Fr. Lombardi Clarifies Holy See's Position on Decriminalisation of Homosexuality

02/12/2008

The Catholic Church never has and never will support the violation of human rights or any form of unjust discrimination against the human person.
That was the message at the heart of a statement released today by Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi in response to press reports regarding an interview given by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s permanent observer at the United Nations in New York, to a French news agency, following a proposal led by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy to decriminalise homosexuality.
In the statement Fr. Lombardi points out that Archbishop Migliore’s interview, read in it’s entirety, is clear; no-one can or wants to defend the death penalty for homosexuals, as some people aim to insinuate.
The statement continues that the well-known principals of respect for the fundamental rights of the person and the refusal of all forms of unjust discrimination – which are also clearly enshrined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church – not only exclude the death penalty, but all forms of penal legislation that are violent or discriminatory towards homosexual persons.
However Fr Lombardi continues that Archbishop Migliore’s concerns were regarding another issue, not the decriminalisation of homosexuality per say, but the introduction of a declaration of political value, which could result in control mechanisms according to which, norms (not only legal, but also relative to the life of social and religious groups) that do not place each sexual orientation on the same level, would be considered contrary to respect for human rights.
The statement concludes that this clearly could become a means to put pressure on or discriminate against those who – to give a very clear example – consider marriage between a man and a woman the fundamental and original form of social life.

Germany's Gay and Gray Get a New Home

12/05/2008

Discrimination is a fact of life for gays and lesbians over 60, and fears about going to an old people's home are widespread.  But a new batch of care services in Germany are catering specifically to aging homosexuals -- and demand will likely grow.

    Hans-Paul finds reading the paper difficult, he lets television pictures wash over him and he doesn't like to leave his little flat in the Nippes neighborhood in Cologne, Germany.  For decades he has been plagued by an eye illness.  It won't be long before the 69-year-old will need to be helped out with his daily life.  Hans-Paul, who prefers not to give his second name, expects that he will soon have to move into some sort of old people's home.
    But a normal old people's home doesn't come into consideration for the former probation officer.  "I would rather not live under one roof with heterosexuals," he says.  Hans-Paul is gay and for people from the 60+ generation, that can often pose problem.

The pensioner is afraid of discrimination: He fears he could be rejected when he is at his weakest.  A survey of 2,500 homosexual pensioners in Munich showed that more than 70% are concerned that old people's home care workers or other residents may exclude and treat them with hostility.  "I don't want to take the risk that I might have to live with former Nazis or others who would have reported me to the authorities in the 1960s," Hans-Paul says.     The Cologne resident, whose long-term partner died in 1998, is interested in "Villa Anders," which translates as Villa Different, a new home for gays and lesbians which should be completed at the end of next year.  In the mixed-generational project, young people will be there to support older people in their daily life.
'Pink Godparents'
    The initiative is one of many similar projects.  There is Rosa Paten (Pink Godparents) in Frankfurt, a gay nursing service in Berlin and a homosexual flat share in Hamburg.  In Frankfurt an old people's home is reserved for homosexuals and in Berlin the Village Care Home recently opened, providing rooms for 23 aging gays and lesbians.
    Thousands share Hans-Paul's wish to live among other homosexuals.  Those interested in Villa Anders meet regularly in a Cologne community center.  Over coffee and cake, the men share very different life stories.  But they have all experienced one thing over the past decades: extreme discrimination.
    Hans, 63, sits at the table.  His wish for privacy was shattered when someone saw him surfing on a gay Web site.  His middle-class lifestyle fell apart: He was snubbed at the office and the golf club, people whispered and tried to avoid talking to him.
    Manfred, 69, dared to openly show his love for another man and was punished with a fine by a local court in his hometown in 1965.  Back then Germany's criminal code still contained Paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a punishable crime -- it was only deleted in 1994.
Michael Bochow of the Social Science Center in Berlin has been working with gay senior citizens for years.  The sociologist has met hundreds of fearful, vulnerable and "extremely lonely people."  He says the suicide rate among homosexuals is five times as high as it is among heterosexuals.  "It is a group which is, in part, deeply traumatized," says Bochow.  "And for that reason they need special care."     Nedzad Ignatenko, 34 years old and himself openly homosexual, has responded to the situation by co-foundeding a nursing service for gays and lesbians in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin.  He says he discovered a "gap in the market."
    He says many of his customers were "extremely happy" that they didn't have to hide their sexuality, that he didn't ask about children or grandchildren, but rather asked about what gay bars they used to go to.  Ignatenko also thinks that senior care will have to increasingly cater specifically to homosexuals because in the future there will be greater numbers of pensioners with AIDS.
    Critics of the new approach to care homes warn of "ghettoization."  But that fear is incomprehensible to Kerstin Wecker, who leads the Village Care Home in Berlin.  The men and women she and her co-workers look after see their new home as "a sort of protected area" not as a "ghetto".  Recently a man moved into her center from another "normal" old people's home.  But it was only after he arrived at the Village Care Home that he dared to put up a picture of his late partner.

An article from the magazine 'Physical Culture' from January of 1937

Can Sex in Humans Be Changed?
By Donald Furthman Wickets
ALL the old landmarks are going, nothing is static, everything flows. Old dreams and old nightmares become realities. Life is created in the laboratory. Sex is no longer immutable. Recently the astonishing news made the rounds that science had actually succeeded in changing the gender of two female athletes. The miracle was accomplished by surgery and duly acknowledged by law.
Mary Weston, who held (and still holds) the shotput record for women in Great Britain, is Case No. One. In 1926 Mary won the British javelin championship of her sex. "She" also, at one time or another, represented her country's womanhood at the Olympic Games. Today, Mary Weston, now known as Mark Weston, is a young man legally and is happily married to a normal young woman. Dr. L. R. Broster, a London surgeon, certifies: "that Mark Weston, who has always been brought up as a female, is a male and should continue to live as such." Discussing his athletic records before his transformation, Weston insists that he believed at the time that he was a woman.

The medals awarded to him were won in good faith. Equally sensational is Case No. Two. A native of Czecho-Slovakia, Zdenek Koubkov (nee Zdeneka Koub-kova) reaped athletic honors as a woman. In 1932 he won the hundred-meter championship at the Women's Olympics. Sports writers called him "the fastest woman on legs." For twenty-three years Zdenek lived as a womanâ€"at one time as a corset fitterâ€"an occupation which, as his nascent masculinity asserted itself, he found at times decidedly embarrassing. No one, except himself, doubted his femininity. However, in 1935, while he was wearing his running togs, suspicion as to his true sex arose. An investigation ensued. Shortly afterward (according to his story related to Gordon Kahn in the New York Daily Mirror), Professor Milosh Kilcka, head of a surgical institute in Podol, decided to emphasize Zdenek's masculinity by means of an operation. The operation was so successful that the Czecho-Slovakian government officially sanctioned Zdenek's transfer from the female to the male classification.
The two cases led to a request at the recent Olympics in Berlin for a medical examination of all female contestants. No action was taken by the committee, but the fantastic possibility of a complete sexual metamorphosis in human beings has aroused world-wide discussion. How is such a transformation possible? Can science alter the sex of a human being? To answer this question intelligently, we must review the evolution of sex.
There are many theories as to when and how sex is determined. Three major factors are generally considered decisive. The first factor is intimately connected with the creation of life itself. Sex, it is believed by many, is determined when first the male and the female chromosomes join each other in the sex act. The chromosomes transmit hereditary characteristics; they preordain our nervous, mental and physical being. Although the external organs are not visible in the human embryo until the fifth week, it is probable that every cell of the unborn infant bears the stamp of its sexual constitution from the moment of its conception.
When I speak of a person's sex, I refer to his or her preponderant sex. Sex is relative. No man is 100 per cent male, no woman 100 per cent female. Every male, even the lustiest, retains certain rudimentary characteristics of the other sex. Similarly every woman inherits certain male organs. Each sex carries within itself the potentialities of the other. Concealed from the naked eye many similarities exist in the male and female structures.
The second major factor in the evolution of sex are the glands of internal secretion. While sex is determined in the chromosomes, it nevertheless requires the proper male or female sex hormones to develop naturally. If an endocrine disturbance exists, a faulty sex development may take place. This faulty development, being of an endocrine nature, may be amenable to endocrine treatment.
The investigations of Professor Eugen Steinach and other students of biology have shown that our so-called secondary sexual characteristics are largely influenced by our hormones. Various differences in bodily structure, some patent, some elusive, are controlled by the glands of internal secretion. Steinach has reversed the sex of animals by transplanting a female gland upon a male, or a male gland upon a female.
He has also, by similar methods, created animals having the sex equipment and the characteristics of both sexes. Men, who have been mutilated by accident or in war, have been saved from the fate of becoming human capons in appearance, behavior and feeling by such transplantations and (more lately) by injections of the male hormone, which is now manufactured synthetically.
Steinach's experiments reveal that the hormones have a two-fold purpose! One, to strengthen the specific sex characteristics of the individual. Two, to inhibit the development of the characteristics of the opposite sex. For man is a bisexual animal fundamentally and when the dominant gland ceases its vigilance, the characteristics of the suppressed sex assert themselves.
Nature tends to return, within certain limits, to its original bisexual state. This does not mean a complete reversal of sex in its primary aspect. It does not imply a transformation of the sex organs themselves, but a pronounced modification of the secondary sexual characteristics and, in some instances, of the direction of the sex instinct.
Injuries to a gland which impair its inhibiting secretion produce startling changes in the appearance and the behavior of the person affected. When the damage is repaired the normal sex appearance and behavior return. The equilibrium is restored.
Dr. Oscar Riddle, of the Carnegie Institute, reports the case of a girl whose tumor, pressing upon a gland, changed her sexual characteristics. It seemed as if she had turned into a boy. After the removal of the tumor the changes which had startled her family disappeared and she becameâ€"what she was beforeâ€"a pleasing specimen of her gender.
The basic bisexuality of man as a species is confirmed by another, more recent discovery. Every male produces certain female hormones, and every female certain male hormones. By increasing the supply of female hormones in the male beyond the normal percentage, the secondary sexual characteristics are profoundly affected.
SIMILARLY, by increasing the male hormones in the female beyond the amount needed for her endocrine balance, a parallel change is wrought in the female. These effects have been illustrated most strikingly in rats, guinea pigs, mice and monkeys. In human beings, experiments of this type are not feasible. It is, moreover, far more difficult to affect the constitution of men, because it is infinitely more complex than that of the lower animals.
This brings us to the third major factor in determining sex: the impressions received by the senses through the central nervous system. No person is completely male, or completely female, unless his brain has been "eroticized" in a manner harmonious with the sex organs and with his glands of internal secretion.
Early experiences, psychic shocks, "fixations" (to use the term of the psycho-analysts) on the father or the mother, etc., have a powerful influence which proves frequently stronger than the inherited sexual constitution. This explains some variations of the sex instinct in persons who are physically entirely normal.
"But," the bewildered reader will ask, "who is normal?" A person may be said to be normal, if he or she reacts in harmony with his or her primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
The man or the woman who receives a balanced sexual constitution when the male and female element first join together, whose glands secrete the requisite hormones and who achieves sex maturity without being sidetracked from the path of evolution by some psychic or nervous disturbance, will be normal in his or her sexual behavior.
All human beings pass through a stage where sex is more or less undifferentiated, where they are attracted almost equally by either sex. But in 95 out of a 100 cases the bisexual or homosexual components, present in all, sink to the bottom of the stream of consciousness, not to be dislodged except by some emotional or physiological explosion, or by the analyst delving in the deeps of the unconscious.
HOWEVER, any stage in the threefold development outlined may be interrupted or impeded; the slightest variation, the slightest derangement, may, consciously or unconsciously, anatomically or psychically, affect the direction of the sex instinct and constitution. Even within the compass of the "normal" there are infinite variations. My friend, the late Dr. Magnus Hirsch-feld, of the Institut fur Sexualwissen-schaft in Berlin (suppressed by the Nazis), calculated that the number of different sexual types equals 46,046,721, or three raised to the sixteenth power.
Hirschfeld's calculations were based upon the various elements which enter into the determination of sex. He insisted that he under-rather than overestimated the possible number of combinations. The number is equal roughly to 1/40 of all human beings. But, since no human being equals any other human being, since every thumb-print differs, however minutely, from every other thumb-print, we may assume that, theoretically, the sexual behavior and the sexual constitution of every human being differs in some manner from that of every other human being.
The vagaries, variations, vacillations, fluctuations, of the sex instinct are amazing. There is the historic case of the Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont, who served the King of France as Ambassador to England, but who looked like a woman and spent the larger part of his life in petticoats. The public debated excitedly whether he was a man or a woman. In London more than 100,000 pounds were wagered on the subject. The question was not decided until his death when the testimony of three physicians established that, according to the tests then existing, he was in every respect a "male."
The Chevalier's bearing was not effeminate, althoughâ€"physically at least â€"he had certain feminine characteristics. This did not prevent him from being an expert duelist. According to The Winged Foot, ably edited house-organ of the New York Athletic Club, he bested Saint George, the most adroit British fencer of his generation.
The Chevalier's love affairs, judged by the evidence available, were entirely orthodox. Nevertheless, some queer psychic or endocrine twist made him prefer the habiliments of the other sex. For a season he lived as a woman, then again as a man. He was (sartorially at least) a human oyster, a subject on which more will be said anon. The singular craving of one sex to garb itself with the garments of the other has been called "Eonism" after Eon by Havelock Ellis. Hirschfeld designates persons so afflicted "transvestites."
In view of the mutation of sexual characteristics and in view of the fact that both male and female elements are present in all of us, it is not surprising that nature should produce "freaks" who possess both male and female sex organs. It is only surprising that such cases do not occur more frequently! Persons who are at once male and female are "hermaphrodites." Hermaphrodites have been known from the dawn of history. They are mentioned in the lore of the ancient Greeks, in the Bible and in the Talmud. They play an important part in Hindu mythology.
The term "hermaphrodite" is derived from an ancient Greek story. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, whose ancestry is perpetuated in his name. When the beautiful youth spurned her affection, she threw herself into his arms and beseeched the gods to unite him with her forever. The gods listened, and thus was created the first being possessing the attributes of both sexes. Certain rabbis of old expounded the theory that Adam was a hermaphrodite before the creation of Eve. An English poet, the late Edward Carpenter, disciple of Walt Whitman, echoes this conviction: "Was Adam perchance like this ere Eve from his side was drawn?"
Lawgivers of all nations took cognizance of the hermaphrodite. He is called "tumtim" in the Talmud. The Hebrews excluded the "tumtim" from the priesthood. According to the laws of Romulus, founder of Rome, hermaphrodites were placed in wooden caskets and cast into the sea. The Emperor Constantine ordered them to be executed. They were proscribed in Egypt. The Florida Indians imposed upon them the hardest of labors. In Prussia (under Frederick the Great) a person of dubious sex could decide to which side of the fence he wished to belong on reaching his eighteenth year. The same is, or was, French law. There is a case in French legal annals of a hermaphrodite who, after making the fateful decision, changed his mind andâ€"was burned at the stake!
Sculptors, painters, poets celebrate the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. However, in spite of the poets and in spite of popular legend, the hermaphrodite in whom both organs are completely developed and function is practically unknown. According to two students of the subject, Professor Sauerbruch and Franz Ludwig von Neugebauer, only sevenâ€"possibly twoâ€"authentic cases are recorded in medical history.
In the animal kingdom, hermaphro-dism is a frequent occurrence. It is the normal state of the snail. The oyster, too, has an interesting time, for it changes its sex every season. The tapeworm passes through various stages. It is at various times mono-sexual, asexual and bisexual. In the human species we deal principally, if not only, with "pseudo" or "false" hermaphrodism.
The hermaphrodite may be "lateral": one side of the body may be pronouncedly male, the other side pronouncedly female. He may be "complex." The internal sex organs may belong wholly or in part to one sex, and the external organs to the other. The hermaphrodite may be "male"; that is to say, he may have completely developed male organs, while the female organsâ€"though coexistingâ€"may be only incompletely developed. Or, he may be predominantly "female". Perfect hermaphrodites are rare in the human species, but there are cases where the real sex cannot be determined except by a post-mortem.
Cases of pseudo-hermaphrodism, or dubious sex, figure frequently in the news. Recently the newspapers reported the case of a sergeant in Warsaw, aged twenty-five, who asked for admission to a hospitalâ€"to give birth to a baby. Until his eighteenth year his sex was in doubt. He considered himself a male, entered the army and was accepted. His accouchement altered his status!
One of the most famous cases in recent years is that of the Danish painter, Einar Wegener. Wegener was married and considered himself a man. At twenty he fulfilled his marital duties. Some years later, in deference to some accidental suggestion, he disguised himself as a woman. The masquerade was so successful that he adopted it frequently. His friends, including his wife, called him "Lili". Lili's second, probably his real self, began to assert itself.
He began to suffer from disturbances which resembled the monthly cycle of woman. He finally concluded that, although his external organsâ€"though perhaps rather undeveloped â€" were those of a male, his body was essentially female.
A GERMAN doctor surmised that Wegener actually possessed rudimentary female sex glands, which were unable to develop because of the inhibiting influence of the male sex glands. An investigation confirmed the doctor's theory.
In 1932, Wegener's story, based on his diary, was given to the world in a book entitled: "Man into Woman," with an introduction by Dr. Norman Haire, the celebrated London gynecologist. After many consultations Wegener's doctors embarked upon a complicated series of operations. His male sex glands were removed. A few months later, according to Dr. Haire, he went to Dresden, where the male organ was also removed, his abdomen was opened, and the presence of rudimentary female sex glands was established, and at the same time ovarian tissues from a healthy young woman of twenty-six were transplanted into him. "A little later," I am quoting Dr. Haire, "he underwent another operation, the nature of which is not explained. By this time he felt himself to be entirely a woman. The Danish authorities issued him a new passport as a female in the name of Lili Elbe, and the King of Denmark declared his marriage null and void. With his consent, and indeed at his suggestion, his former wife married a mutual friend of theirs in Rome."
Another mutual friend now proposed marriage to Lili. "Before" (I am again quoting Dr. Haire) "consenting to the marriage, Lili made another journey to the German surgeon at Dresden to tell him that she had received the offer of marriage and to ask him if he could carry out yet another operation on her to enable her to function completely as a woman . . . and to become a mother. An operation for this purpose was carried out; but shortly afterwards Lili died in Dresden of heart trouble.
"There is," Dr. Haire goes on to say, "a small number of curious cases of this sort, but that of Wegener is the most extreme."
I am inclined to agree with Dr. Haire that it is unwise to perform operations, even at the patient's own request, until we know more about sexual physiology.
WE are now in the position to revert to our original query. Is it possible to change the sex of human beings? We cannot reply categorically. Our answer must be a conditional "yes" or a conditional "no." It is possible to correct certain errors of nature, but it is impossible, with the present limits of medical science, to change the sex of a mature, normally developed human being. It is possible, at least theoretically, to induce lactation in a male by stimulating the mammillary gland, if he subjects himself to the experiment before puberty. It is possible, under similar circumstances, to accentuate the growth of rudimentary male organs in the female. Science can, age may, and accident will, bring about marked changes in the secondary sexual characteristics, even of a mature individual. But it is not possible to turn a full-fledged male into a female, or a full-fledged female into a male. The surgeon's knife can dissolve (with certain qualifications) the marriage between Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. The endocrinologist can enhance the male or the female characteristics of the pseudo-hermaphrodite; the plastic surgeon can eradicate some malformations. But complete transformation of sex is not accomplished even in animals; Steinach's laboratory males and females are incapable of reproduction.
The two athletes cited in the beginning of this article never were normal females; if they had been, no medical hocus-pocus, no surgical miracle, could have transformed them into men.

The First Iranian Queer Radio Has Been Broadcasted

02/12/2008

Dear Friends,

We proudly announce that the first Iranian queer radio called RAHA has been
re-broadcasted. RAHA means "Liberated" which started to broadcast from April
2005. Its aim was to deliver the message of Iranian queer population nation
wide.

Due to some technical difficulty the radio has been off for a while. But now
we are back again with new team, new mottos, and new goals.

We are a group of Iranian queers who decided to work on this project in
order to express and prove that "We Do Exist"



With especial thanks to IRanian Queer Railroad - IRQR for being with us in
the all steps of this broadcast.



 Radio Raha Team

www.radioraha.net

Catholic leaflet's gay support

1 December 2008

English Catholics reject Vatican homophobia
A new leaflet produced by the Catholic Church in England and Wales
urges priests and churchgoers to be respectful and welcoming towards
lesbian and gay people.

It also acknowledges and rejects the "oppression" suffered by
homosexuals; and suggests that Catholics "express appreciation for the
gifts that homosexual Catholics bring to their faith community."

Catholic traditionalists have condemned the leaflet's liberal message
and accused the English and Welsh Church of defying Vatican orthodoxy.

"This leaflet is a welcome, positive initiative which will bring great
comfort to gay Catholics and their families. Its sympathetic,
understanding message is a big improvement on the stern,
uncompromising homophobia of most Vatican pronouncements on
homosexuality," said Peter Tatchell of OutRage!, the UK lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender human rights campaign.

"Its liberal stance has provoked condemnation from traditionalist,
conservative Catholics. They denounce the leaflet as a maverick,
renegade move by the English and Welsh Catholic Church, acting in
defiance of Vatican orthodoxy," said Mr Tatchell.

"This leaflet challenges these outdated, bigoted attitudes. It
reflects the growing acceptance of loving, loyal, long-term same-sex
relationships by grassroots Catholics."

Serbian government funds LGBT information website

The Ministry of Culture in Serbia has given financial support to an online news website dedicated to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and transgender population within the country and the Serbian Diaspora.
Queer Serbia Web Portal, today GayEcho , features news about events in Serbia and abroad, as well as features on gay on lesbian culture and art.
It aims to increase LGBT visibility and fight homophobia in society.
The site received financial support of 256.500 RSDinars (£2,500).
In 2003 the Ministry of Culture pledged funding for the portal, but it was never paid after a change of minister.
Later an adviser to the new Minister for Culture, Bora Đorđević, told the press: “he has no intention to give money to faggots.”
“This is a big step for the gay-lesbian population in Serbia, which received for the first time a support from the State, which is financed back also by them through taxes and contributions, and which did not do a lot till now regarding the respect of gay-lesbian rights,” said Predrag M. Azdejkovic, Editor in Chief of the Queeria Web Portal.
Serbia is not a member of the EU but the government has declared European integration to be one of the strategic priorities for the Republic and it has been a potential candidate country for the EU accession since 2003.
A recent progress report from the European Commission on candidate countries said that in Serbia violent attacks, hate speech and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity is prevalent.

Vlada novčano podržala gej sajt

Ministarstvo kulture dodelilo 256.500 dinara internet-prezentaciji organizacije Kvirija centar

Ministarstvo kulture je na nedavnom konkursu za projekte u oblasti informisanja dodelilo 256.500 dinara portalu nevladine organizacije Kvirija centar, koji promoviše prava homoseksualne populacije. U dva navrata ukupno je, kako je zvanično saopšteno, podeljeno 42 miliona dinara za dela koja doprinose pravovremenom i objektivnom informisanju i medijskom pluralizmu.
Dušan Radulović, glavni i odgovorni urednik Radio Beograda, bio je jedan od pet ravnopravnih članova komisije koja je većala o projektima pristiglim na konkurs za dodelu novca iz Fonda kulture i informisanja, tačnije za ove druge – projekte u vezi sa informisanjem.
– Projekata je bilo sigurno oko dvesta, izbor je napravljen pre dva meseca, sada je ta odluka postala izvršna – objašnjava Radulović. – Smatrali smo da internet-sajt Kvirije koji, kako je navedeno u prijavi, ima za cilj širenje saradnje, može da koristi razumevanju u sredini u kojoj ima homofobije. Dopis je bio intoniran tako da nas je ubedio da portal može da pomogne da se ljudi bolje upoznaju sa sugrađanima koji žive pokraj njih, a imaju sva prava dok ne počnu da ugrožavaju druge. Odlučivao je kvalitet projekta, izgled portala dostupnog svakome, bez agresivnosti koje organizacije te vrste ponekad imaju. Dakle, jedna stvar, em savremena, em potrebna ovom našem društvu.
Ipak, on nije želeo da otkriva imena kolega u komisiji sa kojima je delio odgovornost za deobu „kulturnog dinara". U Ministarstvu kulture sve je transparentno, komisija je radila javno, pa se zna da su sem Radulovića novac za projekte, od onih za lokalne medije do Kvirijinog sajta, a inače NUNS-ovi i UNS-ovi predstavnici, raspodeljivali još Ivica Milosavljević, Mirko Miletić, Miroslav Kos i Vera Barišić.
Želje onih koji su konkurisali nadmašivale su pet puta sumu kojom je komisija raspolagala. Ni Kvirija centar nije dobio onoliko koliko je tražio. Ali, izgleda da je prvi put neko gej-lezbijsko društvo dobilo pomoć od srpske države.
– Najvažnije je da nas je ova država priznala kao legalne građane. Od novca je mnogo bitnija simbolika. Za šest meseci rada portala potrebno nam je još ovoliko, ali zadovoljni smo, imaćemo novac do kraja februara, a onda ćemo konkurisati negde drugde – kaže Predrag Azdejković, urednik sajta „Kvirija veb portal".
On podseća da im je svojevremeno Ministarstvo kulture, u vreme Lečićevog mandata, odobrilo pomoć od sto hiljada dinara. Vlada je pala, novac nikad nije uplaćen jer je novi budžet odobren u vreme predsednikovanja Dragana Kojadinovića, čije je ministarstvo konkurs odmah poništilo, a savetnik Bora Đorđević je u medijima tim povodom izjavio da mu „ne pada na pamet da daje pare".

Ireland: Don’t assume patients are heterosexual, medics warned

24 November 2008

Doctors have been warned against assuming all of their patients are heterosexual and of having an unwitting or unintentional bias against gay people.

The advice is contained in the first book of guidelines for family doctors on the care of gay patients – male and female – which was launched at the winter meeting of the Irish College of General Practitioners in Dublin over the weekend.

The booklet warns that anti-gay bias among professionals – while often unwitting – results in lesbian, gay or bisexual patients receiving inferior care.

It follows research showing many people are still reluctant to reveal their sexuality to their doctor, emphasising the need for the GP to take steps to encourage disclosure and have an educated response.

Odhran Allen, author of the guidelines, said anti-gay bias by GPs is often due to a lack of awareness on sexual orientation.

“Even the most subtle expressions of anti-gay bias may have an adverse effect on the doctor-patient relationship and the person’s willingness to disclose information,” the booklet points out.

   
http://www.independent.ie/health/latest-news/dont-assume-patients-are-heterosexual-medics-warned-1550824.html

Slash pro same-sex marriage :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bun4J3OhwQc

Norway: Bishops wants special homo-liturgy

From the New Year, the new gender-neutral marriage law will come into force,
but the church has not decided upon a special liturgy for homosexuals who
enter into marriage.

“Adopting a new liturgy is now urgent. This is something that applies to
many in the church, and for some of us it is starting to be a matter of
conscience,” says the bishop to NRK.

At the annual Church Meeting this year, time has not been allotted to
discussing how priests should relate to the gender-neutral law. As of today,
it is up to each priest whether or not to perform consecration prayers.

Jørgensen says that it is important for homosexuals to feel that they are
met in the same way as heterosexuals in the church, and that they therefore
should have their own liturgy.

“In this way, homosexual matrimony is recognized, and homosexuals are
received in a way that is honourable and shows equality,” he says. The
bishop hopes that the church council will now deal with the liturgy issue,
so that work can be started on forming the liturgy at next year’s Church
Meeting.

http://www.aftenbladet.no/english/Bishops-wants-special-homo-liturgy-2569155.html

Hungarian Parliament Adopts New Hate Speech and Hate Crime Legislation

10/11/2008

The Hungarian Parliament has adopted today two new pieces of legislation concerning LGBT people. The first one extends hate crime legislation to cover hate motivated crimes committed against a member of a group other than national, ethnic, or religious: from now on the Criminal Code contains a general formulation 'Violent act against a member of a social group', which is believed to include groups based on sexual orientation as well. The second piece of legislation makes it possible to initiate civil proceedings against a person who engages in degrading or intimidating behavior towards groups based on nationality, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

Following the violent attacks at Gay Pride Marches in the past two years, and several other violent demonstrations by the same extreme right wing groups, the Hungarian Government prepared a bill on the protection of public order. The bill contains various amendments to the Criminal Code relating to public demonstrations. Upon the lobbying efforts of various LGBT and human rights organizations the bill also contains a rewording of the offense 'Violent act against a member of a national, ethnic or religious group'. The new formulation renames the offense 'Violent act against a member of a social group', retains the specific mentioning of national, ethnic  and religious groups, but opens up the groups covered by the legislation by adding the general category 'other social group'. The new wording is believed to be applicable to sexual minorities, although government officials shied away from mentioning LGBT people in the explanation of the bill or the parliamentary debate. The bill was passed 210-162-6, the governing Hungarian Socialist Party and its former junior coalition partner Alliance of Free Democrats voted for the law, the the moderate conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum abstained, while the other right wing opposition parties voted against it.

As part of the same package the Government also prepared new legislation on hate speech. Currently, the Criminal Code contains the offense 'Incitement to hatred' which covers national, ethnic and religious groups, as well as the general category of 'other social groups', but the courts tend to interpret this offense very restrictively to cases where such behavior directly leads to violence. 

The new legislation which is believed to conform to the standards set by the Constitutional Court offers a civil law solution to hate speech: members of a group subjected to degrading or intimidating behavior can initiate civil proceedings against the offender. The law also contains specific provisions to combine claims by different individuals related to the same offense. The law explicitly mentions groups based on nationality, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation as groups protected by the legislation.

Military pay out to gay soldiers

7 November 2008

The UK Ministry of Defence has revealed that it has paid £4 million in
compensation to 65 former service personnel who were booted out of the
armed forces because of their homosexuality.

The average payout was £61,500.

The ban on gays in the British military was overturned in 1999, after
the European Court of Human Rights ruled that it was a violation of a
person's right to a private life under Article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights.

"These payouts are small compensation to people who were often
subjected to degrading interrogation and detention, and who lost their
job and service accommodation. They ended up unemployed and homeless,"
said Peter Tatchell of the gay human rights group, OutRage!, who
campaigned for three decades to end the ban on gay and lesbian people
serving in the armed forces.

"For many gay and lesbian service personnel, dismissal from the
military destroyed their distinguished careers and caused them immense
financial and emotional suffering.

"Although this monetary compensation package is welcome and long
overdue, what's really important is the official recognition that a
grave injustice was done to these people and to hundreds of other
dismissed lesbian and gay soldiers, sailors and air crews," said Mr
Tatchell.

Trans protest at Stonewall Awards faces feminist counter-demo

The decision to nominate Guardian journalist Julie Bindel for a Stonewall Award has angered some in the trans community, and a picket of tonight’s ceremony has been widely trailed on the internet as a wider protest against “LGB transphobia.”
London Transfeminist Group said they are expecting a large crowd of protesters. They assert that Ms Bindel’s articles are transphobic.
Campaigner Ros Kaveney said:
“Ms Bindel is advocating talking therapies for trans people in a way that almost entirely parallels the advocacy of talking therapies by the Christian right as a way of extirpating all LGBT people.
“If she does not understand that, as a lesbian, she is a turkey advocating Christmas for turkeys in an adjacent bit of the farmyard, then she is being obtuse; what she is doing is betraying not only the trans community but the entire LGBT community, and it is wrong to honour her for her other work when there is this colossal stain on her career.”
London Feminist Network is planning a demo at the trans protest in support of Ms Bindel.
“Look out for the eight-foot high purple and white Julie Bindel Fanclub banner,” the group said.
Trans activists have claimed that more than one hundred people “from all over England will be waiting outside the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) for the arrival of the guests.”
Ms Bindel has apologised over the tone of a 2004 article Gender Benders Beware but stands by her view that people should question the basis of the diagnosis of male psychiatrists, “at a time when gender polarisation and homophobia work hand-in-hand.”
“Iran carries out the highest number of sex change surgeries in the world,” she said in a statement to LFM.
“It is unnecessary mutilation – in my opinion there is nothing ‘wrong’ with those who are currently seen as candidates for transgender surgery – they just don’t fit the gender stereotype.
“Surgery is an attempt to keep gender stereotypes intact. The diagnosis of childhood GID (gender identity disorder) follows old-fashioned notions of what constitutes appropriate behaviour for those assigned to the sex classes of male and female.
“It is precisely this idea that certain distinct behaviours are appropriate for males and females that underlies feminist criticism of the phenomenon of ‘transgenderism’. This view is shared by a large number of feminists of all ages and backgrounds.”
Trans activists have predicted that tonight’s protests will be “a major embarrassment for Stonewall over its controversial nomination.” They had called for Ms Bindel’s nomination to be rescinded.
A spokesperson for Stonewall told PinkNews.co.uk: “All the complaints came after voting had taken place, so it would not have been honest in any circumstances to say that the nomination had been withdrawn.”

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9516.html

Anal cancer test will save lives

5 November 2008

British scientists have developed a new test to detect early signs of
anal cancer, which will potentially save thousands of lives.

The incidence of anal cancer is estimated as 37 per 100,000 in gay
men, which is similar to the rate of cervical cancer in women before
the introduction of pap smear screening. For gay men who are
HIV-positive, the incidence is about twice as great – around 75 per
100,000.

The study, funded by the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) and
Cancer Research UK, is published in the American journal, Cancer
Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

See the full MRC news release below.

Lead author of the study, Dr Nick Coleman, said: "We have uncovered a
more effective way to detect anal cancer in its early stages, meaning
fewer people would have to undergo the rigours of radiotherapy and
chemotherapy treatment.

"Anal cancer is a difficult disease to detect and many cases are
identified after it becomes too late for people to undergo simple
surgery to remove it. We wanted to create a test which was easier to
perform and had a high rate of accuracy. This study suggests that MCM
testing fits the bill very well indeed."

Gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who in 2003 successfully
lobbied the UK government to take action on anal cancer, said:

"This new screening test is likely to save thousands of lives by
ensuring earlier diagnosis and treatment. The Cambridge medical team
have done magnificent, life-saving work. I offer them my
congratulations and appreciation."

"Two decades ago, I deduced that if the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
causes cervical cancer in women, it must also have the potential to
cause anal cancer in people who have anal sex, especially gay and
bisexual men.

"I lobbied the UK government for two decades to take action but was
constantly rebuffed. The British Medical Journal and The Lancet
declined to report the issue and Cancer Research UK dismissed it.
Everyone said there wasn't enough credible research to justify action.
But that was why I was urging research, in order to establish the
incidence and risk, and devise screening methods and treatment
protocols.

"From the mid-1990s, I stepped up my prodding of the medical
establishment. I wrote to successive Health Ministers and STI
specialists, urging the introduction of anal pap smears of at risk
populations and the funding of research programmes. The replies were
dismissive and illogical; typically arguing that the science on this
issue was "uncertain".

"This was a limp justification for doing nothing. If the medical
knowledge was inadequate, I argued this was all the more reason to
fund pilot studies.

"Undeterred, I collated fragments of US research showing that pap
smears could be an effective screening tool for anal cancer, and that
screening is cost-effective and can save lives.

"In 2003, I lobbied the then newly appointed Health Secretary, Dr John Reid.

I advised him: 'Screening has massively reduced deaths from cervical
cancer. A similar screening programme among men and women who have
anal sex could also identify cancerous and pre-cancerous
irregularities; ensuring earlier treatment and enhanced survival. It
cannot be medically justifiable to treat people at risk of anal cancer
differently from those at risk of cervical cancer'.

"My letter urged the Department of Health to fund pilot studies at STI
clinics, including anal pap smear screening programmes to detect the
prevalence of HPV infection and anal cancer among risks groups such as
gay and bisexual men.

"Dr Reid immediately referred my letter to the National Screening
Committee (NSC). Within two weeks the NSC met and agreed 'the existing
evidence should be reviewed and assessed', with a view to funding
'further research'.

"An evaluation project was established by Dr Muir Gray of the NSC.
Following a seminar of experts at the British Medical Association
headquarters, two working groups were formed to examine future
research avenues, the viability of screening programmes and the
development of new experimental therapies.

"This has resulted in the coordination and cross-referencing of anal
cancer research and treatment throughout the UK, including new
therapies and test methods, such as the new diagnostic method devised
by the Cambridge team," said Mr Tatchell.

See the full MRC news release below.

Further information:

Peter Tatchell – 020 7403 1790

Medical Research Council – News Release

Immediate

A new 'smear test' to prevent anal cancer

Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) have found a new and
improved technique to detect anal cancer that may cause the number of
people dying from the disease to drop significantly.

The research, carried out at the MRC Cancer Cell Unit in Cambridge,
explores using minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCMs) to detect
pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in the anus. The study, funded by
the MRC and Cancer Research UK, is published today in the American
journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

MCMs have been used to find pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in other
areas of the body more accurately and effectively but this is the
first time they have been used to detect anal cancer.

Lead author of the study, Dr Nick Coleman, said: "This is welcome news
for people who are at high risk of developing anal cancer. We have
uncovered a more effective way to detect anal cancer in its early
stages, meaning fewer people would have to undergo the rigours of
radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.

"Anal cancer is a difficult disease to detect and many cases are
identified after it becomes too late for people to undergo simple
surgery to remove it. We wanted to create a test which was easier to
perform and had a high rate of accuracy. This study suggests that MCM
testing fits the bill very well indeed."

The study first involved screening anal tissue samples from different
patients to pick up the biological differences between normal cells
and cancer cells. The scientists found that normal tissue lacked MCMs
whereas anal cancer and pre-cancer had an abundance of MCMs. The power
of MCM testing was then shown in an independent group study of 235
anal smears from 144 subjects.

The test successfully identified 84% of the patients with anal
pre-cancer, without producing a high rate of false alarms in people
without disease.

Dr Coleman said: "This is a much better overall performance than
existing methods of detecting anal disease, which either miss too many
cases or show up as positive when no disease is actually there. MCM
tests can also be read by a computer, which would avoid the risk of
human error and be a cheaper option too."

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research
UK, said: "MCMs are already showing promise as early markers to be
used in screening for a number of cancers, so it is encouraging to see
this research progressing.

"We must also continue to raise awareness of the disease, particularly
among people in high risk groups such as gay and bisexual men so they
can take action if they have symptoms."

The incidence of anal cancer is estimated as high as 37 per 100,000 in
gay men and about double if they are also HIV-positive.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has lobbied for anal cancer
screening and treatment programmes targeted at the higher risk gay
community for many years.

He said: "For gay and bisexual men who are at risk of anal cancer,
these tests are an important medical breakthrough. They will help save
lives. With this reliable screening test, signs of anal cancer will be
detected earlier, leading to speedier, more effective treatment."

Indja: Prvo lezbejsko venčanje kod Tadž Mahala / Couple become first to marry by Taj Mahal

4.11.2008.

Dve Šveđanke su prošlog vikenda postale prvi lezbejski par koji se
venčao kod najpoznatijeg obeležja Indije, Tadž Mahala.

Sandra i Sara, par koji živi u Nju Delhiju i radi za dobrotvornu
organizaciju koja se bavi pravima deteta, su se venčale putem
tradicionalne Hindu ceremonije, koja je održana u hramu Mahadeva Shiva
u gradu Agra.

Ritual je obuhvatio razmenjivanje venaca pre nego što je par sedam
puta obišao krug oko vatre, što je tradicionalni običaj.

Sveštenik Darm Das koji je vodio ceremoniju je najpre odbio da venča
ovaj par, navodeći religijske principe kao argument, kasnije se
složio, nakon što su dale ponudu hramu i zavetovale se da će celog
života biti sledbenice.

Das je za Daily Mail izjavio da "Iako Hindu sistem ne odobrava ovakve
veze i brakove, ja sam impresioniran ljubavlju između ove dve žene."

Ipak, nisu svi podržali ovaj brak. Jedan drugi sveštenik je izjavio da
se "stranci rugaju našem sistemu i zloupotrebljavaju liberalne
vrednosti. Tome se mora stati na put."

U Indiji je homoseksualnost i dalje ilegalna, ali je borba za
dekriminalizaciju poslednjih godina sve glasnija.


Two Swedish women tied the knot last weekend, becoming the first lesbian couple to marry beside India’s most famous landmark: the Taj Mahal.

The couple, known only as Sandra and Sarah, who live in New Delhi and work for a children’s charity, got married during a traditional Hindu ceremony, which took place at the Mahadeva Shiva temple in the town of Agra.

The ritual involved exchanging garlands before the pair made seven circuits around a fire in the traditional marriage custom.

“We were in love with each other since childhood,” Sandra said. “A few months ago we came to Agra and were mesmerised by the Taj Mahal. Both of us had read extensively about the emperor and his love and decided to draw a parallel and get married in the proximity of the Taj.”

http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=512