I was shocked," said Bruno, 27, who called the act "discrimination against homosexuals."

Bruno said he and his partner immediately filed an official complaint against the driver via 311.

Both men want a formal apology from the driver, and say they believe hacks should be put though more rigorous sensitivity training.

Aggravated homosexuality will be punished by death, according to a new bill tabled in Parliament yesterday.

The private member�s bill was tabled by Ndorwa West MP David Bahati (NRM).

A person commits aggravated homosexuality when the victim is a person with disability or below the age of 18, or when the offender is HIV-positive.

The bill thus equates aggravated homosexuality to aggravated defilement among people of different sexes, which also carries the death sentence.

The Bill, entitled the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, also states that anyone who commits the offence of homosexuality will be liable to life imprisonment.

This was already the case under the current Penal Code Act.

The provisions, according to the bill, are meant to �protect the traditional family by prohibiting any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex.�

They are also meant to prohibit the �promotion or recognition of such sexual relations in public institutions and other places through or with the support of any government entity or NGO.�

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/697859

"This bill is a blow to the progress of democracy in Uganda," said David Kato of Sexual Minorities Uganda. "It goes against the inclusive spirit necessary for our economic as well as political development. Its spirit is profoundly undemocratic and un-African."

"Certain provisions in this bill are illegal; they are also immoral," said Kate Sheill, Amnesty International's expert on sexual rights. "They criminalize a sector of society for being who they are, when what the government should be doing instead is protecting them from discrimination and abuse."

Over recent months, there has been increased campaigning against homosexuality in Uganda, led by churches and anti-gay groups. The media have joined this campaign, and have publicly pointed to individuals they accuse of being gay or lesbian.

People suspected of being gay have faced death threats and been physically assaulted. Many have been ostracized by their families or faced discrimination, including dismissal from their place of employment.

The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers sympathetic to the bill but representing conservative districts. It follows a referendum in Maine earlier this month that struck down a gay marriage law before it took effect.

Advocates say they aren't surprised by the decision. Most, including Gov. David Paterson, say they at least wanted a floor debate and vote.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/02/gay-marriage-in-new-york-_0_n_377020.html

Opponents of gay marriage were celebrating yesterday after New York State's senate rejected a bill that would have allowed same-sex marriage, saying it was a huge victory that could influence votes elsewhere.

New York's bill was defeated 38-24 on Wednesday in the assembly, which is led by liberal New York City Democrats who hold a single-seat majority.

Le 11 décembre 2009, la ministre de la Justice, Procureure générale du Québec et ministre responsable de la lutte contre l’homophobie, Mme Kathleen Weil a rendu publique la première Politique québécoise de lutte contre l'homophobie. « Par le geste qu'elle pose ce matin, la société québécoise démontre une fois de plus qu'elle est à l'avant-garde en matière de droits des personnes de minorités sexuelles. » a déclaré Mme Weil.

http://www.justice.gouv.qc.ca/francais/ministere/dossiers/homophobie/homophobie.htm

PRESIDENT of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Mustafa Muhammad, says he agrees with the Sharia law which prescribes death for people who openly flaunt homosexual behaviour.

Muhammad did not mince words as he lashed out against what he described as an unclean, unnatural lifestyle.

“It is illegal and in the Sharia law the punishment is death. If you follow Christianity it is a crime in the sight of God. He destroyed a whole city because of this thing. It is an ungodly practice and I apologise to no one for this,” Muhammad said.

Under Jamaican law, persons who practice buggery — the sexual penetration of the anus — can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Muslim-leader-blasts-gay-lifestyle

Finland's Evangelical Lutheran bishops have decided that same-sex partnerships may not be formally blessed in the nation's Lutheran churches. However pastors may pray with or for them, as long as the ceremony does not resemble a traditional wedding.

According to the document approved on Wednesday, clerics may not bestow their blessing on such couples, but may pray for or with them. They said this may use standard church prayers, but must not take place in a way that resembles a standard wedding with rings and vows, said Archbishop Jukka Paarma 

He called the decision to all non-wedding-like church ceremonies for same-sex couples "a compromise". Paarma added that the local parish must approve use of its facilities, and that any cleric or church official may decline to carry out such a ceremony in line with his or her conscience. 

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/02/lutheran_bishops_say_no_to_same-sex_weddings_1435044.html

NO COMMENT!

A London university has been condemned for inviting an Islamic preacher with anti-Semitic and homophobic views to give a lecture to students.

Sheikh Quick has denounced the �filth� of Jews and once gave a televised lecture in which he said the Islamic position on homosexuality is �death�.

He added: �Muslims are going to have to take a stand [against homosexuals] and it's not enough to call names.�

 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23809775-islamic-preacher-who-called-jews-filth-to-speak-at-kings-colleges.do

Usamah has been filmed advocating the killing of gays and Muslims who leave their faith and has described women as “deficient” and “incomplete”.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/02/25/homophobic-and-anti-semitic-preacher-invited-to-london-university/

C'è del marcio in Norvegia. Vergogna, vergogna, vergogna!

It was in June of last year that Mahdi Hassan of Tynset was named the ”Role Model of the Year.”  The point of the prize is for the Ministry of Children, Equality, and Social Inclusion to salute energetic souls who perform a major and important service to their local communities.  The award is meant to go to people who are good role models, who promote anti-discrimination, and who establish dialogue across generational lines.  

As early as last summer, Hassan told the newspaper Arbeidets Rett that he wants a ban on homosexuality, based on the Koran: “Homosexuality is prohibited in the Koran, and I believe in my religion.”   Now Arbeidets Rett has asked Hassan if that is still his opinion, and it is.  The head of the Norwegian LGBT Association, Karen Pinholt, doesn’t thinks this man is a good role model: “It appears as if the Ministry of Inclusion has forgotten to include gay people here.”   

But if Mahdi Hassan agrees in principle with a ban on homosexuality, he does not oppose, in principle, the death penalty for gays: “That must be up to each individual country to decide,” he told the newspaper. 

http://www.rights.no/publisher/publisher.asp?id=59&tekstid=3343

After Ms. McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Mississippi, announced she’d be wearing a tuxedo and bringing a female date, a sophomore, to the school’s April 2 dance, the school district said no way. Officials then circulated a flier saying students could not bring same-sex dates.

McMillen did go to school Thursday, and encountered some hard feelings from classmates, but said she was standing up for herself and others in her situation. "My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I'm still proud of who I am," McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The fact that this will help people later on, that's what's helping me to go on."

In socially liberal parts of the country, like Los Angeles and Miami, same-sex prom dates are common. In more conservative areas, such as Utah, gay teens sometimes hold separate proms. But in Deep South towns like McMillen’s hometown of Fulton, Mississippi, some school districts simply don’t allow same-sex dating at the prom.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0311/Constance-McMillen-takes-fight-over-same-sex-prom-date-to-court

Per quanto il fatto non sia di una gravità estrema, a fronte di tanti altri episodi ancora più sordidi o addirittura violenti, rimane da sottolineare la volontà di escludere la compagna di scuola, solo ed esclusivamente perchè lesbica. Constance intanto è stata nominata Grand Marshall alla prossima Gay Pride di New York.

A lesbian teen who successfully sued her Mississippi school for the right to bring her girlfriend to prom was left out and was instead directed to a "fake prom" on Friday, according to The Advocate.

Constance McMillen, her date and just a handful of others, including two classmates with learning disabilities, attended the dance in Fulton, Mississippi while most of her other classmates from Itawamba Agricultural High School reportedly partied at a separate prom that McMillen was not invited to.

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/constance-mcmillen-fake-p_n_525856.html

Sotto il video con il messaggio di ringraziamento di Constance ai suoi sostenitori

http://atheists-in-action.com/

 http://www.le-monde-pluriel.eu/

http://livre-athee.com/

Nous allons sensibiliser l'opinion sur l'aspect homophobe des textes religieux contenus dans la Bible et le Coran. Nous serons présents dans les rues de Rennes ce week-end,

Une nouvelle plainte vient d’être déposée, le 15 février dernier. Cette fois-ci, j’attaque un éditeur de la bible, un éditeur du coran et une librairie pour complicité de menaces de mort et d’insultes. Mais je suis régulièrement victime de menaces et d’insultes (dans la rue, sur internet…), de la part d’individus qui utilisent souvent la bible et le coran pour justifier leurs actes à mon égard. Mon but n’est pas d’interdire ces ouvrages (la liberté d’expression est «sacrée»!). Ce que je souhaite, c’est qu’un avertissement soit mis sur la couverture de ces livres, qui pourrait être: «Attention, ces ouvrages contiennent des propos à caractère sexiste, homophobe, criminogène et il convient de les remettre dans leur contexte historique.»

A synod of priests of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland - the state church - rejected a proposal to allow homosexual couples the right to marry within the church.

After much contention, the proposal was narrowly defeated.

The issue of gay marriage is one of many points brought up in discussions of separation of church and state in Iceland. More recently, the money that would be saved if there were such a separation has also seen more prominence in the discussion.

http://www.grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Icelandic-Priests-Say-No-to-Gay-Marriage

  A group of Islamic experts from the al Bahtul Masa’il have issued a fatwa against transsexuals and transvestites. The scholars, who represent 125 pesantren in the provinces of Java and Madura Island, have decreed that transgendered people must be viewed as male and for this reason “cannot cut or prepare women’s hair” in beauty salons “to whom they are not linked by blood or marital ties.” Leaders from the Indonesian Muslim Clerical Council (MUI) chose instead not to comment the issue.

This time, Java and Madura Island transvestites and transsexuals have become their target. According to Bahtul Masa’il, touching women’s hair is haram, i.e. forbidden, when done by men unrelated to the women by blood or marriage.

Last week, 12 Iraqi police officers burst into a house in Karbala, beat up and blindfolded the six occupants and bundled them off in three vans, taking the computers they found with them. The house was then burned down by unknown people.

The house was a new "emergency shelter" run by the Iraqi LGBT organisation.

Two days later, one of the men turned up in hospital with a throat wound saying he'd been tortured. Iraqi LGBT has ordered those in its other two safe houses to move immediately.

Ali Hili, Iraq's LGBT leader, said "people in the west have been too quiet for too long about the violence against LGBT people in Iraq. The militia and the powers that be know they can get away with it while that silence continues."

At a state department event yesterday, Hillary Clinton touted US support, like Britain's, for African LGBT activists. Four were invited guests and she even offered funding. In both Malawi and Uganda there is a strong religious opposition to homosexuality but this hasn't stopped criticism. Yet in Iraq "religious sensitivities" are mentioned behind the scenes as the reason why Britain won't publicly criticise inaction on the killings of LGBT people, let alone killings by or with the connivance of the Iraqi government. Of course, in reality, the "sensitivities" are primarily political and LGBT people are being sacrificed for the sake of them.

Africa is the "gay international issue du jour" and that's a good thing, but the absence of any attention – any – to Iraq screams out for explanation. Iraqi LGBT has documented 738 killings in five years, similar numbers to those suffered by Iraq's Christian minority. Yet Iraq's state-colluded pogrom of gays isn't the subject of demonstrations by the international gay community, sustained actions by international human rights organisations, protests by lesbian or gay celebrities or even fundraising for "safe houses" – though they have one major funder, the Dutch humanist charity, Hivos.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/23/gay-people-iraq

Un vero happy end!

"People hate because they are scared and ignorant and they hate change. This will help everybody."

Miss McMillen, who has been openly gay since the 8th grade, said she appealed to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) after Itawamba Agricultural High School cancelled its prom in April to prevent her from attending with her girlfriend.

"She was standing up for the right to be treated equally and not to be forced to wear certain types of clothing to conform to gender stereotypes," said ACLU counsel Christine Sun.

"Thanks to her bravery, we now not only have a federal court precedent that can be used to protect the rights of students all over the country to bring the date they want to their proms, but we also have the first school anti-discrimination policy of its kind in Mississippi."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7901830/Teenage-lesbian-wins-35000-over-high-school-prom-dispute.html

McMillen's lawyers filed notice Monday in U.S. District Court to accept a judgment offer from the Itawamba County School District that will pay $35,000, plus attorney's fees. As part of the agreement, the school district also said it would follow a policy not to discriminate based on sexual orientation in any educational or extracurricular activities or allow harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

School officials contend that their agreement to follow the non-discrimination policy merely reaffirms inclusiveness rules the district already had, said school board attorney Michele Floyd. She said the district's insurance company will pay McMillen.

 McMillen said she thinks the case resonated with so many people because "prom is a common theme and everyone knows how it feels to want to go to prom. With my story, even if people didn't agree with being gay, they understood. They figured out how cruel some people can be."

Supporters of California's gay marriage ban filed an appeal Thursday of a federal judge's ruling striking down the voter-approved law.

The 9th Circuit court has no deadlines to hear the case, which will be randomly assigned to a three-judge panel. It's expected that the panel will order both sides to submit written legal arguments before scheduling a hearing.

The outcome in the appeals court could force the U.S. Supreme Court to confront the question of whether gays have a constitutional right to wed.

"This ruling, if allowed to stand, threatens not only Prop 8 in California but the laws in 45 other states that define marriage as one man and one woman," said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which helped fund the 2008 campaign that led to the ban's passage

 http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/08/gay_marriage_opponents_filed_a.htm

David Madden, a spokesman for the 9th Circuit, said the appeals court received the notice of appeal Thursday and set a standard briefing schedule under its normal appeals process.

Proposition 8's sponsors must file their opening brief by Nov. 12, and the plaintiffs must respond by Dec. 13. The initiative's sponsors will then have the option of filing a reply two weeks later.

The appeal is on the substance of the decision and is separate from any possible appeals on the question of whether Walker's ruling should be suspended during the appeal process.