January 2010
13 posts
India:- Bollywood gets ready for its first gay... →
Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyun is already being dubbed “India’s Brokeback Mountain” by the press, in advance of its release in May this year.
“The film, which promises to break new ground deal by telling the story of “a serious”– and explicitly sexual – relationship between two men, comes just months after a law outlawing homosexuality was overturned in the Delhi High...
A Day In Hand.....Our silent revolution →
“You don’t have to fight to change the world. Promote love and equality by the simple act of holding hands.” That’s the message of A Day In Hand, a worldwide campaign to get same-sex couples to hold hands in public; and if you do, you’re encouraged to have a photo taken and uploaded to the campaign web site. “
I know that homophobia exists because of...
Lithuania:- Baltic Pride 2010 will be a test of... →
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is the setting for Baltic Pride 2010, which is due to take place on the 7th and 8th of May. The event is organised by LGBT organisations from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
It’s taking place just two months after a new law comes into force in Lithuania, which bans the promotion of “any concept of the family other than that set down in the constitution”....
4 tags
12 months, 12 artists....Bears, Illustrated. →
“A project about beauty and desire…another non-profit initiative demonstrating do-it-yourself philosophy and artistic quality are compatible” is how Christian Fernández Mirón describes this free downloadable calendar. This drawing, by Spanish artist José Manuel Hortelano-Pi, is for October.
Bears, Illustrated brings together the work of a dozen very different artists from...
5 tags
Mr Gay China pageant cancelled by police →
Police closed down the Mr Gay China pageant in Beijing, just as it was about to begin. One of the organisers, Ben Zhang (pictured above from AFP) explained to the waiting media that he’d been told they didn’t have the correct license for the stage show. Most had expected the event to go ahead, given the level of advance publicity it had received in state-run media.
“Its a...
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USA:- Lady Gaga hosts gay marriage fundraiser in... →
“I am honored to be able to continue to raise awareness and money for this cause and these outstanding organizations. Organizations like these are in the trenches every day working on behalf of all of us whether you are LGBT or straight. Equal and full civil rights are supposed to be for all of us.”
Lady Gaga continues her support for the LGBT community this weekend when she appears at the...
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UK:- LibDem leader says schools must teach that... →
Yes, it’s election year in the UK, and all parties are making promises and raising fears about their rivals in an attempt to woo voters. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has made a clear statement about what he would do on LGBT issues, should his party be returned to power when Britain goes to the polls.
- Force all schools – including faith schools – to implement anti-homophobia...
China:- Gay marriage ceremony in Chengdu →
Though China doesn’t legally recognise gay relationships, there’s little doubt that this is going to become an increasingly important issue for the LGBT community as it grows in confidence. 47-year-old Zeng Ge and 27-year-old Xiao Pan went through an unofficial marriage ceremony - reportedly the first to be held in China -in a small bar in Chengdu earlier this month, and as well as...
4 tags
UK:- Help get Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson to... →
Image via Wikipedia
The extraordinary fall from grace of homophobic Northern Ireland politician Iris Robinson - you’ll recall that she called us “an abomination” - has led to a flurry of parodies of Simon & Garfunkel’s famous song for the film The Graduate. And a campaign has been launched to get the original version to the top of the UK’s pop charts, with...
3 tags
Cruising with your iPhone →
Of course, you can access the Gay Travellers Network via its special mobile interface and stay in touch with friends here, but there are a growing number of dedicated applications for gay men with iPhones. Grindr uses the handset’s GPS technology to help you to hook up with guys near you (and it will also work with the iPod touch in a wifi zone). And it’s catching on fast -...
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The first-ever Mr Gay China contest...finalists... →
These are just five of the eight finalists in the first-ever Mr Gay China contest (you can see them all here). The winner will be decided this coming weekend in Beijing, and will go on to take part in the Mr Gay World Ambassador pageant in Norway next month. Ryan Dutcher, one of the organisers of the Beijing event told fridae.com about some of the challenges of getting gay men to enter a contest...
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USA:- California's gay marriage court hearings now... →
Does the U.S. Constitution prohibit states from outlawing same-sex marriage? That’s the question the federal court hearing now under way in San Francisco has to decide. The proceedings involve a challenge to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban approved by California voters. Whatever the outcome of this trial, the verdict will probably result in an appeal to the Supreme Court, whose...
October 2009
5 posts
Spain:- Rate of HIV infection down 80% in a... →
There’s been a dramatic reduction in the number of cases of HIV infection over the past decade according to the co-ordinator of Spain’s HIV/AIDS strategy: in fact, the numbers are down by 80%.
UK: Teenagers arrested for homophobic attack on... →
James Parkes was out with friends on Sunday night in Liverpool when he was set upon outside a gay bar by a group of up to 20 people. The attack left the trainee police officer with multiple fractures to his skull and face.
Belgium:- 1980s Eurovision entry is the top gay... →
As far as Belgium’s gays are concerned, Lilianne St.Pierre’s song “Soldiers of Love”, the country’s 1987 Eurovision Song Contest entry, is the gayest tune of all. That’s according to a study by a researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain.
UK:- First dedicated LGBT tourist office opens in... →
Hot on the heels of Amsterdam, London has now joined the list of European capitals which have a dedicated tourist information centre dedicated to the needs of the gay community. It’s above Ku Bar in Lisle Street, and claims to be London’s first LGBT Tourist Information Office.
USA:- 86 year-old veteran says gay equality is... →
Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old D-Day veteran (and father of a gay son) spoke movingly at a Maine Judiciary Committee meeting in favour of gay marriage. “My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that three of them would have certain rights and that the fourth of them would be left out…. I have seen with my own eyes the consequence of a caste system and of making some people...
September 2009
16 posts
Germany:- Election result puts FDP's gay leader in... →
The results of this weekend’s election in Germany confirm the position of Guido Westerwelle as the country’s most senior gay political figure. He’s the leader of the liberal FDP, which won nearly 15% of the vote and will almost certainly form a coalition with the CDU, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, after eleven years in opposition. It’s expected that he will become...
France:- "Kiss-In" against homophobia held in 14... →
Gay men and lesbians have been taking part in a succession of nationwide “kiss-in” protests against homophobia against homophobia, and this weekend’s was just the latest.
8 tags
Serbia:- Belgrade Pride march cancelled →
Organizers have canceled Serbia’s gay pride march this Sunday after authorities said they could not guarantee protection for the event from extremist groups. more here
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Serbia:- International support for Belgrade... →
There’s very public support from LGBT groups in other countries, ILGA-Europe and the EU itself; everyone hopes that this Sunday’s Belgrade Pride passes without incident, eight years after the last one ended in beatings and street fights. More here.
6 tags
EU Parliament shows its concern over Lithuania's... →
The European Parliament has passed a resolution critical of Lithuania’s ban on the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors (due to come into force next March). This relates to the country’s new Law on the Protection of Minors from the Detrimental Effects of Public Information, and not to the even more draconian measures shortly to be debated by the Lithuanian legislature. ...
Indonesia:- Harsh new punishments for... →
At least eight years in prison or a hundred lashes: that’s the new punishment for homosexual acts voted in by the Aceh legislative council this week. A range of new penalties affect muslims and non-muslims alike, found guilty of offences including adultery, drinking alcohol and gambling. More here
Lithuania:- Concern grows over shocking new... →
A month after banning the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors, equating homosexuality and bisexuality to other ‘detrimental effects on minors’ such as the “display of a dead or cruelly mutilated body, information that causes fear or horror or encourages suicide”, the Lithuanian parliament now looks as though it may go much further in trying to drive homosexuality...
Iraq:- Gays trapped via internet chat rooms →
UK newspaper The Observer has a chilling report which adds further insight into the terrible situation faced by gay men in Iraq, and the lack of any real official effort being made to protect them. We’re talking about it too.
More here.
Mexico City to allow gay marriage before the end... →
Alejandra Barrales, leading member of the PRD, the political party which controls local government in Mexico City, says that she and her fellow legislative assembly members will vote to change the Codigo Civil and allow gay marriage. She hopes it will be before the end of November.
UK:- Farmer uses pigs to scare off gay cruisers →
A farmer fed up with gay men using part of his 280 acre Warwickshire farm as a cruising area has finally found a way of keeping them out: he’s released a group of Tamworth pigs onto the land.
More here
Paraguay:- Remembering the gay victims of... →
This week, representatives of LGBT groups from across Paraguay laid flowers at the Panteón de los Héroes in Asunción in memory of the gay men and lesbians persecuted under the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. The brutal crackdown - under the guise of a murder investigation - began in September 1959, and at least 108 people were imprisoned, tortured and publicly paraded to humiliate them. LGBT...
Cuba:- Security police interrogate Mr Gay-Habana →
The organisers of the Mr Gay-Habana contest say that the winner, medical student Rafael Chávez González, was taken in for questioning this week by police, and accused of being a counter-revolutionary.
More here
Rome's gay quarter hit by homophobic attacks →
This is a particular instance when the old adage ‘When in Rome….’ does not apply! The gay area of Rome has suffered a number of homophobic attacks in recent weeks, with the latest incident leaving one man injured.
More here
Hungary:- Stars and governments line up in support... →
You may wonder why Whoopi Goldberg is using prime time TV to talk about Budapest’s Gay Pride march this coming weekend; but there’s good reason. In many countries, gay pride marches are joyous festive occasions; but in some, there’s still a real risk of violent confrontation with extremists and bigots. And that’s the case in Hungary, where the event has come under...
Belgium:- Equal Opportunities Minister banned from... →
Pascal Smet is the Flemish Minister of Education and Formation, Youth, Equal Opportunities and Brussels in the Belgian government, and currently, he’s heading a Red Cross campaign to encourage people to step forward and give blood. Except that he himself can’t. Belgium - like a number of other EU countries, including France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands - doesn’t allow...
India:- Government won't contest court ruling that... →
Sources suggest that India’s government isn’t going to fight the July decision by the Delhi High Court to decriminalise gay sex.
More here