Doc says gay sex causes swine flu
A prominent doctor in Malaysia is claiming that gay sex and masturbation make the body more susceptible to the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu.
According to Bernama, Malaysia’s state-run newspaper, Dr. V.M. Palaniappan, a practitioner of complementary therapy, lists avoiding masturbation and homosexual activities as preventative measures against H1N1.
Palaniappan claims that “when one masturbates, or indulges in homosexual activity, his (her) body develops friction heat, and that produces acid, making the body hyperacidosed, giving burning sensation while urinating and toileting, and making the person an easy target for H1N1 infection.”
He emphasized that sex between members of the opposite sex was completely safe. Dr. Palaniappan also suggests coconut water as an herbal remedy for the prevention of H1N1.
In Malaysia, homosexuality is considered a crime punishable by 20 years in jail, caning and, in some states, execution.
Mumbai celebrates Pride
Inspired by a recent high-court decision that decriminalized consensual gay sex in New Delhi, thousands took to the streets of Mumbai on Aug. 16 to celebrate growing freedoms in the largest LGBT Pride parade in India.
The annual Queer Azadi March Gay Parade Mumbai drew participants whose jubilance contrasted the mood of previous years, when the focus of the event was protest.
“The ball has started rolling and now it’s only going to get better,” said Kumar Iyer, a gay makeup artist.
In July, the Delhi high court ruled that a British colonial-era ban on sodomy was unconstitutional and violated individual rights. Opponents in the conservative, family-oriented country are challenging the ruling, which applies only to the New Delhi area.
The supreme court of India is scheduled to deliver a decision about decriminalizing sodomy nationwide in September.
Thousands work to free Israeli
An online petition to prevent a gay Israeli peace campaigner from being jailed has gathered 19,000 signatures but more people are being asked to pledge their support.
Ezra Nawi, a plumber from Jerusalem in his 50s, may be imprisoned for up to 18 months. He has opposed the demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and has also worked to help Palestinian farmers defend their land for the last eight years.
In March, he was convicted of taking part in a riot and assaulting a police officer. Nawi, who is staunchly anti-violence, denied the assault charge but was found guilty in the 2007 incident, which happened when the Israeli military tried to demolish Palestinian homes close to Hebron.
He is expected to be sentenced in the coming weeks.
Human-rights activist Peter Tatchell, who is leading the campaign to save Nawi from jail, is urging more people to sign the petition.
“Ezra Nawi is a human-rights defender of conscience and courage,” he said. “By supporting the human rights of the Palestinian people as an out gay man, Ezra is probably doing more than anyone else to undermine homophobia in Palestine. He is a bridge-builder. His life shows the possibility of unity, solidarity and respect between gays and straights in Palestine and Israel.”
Nawi credits his campaigning work to his homosexuality, saying, “Being gay has made me understand what it is like to be a despised minority.”
However, he has frequently been a target of homophobic abuse and says his opponents even spread rumors he was suffering from AIDS around the Palestinians he helps.
Trans men win court appeal
Two Australian trans men have won a court appeal allowing them to be legally recognized as men without having to have their female reproductive organs removed.
The West Australian Gender Reassignment Board had denied them certificates recognizing their new gender. The men then appealed to the State Administrative Tribunal, which said that while they still had vaginas, ovaries and uteruses and had not had penises constructed, they “presented as, and appeared to be, males.”
In its findings, the tribunal said: “Both applicants had undergone bilateral mastectomies and testosterone treatment as a result of which each had undergone extensive physical changes consistent with being male.”
The tribunal also accepted medical evidence that each was, and would remain, infertile for as long as he continued testosterone treatment. It added that a female reproductive system was “a fundamental, although not essential, physical characteristic of being female” and that the Gender Reassignment Act did not require surgical procedures to be carried out.
One of the men said: “It means that it opens up lots of opportunities for lots of other people who until now have never tried to get their sex legally changed because they didn’t think they’d be able to.”
George Michael crashes, arrested
Police arrested openly gay pop star George Michael in the early hours of Aug. 14 following a collision with a truck in England.
The singer was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs.
Lawrie Rowe, 43, who was driving the truck, claimed the singer “must have been doing 100 mph. When he got out, he couldn’t walk straight.”
“I was really shaken and thought someone had died,” he said. “Eventually the guy got out of his car. He came over to my cab and asked if I had stopped to give him a lift. I was stunned. He was absolutely not with it, so I told him no. But he insisted and came around the other side of the truck and tried to get in the passenger door. When it finally dawned on him that I wouldn’t give in, he walked off down the verge.”
Michael was later taken to a nearby police station but was released without charge.
In 2007, the singer was banned for driving for two years after he was convicted of driving while unfit as a result of drug use.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].