Gay News

Michael Marsh, a US gamer wanted to set up a gay/straight alliance club in PlayStation Home, Sony's new free 3-D virtual world component for the PlayStation 3.

The problem was that the words he was using - gay , lesbian and bisexual - were being filtered from text chats and were not being allowed in the naming of clubs or in postings in club forums.

Marsh said he raised the issue with Home community managers during the private beta test, but the problems persisted after the public beta introduction of Home on Dec. 11.

I can understand if they're filtering out profanity, but if feel like it's discrimination, Marsh said: By blocking a word like 'gay,' which is a preferred term by the gay community, you're encouraging it as a bad word.

Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesman Patrick Seybold said Home employed filters to prevent defamation in Home's closed test version. But when the service went public, he said, it should have started allowing those words. Some other users, however, noticed that the filtering continued, and blocked words like Christ , Jew and even Hello , which apparently was flagged because it starts with the word hell . Seybold said the company is looking into the censoring of words in Home's clubs.

Ethiopian religious leaders gathered in the country's capital of Addis Ababa to press lawmakers to constitutionally ban being gay.

Representing several denominations, including Ethiopian Christian Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant, nearly a dozen clerics said outlawing being gay was insufficient. Current Ethiopian law forbids gay sex and prescribes a six month jail sentence as punishment, but the constitution remains silent on the issue.

In making their case, the religious leaders called being gay the pinnacle of immorality and blamed it for an increase in sexual attacks on boys and young men.

This is something very strange in Ethiopia, the land of the Bible that condemns this very strongly, said Abune Paolos, the head of Ethiopia's Christian Orthodox Church: For people to act in this manner they have to be dumb, stupid like animals. We strongly condemn this behavior. They [gays and lesbians] have to be disciplined and their acts discriminated, they have to be given a lesson.

President-Elect Barack Obama is drawing criticism from many supporters for his choice to deliver the invocation at next month's inauguration. Obama selected the Rev. Rick Warren, a leading evangelical opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage. Warren supported California's recent gay marriage ban and has compared abortion to the Nazi Holocaust. In a recent interview with the Web site beliefnet.com, Warren said he thinks gay marriage is comparable to incest, polygamy and child abuse.

Rick Warren: I'm opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.

Interviewer: Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?

Rick Warren: Oh, I do. I just say, for 5,000 years, marriage has been defined by every single culture and every single religion. This is not a Christian issue. Buddhists, Muslims, Jews -- you know, historically, marriage is a man and a woman.

After Warren's inauguration appearance was announced, Obama was forced to defend his choice, speaking in Chicago last week:

Barack Obama: It is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on and something that I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency.

What I've also said is that it is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues. And I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak. And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign's been all about.

Love your neighbour... unless he's gay, And as for lady boys...

The Pope has declared that saving the world from homosexual behaviour is as important as saving the rainforests.

In a Christmas message, Benedict XVI stressed the importance of traditional marriage and condemned gay acts as against God's will.

He also attacked transsexuals, saying: It is not man who decides who is a man or woman but God.

The pope said: The Church must defend not only the earth, the water and the air as gifts of creation belonging to everyone, but it must also protect mankind against the destruction of itself. The tropical forests deserve our protection, but man as a creature deserves it no less. In a clear reference to homosexuality, he said the failure to respect the union between a man and a woman amounted to the auto destruction of mankind.

Humanity needed to listen to the language of creation to understand the intended roles of man and woman, he added. Anything that deviated from this was a destruction of God's works.

Workers who have devout religious beliefs could be forced out of their jobs following an ruling by an employment appeal tribunal. The warning comes after a Christian registrar who claimed she was treated like a "pariah" for refusing to carry out civil partnership ceremonies for homosexual couples lost her case on appeal.

A tribunal ruled that Islington Council had not discriminated against Lillian Ladele because of her faith, although it added that the town hall had not treated her sensitively.

Christian groups fear the decision will send a message to other employers that they can get rid of staff whose religious convictions prevent them from carrying out certain tasks.

Ladele, who worked in the register office of Islington town hall in north London for 16 years, believes homosexuality is contrary to God's law and so refused to officiate at civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples after they were made legal three years ago.

Earlier this year a tribunal found that the council had unlawfully discriminated against her on the grounds of her religious belief, after she told how she was picked on and bullied for her beliefs and was threatened with the sack.

But on Friday an Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the council's appeal, ruling that the earlier hearing had erred in law and that there was no basis for concluding that any discrimination had been established.

It stated: The council were not taking disciplinary action against Ms Ladele for holding her religious beliefs; they did so because she was refusing to carry out civil partnership ceremonies and this involved discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

The council were entitled to take the view that they were not willing to connive in that practice by relieving Ms Ladele of the duties, notwithstanding that her refusal was the result of her strong and genuinely-held Christian beliefs.

Ladele now intends to appeal against the new judgement.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister, Petras Vaitiekunas, recently told the mainly Catholic country's parliament that Lithuania is one of the most homophobic countries in the EU – this has to be viewed as a fact , a law that could make life even worse for Lithuania's gay population looks set to be enacted in the New Year.

The Lithuanian parliament last week accepted amendments to the law on the protection of minors. One amendment asserts that a detrimental effect on the development of minors is caused by public information that agitates for homosexual relations which defy family values. The proposed legislation is expected to be adopted next year but will go before a Parliamentary committee first.
LGBT advocacy group Tolerant Youth Association (TJA) said: Neither agitation nor family values are defined in the newly-approved law proposal, therefore it would allow a ban on basically any non-negative information on homosexuality.

It would be possible not only to ban websites and films (eg B rokeback Mountain ) positively presenting homosexual relations, but also discos, exhibitions, demonstrations and other public events related to homosexuality if these could be accessed by minors.

Islamic governments are expected to join with the Vatican in protesting against a French-backed declaration in the UN General Assembly that calls for the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.

Rama Yade, France's secretary of state for human rights, will visit Manhattan this week to throw her weight behind a statement supported by dozens of nations that blasts the outlawing of certain types of sexual behaviour.

The 13-point declaration urges states to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

While the controversial document is not binding in international law, it has provoked hostile responses from leaders of religiously conservative nations that regard homosexuality as sinful.

Margaret Awino-Kafeero, a diplomat from Uganda's mission to the UN, which currently chairs Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meetings at the world body, said many Muslim governments rejected the declaration.

OIC delegates have discussed the gay-friendly statement and agreed that governments choosing to prosecute homosexual behaviour should object to the declaration independently.

The OIC decided it will be each individual country's decision, Awino-Kafeero said.

The declaration indirectly criticises more than 80 countries in which homosexuality is punishable by law.

The Vatican's permanent observer to the UN has already revealed Holy See opposition to the statement, which is still being drafted and carries the support of 56 countries.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore said the Vatican opposed the resolution because it would add new categories of those protected from discrimination and could lead to reverse discrimination against traditional heterosexual marriage.

France's declaration is backed by EU members and has won support from non-western countries, such as Ecuador and Uruguay as well as two OIC members, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau.

Update: Discriminatory Turkey

25th December 2008. Based on article from hurriyet.com.tr

In an atmosphere where Turkey is being criticized for the slow pace of its EU reforms, the country refuses to sign a declaration calling all states to take steps to stop the criminalization of homosexuality, contradicting its commitments to the EU in promoting human rights

Turkey breaks company with EU in gay vote Turkey refused to sign a European Union-led declaration presented last week at the United Nations calling all states to take steps to stop the criminalization of homosexuality. The move contradicted Turkey's commitments to the EU to promote human rights for all without any discrimination.

Italian politicians, commentators, and gay rights groups are taking Italian state television to task for airing the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain without two scenes depicting sexual encounters between its male lead characters, reports the Associated Press.

The Oscar-winning film tells the story of two cowboys who fall in love and have a years-long secret affair. Protesters say that the unaired scenes — in which the two lead characters, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, kiss and have passionate sex in a tent — are central to the film's plot and would never have been cut from the film if they involved heterosexual characters.

RAI TV said in a statement that the cut version of the film, provided by the distributor to be shown during prime time, had been aired by mistake. No one had checked for an uncut version for the late-night airing in question, it said.

But some protesters said that the scenes should have stayed in no matter when the film was shown.

I don't believe it was an oversight, I believe it was preventive censorship, said gay rights advocate and former lawmaker Vladimir Luxuria, adding that cutting the key scenes was like showing the Mona Lisa without its head.

It is grotesque that RAI censored scenes that have the same content as those seen in most prime-time movies, conservative lawmaker Benedetto Della Vedova was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Luigi Vimercati, a center-left lawmaker, told the paper he would take up the issue in parliament.

A court in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region has sentenced a freelance journalist to six months in prison and a fine for writing an article about gay sex, a penalty that media groups say violates the law and underscores the lack of press freedom in Kurdistan.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, groups that monitor press freedom across the world, are among the international organizations demanding the release of Adel Hussein, who was arrested Nov. 24 in the Kurdish city of Irbil.

Hussein, whose article appeared in Hawlati in April 2007, is the second Kurdish journalist to land in prison in the past month. On Nov. 8, the editor in chief of the Hawal newspaper, Shwan Dawoody, was given a month in jail and a fine for a series of stories his paper ran that were critical of the judiciary in Sulaymaniya, which is part of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region.

The court that sentenced Hussein, who is a doctor specializing in sexual and reproductive diseases, said he had violated public custom by writing about health issues related to gay sex. Hussein's story was scientific, not prurient, and did not encourage homosexual behavior.

A regional press ad, for Sandown Free Presbyterian Church, was headlined THE WORD OF GOD AGAINST SODOMY . Further text stated:

Last year in the 'gay pride parade' a banner stating "Jesus is a Fag" was carried by one of the participants. The supporter of homosexuality was able to walk through the streets of Belfast displaying this offensive placard in spite of the presence of the PSNI, representatives from the Commission and the march organisers. The act of sodomy is a grave offence to every Bible believer who, in accepting the pure message of Gods precious Word, express the mind of God by declaring it to be an abomination. (Leviticus, ch18 v22, Thou Shalt not lie down with mankind, as with womankind; it is an abomination.) This unequivocal statement clearly articulates Gods judgement upon a sin that has been only made controversial by those who are attempting to either neutralise or remove the guilt of their wrongdoing. As a result, we are now witnessing a hostile spirit being exerted against the testimony of Gods precious Word and those who adhere to its teachings. It is imperative that everyone whose faith is centred upon the authority of the divinely inspired scriptures maintain a strong and public stand for the ethical and moral standards that will ultimately exalt the nation. (Proverbs, ch14 v34, Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.)

The issue of human rights is no longer a basis for this parade, as successive governments have legislated for the lowering of the age of consent, the authorisation of civil partnerships and the inheritance rights of a nominated partner. It is a cause for regret that a section of the community desire to be known for a perverted form of sexuality, which in certain incidences has provoked the unacceptable and totally unjustifiable response of violence. Such a response, however, must not intimidate the church into silence.

...

The ASA received seven complaints:

1. four complainants believed the ad's content was homophobic and, therefore, offensive and

2. six complainants believed the ad was likely to provoke hatred and violence against the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

ASA Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the ad prominently stated Published by the Kirk Session of Sandown Free Presbyterian Church and recognised that readers would understand that the text was representative of the beliefs of a specific group and indicative of their opinion only. We considered, however, that some of the text used in relation to homosexuality, for example, ... declaring it to be an abomination ... , . .. God's judgement upon a sin ... , . .. remove the guilt of their wrongdoing ... , ... a cause for regret that a section of the community desire to be known for a perverted form of sexuality ... , went further than the majority of readers were likely to find acceptable.

We considered that particular care should be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of sexual orientation, and concluded that this ad had caused serious offence to some readers.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 5.1 (Decency) but did not breach 8.1 (Matters of opinion).

The ad should not appear again in its current form.

2. Not upheld

We understood that the complainants were concerned because the ad called for an outdoor meeting to be held in protest of the act of sodomy and to voice disapproval of the Belfast Gay Pride parade on the same day as the parade was arranged; they believed this action could be read as an attempt to spread hatred and incite violence against supporters and members of the Pride movement and LBGT community.

While we appreciated the complainants' concern, we considered that the ad did not in itself incorporate language likely to incite a violent emotional response. We considered that it would be clear to readers that it represented the views of a specific group, which were not universally held, and would be deemed extreme by some. We acknowledged, therefore, that the ad conveyed an opinion that was controversial for some readers but concluded that it was unlikely to provoke hatred or violence against the LGBT community.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 8.1 (Matters of opinion) and 11.1 (Violence and anti-social behaviour) but did not find it in breach.

Nutters Consider Judicial Review

Based on article from newsletter.co.uk

Two senior lawyers have advised the church that the ASA ruling had gone too far legally and a groundswell of public support has begun behind the Rev David McIlveen of Sandown Free Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

McIlveen said he had been inspired by the level of support he had since received: After Wednesday's Press conference I had missed 24 calls on my mobile and when I got home I had to spend some time going through about 50 messages of support on my answer machine.

A legal expert who specialises in both sexual orientation and freedom of speech said the ASA had got the balance wrong between the two issues, and that its ruling could be open to judicial review.

Dermot Feenan of the University of Ulster School of Law explained that rights to express religious views must be balanced with the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sexuality.

He said the advertising code used by the advertising authority prohibits adverts likely to cause serious offence, but that the authority did not show how the offence caused by this advert was serious enough to warrant censorship: There was no evidential basis for its finding that the ad went further than the majority of its readers were likely to find acceptable.

Moscow's mayor, who has banned gay rights parades in the past, vowed Thursday to continue his ban on what he called sexual minority propaganda , according to Russian news agencies.

Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has called homosexuality satanic , said City Hall has banned, and will continue to ban, the propaganda of the views of sexual minorities. Those views, he is quoted as saying, could become one of the factors for the spread of HIV.

City Hall has rejected repeated requests by public organizations to draw attention to gay rights with parades. Attempts by activists to defy the ban have ended violently in some cases and petered out in others.

A gay man who faces the death penalty in Iran has won asylum in the UK after protests prompted the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, to reconsider his case.

Family and supporters of Mehdi Kazemi, now 20, welcomed the decision yesterday not to send him back to Iran where his boyfriend was arrested by the state police and executed for sodomy.

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, said: I am delighted by the Home Office decision that my constituent Mehdi Kazemi can now stay in this country. This is great news for a very decent guy.

Kazemi came to London to study in 2005, but in April 2006 discovered his gay partner had been arrested and named him as his boyfriend before his execution. Fearing he might suffer the same fate if he returned, Kazemi decided to seek asylum in Britain. His claim was refused and he fled to the Netherlands where he also failed to win asylum before returning to Britain last month.

The UK Border Agency said it had decided to allow him asylum, granting him leave to remain for five years. A spokesman for the agency said: We keep cases under review where circumstances have changed and it has been decided that Mr Kazemi should be granted leave to remain.

The 25 winners of the 2008 European Gay Porn Awards were feted in a gala ceremony at the ufaFabrik International Centre in Berlin. The awards are bestowed based on fan polls.

Sk8erboy Film Productions managing director Christian Felten collected EGPA's La Branlette D'Or - literally, the Golden Wank. The award is given each year to the person gay consumers believe has made a significant contribution to gay porn.

The winners:

• Best Stud Film: Executive Pleasures 1 (MenAtPlay)
• Best Extreme Film: Perverts (Wurstfilm)
• Best Hunk Film: Berlin Privat 6 (Prick by Cazzo Film)
• Best Young Stud Film: Rebel (Bel Ami Entertainment)
• Best Black/Latino Film: Matos de Blackos 3 (Citebeur)
• Best Twink Film: The Fuck Club (OTB Video)
• Best Fetish Film: Fucking Scouts (Sk8erboy Film Production)
• Best Bear Film: Out on Parole (AlphaMale Media)
• Best Bisexual Film: Bi Sex Party 3: Dream Team (Eromaxx)
• La Branlette D'Or: Christian Felten (Actor, Director, Producer)
• The Homoactive.com Award for Best New Comer: Paul Valery (Rebel, Bel Ami Entertainment)
• Best DVD Cover: Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita (Lucas Entertainment)
• Best Solo Performance: Alex (Dating Alex, Sk8erboy Film Production)
• The Maleflixxx Gold VOD Award for Top Non-European Studio: Hot House Entertainment
• Best Bottom: Ashley Ryder (Borstal Boy, Eurocreme Productions)
• Best Duo Performance: Alex & Marc (Sk8erfun, Sk8erboy Film Production)
• Best Non-European Film: Communion (Hot House Entertainment)
• Best Top: Julian Vincenzo (Executive Pleasures 1, MenAtPlay)
• Best Threesome Performance: Steve Cruz, Francois Sagat and Rocky Torrez (H2O, Titan Media)
• Best Director: Simon Booth (Borstal Boy, Eurocreme Productions)
• Best Cum Shot: Jason Ridge (Communion, Hot House Entertainment)
• Best Group Scene: George Basten, John Elliot, Titch Jones, Ashley Ryder, Adam Tremadoc and Mason Wyler (Builder Boy, Eurocreme Productions)
• The Maleflixxx Gold VOD Award for Top European Studio: Sk8erboy Film Production
• The GayHotMovies.com VOD Award for Best Actor: Francesco D'Macho (Private Low Life, Hot House Entertainment)
• Best Overall Film: Wet Dream (Sauvage)

A months-long investigation by WSB-TV reporter Jodi Fleischer unearthed the 'news' that some men have sex inside adult movie theaters, and some neighbors of adult theaters consider such activity unseemly.

Fleischer'
s May 7 report on Atlanta's the Belvedere Theatre in DeKalb County also riled some gay activists and civil libertarians who accuse the reporter and WSB of engaging in cheap, sensationalistic reporting in order to attract more viewers.

Fleischer'
s report featured undercover camera footage of men engaging in sex inside the theater, and the reporter teamed up with the DeKalb Police vice squad to videotape men being arrested during a recent undercover sting.

Fleischer did not mention that every man arrested in her piece was charged with masturbation, leaving the impression that they were engaged in the oral and anal sex depicted in the undercover camera footage.

I think people have done that in adult theaters all around the world for years, said longtime Atlanta gay activist Floyd Taylor, who complained to WSB about the reports.

No one has a constitutional right to engage in public sex, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. But the layout of an adult business can determine whether the sexual acts taking place inside are considered public or private, Seagraves said.

We have argued in the past that if there is a place that is set apart in a building where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and someone walks up on them, they should not be arrested for that, Seagraves said.

The Belvedere is currently closed, although a sign on the front door says that it will re-open soon.

Police in Penang, Malaysia staged a raid on a fitness center, rounding up over a dozen men and arresting them for alleged homosexual activity.

Assistant police commander, Azam Abd Hamids aid that 14 men were arrested at the center and had been detained as an investigation into sexual activity at the fitness center continued: This was the third time the center was raided since last November. Hamid added that the police would be advocating that the fitness center be shuttered.

The raids have been part of a police effort, dubbed "Operation Rose," which has targeted certain areas of town where gay men and transvestites congregate.

It is illegal to be gay in Malaysia, with men arrested for being gay subject to hard time in jail and fines.

Some gay Malaysians react to their plight by seeking asylum abroad in places such as Canada, where gay refugees from a number of countries that criminalize their sexuality have begun to gravitate in recent years.

Trade union groups in the Republic of Ireland have expressed their dismay at a ruling by the European Commission confirming that church schools can sack teachers who are openly gay.

Under the Employment Equality Act religious schools can dismiss homosexual teachers. Section 37 of the Act states that schools that promote certain religious values can take action to prevent an employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution.

The European Commission initially warned that the provision was not compatible with EU anti-discrimination legislation, but has now changed its mind after the Irish government argued that it was a narrow exception to equal treatment.

The Commission accepted that an employee should not undermine the "ethos" of an institution they work for, such as a Roman Catholic school or hospital.

Ethos could also affect teachers who are divorced or co-habit, as there is no clear definition of the terms "undermine" and "ethos."

The Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) group of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, which has 35 members, has called for the Irish law to be changed.

Section 37 casts a long shadow that if we are out in school as gay teachers, then the possibility of dismissal might become a reality, Shelia Crowley, who chairs the group, told the union's conference in March: We feel that if we live openly as LGB teachers in schools under denominational management, then this could be construed as undermining the religious ethos of an institution. Many of our group cannot afford to take this risk and be open in school about our sexuality.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act has completed its 3rd reading in the House of Commons and has received Royal Assent so becomes law.

According to BBC Newsbeat, the Dangerous Pictures clauses will be enacted from January 2009.

John Beyer, Director of Mediawatch UK, and supporter of even stricter measures on pornography Said: It is important for there to be clear divide between what is legal and what is not. People need to know. Contrary to the views expressed by protesters, he feels the new law provides that clarity on extreme material. But there may be a need for an amnesty, during which the public are able to hand in any material that could be considered a crime to possess. The last thing anybody would want is for the police to be raiding people's homes.

The maximum penalty for obscene publications has also been raised from 3 years to 5 years in prison.

The Dangerous Pictures clauses went unamended but the Government backed down and allowed a free speech protection to be written into its proposed 'homophobic hatred' clauses.

The decision came after the Government was defeated for a second time in the House of Lords. Peers voted 178 to 164 in favour of the protection.

This marks the end of a lengthy battle to make clear that the new criminal offence should not interfere with free speech or religious liberty.

The amendment says, for the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred.

Words or behaviour which are threatening and intended to stir up hatred will be caught by the offence, which carries a maximum seven year prison sentence.

Speaking in last night's debate, Lord Waddington said: My understanding is that the Government do not wish to see discussion stifled and people harassed, bullied, interrogated and sometimes arrested for expressing their views. However, if that is so, it really is time that they did something about it.

Senior judge and 'gay rights' sympathiser, Dame Butler-Sloss, agreed that free speech needed protecting. She said: ...there are religious groups, not only Christians, not only bishops, but many Jews and Muslims, which share strong views that they gain from the Bible, the Old Testament in particular, or the Koran. Those people are potentially at risk.

She continued: It is those people who will potentially be intimidated; they will certainly be bothered and may go through an extremely unfortunate experience before calmer heads point out that under the new clause, as under older clauses, they have not committed any offence.

The Government said the issue could be made clear by publishing guidance instead of inserting a free speech protection into the Bill. But Lord Clarke said: If we mean that we are to maintain the principle of free speech, we should make sure that it is in this Bill and not leave it to the interpretation of guidelines, which would become another lawyers' paradise.

Following the Lords vote, the Government backed down and the measure was passed by a substantial majority in the Commons. The offence will become law with the free speech protection included.

One of Canada'
s largest Christian ministries dedicated to caring for the disabled was fined $23,000 recently by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for allegedly discriminating against a former homosexual employee.

Connie Heintz claimed discrimination against Christian Horizons after she said she was subjected to a poisoned work environment and pressured into quitting her job after she entered a homosexual relationship – which was in violation of her work contract back in 2000.

In line with its Christian foundation and principles, the ministry requires that all its employees sign “morality statements” vowing to abstain from immoral behavior, including pornography, pre-marital, extra-marital, and homosexual activity as a condition of employment.

In a recently made public ruling, Michael Gottheil, the single adjudicator representing the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, ruled against Christian Horizons, ordering the organization to pay Heintz $23,000 in fines plus two years wages and benefits.

Gottheil also ordered that the organization abandon its Christian principles barring homosexual behavior and issued mandates that it begin requiring all employees to attend a homosexual oriented human rights training program.

In a statement, Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, wrote approvingly of the decision by the tribunal: This decision is important because it sets out that when faith-based and other organizations move beyond serving the interests of their particular community to serving the general public, the rights of others, including employees, must be respected .

The Moscow mayor's office has said it would not allow gay pride marches to take place on this year's May Day holiday.

The announcement came as a gay rights leader said he planned events throughout May to highlight the repression of sexual minorities in Russia.

The council will act decisively and uncompromisingly to prevent attempts to hold such events because society is overwhelmingly opposed to the gay lifestyle and philosophy, council spokesman Sergei Tsoi was quoted by Interfax.

It is a matter of surprise and indignation that gays plan to carry out unsanctioned gatherings in various parts of Moscow during the Festival of Peace and Work, Tsoi said, referring to May 1, one of the most important Soviet-era holidays.

He said the council was taking into account threats of violence made by radical Orthodox and other anti-gay groups: There could be bloodshed and no one wants that .

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has been an outspoken opponent of gay pride marches, referring to them once as "Satan's work."

The leader of the pressure group Gay Russia, Nikolai Alexeyev, said the group planned to apply for permission to hold five events a day throughout May in various parts of Moscow. He added that the events would not resemble the flamboyant carnival atmosphere synonymous with such marches in Western cities: If everyone sees that these people are not nude or wearing make-up... there will be many questions about why this event was banned .

Bahrain's gay community and human rights activists were furious over a parliamentary campaign to stamp out homosexuality.

MPs are demanding the Interior Ministry stop granting residence permits to foreign homosexuals and that it deports any that are already here, as soon as they are detected.

They also called for regular inspections to root out homosexuals at massage parlours, health clubs and hair salons. The MPs also want monitoring in schools and for pupils who veer towards homosexuality.

One gay man, who was once married, said MPs seemed to have a misconception that homosexuals are perverse and dirty. He said some homosexuals had given the gay world a bad image by selling their bodies and preying on young boys: They must separate respectable gays and those from Thailand and the Philippines who are prostitutes and paedophiles . [Talk of the pot calling the kettle black!]

Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society regional and international relations director Faisal Fulad said that while Bahrain's tradition and religion should be respected, the parliament proposal was illogical and out of date for modern times: In the modern world it's normal, it's not a disease - many homosexuals are lawyers, doctors and ministers. Punishment never cures society, it should be through education and awareness in the family.

A Thai Embassy spokesman said homosexuality was globally accepted and it was against human rights to discriminate against gays: Everything has to abide by human rights and international law and Bahrain has signed the agreements .

They've been bombed three times, received death threats and stood before the red-robed justices of the Supreme Court of Canada.

No, Jim Deva and Bruce Smyth are not killers or terrorists. The soft-spoken Vancouver men sell books. And in some peoples' eyes, Deva says, that made the gay owners of Little Sister's Book & Art Emporium dangerous.

Only two years after the store opened in 1983, the owners took on a fight that bolstered and exhausted them, lasting until just last year and challenging Canada's censorship laws.

After 23 years of fighting Canada Customs' seizures of books bound for the gay and lesbian bookshop, the partners have put Little Sister's up for sale.

It's time to do something else, Deva says as he plans to get a choir booked for the store's 25th anniversary celebrations: It's probably time to pass on the torch hopefully to some younger, energetic people who are willing to work with our store. I'm not in a rush. We're going to take our time.

The fight against Customs put the store at the forefront of the battle against censorship in Canada. Among books seized were Jean Genet's Querelle , Quentin Crisp's The Naked Civil Servant , Joe Orton's Prick Up Your Ears , The Joy of Gay Sex and The Joy of Lesbian Sex .

I think it's our tenacity. We just wouldn't give up and came back again and again at them from every angle we could figure out.

But after all the court battles, Deva believes Canada Customs has developed a respect for the gay community's literature and imagery: They know that . . . when they make a sort of pronouncement on a book that they may well have to defend that. We still disagree with the process but it's certainly fairer than it was 20 years ago.

As reported recently, Singapore has adopted a rating system for video games.

While the move seems like a step in the right direction, not everyone is pleased with how the new ratings are to be assigned. People Like Us , which describes itself as a Singapore gay and lesbian group focused on advocacy and public education notes that that the government's Media Development Authority (MDA) lumps homosexuality with crime in an “Adult Theme” rating category:

People Like Us considers this new rule unjustifiably strict. Children should not have to be kept ignorant about the presence of gay people in society any more than they should be shielded from people of other faiths and ethnicities. The path to acceptance of gay people is through teaching children about diversity from a young age.

It is pejorative to lump gay sexual orientation with crime and drug use as the MDA's new guidelines do, as if gay orientation is some kind of social threat.

At this year's Istanbul International Film Festival, one of the major attractions is A Jihad for Love , a documentary about a taboo subject: homosexuality in Islamic countries. Homosexuality is strictly banned in most interpretations of the Koran. This is the first time the film is being screened in a Muslim country.

The ending of A Jihad for Love , was greeted with rapturous applause from a packed audience. The film, which Indian Muslim director Pervez Sharma filmed in 12 countries and took six years to make, is an intimate look at the lives of 12 gay Muslim men and women.

Much of the material was filmed in secret in Muslim countries that ban homosexuality. But Sharma says the film is as much about the Muslim faith as it is about homosexuality: It shows people, Islam is not a problematic monolith, but that is lived in very diverse ways, in different countries, that it is living religion. It is the world's fastest growing religion, for a reason, and it certainly enables the discourse about Islam to shift. It takes it away from violence and takes it towards love, and that is why I called the film A Jihad for Love .

While homosexuality is legal in Muslim-majority Turkey, it remains a taboo subject for many. This member of the audience appreciated that the wall of silence was broken.

The response was not all positive. Several of Turkey's Islamic newspapers condemned the film, calling it an attack on the Islamic faith. According to orthodox interpretations of the Koran, homosexuality is strictly forbidden.

The film and its filmmakers will tour the world for the next couple of years. Screenings are planned in India and Indonesia. The filmmakers hope the Arab world will eventually open its doors and allow A Jihad for Love to be seen.

An Upper Sharia Court in Kaduna, Nigeria has sentenced a lesbian couple, Hajiya Aiâsha and Malama Hauwa to a six-month imprisonment for living contrary to the teachings of the Sharia.

The lesbians had told the court that they had been married for five years.

The Sharia Judge, Mustapha Umar ordered that apart from the 20 lashes given to each of the lesbians at the court premises, they should also spend the next six months in prison with no option of fine for violating the tenets of Islam.

Singapore's censor, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has fined StarHub Cable Vision $10,000 for airing a commercial that depicted lesbian kissing scenes.

The MDA posted a statement on its website about the cable operator's breach of TV advertising guidelines, which disallows advertisements that condone homosexuality.

The commercial, which aired over two days in November on MTV's Mandarin-language channel, was to promote a song by pop singer Olivia Yan.

Her music video from the album Silly Child featured two scenes of herself and Taiwanese actress Pei Lin in a "passionate embrace", as described last November in the Taipei Times: The portrayal of a lesbian in a music video was supposedly a first for Taiwan.

According to the MDA, in the commercial, romanticised scenes of two girls kissing were shown and it portrayed the relationship as acceptable.

The MDA said it had taken into account the "severity" of the breach and that the commercial was aired on a youth-oriented TV channel.

An Egyptian court has sentenced five men to three years each in prison for "debauchery," the legal euphemism for homosexuality, a human rights group that mounted a defence of the men said.

The verdicts were the second this year of men rounded up in a crackdown on gay men. In February, a court sentenced four men to a year each in jail for debauchery.

Egyptian and international human rights groups have criticized the arrests and convictions. We are disappointed, said Hossam Bahgat, an official with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which defended all nine accused. The verdicts only create fear.

Ramadan, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the five men were abused and tortured over the past several months to “extract confessions” from them.

Another three men arrested since the first of the year were freed, Bahgat said.

117 human-rights organizations from 41 countries sent a letter to the Egyptian Health Ministry and a government-sponsored doctors' union condemning the crackdown and participation of medical personnel in carrying out anal examinations meant to determine whether the suspects had engaged in sex. Doctors must put patients first, not join a witch-hunt driven by prejudice, Joe Amon, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Human Rights Watch, said in a news release.

Homosexuality is not a crime in Egypt, though it's covered under "debauchery," which is defined as having sex for money or with a number of partners over an extended period of time.

Remember the Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV). They have appeared several times on Melon Farmers for being holier than thou. For example:

The CCTV advert showed a man, woman, boy and girl with the statement Gay aim: abolish the family .

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints against the ad, ruling that it could be inflammatory. The poster broke advertising rules on social responsibility, decency, matters of opinion and truthfulness, the ASA said: We considered the statement and the way it appeared was likely to cause offence both to the mainstream gay community and supporters of equality .

The ASA added that it was also likely to be seen as controversial and possibly inflammatory by a significant number of people who saw the poster in an untargeted medium. We concluded that the poster was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and might lead to anti-social behaviour.

Now Christian Congress for Traditional Values was established by Bishop Michael Reid who was the head of Peniel Church.

And guess what, Reid has been pursuing his own aim of family abolition by undertaking a long time extra-marital affair.

He has now resigned saying: It is with great sorrow and regret that I have resigned from the church board and have stepped down from official duties. I confess that I have sinned by committing adultery. I recognize that I have failed in my duties and acted in a way that harmed the Church. I take full responsibility for my actions and so I resigned. I apologize to my wife and family and all of you whose trust I have betrayed and ask for your forgiveness and prayers.

The website of Christian Congress for Traditional Values has been replaced by a statement of apology

A Wollongong sex-on-premises venue for gays, bisexuals, swingers and straight-identifying men has closed after less than a month of business.

The Men's Social Club proprietor, Allan Denis, blames the Illawarra Mercury newspaper for the negative publicity generated by an article that featured a photograph of the premises.

Denis told Evolution Online he was forced to close the club after a significant drop in clientele and an avalanche of homophobic threats.

Denis says he had specified the 'discreet' nature of the venue in advertisements with the Mercury, but fears his clientele's anonymity became compromised by the photograph's publication: The ad was very specific, it said [that we provide a] 'discreet', safe, secure environment. Discreet's not just a word, it's a way of life. I figured that because I was a client of them, they would respect that. You take that away, you ruin the club, and that's exactly what they did - even though I was paying them to run this ad for about four months.

The day after the article went to print, Denis claims the club received over a hundred phone threats, calling him and his staff 'fucking faggots' who will 'burn in hell.' Young passers-by heckled and threw eggs at the venue. Such actions persisted until Denis closed the venue on February 29.

Denis says only two patrons returned the day after the article went to print, with four on the weekend, as compared to the average of 40 patrons per day in the prior weeks.

The venue had been approved as a 'sex-on-premises establishment' under Wollongong City Council's 'Sex Industry Development Control Plan' devised September 2005. The plan specifies that an establishment earns an income by charging fees for patrons to use designated areas to have casual sex with one another. The plan also specifies the importance of discretion for patrons.

Community reaction may be put down to an 'aesthetic of disgust' surrounding sex venues, according to Penny Crofts, senior lecturer in Law at the University of Technology Sydney. In her conference paper at a 2006 University of Melbourne conference, 'Visual Contamination: Disgust and the regulation of brothels', Crofts addressed the stigmas associated with brothels, which are applicable to all sex venues. Crofts says brothels trigger disgust by reminding people of sex outside of love, the 'perceived immorality' of the practices, and the threat of corrupting children.

Two primary schools have withdrawn storybooks about same sex relationships after objections from Muslim parents.

One story, titled King & King , is a fairytale about a prince who turns down three princesses before marrying one of their brothers. Another named And Tango Makes Three features two male penguins who fall in love at a New York zoo.

Bristol City Council said the two schools had been using the books to ensure they complied with gay rights laws which came into force last April. They were intended to help prevent homophobic bullying, it said.

But the council has since removed the books from Easton Primary School and Bannerman Road Community School, both in Bristol.

The decision was made to enable the schools to "operate safely" after parents voiced their concerns at meetings. Around 40 are said to have gathered at Easton to speak to staff and another 50 at Bannerman Road.

Members of the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society said parents were upset at the lack of consultation over the use of the materials. Farooq Siddique, community development officer for the society and a governor at Bannerman Road, said there were also concerns about whether the stories were appropriate for young children.

He added: In Islam homosexual relationships are not acceptable, as they are not in Christianity and many other religions but the main issue is that they didn't bother to consult with parents.

A spokesman for Bristol City Council said the council had "temporarily withdrawn" the use of the materials in question and was liaising with various groups to ensure that the topic can be addressed in an inclusive manner in the curriculum.

Ragga star Bounty Killer has had two of his three UK concerts cancelled following a campaign by gay rights group Outrage.

The concerts in Bradford and Birmingham have been axed, causing the star to lose thousands of pounds in performance fees, because the lyrics of his songs are considered homophobic.

In Germany, Bounty Killer's performance in Essen was also cancelled and further concert dates in the country are now in doubt.

It is part of a Europe-wide campaign by the group to halt his Deadly Alliance tour of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.

Bounty Killer has come under attack by the group for his refusal to sign the Reggae Compassionate Act in which artistes agree to not perform songs that encourage or glorify violence.

Coordinator of Outrage, Peter Tatchell, expressed his delight that the concerts have been scrapped: Bounty Killer bragged that he was invincible. He vowed his concerts would go ahead and boasted that no gays could stop him. Look who's crying now . There must be zero tolerance of singers like Bounty Killer who advocate the murder of other human beings.

Despite the shows being cancelled, a concert at the Stratford Rex in east London went ahead recently.

The UK's treatment of asylum seekers falls seriously below the standards of a civilised society , a report says.

The Independent Asylum Commission, led by a ex-senior judge, said the system denied sanctuary to some in need and failed to remove others who should go.

It said the treatment of some asylum seekers was a shameful blemish on the UK's international reputation.

It spent a year researching the report and spoke to former home secretaries, policy makers and asylum seekers.

The commission was established after calls from community organisations and charities for an authoritative examination of asylum after a decade of political battles over immigration.

The report praised immigration officials for recent reforms to how they manage asylum applications - but it warned that a culture of disbelief was leading to perverse and unjust decisions.

The commissioners said policymakers were at times using "indefensible" threats of destitution to try to force some asylum seekers to leave the UK.

See full article from the Scotsman

Meanwhile pressure is mounting on the UK Government to reverse its decision to deport a gay Syrian teenager from Scotland to his homeland, where he faces almost certain imprisonment and torture.

Scotland on Sunday revealed last week that 19-year-old Jojo Jako Yakob was being held in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution awaiting deportation, despite evidence he had been tortured almost to death in Syria, where homosexuality is illegal.

Shirley-Anne Somerville, a Nationalist MSP for the Lothians, has lodged a parliamentary motion in support of our campaign to let Yakob stay in the country. It has already been supported by several MSPs.

Pete Wishart MP, the SNP's home affairs spokesman, has taken up the case at Westminster and has vowed to make representations to the Home Office.

He said: After Mr Yakob's terrible ordeal in Syria, it is unacceptable that the Home Office would consider sending him back. There is a very real risk that he would suffer further ill treatment or even possibly death. He has sought asylum in Scotland and I will make an immediate representation to the Home Office in an effort to overturn their ruling before his final hearing in May.

Yakob has appealed against the Home Office deportation order and has instructed top Scottish QC Mungo Bovey to fight his case. Yakob will appear before a full immigration hearing in Glasgow on May 7, when his fate will be determined.

Jojo fled his homeland two years ago after surviving a harrowing ordeal at the hands of Syrian police and prison guards, when he was arrested for distributing anti-government leaflets. Following his transfer from police interrogation, prison guards soon discovered that Jojo, a member of the repressed Kurdish minority in the Arab state, was homosexual. He then suffered horrific beatings and was assaulted so badly that he fell into a coma.

Dutch council officials will permit gay sex in public areas but fine dog owners who let their pets off the leash in Amsterdam's Vondelpark.

Paul van Grieken, an Alderman in the Oud-Zuid district of the city, has startled many Amsterdammers, despite their famously liberal attitudes, with plans to allow public sex as part of this summer's new rules of conduct for the country's best-known park.

Why should we try to impose something that is actually impossible to impose, which also causes little bother for others and for a certain group actually means much pleasure?, he said.

The park's rose garden has become famous as a trysting spot for gay men looking for uncomplicated sexual encounters. Mr van Grieken stresses that tolerance to "cruising" gays, aimed at protecting homosexuals from violence, will have "strict rules attached".

Thus, condoms must always be cleared away, it must never take place in the neighbourhood of children's playgrounds and the sex must be restricted to the evening and night-time, he said.

The new park rules have the blessing of the Dutch police, who have urged all Dutch parks to follow Amsterdam's lead.

The American Family Association has ended its two-year boycott of Ford over the automaker's advertising on Web sites and in publications geared toward the gay community.

The conservative group confirmed today that Ford has met all of the conditions presented by the group in fall 2005, shortly before a boycott began in March 2006 over Ford's practice of offering benefits to same-sex couples and its marketing efforts in the gay community.

The AFA singled out Ford as the company [that] has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle, according to an early post on the group's Web site, boycottford.com, which is now inoperative. Ford representatives, dealers and AFA leaders were in discussions for several months prior to the boycott.

Some Ford dealers, particularly in the South, have said that the boycott impacted their sales.

AFA chairman Donald E. Wildmon declined an interview request, but said in a statement that the original agreement between the AFA and Ford contained four conditions.

1. Ford would have to cease all advertising on gay Web sites and throughout gay media outlets, including magazines, television and radio, in the U.S.
2. Ford would not be able to renew current promotions or create future incentives that give cash donations to gay organizations based on the purchase of a vehicle.
3. Ford would be prohibited from making corporate donations to gay organizations that engage in political or social campaigns to promote civil unions or same-sex marriage.
4. Ford would have to stop giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to gay social activities such as "gay pride" parades.

One of Scotland's most senior Catholics has launched an attack on the gay lobby in Scotland, claiming there is a huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy against Christian values.

The Rt Rev Nutter Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell said gay rights organisations aligned themselves with minority groups, such as Holocaust survivors, to project an image of a group of people under persecution.

He warned that the gay lobby which he labelled the opposition – had mounted a giant conspiracy to shape public policy.

Last night his views were attacked by gay rights groups, which branded them unChristian and deeply out of step with the views of ordinary Scots.

In the fourth of the Gonzaga Lectures held at St Aloysius' College in Glasgow, Bishop Devine said: The homosexual lobby has been extremely effective in aligning itself with minority groups. It is ever-present at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution. We neglect the gay movement at our peril. I want to ask you if you are able to see the giant conspiracy that's taking place before our eyes, even if we didn't see it at the time. I take it you're beginning to see that there is a huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy taking place, which the Catholic community missed.

He said prominence had been given to the supreme moral values of liberty and equality replacing truth and goodness as supreme moral values. It was bound to result in state-sponsored morality at war with Christian values. We must resist being corrupted by secularism.

The gay Iranian teenager who's partner was executed in Iran for being gay is to be allowed to stay in Britain because his case is now so notorious that it would be dangerous to deport him to Tehran.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, granted Mehdi Kazemi a temporary reprieve yesterday as she announced that his case would be reconsidered when he returns from the Netherlands [where he lost his case to claim asylum there]. In reality, the case of Kazemi has now received so much publicity in Europe that if he were sent back to Iran, there would be a real risk of him facing persecution.

Smith intervened after receiving representations from MPs and peers alarmed that Kazemi, 19, could face execution if returned to his homeland. In a statement, Smith said: Following representations made on behalf of Mehdi Kazemi, and in the light of new circumstances since the original decision was made, I have decided that Mr Kazemi’s case should be reconsidered on his return to the UK from the Netherlands.

More than 60 peers had signed a letter to the Home Secretary urging the Government to halt the deportation.

Borg Palm, Kazemi’s solicitor in the Netherlands, welcomed the news but said that it would give his client a future only if he was granted asylum: He is very much afraid of being allowed to stay in Britain but without being granted official permission. That would then put him in a no man’s land. He would be very unhappy in the long term.

A relative of Kazemi, who lives in London but asked not to be named, told The Times that the teenager would be relieved: It has been a long time coming and a very long struggle,. What I do not understand is why the Government got itself into this mess in the first place. It should always have recognised that gay people are killed for being themselves in Iran.

The BBC news programme Newsnight has reported that three porn films have been withdrawn from sale after the programme revealed that some performers are becoming infected with HIV.

Two of the DVD titles show eight young men having sex with each other "in various combinations" without using condoms. Four of them were diagnosed as HIV positive shortly after filming.

One of the men told Newsnight that he was distressed that footage which he believed showed him becoming infected had been put on sale.

Ceri Evans, Senior Sexual Health Adviser at West London Centre for Sexual Health, told the BBC: I think that there is a possibility of something being called condom fatigue. We have been talking about condoms so long that people are bored or think they know it all. Education in schools is not what it could be, for anybody, for heterosexual but particularly if you are gay.

An Iranian lesbian who fled to Britain after her girlfriend was arrested and sentenced to death faces being forcibly returned after losing the latest round in her battle to be granted asylum.

The case of Pegah Emambakhsh, 40, comes a day after The Independent reported on the growing public outcry over the plight of a gay Iranian teenager who fears he will be executed if he is deported to Iran.

Both cases have provoked international protests against Britain and led to calls for an immediate moratorium on the deportation of gay and lesbian asylum-seekers who fear they will be persecuted in Iran.

More than 60 MEPs have signed a petition asking Gordon Brown to reverse the decision on Mehdi Kazemi, 19, who escaped to the Netherlands after the Home Office refused him asylum last year. His case is still before Dutch judges who will decide this month whether he should return to Britain where he faces deportation to a country which has already executed his boyfriend.

A gay teenager who sought sanctuary in Britain when his boyfriend was executed by the Iranian authorities now faces the same fate after losing his legal battle for asylum.

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2004 but later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.

In a telephone conversation with his father in Tehran, Kazemi was told that before the execution in April 2006, his boyfriend had been questioned about sexual relations he had with other men and under interrogation had named Kazemi as his partner.

Fearing for his own life if he returned to Iran, Kazemi claimed asylum in Britain. But late in 2007 his case was refused. Terror-stricken at the prospect of deportation the young Iranian made a desperate attempt to evade deportation and fled Britain for Holland where he is now being detained amid a growing outcry from campaigners.

He appeared before a Dutch court yesterday to plead with the authorities not to return him to Britain where he is almost certain to be sent back to Iran.

In a letter to the British Government, Kazemi has told the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith: I wish to inform the Secretary of State that I did not come to the UK to claim asylum. I came here to study and return to my country. But in the past few months my situation back home has changed. The Iranian authorities have found out that I am a homosexual and they are looking for me. If I return to Iran I will be arrested and executed like my former boyfriend.

Kazemi's future will now be decided by a Dutch appeal court, which will rule whether to grant him permission to apply for asylum in Holland, which offers special protection to gay Iranians, or whether he will be deported to Britain. His case has attracted support from leading gay rights groups across Europe who are campaigning to allow him to live in Britain.

Peter Tatchell, of the gay rights campaign group Outrage, described the Government's policy as outrageous and shameful. If Mehdi is sent back to Iran he will be at risk of execution because of his homosexuality. This is a flagrant violation of Britain's obligations under the refugee convention.

It is just the latest example of the Government putting the aims of cutting asylum numbers before the merits of individual cases. The whole world knows that Iran hangs young, gay men and uses a particularly barbaric method of slow strangulation. In a bid to fulfil its target to cut asylum numbers the Government is prepared to send this young man to his possible death. It is a heartless, cruel mercenary anti-refugee policy.

The Home Office's own guidance issued to immigration officers concedes that Iran executes homosexual men but, unaccountably, rejects the claim that there is a systematic repression of gay men and lesbians.

A Nigerian court has sentenced a man to 18 months in jail after he admitted he dressed up as a woman.

Uche Ndubuisi was arrested loitering around Lagos international airport. He pleaded guilty after women's clothes and makeup that belonged to him were brought in evidence.

The BBC's Umar Elleman in Lagos says at the time of his arrest last week police said he was trying to extort money from travellers.

Lagos is not a sharia state, but has recently seen police arrest women for wearing revealing clothes. Cross dressing in Nigeria is linked by authorities to homosexuality, which is illegal in the country.

Another 18 men face charges of vagrancy and indecent behaviour in the sharia-run northern state of Bauchi after they were arrested in a hotel allegedly dressed as women.

An Israeli MP has blamed a spate of recent earthquakes in the Middle East on gays.

Six earthquakes have struck Israel and neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan in recent months, with two coming last week alone.

Shlomo Benizri, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party, suggested that the tremors could be stopped through the simple expedient of repealing various liberalising laws on homosexuality that have been passed by the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, in recent years.

Since decriminalising homosexuality in 1988, Israel has passed several laws on the subject, including decisions to recognise same-sex marriages carried out abroad, and granting inheritance rights and other benefits held by married couples to gay partnerships. Last Sunday, to the outrage of the religious Right, the country's attorney general, Meni Mazuz, ruled that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.

In what Mr Benizri clearly believes is no coincidence, the first of last week's quakes hit the country just two days later.

Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy, Benizri said during a parliamentary debate on earthquake preparedness.

Stopping passing legislation on how to encourage homosexual activity in the state of Israel, which anyway brings about earthquakes, would represent a cost-effective method of preventing future earthquakes, he continued.

God says you shake your genitals where you are not supposed to and I will shake my world in order to wake you up, he added.

The gay population is on the rise in Bahrain, according to lawmakers, who have been demanding of the government to take action in this regard.

The lawmakers warned of the negative effects of the increase in the number of gays on the social stability in Bahrain.

They called through a proposal tabled by five MPs and approved by the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security to find mechanisms to tackle the issue at the earliest.

Bahrain has witnessed lately increase in the number of homosexual Bahrainis and non-Bahrainis, especially Thai and Pilipino expatriates who are working in gents salons, MP Mohammed Khalid said.

The government, through the Minister of Interior Lt-Gen. Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa denied the MPs' accusations and said: Individual cases do exist in Bahrain and they are dealt with according to the laws and regulations, but we cannot consider them as an issue that should be tackled. The minister said that authorities have been deporting expatriates who violate the kingdom's laws and religious values.

The trial of 18 men accused of dressing up as women has started in a Sharia court in northern Nigeria. The 18 are charged with indecent dressing and vagrancy.

The men were arrested last year in a hotel room in the city of Bauchi. The men were originally accused of sodomy, which could lead to the death penalty under Sharia, but the charges were reduced.

Prosecutors read out a letter from New York based Human Rights Watch calling for the court to respect the men's right to "free association". The letter said the Nigerian government had signed up to two conventions that enshrined the right to free association and freedom from harassment.

Prosecutor Yusuf Adamu said HRW was "grossly misinformed" about the case and invited a representative of the organisation to attend the trial. He said that: Under Sharia law a man must dress like a man and woman must dress like a woman.

But prosecutors have asked the court to write a response to HRW which could now delay the case. The case was adjourned until further notice by the judge.

A poster claiming that gay people want to abolish the family has been criticised by the advertising regulator.

The Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV) advert showed a man, woman, boy and girl with the statement Gay aim: abolish the family .

A complainant had said the advert did not accurately represent gay people's views and was offensive.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the organisation could not stand up the claim that was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The ASA upheld complaints against the ad, ruling that it could be inflammatory. The poster broke advertising rules on social responsibility, decency, matters of opinion and truthfulness, the ASA said: We considered the statement and the way it appeared was likely to cause offence both to the mainstream gay community and supporters of equality .

The ASA added that it was also likely to be seen as controversial and possibly inflammatory by a significant number of people who saw the poster in an untargeted medium. We concluded that the poster was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and might lead to anti-social behaviour.

The CCTV, which describes itself on its website as an alliance of Christians but not a church organisation, was instructed to make sure future campaigns would not be offensive.

The group defended the poster, citing gay organisations' manifesto documents from the 1970s which described the traditional family unit as working against homosexuality.

While pornography can be dehumanising and exploitative, it can also be educative, liberating, empowering, fulfilling and immensely socially beneficial. It all depends on how it is made, who makes it, what it depicts and why it is being used.

The puritanical rightwing feminist claim that porn is always anti-women is simplistic, untrue, insensitive, uncaring and, dare l say it, sometimes misogynistic and homophobic. Using sexually explicit imagery can be egalitarian, health promoting, emotionally fulfilling and life saving.

Legislation in this area is likely to throw up more problems than solutions. Even in the case of depictions of sexual violence and degradation, much of it involves consensual SM fantasy and role-play, where two or more adults commit sexual acts with mutual agreement and where no one experiences any lasting physical harm.

Criminalising such behaviour violates the right to privacy, individual liberty and personal autonomy. To deny mutually consenting adults the right to personal private space, and the right to make decisions about their own bodies, has more than a whiff of authoritarianism.

Read the full article

Australian nutters have condemned a play shortly to open in Sydney depicting Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by Judas. The play also features Jesus conducting a gay marriage between two apostles.

The play, named Corpus Christi , is due to open next month as part of the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

A senior Sydney churchman called the play historical nonsense. It is deliberately, not innocently, offensive and they're obviously having a laugh about it, Robert Forsyth, Anglican bishop of South Sydney, was quoted saying.

The play's director Leigh Rowney, who claims to be a Christian, accepted the play would offend some Christians but said he was keen to provoke debate about Christianity.

Playwright Terrence McNally, who is gay, received death threats when the work was performed in the United States, the Sun-Herald reported.

A lesbian sex scene in an Egyptian film has outraged religious scholars, who are telling people not to watch the 'sinful' movie.

An Islamic Studies professor at Cairo University wants the Egyptian authorities to prosecute the director and both actresses involved in the scene.

Dr Abdel-Sabour Shahin believes the film, Hina Maysara (Until Further Notice), promotes homosexuality and debauchery and destroys morality in society.

Muslim teachers at Al-Azhar University have also slammed the film and support Shahin's indignation. One professor at the University, Elwi Amin, claimed there was no lesbianism in Egypt. He also said that watching scenes of a sexual nature, whether homosexual or heterosexual, was a sin: Many people in Egypt do not even know what the word 'lesbianism' means. This is the influence of immoral Western culture which controls the media,

Director Khaled Youssef asked people to watch the film before they made up their minds: I will not respond to those who criticise without even watching the movie. Lots of people accuse me of apostasy and immorality based on seeing the film poster.

Although Egyptian law does not explicitly forbid homosexuality, the practice is considered taboo in what is a conservative and mostly Muslim country. The Egyptian government has been known for arresting homosexuals on the grounds of offences against public morals and sensitivities or violating the teachings of religion and propagating depraved ideas and moral depravity.

A marriage registrar has sparked a major legal challenge to the acceptance of gay weddings by refusing to carry out the ceremonies.

The woman, a devout Christian, is taking action against Islington Council, saying the civil partnership ceremonies she has been asked to perform are against her religious beliefs.

More than 300 gay couples a year have been tying the knot in the North London borough since the ceremony became legal in 2005 – but the unnamed registrar has refused to take any part in them.

Her stance has escalated into a full-scale dispute with her employers, who she is now taking to an employment tribunal, in the first case of its kind.

Last night Islington Council, which is now Lib Dem-dominated, confirmed the tribunal was pending and said: A claim has been made to an employment tribunal which Islington Council is defending robustly. The council does not intend to comment further.

Religious MPs have submitted an amendment to enable religions to continue preaching against homosexuality:

Nothing in this part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion of, criticism of or expressions of antipathy towards, conduct relating to a particular sexual orientation, or urging persons of a particular sexual orientation to refrain from or modify conduct relating to that orientation.

Pink News reports that the amendment is almost certain to be defeated as the homophobic incitement proposal has gained cross-party support.

In an interview with PinkNews.co.uk published today, the Lib Dem spokesperson on Justice David Heath said: We (the party) have been convinced for some time that there is, first of all a reservoir of extreme prejudice against gay people. Secondly, prejudice is one thing, having it manifest itself as attacks, in one form or another, is something that we should be very concerned about. I am convinced by the evidence that there is a real problem. That's why, as far as I'm concerned, the case is proven for having something of this kind. Anyone who is expressing themselves in a reasonable way, even if what they're saying is wholly abhorrent to most right thinking people, will not be get caught under this law, unless what they're saying is an incitement to hatred against a whole class of people.

Stonewall Chief executive Ben Summerskill rejected concerns that a law banning incitement to religious hatred would be used to silence the voices of religious people who regard homosexuality as a sin: We are crystal clear that people are perfectly entitled to express their religious views. We are also crystal clear that the temperate expression of religious views should not be covered by the legislation.

Justice minister Maria Eagle has also confirmed that Christians will continue to have the right to express their homophobic views: If you are a preacher and on Sunday morning you tell your sermon of your beliefs and the beliefs of your denomination about gay people then that's different to going and standing outside a gay club and using threatening words and behaviour . The intent is the key. That is very clearly unacceptable and that's where we are pitching the offence.