Beware The Glitterati
US Republican presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann was the latest target of the ‘Glitterati’ who splashed her with glitter at a recent conference. As the wheels of the US presidential race started to turn last month, Bachmann was one of three Republican candidates who have been ‘glitter-bombed’ by gay and women’s rights advocates. Presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann was glitter bombed while she was attending a conference in Minneapolis on June 18. This new craze began in May when Republican candidate Newt Gingrich was hit with a glitter bomb at a book signing although Gingrich managed to laugh off the event. Tim Pawlenty was the second candidate to be glitter-bombed, recieving a shower of pink confetti in San Francisco last month.
WHO Hopes To End HIV Stigma
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people need better access to HIV prevention and treatment services, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The organisation has released new guidelines for policymakers and doctors, that are the first to specifically address the needs of these groups. According to WHO there has been a recent resurgence of HIV in MSM, particularly in industrialised countries. WHO data suggests there are emerging epidemics of new incidences of HIV among MSM in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. MSM are believed to be 20 times more likely to have HIV than the general population while rates of new incidences in trans* people range between 8 – 86 per cent, depending on the country.
Gay Rights A Human Right?
In a ground-breaking move, the United Nations Human Rights Council has requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to document discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in all regions of the world. The council has also called on the Commissioner to investigate how international human rights law could be used to end violence and related human rights violations. The controversial resoltion, which passed by a slim margin of just four votes, was introduced by South African delegates on June 17. Nigerian delegate Ositadinma Anaedu claimed more than 90 per cent of African people did not support the draft resolution and suggested notions of sexual orientation should not be imposed on countries like Nigeria that still criminalise sodomy.
Gay Marriage for the Big Apple
New York became the most populous state in the United States of America to allow same sex marriage. The same sex marriage bill had been debated for weeks but passed with the support of four Republican senators who crossed the floor to pass the ‘Marriage Equality Act’ 33 votes for, to 29 against. New York Governor and long time supporter of same sex marriage, Andrew Cuomo, signed the bill immediately on June 25, allowing the first gay and lesbian weddings to take place in around 30 days. The decision has been celebrated across the city with the Empire State Building being lit in rainbow colours and large street celebrations in Greenwich Village near the Stone Wall Inn.
First Pride March for Cuba
About a dozen Cubans marched through downtown Havana for the country’s first official Gay Pride March last month. Agence France-Presse reported the march spanned the 500 metre length of Prado Avenue and broke up amid dancing and music. Ignacio Estrada, one of the leaders of the Cuban LGBT People’s Rights Watch Group told AFP: ‘We are not asking for anything, we’re only celebrating the fact that Cuba voted at the United Nations in favor of recognising the rights of the gay community’. People of diverse sexuality and gender in Cuba have lived under social and legal discrimination for decades. Over the past decade, a greater understanding and education of LGBT people has seen a move towards tolerance.
Gay Bishops for C of E
Gay clergy in the Church of England will have the same opportunities to become a bishop as heterosexual members – as long as they abstain from sex. However, the church reaffirmed it’s position that people in civil partnerships would be excluded for nomination for episcopal appointment pending a review in 2012. Bishops are required to be celibate in their role. The UK Sunday Telegraph reported that the advice was sent to members of the General Synod, the governing body of the Church of England, following the introduction of the Equality Act in the UK. In the Equality Act, it read, ‘A person’s sexual orientation is, in itself, irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry more generally.’
Compiled by Benn Dorrington
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