Serbia Pride march canceled
Organizers have canceled Serbia’s gay-pride march after authorities said they could not guarantee protection for the event from extremist groups.
The gathering was to be Serbia’s first gay-pride march since 2001. The previous event received almost no police protection and was broken up by rightist groups.
The march, planned for Sept. 20, was seen a major test for the current Serbian government, which has launched pro-Western reforms and pledged to protect human rights.
But organizers said authorities had informed them the march in downtown Belgrade was too risky. Spokesperson Dusan Kosanovic said police offered a different venue but organizers decided to cancel the march instead.
Several extremist groups had said they would attack the gathering.
Man jailed for lesbian murder
A man was jailed for life on Sept. 22 for the murder and rape of a lesbian South African footballer.
Eudy Simelane, a player for Banyana Banyana and prominent South African gay-rights activist, was killed in April 2008. She had been robbed, gang-raped and stabbed to death. Her body was left in a stream.
Themba Mvubu, 24, from Kwathema, was found guilty of murder, robbery and being an accessory to the rape. As he was sentenced, Mvubu said: “I’m not sorry.”
Khumbulani Magagula, 22, and Johannes Mahlangu, 18, were acquitted the same day.
A fourth man, Thato Mphithi, was convicted earlier this year of murder, robbery and being an accomplice to a rape attempt. He was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison.
Although a previous ruling had said Simelane’s homosexuality was not a factor in her death, Judge Mokgoathleng suggested her fame as a footballer had contributed to it.
Lesbian and gay activists said she was well known as a lesbian and was noticeably butch.
A report in March last year found that “corrective rapes” on lesbians in South Africa were increasing.
According to charity ActionAid, women in Johannesburg and Cape Town are suffering an increase in homophobic attacks and sexual assaults, which are seen as a form of punishment or “cure.”
One lesbian and gay support group says it is dealing with 10 new cases of lesbian women being targeted for “corrective” rape every week in Cape Town alone.
Figures suggest there are an estimated 500,000 rapes in South Africa every year and that, for every 25 men accused of rape in the country, 24 walk free.
Scot couples get adoption rights
Gay couples in Scotland will soon be permitted to adopt children together.
Previously, a gay person could adopt a child but his or her partner had no legal rights or responsibilities as a parent.
The new provision will be law on Sept. 28 and will bring Scotland in line with England and Wales on gay adoption.
Carl Watt, director of Stonewall Scotland, welcomes the initiative.
“What all children need and deserve most of all is a safe, secure, loving and stable home environment, and same-sex couples are equally able to provide this as opposite-sex couples,” he said. “This legislation also means that there will be hopefully fewer children in care homes and more with homes and families of their own.”
Adoptions by gay individuals in Scotland are thought to be rare, with only two cases in Edinburgh.
The Catholic Church in Scotland has already criticized the new law, saying gay couples are not stable enough to care for children.
EU opposes Lithuanian gay ban
The European Union voted Sept. 17 to adopt a resolution criticizing a recent law passed by Lithuania, which prohibits any mention of homosexuality in schools or in media accessible by young people.
The law, titled “Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information,” includes ”the propaganda of homosexuality [or] bisexuality” as a detrimental factor on young people.
It has been compared to Section 28, the law that prohibited discussion of homosexuality in United Kingdom schools.
In June, President Adamkus vetoed the law, but parliament overrode him on July 14 with a vote of 87-6. It is expected the law will come into force in March 2010.
Gay-rights activists said it would lead to increased homophobic bullying and discrimination against gay people. They also raised concerns that LGBT young people would not be able to access the information they need.
In July, Amnesty International said it was a “bad day for LGBT rights,” while Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill described the move as a “tragedy.”
Michael Cashman, the openly gay president of the European Parliament’s LGBT intergroup, also criticized the law.
“The ideology behind the text is pure homophobia,” he said. “It is crucial to allow young people to speak, think and act in the respect of others who are different. Young people need education, not isolation.”
Condom program draws ire
A U.K. sexual-health charity in Yorkshire has been attacked for reportedly nailing bags of condoms to trees in gay cruising areas.
Residents near the site say the Brunswick Centre is overstepping the line and making the problem worse.
Litherop Laneisa is a well-known site for men meeting for sex and is listed on a number of cruising Web sites.
Local councilor Jim Dodds told the Huddersfield Examiner he tried to ask the charity to stop distributing condoms in the area but had been accused of homophobia.
“If you put seed on the ground for birds they will flock to it,” he said. “By doing this they are only attracting more people down. We think people ought to do this sort of thing in the privacy of their own homes. They shouldn’t be offering facilities for lots more to do it.”
The Brunswick Centre was criticized two years ago for a link on its Web site to a pornographic cruising Web site. A former employee said it was encouraging men with wives and girlfriends to seek risky sex.
Teacher jailed for underage affair
A London teacher who admitted having an affair with a 15-year-old female pupil has been jailed for 15 months.
Helen Goddard, 26, was sentenced Sept. 21. She was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
In August, she admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16.
Goddard, a former child prodigy who played the trumpet at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, taught the instrument to students at City of London School for Girls, where she was known as the “jazz lady.”
She became involved with the 15-year-old earlier this year, and the five-month affair was discovered after rumors reached the school’s head teacher, who then called the police.
Goddard was arrested in July during a police raid and released on bail. She could have faced up to 14 years in prison.
The student has reportedly said she intends to continue the relationship once she reaches 16 in a few months. Her parents are reportedly supportive of her wishes.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].