World

From August 3-8, over 24,000 participants from 194 nations converged on Mexico City for the XVII International AIDS Conference. The conference, which was the second largest ever held and the first held in Latin America, centred on the theme Universal Action Now, emphasising the need for a continued degree of urgency in the global response to HIV/AIDS and for all those involved to actively move toward this response. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan and President of Mexico Felipe Calderon were some of the high profile attendees at the conference. (more…)

ELLEN AND PORTIA WED - Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi married in California last month in the presence of 30 guests. The marriage would not be recognized if the couple returned to de Rossi’s family home in Australia and Australian Marriage Equality has used the wedding to call on the government to review its stance toward same-sex marriage.

BALI DIE - Indonesia has been caught in a national debate about the correlation between homosexuality and a tendency toward sadistic killings, with many ‘experts’ saying gay people are more likely to be serial killers, after Jakarta’s Verry Idan Henyansyah, a gay man, confessed to the murders of 11 people. (more…)

The XVII International AIDS Conference will be held in Mexico City from August 3-8. Approximately 25,000 people are expected to attend the conference, which has a theme of ‘Universal Action Now’. In the lead-up to the conference, the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) will host a two day pre-conference event on August 1-2, entitled ‘The Invisible Men: Gay Men and Other MSM in the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic’. According to an article on amFAR’s website, the conference ‘will direct attention to the growing need to fund global HIV research on MSM and improve prevention, treatment, care and support for this vulnerable population.’ For information on the amFAR conference, visit www.msmandhiv.org/2008aids, and for information on the 2008 IAS conference, see www.aids2008.org.

Earlier this year, the Swiss Federal AIDS Commission released findings that an individual who is HIV-positive was not at risk of passing on the virus if they had an undetectable viral load, no STDs and strictly adhered to their treatment regime. Now, a study published in The Lancet has found that sero-discordant couples abandoning condom use could significantly increase the risks of transmission. Non-use of condoms can increase the risks posed by sudden changes in viral load, which can occur as a result of illness, an undetected STI or non-adherence to treatment. The Lancet study concludes, ‘the risk of HIV transmission in heterosexual partnerships in the presence of effective treatment is low but non-zero and that the transmission risk in male homosexual partnerships is high over repeated exposures. If the claim of non-infectiousness in effectively treated patients was widely accepted, and condom use subsequently declined, then there is the potential for substantial increases in HIV incidence.’ HIV/AIDS groups are widely advocating both strict adherence to treatment and condom use in preventing transmission.

The American Family Association (AFA) has called for a boycott of McDonald’s for its ‘support of homosexuality.’ The boycott was sparked by the appointment of McDonald’s Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. On the website www.boycottmcdonalds.com, the AFA details McDonald’s support of events such as San Francisco Pride in 2007 and accuses McDonald’s of choosing ‘not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.’ In a May 29 letter to the AFA, McDonald’s Global Chief Diversity Officer Pat Harris said the company ‘will continue to support our people and their right to live and work in an inclusive society.’

Gay author Bradley Fowler filed a lawsuit totaling US$70 million in Ann Arbor, Michigan on July 7 against two publishing companies – Zondervan Corp and Thomas Nelson Publishing – claiming that their translations of the Bible intentionally altered the text to portray homosexuality as sinful. In a press statement, Fowler argues that the changes to the text ‘convey a message of hate and discrimination towards a particular sector or group of individuals, solely based on bias opinions.’ PinkNews.co.uk reported that Fowler will represent himself in the case, since the Michigan court has refused to appoint Fowler a lawyer, due to concerns about his claims.

On July 25, Usaam Mukwaaya, a human rights activist in Uganda, was arrested by local police and detained over night. A report by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) says that, while in police custody, Mukwaaya was ‘cut around the hands’ and ‘tortured with a machine that applies extreme pressure to the body, preventing breathing and causing severe pain’. Mukwaaya was one of three human rights activists arrested during the HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting in June in Kampala. Both UNAIDS and the U.S. attended the conference and have condemned the arrests.

The U.S. Congress passed legislation in June that lifts the ban on HIV-positive travellers to the country and triples the funds allocated to the global AIDS fight over the next five years. The bill must now be signed by President Bush to become law. If enacted, the legislation would allow HIV-positive travellers to enter the U.S. without declaring their status.

On July 2, the European Commission published a proposal that, if passed by the European Union (EU), would protect people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. Currently, EU law prohibits discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation only in employment and training. For the new proposal to be passed all 27 member states must approve it, with each possessing the right of veto.

With the once a decade Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England in August, the divide between those calling for the Anglican Church to embrace gay clergy and those calling for it to return to a traditional biblical interpretation has gotten even wider.

In 2003 Gene Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church. Since then, conservative bishops have called on the church leadership to condemn parishes, particularly in the U.S., England and Canada, for breaking with traditional biblical interpretation. (more…)