Ugandan 'gay' name list condemned


A Ugandan newspaper's decision to publish the names of alleged homosexual men is a "chilling development", New York-based Human Rights Watch says.

Last month the Red Pepper paper printed 45 first names and professions or areas of work of alleged homosexual men.

HRW says the move could foreshadow a government crackdown in the country, where homosexuality is illegal.

But an editor at the paper told the BBC that it was not a witchhunt and that no man on the list was identifiable.

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Black Gay Pride marks decade of growth 


The loud beat of an African drum and high-energy tribal dancing helped “make way for revolution” Sept. 1 at the opening ceremony of Atlanta’s annual Black Gay Pride celebration.

In the Life Atlanta, official organizer of Black Gay Pride, chose the revolutionary theme to celebrate its 10th anniversary of hosting political, educational and cultural events during the Labor Day weekend tradition, which began as a series of house parties more than two decades ago.
Nightlife festivities for this year’s Black Gay Pride got underway as early as Aug. 30, but the Friday night opening ceremony at the Sheraton Midtown Colony Square, ITLA’s host hotel, marked the start of official events.

Applications for Sex Change Rising


A growing number of transsexuals are applying to courts for a gender change on their family registration records, following the Supreme Court’s legal recognition of sex changes in June.

According to the Supreme Court yesterday, 17 transsexuals have applied to local courts nationwide to change their genders registered in “hojok,” or family registration records, for the 70 days since the top court’s ruling on June 22.

The highest court ruling was the first in South Korea that ruled in favor of a sex change on official records.

South African bank assists on transgender IDs


South Africa's First National Bank has grown the favourite of the nation's small transgender minority after it helped out a Burundian female male-born refugee getting a bank account. As a transgender refugee in South Africa, identity problems may often be a big hurdle to overcome.

Any person who wants to open a bank account needs to comply with South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). This means that proof of residence and/or work address needs to be submitted to the bank of choice. Under normal circumstances this should not be too difficult, except for South Africa's large number of refugees.

CALL FOR ACTION (from Lgbt India)


(PLease cross post this to all the relevent lists)

This is a plea for direct mobilisation. This morning I learnt that the distributors for Amol Palekar's latest film, The Quest, have withdrawn after they agreed to release the film. But they suddenly withdrew after the preview revealed it as an openly gay film.

This is the third in the triology of films on sexuality that Amol Palekar has planned. Amol had given a sneak-preview but requested me not to talk or write about it till matters started moving. However, this morning, I learnt that the
all-India distributors had withdrawn because it was "so brazenly gay" despite assurances that they would be taking up the movie for all-India release.

The promos had made it abundantly clear that the subject was about a gay man caught in a dilemma; it showed two men kissing and in bed together. Unlike films made before, there has been no playing around with gender or soft-peddling the issue as both men are shown to be masculine. In a way the film is a slap in the face of a heteronormative-looking masculinity and also makes a point where the married gay man is given no quarter by his wife who learns about her husband's homosexuality.

Though i would have liked to review the film for this list but time is short and I sincerely feel it is time for direct action.

Amol is facing direct in-your-face homophobia with the whole film industry suddenly giving him the cold shoulder. This is shameful especially when we were expecting things to ease off in Bollywood.

The Humsafar Trust wishes to make this a test case for direct action and invites the community to come for a matinee premier of 'The Quest' to show solidarity with Amol Palekar and show up Indian hypocrisy for all its worth.

The direct action day is planned for September 29. So please mark the calender. Community mobilisation is the only way we can face this kind of homophobia.

Sincerely

Ashok Row Kavi
Humsafar Trust
Mumbai Metro

Texas police officer convicted of sexually assaulting transsexual


A San Antonio police officer was convicted Wednesday of violating the civil rights of a transsexual who said the officer raped and beat her during a traffic stop. The jury found that Officer Dean Gutierrez's conduct violated Gabriel Bernal's rights through aggravated sexual assault. A sentencing hearing is set for December 1. The felony carries a sentence of up to life in
prison and as much as $250,000 in fines, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Although the names of sexual assault victims are usually withheld, Bernal has consented to have her name made public. Bernal goes by the name of Starlight and prefers to be addressed as a woman, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

In the trial, prosecutors presented DNA evidence and the testimony of Bernal, 23. Prosecutors said Gutierrez, 46, stopped Bernal on June 10, 2005, ordered her into his car, and drove her to a remote location where he physically and sexually assaulted her.

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Ivorian gay community fights for right to life and love


Abidjan - The tiny bar in Abidjan's Marcory neighbourhood is just one among thousands in Ivory Coast's commercial capital. And, at first, there seems little to set it apart from the others.

The music blares on the tiny dance floor as customers try out the latest moves in front of the wall-length mirrors so important for the perfection of the city's daily-changing dance crazes.


But for one young man, who prefers to be known only as Yann, this place serves as a kind of lifeline.

Hoping Md. Is 'Ready for a Person Like Me'
House Candidate Would Be State's 1st Transgender Lawmaker


Dana Beyer rapped on a door at the end of a leafy Silver Spring cul-de-sac. A woman answered. She listened to the candidate's spiel, sought her views on abortion rights (for) and growth (against) and found little on which the two did not agree.
"It's good to see more women running," she told the candidate as the two parted.



For the five decades preceding a fateful 2003 trip to San Francisco, Dana Beyer lived her life as a man named Wayne. The September primary will tell whether her legislative district, one of the most progressive in Maryland, is ready to elect the state's first transgender lawmaker.
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School Board Asks Students If They're Gay 

(New York City) As high school students head back to classes for the start of a new year districts across the country face a patchwork of policies regarding LGBT students.  While the number of Gay-Straight clubs grows nationwide some school boards have dug in their heels to block LGBT students from organizing.

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Katrina's queer victims: Still suffering


One year later the lives of many LGBT New Orleans residents remain in tatters—no thanks to George Bush's "faith-based" charities, most of which condemn homosexuality and refuse to recognize, much less assist, our families.