Pride march held in Romania
About 150 people held a gay Pride march last week in Romania, hours after a few dozen antigay activists held a rally condemning homosexuality.
There were no clashes or incidents during the June 4 march, which was attended by U.S. Ambassador Mark Gitenstein, British Ambassador Martin Harris and Swedish Ambassador Anders Bengtcen.
The participants displayed colorful banners calling for sexual diversity and acceptance.
Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2000 under pressure from the European Union and the U.S.
But gays say they are still discriminated against in Romania.
Antigay activists say they will continue to organize rallies for “normality” for as long as gay parades are held.
Swedish film crew attacked in Jamaica
A Swedish crew that recently visited Jamaica to make a film about the country’s human-rights issues reportedly was attacked by locals and harassed by police.
Jamaican LGBT-rights activist Maurice Tomlinson said the crew “got a first-hand look at our notorious homophobia and police excesses.”
On May 21, the crew traveled to an inner-city community in Kingston to interview two gay men. The vehicle in which the men and the crew were traveling was set upon by a mob wielding machetes and other weapons, demanding that the gays leave the area.
No one was hurt, and the crew managed to capture the faces of some of their attackers on film.
“When the crew tried to record some images in downtown Kingston on May 25, a policeman confiscated their equipment on the grounds that they did not have a permit,” Tomlinson said. “At the police station, colleagues convinced the confiscating cop to return the crew’s camera equipment. The cop also apologized and advised that he was only trying to prevent foreign film crews portraying Jamaica in a negative light. Sadly, such arbitrary action has only reinforced the perception of wanton extrajudicial behavior on the part of our police.”
Gay Ugandan faces U.K. deportation
A Ugandan woman seeking asylum in the U.K. after attackers branded her with a hot iron because she is a lesbian is facing deportation.
Betty Tibikawa, 22, is currently detained at a removal center in Bedfordshire and is awaiting deportation orders back to Uganda — despite public statements made recently by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that asylum seekers would not be sent back to countries where they would likely face persecution as the result of their sexual orientation.
“I can’t sleep and I’m having terrible nightmares about what will happen to me if I’m sent back to Uganda,” Tibikawa said. “My family has disowned me because I’m a lesbian and I’m convinced I’d be killed if I’m sent home.”
Tibikawa, whose attackers in Uganda had branded marks on her inner thighs, said she was outed in February by a Ugandan magazine called Red Pepper.
Israeli speaker draws ire over Pride involvement
Reuven Rivlin, speaker for the Knesset — the legislative branch of the Israeli government — has angered ultra-conservative Jewish members of the body over his plans to meet with leaders of the gay community in Israel in honor of Gay Pride Month.
One Knesset member, Nissim Ze’ev said: “I am astonished over the Knesset Speaker’s decision to host so-called gay families. I can’t understand his motive.”
Ze’ev said the event, which will be Israel’s third in as many years, was “an insult to the Knesset’s honor, and an insult to Muslims and to traditional Jews who obey mitzvot [commandments].”
He also said that giving time and consideration to the country’s LGBT community “encourages the destruction of the family unit” and “reveals the dark side of society.”
United Torah Judaism reportedly strongly opposes both the event and Rivlin’s participation.
Tel Aviv newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Deputy Education Minister Menahem Eliezer Moses said, “They aren’t people like everyone else.”
He added, “In the Torah it says that this is an abomination … and the Union for Traditional Judaism is a part of it … giving it patronage and legitimization. It doesn’t make sense. The Knesset speaker represents us — we voted for him. We can’t allow him to participate in the event. I’m shocked.”
Rivlin’s office issued a statement saying that the conference has taken place every year for the past three years, and “the Knesset speaker accepts every group and every opinion. Rivlin plans to say a few words to the group, and that is all.”
Lesbian couple dodges French gay-marriage ban
Two French women successfully circumvented France’s same-sex marriage ban on June 3 owing to the fact that one half of the couple is still legally classed as a man.
Stephanie Nicot, 59, married her 27-year-old partner Elise, in Nancy at the city’s town hall, in what is said to be a unique marriage in France.
Stephanie — formerly Stephane — underwent sex-reassignment surgery to become a woman but has refused to submit the documents that French law requires to change her gender on the population register.
Nicot said of her marriage: “It’s a symbol for millions of gays and lesbians who would like to have the same rights.”
The newly married couple later joined around 2,000 members of the LGBT community for a march through the city.
In January, the French constitutional court upheld the country’s gay-marriage ban, stating that it was in keeping with the constitution.
The ruling came in response to a bid made by a lesbian couple that has four children. The couple wished to marry after a decade as civil partners.
Among European Union countries, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands have all legalized gay marriage.
Thousands attend Athens Gay Pride
Thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Athens on June 3 to protest antigay prejudice.
Organizers said about 10,000 people took part in the city’s seventh-annual Athens Pride parade — twice as many participants as last year.
“As time passes, more and more people are liberated,” spokesperson Dimitris Tsampouris said, explaining the increase.
“Kiss me everywhere,” was the slogan of this year’s colorful Pride parade.
“We chose this slogan because the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (an independent supervising authority) repeatedly penalizes stations that show people of the same gender kissing,” Tsampouris said.
“You have to fight for your right in a society that rejects it,” said Nikolas Kokkonis, a 19-year-old student chef.
S. African envoy found guilty of hate speech
South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda, a country criticized for threatening the rights of gays, has been found guilty of hate speech for an antigay column he wrote before his appointment, the South African Human Rights Commission said May 30.
Commission spokesperson Vincent Moaga said a judge ruled that the 2008 newspaper column headlined “Call me names, but gay is NOT OK” by veteran journalist Jon Qwelane promoted hatred.
Qwelane was ordered to apologize and pay a fine of 100,000 rand (about $14,000) that the human-rights commission will donate to a gay-rights organization.
Qwelane, who was in the Ugandan capital May 30, did not mount a defense in the case filed by the commission.
Qwelane did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Moaga said the case sent an important message at a time when a series of rapes and other attacks on lesbians has raised concern about homophobic violence in South Africa.
“We are hoping really that this finding will send a message to community members, a message that says gay and lesbian people have an equal right to the protection of their dignity and rights,” Moaga said.
Moaga said his commission takes no position on whether Qwelane, appointed last year, should continue serving as ambassador, but that he expected the government to review the court ruling.
Foreign affairs department spokesperson Clayson Monyela said his department respected the court’s ruling and the constitutional protections afforded gay South Africans. Monyela added that Qwelane made his comments in his personal capacity before the president appointed him.
International human-rights groups have criticized Uganda since the 2009 proposal of a law that gays should face the death sentence in some cases. The Ugandan parliament has yet to vote on the bill.
Same-sex marriage is legal in South Africa and the country has among the most liberal laws on sexual orientation on the continent. But the ideals expressed in the constitution at times clash with the reality.
Nova Scotia marriage gets church blessing
Legally partnered same-sex couples in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada, can now obtain a blessing from the country’s Anglican Church.
A motion approving the blessings was passed at the 143rd Synod of the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Halifax May 28.
An overwhelming majority of over 300 participants voted in favor of the motion, but at least one participant left the event after a heated debate and the vote.
The issue of blessings for same-sex couples has been controversial in Canada for some time.
The Rev. David Fletcher of Lantz told the Novia Scotia Chronicle Herald, “It’s a contentious issue and it will continue to be.”
Fletcher added that he would like to see the Anglican Church go further and offer blessings for members of the bisexual and transgender communities and people in longterm heterosexual relationships who are unmarried, such as elderly and widowed couples who live together.
“They might prefer not to get legally married for a variety of reasons but would still like to have their longterm and committed relationship recognized by the church in the form of a sacramental blessing,” Fletcher said.
Some Anglican priests have left the church because they say it has drifted too far from strict adherence to Scripture, and some said the decision to offer blessings in the diocese will lead to more defections.
U.K. Scouts: We want gay members
The United Kingdom Scout Association is looking to increase its ranks of gay members and leaders as a way to fight a reputation of being homophobic.
Critics are blasting the 500,000-member organization, saying it is a blatant move away from Christian values. The organization does have religious ties, as it does not permit agnostic or atheist members.
“There was an assumption that being gay meant you couldn’t be part of the movement,” said spokesperson Simon Carter. “That was never the case and we are keen to make it clear that we accept people of any particular orientation. We have had youth members and adults attend Pride events and plan to do so again this year. It shows that we are not just talking about it but are demonstrating our support publicly.”
Wayne Bulpitt, chief commissioner of the Scouts, condemned harassment and bullying in a video that was to be shared with all troops. Within the association, literature is being made available to help Scouts and leaders come out, and to also help troops accept gay members.
— compiled by Larry Nichols