Gay Iraqi boy shot dead


Iraq is such a lovely place, isn't it? This horrific story is from Britain's Independent: Human rights groups have condemned the "barbaric" murder of a 14-year-old boy, who, according to witnesses, was shot on his doorstep by Iraqi police for the apparent crime of being gay.

Ahmed Khalil was shot at point-blank range after being accosted by men in police uniforms, according to his neighbours in the al-Dura area of Baghdad.

Campaign groups have warned of a surge in homophobic killings by state security services and religious militias following an anti-gay and anti-lesbian fatwa issued by Iraq's most prominent Shia leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani...

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Gay marriage opponents submit petitions


SPRINGFIELD -- Kicking off a symbolic campaign against gay marriage, conservative groups filed petitions Monday calling for a statewide vote to change the Illinois constitution to define marriage as a relationship between "one man and one woman."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich took a different political stand on the rights of same-sex couples Monday by extending benefits to the domestic partners of most state employees.



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Russia: End Anti-Gay Violence, Permit Gay Pride Parade


(New York, May 8, 2006) Moscow authorities must investigate two incidents where protestors threatened and attacked people entering and leaving gay-friendly bars, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. These assaults on freedoms of association and assembly underscore the need for Mayor Luzhkov to end a threatened ban on Russia's first planned gay pride parade, scheduled for May 27.

"As Moscow's gays and lesbians prepare for their first gay pride parade, Mayor Luzhkov faces a choice," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "He can stand up to protect human rights, or endorse the views of extremists responsible for anti-gay violence."