China: Gay Life Legal, But Still in the Closet

It's past midnight and hundreds of men pack Destination. They talk in smoky corridors, move to the beat on a crowded dance floor and play shirtless around a dance pole. Destination is a lot like any number of gay bars in the United States, but outside of the club, it's a different world for gays in China.

Openness about homosexuality is seen by some as too much of a refutation of the Communist Party line in a country where men are pressured by the government and tradition to marry and father a child, gays say. Gay festivals are shut down and websites closed, and laws preventing discrimination do not exist. "If something's different and you publicly promote it, (the authorities) worry it could get out of control and threaten their harmonious society," says Bin Xu, director of Common Language, a lesbian, gay and transgender support group based in Beijing.

In January, authorities canceled the Mr. Gay China pageant an hour before it was to start. Police in Songzhuang, an artist's colony in the suburbs of Beijing, sought last year to shut down a gay arts exhibition, which Xu's group helped organize, because it was deemed "not proper," Xu says. She negotiated with authorities and was allowed to hold the event after taking down four paintings.

Full Story from USA Today
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Poll: Changing "Gays & Lesbians" to "Homosexuals" Drops DAT Repeal Support by 11%

A fascinating CBS poll reveals that support for the repeal of DADT varies greatly depending on whether "homosexual" or "gay" is used in the wording of the question.

"In the poll, 59 percent say they now support allowing "homosexuals" to serve in the U.S. military, including 34 percent who say they strongly favor that. Ten percent say they somewhat oppose it and 19 percent say they strongly oppose it. But the numbers differ when the question is changed to whether Americans support "gay men and lesbians" serving in the military. When the question is asked that way, 70 percent of Americans say they support gay men and lesbians serving in the military, including 19 percent who say they somewhat favor it. Seven percent somewhat oppose it, and 12 percent strongly oppose it."

John Aravois at AmericaBlog reacts:

"Bottom line: Homosexual is a nasty, clinical-sounding word with nasty connotations for far too many Americans. It's what I've argued for years, and have been routinely beaten up by some in the gay community who claim I'm nuts - namely, that no one should use this offensive word and we should correct anyone who does. It now appears I'm not so nuts after all."

Full Story from Joe.My.God
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UK: Pope Attacks Equality Bill

Pope Benedict XVI says he'll visit England this year, even though he doesn't approve of the British government's plans to introduce stronger equality laws for gays and lesbians.

"Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society," the Pope wrote to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales. "Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs."

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed," he added.

Full Story from GayNZ.com
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Israel: Gays Finding a Place in the Orthodox Faith

Gidi Grunberg at 16 fell in love with a boy at his Orthodox high school near Tel Aviv. Consumed by guilt, he transferred to a high school that was more strictly religious, hopeful that with more rigorous Torah study his attraction to men would pass.

A product of Orthodox institutions, Grunberg eventually came to accept his homosexuality during his years of mandatory service in the Israeli army. But in his private life, he found himself faced with a choice between his sexual identity and his religious community. "I prefer to be true to myself, and to accept myself, than being part of the community and living in a lie," Grunberg told JTA. "I lost everything. I lost my friends from the yeshiva. I lost the youth movement. There was a lot of things at stake."

With non-Orthodox religious options still a rarity in Israel, young gays and lesbians like Grunberg who grow up in traditional, highly insular surroundings typically have found that they must choose between their Orthodoxy and their sexual orientation.

Full Story from JTA
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Colin Firth Proud of Gay 60's Movie "A Single Man"

After four changes in the time of the phone call and three disconnects, Colin Firth's distinctive voice finally crackled over the line. He apologized, in advance, for any inarticulate moments to come. It had been a long day, and he had just come off the set of "The King's Speech" in London, where it was 11:30 p.m. and he was now doing phone interviews with reporters in the States. But you could hear him rally as he said, "I'm very happy to be talking to you," and proceeded to be gracious, insightful and articulate about his profession and the movie "A Single Man." It earned him the Best Actor honor at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, nominations for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award and -- just maybe -- his first chance at an Oscar. Full Story from the Post-Gazette

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Mexico: Will Gay Marriage Bring Gays/Lesbians to Mexico City?

Tourism officials in Mexico say they hope to attract gay couples who want to marry in the capital city. The city became the first capital city to legalise gay marriage in Latin America last week. According to Press Association, Alejandro Rojas, the city's tourism secretary, said: "Mexico City will become a centre, where [gay] people from all over the world will be able to come and have their wedding, and then spend their honeymoon here. "We are already in talks with some travel agencies that are planning to offer package tours that include flights, hotels, guides, and everything they need for the wedding, like banquets. We are going to become a city on a par with Venice or San Francisco." Full Story from Pink News: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/12/30/mexico-city-hopes-to-attract-gay-marriage-tourism/

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NC: County Supervisor Cites Biased ADF Health Report to Deny Domestic Partner Bill

When the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners held initial discussion on extending domestic partner benefits, Republican Commissioner Karen Bentley suggested to county human resources staff a white paper on the potential costs of the benefits. Although the resource, entitled “The Hidden Costs of Domestic Partner Benefits,” has ties to a questionable, anti-LGBT organization and contains outdated information, it was nonetheless included in an 80-page human resources department report presented to Mecklenburg commissioners on Dec. 15. The paper, written by Michael Hamrick, is a publication of the Corporate Resource Council, an organization run by and funded by the Alliance Defense Fund. Based in Arizona, the Alliance Defense Fund is a legal organization responsible for challenges to LGBT-inclusive laws and policies across the nation. Some have claimed the CRC is a “front group” of the Alliance and it has been identified as a “non-profit consulting firm” affiliated with the legal group. CRC corporate filings with the Arizona Secretary of State office show the CRC shares the same physical address as the Alliance. One of CRC’s board members is the CEO of the legal organization. Full Story from QNotes: http://www.q-notes.com/4704/mecklenburg-gop-pol-cites-outdated-biased-white-paper-in-domestic-partner-fight/

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Mexico: Mexico City Legalizes Gay Marriage

Mexico City lawmakers on Monday made the city the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, a change that will give homosexual couples more rights, including allowing them to adopt children. The bill passed the capital's local assembly 39-20 to the cheers of supporters who yelled: "Yes, we could! Yes, we could!" Leftist Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of the Democratic Revolution Party was widely expected to sign the measure into law. Mexico City's left-led assembly has made several decisions unpopular elsewhere in this deeply Roman Catholic country, including legalizing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. That decision sparked a backlash, with the majority of Mexico's other 32 states enacting legislation declaring life begins at conception. Full Story from SFGate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/21/international/i131903S07.DTL

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Overview: Gay Rights in South America

In 2002, Argentina was at the forefront of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights debate when it became the first country in the region to allow same-sex civil unions. After this landmark decision, other countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, and even Spain followed suit. On November 13th, 2009, Judge Gabriela Seijas once again put Buenos Aires ahead of its neighbors by ruling that the Argentine government must recognize the marriage of José María Di Bello and Alex Freyre, a same-sex couple. This decision makes Argentina the first Latin American country to attempt to institutionalize same-sex marriage. Despite the temporary block of Di Bello and Freyre’s wedding, ordered by a national judge on December 1st, Argentines will soon be engaged in a battle over the deadlocked debate when the country’s Congress and Supreme Court take up the issue in the coming months. With regard to the rest of the region, the pending question is whether or not other countries will once again follow in Argentina’s footsteps regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage. As leftist governments continue to be elected throughout the region, the LGBT movement is approaching a crossroad: will these governments honor their stated values of equality and protect the gay community? Or, will a deeply-rooted, conservative Catholicism continue to prevent equal status for all members of society? As these progressive governments consolidate their bases on the basis of promises to the poor and disenfranchised, they must extend some of the same promises to the LGBT community. On this issue Argentina is unique in its regional context because it has now twice been the first to initiate the granting of equal status for its LGBT citizens. So far, several Latin American governments, like Argentina, are also moving to fulfill some of their promises and apposite principles by extending some rights through the institutionalization of same-sex civil unions, much to the chagrin of conservatives, religious leaders and others. In the meantime, the Argentine LGBT community will continue to commemorate the country’s willingness to be the first to tackle this contentious issue. Full Story from Scoop.co.nz: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00539.htm

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What Does Being Gay Really Cost?

The authors of a widely discussed article published in The New York Times, "The High Price of Being a Gay Couple were the main attraction at a panel discussion at New York’s Gay Center on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. Finance reporter Tara Siegel Bernard and colleague Ron Lieber estimated the additional expenses incurred by two hypothetical gay couples over a fifty-year period, compared to the same expenses incurred by two hypothetical heterosexual couples. The worst-case couple would earn a combined $70,000 annually. The best-case scenario couple earned a combined $160,000. The article, which was highly praised by mainstream and gay readers, examined every detail of how the lack of legal union and other legal restrictions wreaks secret havoc on our financial well being. Two months and 900 fictional tax returns later, Bernard and Siegel emerged with a wide-ranging profile which shattered the myth that gays are more financially robust and advantaged than their heterosexual peers. The two reporters (who are heterosexual), detailed the metholodology of how they crunched the numbers. Full Story from Edge Boston: http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=99842

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Russia: The New Gay Activism

It may be the Day of Silence, but the two hundred or so people in Valery Sozaev’s office are anything but. There is a buzz of nervous excitement. We’re about to march down Nevsky Prospect, St Petersburg’s main street, with tape over our mouths, handing out flyers calling for an end to homophobia. “It’s important to show people that activism exists,” says Irina, a marcher who didn’t give her last name. “But it’s a risk in Russia. I think people are very nervous.” As it turns out, they have reason to be. Our rally permit has been denied, allegedly due to construction in our path. “Cunning, very cunning,” mutters Anton Smolev, a social studies teacher. Full Story from Capital Xtra: http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/The_new_Russian_queer_activism-7921.aspx

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WA: Everything But Marrige Law Takes Effect Thursday

On Thursday, it will be 30 days since Election Day. Big deal, you say? It is a big deal. As John Marsh, Bob Teichman, Dee Peterson and others planning to celebrate outside the Snohomish County Courthouse know, the state's new domestic partnership law takes effect Thursday. Voters approved it last month by deciding the fate of Referendum 71, which was placed on the ballot by those opposed to expanded rights for state-registered domestic partners. Seen as a direct vote on gay rights, R-71 bucked a national trend. Maine voters on Nov. 3 repealed a same-sex marriage law. In 2008, voters in California, Arizona and Florida eliminated the right of gay couples to marry or approved marriage-protection measures. Full Story from Herald.net: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091202/NEWS01/712029857

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Nepal: Gay Member of Parliament Forms Tourism Agency for Gays, Lesbians

Nepal’s first and only openly gay member of parliament, who is also the founder of the gay rights movement in the conservative republic, has offered a wedding and honeymoon package to Indian icon for the sexual minorities, Manvendra Singh Gohil, the crown prince of Rajkot. Sunil Babu Pant, who was nominated to Nepal’s newly elected parliament after a historic election last year, has formed the country’s first tourist agency for gays, lesbians and transgenders, and has obtained the blessings of Tourism Minister Sharad Singh Bhandari to promote Nepal as a holiday destination where sexual minorities can combine weddings with adventure tourism. Pink Mountains Travels and Tours, registered under the ministry of small-scale industries, has already received a booking from an American lesbian couple who want to travel to Nepal in 2011 and marry there while a second couple, featuring a Filipino and an Arab in Dubai, have been in touch, saying they would book as soon as Nepal gets new laws legalising same-sex marriages. Full Story from the Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Nepal-MP-offers-honeymoon-package-to-gay-Indian-prince/articleshow/5292379.cms

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Ex Spouses Speak Up for Gay Marriage in DC

If anyone could have talked himself out of being gay, Kimberly Brooks said it was her husband. He wanted to be straight; she wanted him to be straight. She once followed his gaze across the beach to another man but quickly dismissed the thought. No, he couldn't be. Then he started spending more time with one particular friend and an unease pushed Brooks to ask the question that ultimately confirmed her fears: Was that friend gay? "He said, 'I don't know.' And in that moment, I knew," said Brooks, a therapist in Falls Church. "That day, the marriage was over." Full Story from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110602953.html

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Green Party Tells Austrian Government Time Running Out on Gay Marriage Pledge

The Greens today (Mon) warned the government was in danger of breaking its promise of a new law on gay marriages by 1 January 2010. Greens’ justice spokesman Albert Steinhauser said "time was running out" for the new law. He added civil partnerships would also give heterosexual couples a less demanding alternative to marriage in a permanent relationship. Civil partnerships, he said, would give couples the right to financial support only during their duration and would be easier to dissolve than marriage. He said homosexual couples should not be given preferential treatment but have the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples. Full Story from the Austrian Times: http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-10-12/17143/Greens_warning_over_homosexual_marriage_

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