Gay News

Supporters of an East End gay pub are battling to stop it being included in a hit-list of sex entertainment establishments the council wants to close down.

Around 750 people have signed a petition to exempt the White Swan in Commercial Road from Tower Hamlets Council's plans to ban any venue from offering lap-dancing, pole-dancing or sex shows.

Campaigners, who first presented the petition in November, now accuse town hall chiefs of ignoring their concerns as they have had no response despite being told they should receive one within 28 days.

The White Swan's popular Wednesday nights sometimes feature male strippers but the campaign group is arguing there are no advertisements that could offend passersby and no prostitution or sexual activity of any kind.

Daryl Stafford, leading the campaign, said:

If we live in a truly multi-cultural society where people truly respect the lifestyles of others this simply would not happen. The venue has run its comedy male amateur strip night for 26 years without a single complaint.

And with a touch of 'I'm alright Jack', he added:

The legislation was originally set up to stop women being exploited and coerced into the sex trade... But there are no women involved in this. It's a men only night and stripping is voluntary."

Jack Gilbert, of LGBT group Rainbow Hamlets, said:

If they are making an argument that something is a social nuisance or has a history of causing anti-social behaviour and exploitation then the White Swan does not meet any of these criteria at all.

A council spokesprat said:

There was a record number of responses to the consultation and it was clear that residents felt strongly about the matter. No decision has been made in relation to which premises would be deemed to be sex establishments.

And with a particularly inept piece of politically correct confused thinking, Conservative group leader at Tower Hamlets, Peter Golds told BBC London:

I, like most reasonably minded people, have concerns about scantily clad women being exploited....BUT...consenting adults looking for a laugh, a joke and comedy is not exploitation.

The original petition was highlighted in an article by Jane Fae:

Lesbians in Ecuador are demanding an end to torture clinics designed to make them straight.

An online petition, addressed to Ecuadorian Health Minister, David Chiriboga and launched last month welcomes moves by the Ecuadorian government to close some 27 such clinics -- but points out that over 200 are still open.

According to the petition letter, escaping patients have reported cases of physical and psychological abuse including verbal threats, shackling, days without food, sexual abuse, and physical torture -- all inflicted in an attempt to cure their sexuality.

Update: Government Cured

29th January 2012. From change.org

This is the beginning of the end -- the end of women suffering physical and emotional abuse (and even torture and sexual assault) in Ecuadorian clinics trying to cure them of being lesbians.

All around Ecuador, countless women were being held against their will in hundreds of these so-called clinics. For ten years, a group of brave women in Ecuador who call themselves Fundacion Causana tracked down survivors, documenting their stories and bringing them to light. But the situation wasn't changing.

Then, something incredible happened. A petition that Fundacion Causana had started on Change.org calling on the Ministry of Health to take action was signed by more than 113,000 people around the world. Suddenly, officials were ready to meet with Fundacion Causana and take responsibility for the violence against women and LGBT Ecuadorians happening on their watch.

Now, the Ecuadorian government is working hand in hand with Fundacion Causana to eradicate these clinics from Ecuador, free the women trapped there, and run a national public awareness campaign to fight homophobia.

The chief rabbi of Amsterdam, Aryeh Ralbag, was temporarily relieved from his post by the board of the Orthodox Jewish community, after he signed a document describing homosexuality as an inclination which can be modified and healed.

Ralbag had recently signed the document titled Declaration On The Torah Approach To Homosexuality, which called on authority figures to guide same-sex strugglers towards a path of healing and overcoming their inclinations.

The community group known as the NIHS said in a statement:

Rabbi Ralbag's signature may give the impression the Orthodox Jewish community of Amsterdam shares his view. This is absolutely untrue. Homosexuals are welcome at the Amsterdam Jewish community.

Five Muslims who distributed leaflets calling for gay people to be executed have appeared in court accused of inciting hatred.

One leaflet said the death penalty had been passed against all homosexuals and showed a mannequin hanging from a noose.

Another showed a figure burning in a lake of fire with a list of punishments for homosexual acts.

The five defendants, all from Derby, are the first to be prosecuted under new laws banning the stirring up of hatred due to sexual orientation. Ihjaz Ali, 42, Razwan Javed, 28, Kabir Ahmed, 28, Umar Javed, 38, and Mehboob Hussain, 44, were arrested following complaints about leaflets distributed in Derby before a gay pride parade in July 2010.

The material was handed out in the street as well as posted through letterboxes.

The first, titled Death Penalty?, claimed that Allah permitted the destruction of gay people and the only question is how it should be carried out.

The second, titled Turn or Burn, featured the figure in a blazing lake with the warning that the decriminalisation of homosexuality was the root of all problems.

A third, GAY...God Abhors You told of severe punishment for homosexuals.

Bobbie Cheema, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court the pamphlets were threatening, offensive, frightening and nasty and had been designed to stir up hatred and hostility against homosexual people.

The maximum penalty for the offences is seven years in jail. The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.

Update: Three men convicted

21st January 2012.  See article from dailymail.co.uk

Muslim extremists who handed out leaflets calling for homosexuals to be hanged, stoned and burned to death have been convicted of gay hate crime.

Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed are the first to be prosecuted under new laws against inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Ali, 42, Ahmed, 28, and Javed, also 28, all of Normanton, Derby were found guilty of distributing threatening written material intending to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. They will be sentenced next month.

Two others who distributed the leaflets, Mehboob Hussein, 44, and Umar Javed, 38, also of Normanton, were cleared of inciting hatred.

It has also emerged that Muslim fanatic and hate preacher Anjem Choudary was secretly invited by the group's ringleader, Ihjaz Ali, for a series of meetings in Derby. The group had links with the extremist organisation Al-Muhajiroun, which is banned under UK anti-terror laws.

Moderate Muslim leaders who spoke out against the group's activities were targeted in a hate campaign in which their faces were printed on wanted posters; *

The Daily Mail also reported that police had to be called during local elections because the group' s supporters were standing guard at polling stations, ordering Muslims not to vote.

The suspected honour killing of a gay man in Turkey has provided the inspiration for a new film that aims to raise awareness about homophobia in the country.

The producer and co-director of Zenne Dancer, Mehmet Binay, has taken inspiration from the tragic death of 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz, a close friend, who he claims was murdered in 2008 by his own father for being gay.

As reported by CNN, Yildiz's father is still at large, with court documents identifying him as the main suspect. A copy of the indictment suggests the father's motive to be that he did not accept the victim to be in a gay relationship.

Speaking to CNN, Binay said:

Death and murder is still on the agenda of our country. We can't get rid of this mentality. People need to tolerate each other. They need to understand that different identities can live next to each other without disturbing each other.

When lawmakers enact censorship they rather assume that the people doing the censoring are somehow morally or intellectually superior to people thought to be in need of censorship.

Tokyo recently enacted a law to give city government powers to censor manga on grounds of promoting illegal or immoral sexual activity.

escapistmagazine.com have published a fine example showing the dregs of intellect that may hide behind the label of 'censor'. This was taken from meeting minutes of the 2nd Miyazaki Prefectural Commission for the Promotion of Healthy Youth Development. At this point, the commission was discussing boys love and ladies comics which, although not-pornographic, do tend to be rather risque.

Committee Member A:

In these books there is some violence and cruelty, and most have sexually provocative material.

In particular, many include scenes of women taking the lead ahead of men, and I think they'll promote the prejudiced view that women want this.

And if you keep getting these depictions of women taking the lead, matters soon develop in a homosexual direction and it must become difficult to develop sexually in a normal fashion, mustn't it?

This may not always be the case, but I think for the male consciousness they may end up thinking they cannot take the lead themselves, and so they tend to turn homosexual more often as a result.

I can't help but think it is very dangerous to our young people, should they see this sort of material mixed in amongst normal books.

No objection to these ideas were recorded in the minutes, but some comments have suggested this may be due to the Japanese custom of avoiding public criticisms of others, particularly those more senior.

The group suggested that some manga should be labeled as urgently designated harmful entertainment, but did not recommend any specific titles for the classification.

A gay artist from India has been attacked for featuring gay-related work in his latest exhibition.

Balbir Krishan was assaulted by a disguised assailant who later defaced part of the collection in a brief vandalism spree.

The Times of India report that the attacker entered the exhibition space at New Delhi's Lalit Kala Akademi gallery with his face covered by a handkerchief. He pushed and kicked Krishan, a double amputee who has lost both his legs, while hurling insults.

The artist said the crime happened after he received a number of telephone threats regarding his exhibition, which centres around same-sex relationships. The unidentified caller accused the artist of spreading homosexuality in India and being determined to ruin Islam.

Posters designed to promote the event were also burnt and ripped in the run-up to the opening night.