Larry Kramer, gay rights and AIDS activist, dies at 84

Larry Kramer, a prominent gay rights activist whose vociferous writings and actions took on a lagging government response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, has died. He was 84 years old.

"Rest in power to our fighter Larry Kramer. Your rage helped inspire a movement. We will keep honoring your name and spirit with action," tweeted Act Up -- the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power -- one of several groups he founded as the HIV virus ravaged the gay community in the late 20th century.

Citing Kramer's husband, The New York Times attributed his death to pneumonia. The octogenarian had suffered a number of afflictions in his storied life, including HIV and liver disease, for which he underwent a transplant in 2001.

In 1981 Kramer founded the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the first organization supporting HIV-positive people, leaving a year later following disputes with his fellow organizers.

He went on to found Act Up in 1987, leading protest marches and disruptions of government offices, Wall Street and Catholic leadership to shock US leaders into combatting AIDS.

Born on June 25, 1935 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Kramer graduated from Yale in 1957 before doing a stint in the Army.

He then made a foray into film, working in London on "Dr. Strangelove" and "Lawrence of Arabia."

He was known as a provocative screenwriter, nabbing a 1971 Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "Women in Love."

He later turned to themes of homesexuality, publishing in 1978 a lightning rod of a first novel -- "Faggots" -- which through its piercing satire explored promiscuity, drug use and sadomasochism in the gay community.

In the early 1980s Kramer was among the first activists to recognize AIDS as a fatal infection likely to spread and kill globally across lines of gender.

"Our continued existence depends on just how angry you can get.... Unless we fight for our lives we shall die," he wrote in a 1983 essay published in a gay-focused outlet, the New York Native.

Though his harsh rhetoric and often combative style alienated some, he channeled his furor over the government's perceived apathy on AIDS into urgent work that ultimately transformed American health care.

"In American medicine, there are two eras -- before Larry and after Larry," Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert now leading the US fight against the coronavirus pandemic, told The New Yorker in 2002.

Fauci, who became one of the nation's most prominent voices on federal AIDS research, developed a friendship with Kramer after the activist grabbed his attention after dubbing the doctor an "incompetent idiot" and killer in 1988.

Kramer's singular voice played a key role in pushing the federal government to improve testing and approval of drug regimes for HIV patients.

"Once you got past the rhetoric," Fauci told the NYT upon learning of the activist's death, "you found that Larry Kramer made a lot of sense, and that he had a heart of gold."

"Larry Kramer's death hits our community hard," tweeted GLAAD, a nonprofit centered on LGBTQ acceptance.

"He was a fighter who never stood down from what he believed was right, and he contributed so much to the fight against HIV/AIDS."

Agence France-Presse

16 Ugandan LGBT activists given forced anal exams: rights group

KAMPALA, Uganda - Sixteen Ugandan LGBT activists were subjected to forced anal examinations after being arrested, the country's leading gay rights organization said Thursday.

The 16 men were taken into police custody late Monday to protect them from a homophobic mob which had surrounded the house where they were staying, but were then arrested and charged under a colonial-era anti-gay law.

"Last night (Wednesday) the police subjected them to forced anal exams," the Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) Frank Mugisha, told AFP.

Mugisha described the practice as "degrading and inhumane."

Police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP by WhatsApp that "following new developments based on the medical examination report it was established that the suspects were involved in sexual acts punishable under the penal code." 

The men -- members of an LGBT activist group called Let's Walk Together -- have been held beyond the constitutionally mandated 48 hours without a court hearing.

There have been no prosecutions for consensual same-sex acts in Uganda in recent years, where acts deemed "against the order of nature" can lead to life imprisonment.

According to Human Rights Watch forced anal examinations are a long-discredited technique which aim to determine whether someone has engaged in anal intercourse in order to seek evidence for prosecution.

According to SMUG, attacks against LGBT people have soared in recent weeks since reported comments by Ugandan Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo that he wanted to see the return of legislation thrown out by the courts on procedural grounds in 2014 that would tighten already strict anti-gay legislation.

The government has since clarified it has no intention to introduce new laws.

"I strongly believe that the government of Uganda is not behind any anti-gay law coming up and I also think that they don't want the pressure to continue," Mugisha said. 

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Pride and prejudice: Poland at war over gay rights before vote

WARSAW - Poland's October general election is shaping up to be dominated neither by the economy nor politics as the devout Catholic country goes to war over LGBT rights, denounced by the governing conservatives and an archbishop as a "threat" to their way of life.

Homosexuality became the hottest electoral issue after PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski condemned gay rights as a "threat" in April and put the issue high on his party's campaign agenda.

The leftist opposition has seized recent sparring over LGBT as an opportunity to slam the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party for its close alliance with the influential Catholic Church.

"For the PiS, it's political fuel. It allows the party to reaffirm its political identity, its attachment to traditional values in the face of the wave of Westernization," political analyst Stanislaw Mocek told AFP.

"But the other side has also found a political weapon there, in the form of defending minority rights."

Poland remains staunchly Catholic and conservatives are increasingly campaigning against LGBT, or gender "ideology" which they believe threatens traditional family values.

In May, a woman put up posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo, prompting police to detain her for "desecration".

Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski tweeted: "All that nonsense about freedom and 'tolerance' doesn't give ANYONE the right to insult the faithful's beliefs."

In July, a court ordered news magazine Gazeta Polska to halt the distribution of anti-gay stickers reading "This is an LGBT-free zone".

The caption picked up on a trend at local government level where PiS allies have declared themselves "free of LGBT ideology".

Also last month, weekend violence marred the first gay pride parade in the eastern Polish city of Bialystok where football hooligans, some with far-right sympathies, attacked marchers and police.

The incident sparked a series of protests with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemning the violence but failing to speak out against the anti-LGBT campaign.


'Rainbow plague'

This month, Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski added fuel to the fire when he used a sermon to warn against the LGBT movement.

"The red plague no longer runs on our land," the clergyman said, referring to communism.

"But a new plague has emerged, neo-Marxist, that wants to seize our souls, hearts and spirits. A plague that is not red but rainbow."

The uproar was immediate: Poles took to the streets in Warsaw and the southern city of Krakow, brandishing rainbow flags and shouting "Shame!" and "Resign!".

YouTube initially blocked a recording of the sermon, then reinstated it.

A member of the Dominican religious order, Pawel Guzynski, urged Poles to write letters calling for the archbishop's resignation.

Other faithful took to the airwaves of the conservative Catholic station Radio Maryja to call for letters to be sent to the Vatican defending Jedraszewski.

Another episode in the LGBT battle looks set to take place at Saturday's gay pride parade in the central city of Plock, with members of the far-right planning to protest.

Around 50 residents sent the mayor a letter asking him to withdraw his patronage of the event.


'Ideological campaign'

Conservative Catholics believe Poland is the target of an "ideological campaign" by LGBT circles, backed and financed by international organizations such as the ILGA-Europe rights groups' network.

The argument was notably made by Marcin Przeciszewski, the head of Poland's KAI Catholic information agency.

In support, he cited the anti-discrimination "LGBT+ declaration" adopted by Warsaw city hall in February, as well as the conclusions of a congress that united dozens of activist groups in the Polish capital in March.

Przeciszewski added that legislation has been drafted in favor of civil unions and gay marriage, though such texts have no chance of a green light from the current PiS-controlled parliament.

For Mocek, the debate touches on the nature of democracy.

"According to a traditional definition of democracy, the majority governs and must protect the rights of the minority," he said.

"But for the PiS, since the majority governs, it has the right to impose its will, and that's something that could lead to an attack on minority values."

Campaigning on a platform of generous social spending, PiS appears on track to win a second consecutive term in the election, according to recent opinion polls.

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Murder, ‘gay-hunters’ strike terror in Russia's LGBT community

When LGBT activist Yelena Grigoryeva found her name on a hit list of a "gay-hunting" group, she did not appear to take the threat seriously.

The group called itself "Pila", meaning "saw", after the series of Hollywood horror films of the same name, in which a serial killer plays games with his victims. 

Pila promised "very dangerous and cruel little gifts" to a number of Russia's gay activists. 

"That's just a threat," Grigoryeva wrote on Facebook early last month, posting a screen grab of the group's website on her page. 

"This is not how crimes are committed."

On July 21, her body was found in bushes close to her home in Saint Petersburg, with at least eight stab wounds to her face and back. She was 41.

The murder has horrified Russia's LGBT community, even though there seems to be no firm evidence linking Pila directly to Grigoryeva's fatal stabbing.

"I do not know who these people are, but it's significant that people who think this way live among us," said activist Mikhail Tumasov, who has also received threats from Pila. 

"Many people would like to do in reality what Pila is threatening us with. The idea has emerged that killing people over their sexual orientation is not just normal, but noble," he told AFP.

Russia's gays and lesbians are no strangers to violence, hate crimes and even homophobic murders.

But a vigilante group seeking to turn violence against LGBT people into a game and encouraging Russians to hunt them down for sport plumbs new lows, campaigners say.

Activists said the Pila website had been around for about a year, posting names and pictures of their targets and promising "awards" for attacks on them.


- 'Start protecting citizens' - 

Prominent activist Igor Kochetkov accused authorities of doing little to stop it as he urged police to probe the website and the death threats against Grigoryeva.

"Dear police and other law enforcement agencies. It's time to get to work!" Kochetkov, whose name was also on the hit list, said in a recent video address. 

"Start protecting all citizens! And if you believe that people like us should not be protected find yourselves a different job." 

Pila's website has only recently been blocked, as have its channels on the popular encrypted messaging app Telegram. 

But Pila has promised "to play until the end", despite the ban.

Late last month, investigators arrested a man suspected of killing Grigoryeva, suggesting the attack was the result of a personal dispute. 

Then they said they had taken the wrong man and detained a new suspect. 

But the investigators made no mention of the homophobic threats against the activist, implying she was killed by a drinking companion.

Separately, Russia's Anti-Extremism Center said it could not conduct a probe into Pila because its website had been blocked.

LGBT activists accuse authorities of refusing to properly investigate Grigoryeva's murder and the homophobic group.

They say Pila may not be made up of cold-bloodied killers, but that its main goal was to further terrorise Russia's beleaguered gay community.

"Pila is dangerous because it sows hatred. It inspires people to commit real crimes," said Alla Chikinda, spokeswoman for an LGBT support center in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The center, too, has received threats from Pila, which called for it to be shut down.

"You will be the next victims of our game if you don't comply with our conditions," the group warned in a letter.

The Yekaterinburg center has now installed video cameras and complained to the police.


- 'Feeling of impunity' - 


Even though Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, it remains a deeply homophobic society. 

A rise in violence against gays has been seen since 2013, when Russia passed a law banning gay "propaganda" among minors.

At a G20 summit in Japan in June, President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia respected gay rights, but also made fun of gender identity. 

"Transformers, trans... I don't even understand what this is," he said.

In July, Russia opened an unprecedented criminal case accusing officials of negligence for allowing a gay couple to adopt two children.

Activists say it should come as no surprise that groups like Pila did not fear punishment.

"They enjoy a feeling of impunity," said Vitaly Bespalov, editor at a gay online portal and one of the targets. 

"They know they will face nothing for it."

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Elton John slams Russian cuts to 'Rocketman' gay scenes

LOS ANGELES - Elton John on Friday criticized Russia's reported censorship of gay sex scenes in the new movie musical based on his life, "Rocketman," calling the decision "cruelly unaccepting of the love between 2 people."

John and the makers of "Rocketman," which depicts the warts-and-all rise to fame of the gay British musician, issued a statement after Russian media reported that scenes involving gay sex and drug-taking had been cut from a screening in Russia.

"We reject in the strongest possible terms the decision to pander to local laws and censor 'Rocketman' for the Russian market," John and the filmmakers said.

"That the local distributor has edited out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended, is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between 2 people," their statement added.

The English-language Moscow Times on Friday quoted a Russian film critic who had seen the film at its May 16 world premiere in Cannes as saying that several scenes, totaling about 5 minutes, had disappeared from the Russian version.

They include a male sex scene featuring actor Taron Egerton, who plays John, and a photograph during the closing credits in which the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" singer is pictured with his real-life husband David Furnish, who was a producer on the film, film critic Yegor Moskvitin was quoted as saying.

The movie, which has won warm reviews, began its worldwide rollout earlier this week.

John, 72, a prominent gay rights campaigner, has previously spoken out against a 2013 law banning the dissemination of "gay propaganda" among young Russians.

In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would be willing to meet with John. Although the singer played a concert in Moscow in May 2016, no meeting with Putin took place.

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China seen by LGBT+ groups as years away from same-sex marriage

KUALA LUMPUR - China is at least a decade away from allowing same-sex marriages with the current priorities on introducing anti-discrimination laws, letting LGBT+ groups raise awareness without fear, and banning conversion therapy, LGBT+ campaigners said on Thursday.

Taiwan's parliament this month legalized same-sex marriage and more than 360 gay couples married on May 24 after years of debate over marriage equality that has divided the self-ruled and democratic island.

But China, which claims Taiwan as its own sacred territory and has a thriving gay scene in major cities, on Wednesday said that it would not follow Taiwan's example.

Hu Zhijun, executive director of LGBT+ advocacy PFLAG China in Guangzhou, said this came as no surprise as he did not expect China to back same-sex marriage during the next decade.

"China's current social acceptance is still relatively low - there is no broad basis for support - same-sex marriage will not be passed in a short period of time," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Socially conservative attitudes prevail across Asia, with Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore banning sexual relationships between men, while Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, has seen a spike in LGBT+ raids recently.

Thailand has drafted a civil partnership bill while Vietnam allows gay marriage ceremonies but couples do not enjoy the same legal protections as heterosexuals.

In China there are no laws against same-sex relations and there is growing awareness of LGBT+ issues but the country does not ban conversion therapy and homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder until 2001.

Doriane Lau, researcher at Amnesty International in Hong Kong, said LGBT+ communities in China had little rights protection.

"There is no law banning discrimination on grounds of sexuality and gender identities," she said.

"Conversion therapy is still commonplace. Many psychology and psychiatry textbooks still identify being LGBT as an illness that can be 'cured'."

While domestic LGBT+ groups are trying to raise awareness and work with the government, the space for them has shrunk, Lau said, with large-scale LGBT events called off and high school rainbow activities banned.

Yanzi Peng, a director at LGBT Rights Advocacy China, said institutional discrimination against LGBT+ people - through marriage laws, education policy, and media censorship - had shaped a negative attitude among LGBT+ people in China.

For political reasons, Beijing did not want to be seen as following Taiwan's lead, said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.

"While China tolerates same sex relations, it certainly does not promote LGBT rights, and sadly, does very little to counter the types of economic and social discrimination that LGBT people face on a daily basis," he added.

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We do: Taiwan's gay newlyweds urge Asia to follow their lead

TAIPEI -- As they celebrated tying the knot at an outdoor party, many of the first same-sex couples to marry in Taiwan on Friday urged Asian governments to follow their island's lead.

Taiwan's decision to legalize same-sex marriage was not without controversy and came after three decades of campaigning by activists against staunch conservative opposition.

It places the island at the forefront of the gay rights movement in Asia, a continent home to 60 percent of the world's population but where the battle for marriage equality has struggled.

"I think this will have a ripple effect and influence other Asian countries, they will see that this is feasible, that it can be done in Taiwan," Chen Xue, a writer who married her long-term partner on Friday, told AFP in a Taipei park where newlyweds and their supporters had gathered to celebrate.

"Even though there might be some unease in the short term, in the long term it will have positive influences on society," she added. "We are definitely setting up a positive example for other Asian countries."

Taiwan now finds itself among a handful of liberal democracies to have granted equal marriage rights.

Until last week only 26 nations had legalized same-sex marriage, sixteen in Europe, followed by seven in the Americas as well as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. 

Twelve others have passed some form of civil union laws, while Israel recognizes foreign same-sex marriages.

'ASIAN VALUES'

But in Asia, Taiwan currently stands alone.

Religious and conservative values remain entrenched in countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia. 

In East Asia many conservative groups have pushed the idea that same-sex relationships clash with so-called traditional Asian or Chinese "values".

In China, communist authorities only removed homosexuality from a list of mental disorders in 2001 and the LGBT community faces routine discrimination. Gay rights groups have made little progress on marriage in Hong Kong and Singapore. 

Many of those getting married in Taipei said Friday's weddings offered a vivid counter to the argument that gay rights had no place in the region.

"I want to tell people in other parts (of Asia) don't give up and keep on fighting," said Huan, a local celebrity YouTuber who goes by one name, and who married her partner on Friday. "The victory will come in the end."

Lin Meng-huan, a 32-year-old screenwriter, married his partner Chou Chung-peng, an actor. 

"I hope that Taiwan is the beginning of gay rights movement in Asia, not the end, and everybody has to keep fighting," said Lin. 

"I didn't expect Taiwan would be the first in Asia," added Chou. "I hope this love can gradually expand to drive other marriage equality movements in Asia."

Taiwan's breakthrough came in 2017 when the island's top court ruled that denying same-sex couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals breached the constitution.

The court gave politicians two years to change the law with parliament only just making the deadline.

But popular opinion remains wary. 

In November conservative and religious lobbies won a series of referendums, with a large majority of voters opposed to granting marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Taiwan's current President Tsai Ing-wen and her ruling party members may find themselves punished at the ballot box next January for supporting the law changes.

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Taiwan parliament to vote on Asia's first same-sex marriage bill

TAIPEI - Taiwan's parliament began debating Asia's first gay marriage law on Friday as conservative lawmakers launched a last-ditch attempt to scupper the most progressive bill in favor of a watered-down "civil-union" law. 

Hundreds of gay rights supporters gathered despite heavy rain near Taipei's parliament as a mammoth legislative debate got under way over an issue that has bitterly divided the island.

Parliament is up against a ticking clock.

Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution. Judges gave the government until May 24 this year to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. But they gave no guidance on how to do that.

With that deadline fast approaching, three bills have been tabled for Friday's vote -- which also happens to be the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

The most progressive is the government's bill, the only one to use the word "marriage" and to offer limited adoption rights. 

It is backed -- begrudgingly -- by gay rights groups who see it as the closest thing to full equality with heterosexual couples, despite its limitations.

Opponents have tabled two other versions which avoid the word marriage, offering something closer to same-sex unions with no adoption rights.

Conservative and religious groups have been buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. 

FAMILIES DIVIDED

In a Facebook post President Tsai Ing-wen said she recognized the issue had divided "families, generations and even inside religious groups". 

But she said the government's bill was the only one that respects both the court judgement and the referendum.

"Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society," she added in a tweet.

Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in parliament, occupying 68 out of 113 seats.

But there is no guarantee her own lawmakers will vote for the more progressive bill, especially as many fear being punished by conservative voters at the ballot box in January.

One of the rival bills was proposed by a DPP lawmaker. And a last-minute amended version of the government's bill has been tabled by fellow lawmakers in the party, dropping the phrase "same-sex marriage".

However, it still lets same-sex couples join an "exclusive permanent union" and apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies.

LGBT COMMUNITY IN LIMBO

Taiwan's LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years, with many couples planning weddings ahead of the May 24th deadline but unsure of what marriage equality will look like.

"The world is watching to see if Taiwan's parliament will write a new page in gender equality or deal another blow to Taiwan's hard-fought democracy, human rights and the rule of law," said Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan.

"For the gay communities what matters the most is whether we can legally get married on May 24 and be listed as the spouse in ID cards, to be treated and respected as the 'spouse' in the whole legal system ... and whether same-sex families can obtain legal parental rights for their children."

Cindy Su was one of thousands of gay marriage supporters gathered outside parliament on Friday ahead of the debate. 

"We are just a group of people who want to live well on this land and who love each other," she told the crowd.

But opponents warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify tensions.

"The cabinet's bill ignores the referendum results and that is unacceptable," said Lai Shyh-bao of the opposition Kuomintang party, who proposed one of the bills backed by conservatives.

aw/jta/ecl

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Taiwan unveils long-awaited gay marriage bill

TAIPEI - Taiwan's ruling party unveiled its latest attempt to create Asia's first gay marriage law on Thursday, a bill offering same sex-couples "permanent unions" as well as limited adoption rights, despite stiff opposition from conservatives.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has had a stuttering and troubled journey towards delivering on their 2016 election promise to grant same-sex couples equal marriage rights.

In November, conservatives won a referendum against revising the island's Civil Code to allow gay marriage, in a blow to President Tsai Ing-wen's party and a stark illustration of the social divide caused by the issue.

The referendum came after Taiwan's Constitutional Court voted to legalize gay marriage in 2017 -- the first place in Asia to do so -- arguing that denying same-sex couples marriage rights was unconstitutional.

The court ordered the government to amend the law by May 24, 2019 but did not specify how it wanted gay marriage to be brought in.

The bill published Thursday by the cabinet is the Tsai administration's attempt to square that circle -- a new law that meets the court's demands while trying to respect the referendum result by not altering the Civil Code which currently defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The draft law released by the justice ministry proposes allowing "two persons of the same sex to create a permanent union of intimate and exclusive nature for the committed purpose of managing a life together to realize the equal protection of the freedom of marriage."

Gay couples will be allowed to adopt the biological children of their partner while both parties are financially responsible for each other and are entitled to inheritance rights.

The law is set to take effect on May 24 but needs to pass parliament, where the DPP holds a majority.

Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, and it stages the biggest gay pride parade in Asia annually. 

Gay marriage rights receive high approval ratings among young people in particular.

But it also remains a staunchly conservative place with powerful religious lobbies especially outside urban areas, and analysts say DPP underestimated how controversial their gay marriage proposals would be. 

President Tsai openly supported the legalization of gay marriage before she was elected but has since said there needs to be more consensus in society.

If the bill is passed, it would be Asia's first gay marriage law. In December, Thailand's junta rulers proposed a similar bill but it has yet to make it to parliament in the kingdom that is currently in the midst of an election campaign. 

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Hong Kong rejects motion to consider same-sex unions

LONDON - Hong Kong's parliament rejected a motion that could have paved the way to legalizing same-sex unions on Thursday, in a region where no country allows gay or lesbian couples to marry.

The measure, which would have urged the government to consider granting "equal rights" to same-sex couples, was rejected by 27 votes to 24 on Thursday, with 6 abstentions, Hong Kong's Legislative Council said on its website.

"The government keeps avoiding studying policies for homosexual groups," the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, quoted gay lawmaker Raymond Chan, who proposed the motion, as saying.

"Opponents of this motion have to explain why they reject even such a small step forward."

No countries in Asia allow same-sex couples to marry or enter civil unions of any kind. Socially conservative attitudes prevail across the region, and opponents of same-sex marriage say such unions could destroy society and family institutions.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1991 in Hong Kong, which is more supportive of LGBT+ rights than mainland China. However, marriage is legally defined as a monogamous union between a man and a woman and same-sex marriage is not recognized.

Hong Kong said in September it would recognize overseas same-sex partnerships when granting dependent visas, a move that was supported by global banks and law firms operating in the former British colony.

Chan's motion would have urged the city's government "to study the formulation of policies for homosexual couples to enter into a union so that they can enjoy equal rights as heterosexual couples".

Lawmaker Priscilla Leung opposed Chan's motion on the grounds that Hong Kong should keep marriage between men and women and "refrain from shaking existing marriage institutions".

The self-ruled island of Taiwan, regarded as a beacon of liberalism in Asia, will on Saturday vote in a referendum on whether it should recognize same-sex marriage.

Taiwan's constitutional court said last year that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry, the first such ruling in Asia.

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Puerto Rico allowing transgender people to fix birth certificates

MIAMI, United States- Transgender people in Puerto Rico can now modify their birth certificates to match their gender identity after activists won a lawsuit against the US territory's governor.

The change, which went into effect Monday, will comply with a ruling from the US District Court for Puerto Rico, which in April struck down the island's policy preventing transgender people living there from correcting gender on birth certificates.

"The right to identify our own existence lies at the heart of one's humanity," wrote US District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo at the time. "And so, we must heed their voices: 'the woman that I am,' 'the man that I am.'"

The latest victory for the LGBT community leaves just three US states that prohibit amending the gender marker on the official identification documents: Kansas, Ohio, and Tennessee.

"It's a relief to finally have a birth certificate that truly reflects who I am," said one of the plaintiffs, Daniela Arroyo, in a statement released by Lambda Legal, an LGBT civil rights nonprofit.

Omar Gonzalez Pagan, a lawyer for Lambda Legal, said the group had already filed suit against Ohio's rule.

In its statement, the group said almost one-third of transgender people whose identity documents are at odds with the gender they appear to be have been denied benefits or services and faced harassment or assault.

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Gay rights activists parade in Seoul amid noisy protests

SEOUL - Led by a huge rainbow flag, tens of thousands of gay rights supporters paraded through Seoul's city center Saturday as conservatives protested loudly at what they called "obscenity".

The parade, estimated to be some 30,000 strong, made its way through the South Korean capital with participants dancing on open truck beds decorated with slogans and waving the rainbow flag of gay rights.

In recent years extreme conservatives and evangelist Christians have held rival rallies in attempts to block the progress of the annual march and put on their own performances to try and disrupt the festivities.

Fences were set up around the Seoul Square outside the City Hall Saturday and hundreds of police were deployed to keep the revellers and protesters apart.

Hundreds of Christians, waving flags with Christian crosses printed on them and thumping on drums, chanted anti-gay slogans and sang patriotic and evangelical songs.

Public tolerance towards sexual minorities in South Korea's tradition-bound society has been growing in step with the country's democratic development.

Homosexuality is not illegal but fears of discrimination and social isolation still prevent many people from coming out.

"I think the public attitude toward homosexuality has become much more receptive over the past few years", said a parade participant who identified himself as Psygay as he handed out leaflets promoting the country's gay rights movement.

"However, hate groups' animosity toward LGBT people has intensified all the more", he told AFP.

When he came out three years earlier, his mother and the only brother were shocked and saddened.

"After a while, my mother said she understood me as I am her son anyhow. But my brother still urges me to change", he said.

"My father? Oh, he still doesn't know", said Psygay.

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Thousands march and dance in New York's Gay Pride parade

NEW YORK -- Tens of thousands of people waving rainbow flags and hoisting political banners marched and danced on the streets of New York on Sunday in the latest festive edition of the Gay Pride parade that began in Central Park in 1970.

On foot, on roller skates, on motorbikes or riding on some 100 spectacularly colorful floats, participants moved slowly on a hot, sunny day along the two-mile (three-kilometer) parade route from historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, over to Fifth Avenue, then up to 29th Street.

The route was altered this year in anticipation of the celebrations planned for next year to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots between gay nightclub patrons and police that, in 1969, gave birth to the US movement for gay rights.

Many of Sunday's marchers were scantily dressed, like one clad only in a bikini with a rainbow-colored bottom and a pink top.

Another tanned and well-toned man on roller skates wearing a skimpy red trikini that amply displayed his sculpted abdominal muscles somehow managed to catch photographers' attention. He carried a sign that simply said "Love."

The theme of this year's parade was "Defiantly Different," a message inspired in reaction to President Donald Trump's treatment of the LGBTQ community, organizers said.

For the second straight year, many marchers carried anti-Trump banners and signs, criticizing policies seen as anti-gay.

For flamboyant Democratic New York Council member Corey Johnson, who at 36 is openly gay and is the city's first legislative leader with HIV, the slogan reflects New York's diversity: It has the nation's largest LGBTQ community, a population more than 40 percent foreign-born and where "more than 200 languages are spoken" just in the borough of Queens.

"As Lady Gaga says, 'I was born this way,'" he told the local ABC subsidiary, before returning to the parade, dancing and jumping with a rainbow banner streaming from his hand.

In a heavily Democratic city where gay voters matter, Johnson was not the only politician taking part: Also marching were Mayor Bill de Blasio, US Senator Chuck Schumer and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who walked behind a big banner reading "New York State of Love."

The parade's grand marshal this year was tennis legend Billie Jean King, 74, a lesbian and an outspoken defender of gender equality and LGBTQ rights, who rode in a carriage under a big, rainbow-colored parasol.

The atmosphere in this year's parade was much lighter than last year, when many marchers paid somber tribute to the 49 people killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US top court rules for baker in gay wedding cake case

WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court delivered a historic but limited victory Monday to a Colorado baker who refused to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, in a closely-watched case pitting gay rights against religious liberty.

In a 7-2 decision, the high court ruled that while the Colorado Civil Rights Commission determined that Masterpiece Cakeshop must serve clients regardless of sexual orientation, the panel showed "clear and impermissible hostility" toward the baker's religious beliefs.

The commission's bias therefore violated baker Jack Phillips's rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment, the justices found.

But they did not definitively rule on the issue of whether a business can decline to serve gays and lesbians based on religious views, meaning the broader contentious issue is likely to simmer.

The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, and Colorado law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Bakery owner Jack Phillips had argued that he refused to serve the couple, David Mullins and Charlie Craig, when they walked into his shop in 2012 because he opposed their planned marriage on religious grounds.

The Colorado commission's "hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment's guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in an 18-page majority opinion.

"The outcome of cases like this in other circumstances must await further elaboration in the courts, all in the context of recognizing that these disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market."

He noted that the panel's "official expressions of hostility to religion" was "inconsistent" with its strict requirement for neutrality.

Two liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, joined the conservatives in the majority ruling on the most significant case for gay rights since the high court approved same-sex marriage.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, arguing that the commission's alleged hostility played only a minor role.

"What matters is that Phillips would not provide a good or service to a same-sex couple that he would provide to a heterosexual couple," Ginsburg wrote.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was pleased with the decision.

"In this case and others, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the free speech and religious freedom First Amendment rights of all Americans," Sessions said in a statement.

Last year, President Donald Trump's administration weighed in on the side of Phillips, as the Justice Department filed a brief arguing that his First Amendment right of free expression had been violated.

'OBJECTIONABLE MESSAGE

Mat Staver, chairman of the conservative Liberty Counsel, called the decision a "huge victory for the religious rights" of private citizens.

"A person should be free to refuse to be used as a mouthpiece for an objectionable message," he said.

In December, Phillips's lawyers argued before the court that while the baker was perfectly willing to sell ready-made products to anyone, a wedding cake can be considered artistic expression, and such creations can express a message -- something Phillips was not prepared to do for a gay couple.

The cake case became a flashpoint in American political circles in recent years, with Republican lawmakers eager to plant the flag of religious freedom in backing the baker.

"Today, the Supreme Court took a stand for religious liberty against the unconstitutional demands of an oppressive bureaucracy," Senator Ted Cruz said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which argued the case on behalf of Mullins and Craig, said the ruling represented a victory for the core principle upholding fair business practices for all.

"The court reversed the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision based on concerns unique to the case, but reaffirmed its longstanding rule that states can prevent the harms of discrimination in the marketplace, including against LGBT people," said ACLU deputy legal director Louise Melling.

The Supreme Court's punt on the broader issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections in order to refuse service assures that the subject will remain a major American debate.

Mullins and Craig said in a statement that their fight against discrimination would continue.

"We brought this case because no one should have to face the shame, embarrassment and humiliation of being told 'we don't serve your kind here' that we faced, and we will continue fighting until no one does," they said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Australia celebrates 'day for love', allows same-sex marriage

SYDNEY - Australia became the 26th nation to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday, prompting cheers and singing from a packed parliament public gallery in a country where some states ruled homosexual acts to be illegal until just 20 years ago.

Lawmakers, who had cast aside a conservative push to allow religious objectors to refuse service to same-sex couples, waved rainbow flags and embraced on the floor of the chamber, where earlier in the debate a politician had proposed to his same-sex partner.

Fewer than five of 150 MPs voted against the law.

"What a day. What a day for love, for equality, for respect," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "...It is time for more marriages."

The laws, which will also recognize same-sex marriages solemnized in foreign countries, take effect from Saturday. Because a month's notice is required for the state to recognize a marriage, the first legal same-sex unions will be in January.

Australians had overwhelmingly endorsed legalizing same-sex marriage in a postal survey run by the national statistics agency.


The bill cleared the upper house last month and had been expected to pass on Thursday after Turnbull's Liberal-National coalition government and the main opposition Labor Party had previously said they wanted to pass it by Dec. 7.

But religious organisations and conservative lawmakers had voiced strong opposition and proposed dozens of amendments.

During parliamentary debate, they pressed for broad protections for religious objectors, among them florists and bankers, to refuse service to same-sex couples.

"These amendments, rather, are a shield for people and organisations that hold to a traditional view of marriage. They are not a sword to be wielded in the service of bigotry," government MP Andrew Hastie said in parliament.

Amendments to permit lay celebrants to decline to solemnise same-sex marriages and businesses opposed to the unions to refuse service at wedding receptions were all defeated, one after the other, during three days of debate.

"Love has won, and it's time to pop the bubbly," Greens MP and same-sex marriage supporter Adam Bandt said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Foreigners barred from Singapore gay-pride rally: organizers

SINGAPORE - Foreigners will be barred from attending Singapore's annual gay-pride rally, its organizers said, as the city-state tightens rules against the involvement of non-Singaporeans in protests.

Singapore's Pink Dot rally, which started in 2009, has attracted crowds of up to 28,000 despite a backlash from conservative groups in a state where protests are strictly controlled.

However, the government implemented new rules in November allowing only citizens and permanent residents to attend such events, which take place at the city's only free-speech site, Speakers' Corner.

Pink Dot's organizers said in a statement posted on their Facebook page Sunday that they will have to carry out checks to ensure that only Singapore citizens and permanent residents join the rally.

Making the announcement with "profound regret", the organizers said the police reminded them of the new rules ahead of this year's event, which is due to be held on July 1.

"In order to continue using Speakers' Corner, Pink Dot 2017 organizers have no choice but to adhere to this regulation, as organizers and foreigners caught flouting this rule are liable to be prosecuted," they said.

Violators face a fine not exceeding Sg$10,000 ($7,127) or a jail term of up to six months or both on conviction.

The new regulations also banned foreign companies from funding events held at the Speakers' Corner, including the Pink Dot rally.

Multinationals led by Facebook, Google and Goldman Sachs had funded previous editions of the gay-pride rally as part of their equal-opportunity initiatives.

After last year's event, the government warned that it would "take steps to make it clear that foreign entities should not fund, support or influence such events".

Singapore has long taken a hard line on what it considers foreign interference in domestic politics and has often been criticized by human rights groups for clamping down on political freedoms.

Open support for gay rights has grown in recent years, aided by changing social norms among the younger generation and a large influx of tourists and expatriates.

However Singapore's top court in 2014 upheld a law dating back to British colonial rule that criminalises sex between men.

mba/rc/iw/kb

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5 major gains for LGBTI rights in 2016

DAKAR - From bathrooms and beauty pageants to diplomatic disputes and Donald Trump's U.S. presidential victory, 2016 was a turbulent year for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people worldwide.

Gay and transgender rights took more prominence than ever in the global media spotlight after several high-profile legal battles, and celebrity and cultural endorsements.

Yet LGBTI people worldwide still face discrimination in many aspects of life such as employment, education and healthcare, and are subjected to widespread violence, campaigners say.

However, gay and transgender rights groups are being increasingly backed, and are fighting to change policies and laws to protect LGBTI people from violence and discrimination.

Here are five of the biggest gains for LGBTI rights in 2016:

1) United Nations appoints first gay rights investigator

The United Nations in September appointed its first gay rights independent investigator to help protect homosexual and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.

Vitit Muntarbhorn's three-year role was created by the U.N. Human Rights Council amid objections by Muslim countries, and several African states who sought to have his work suspended.

Yet Muntarbhorn told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that even those countries perceived as the most virulent opponents of LGBTI rights may in fact have pockets of openness and tolerance.

Muntarbhorn, an international law professor who has served on many U.N. bodies, including inquiries on Syria and as a special rapporteur on North Korea, also said he does not see his task in terms of how many people he might represent worldwide.

"One person might be affected 10, 20, 100 times ... bullied at a young age, can't go to toilet, laughed at, tortured, ultimately killed and defamed at the same time," Muntarbhorn said. "How many violations can you count?"

2) U.S. celebrities, corporations boycott North Carolina over transgender bathroom law
Entertainers such as Bruce Springsteen and companies ranging from PayPal to Deutsche Bank have pulled events and jobs from North Carolina to protest a law restricting bathroom access for transgender people in government buildings and public schools.

North Carolina in March became the only state in the country to require transgender people to use state-owned public restrooms and changing facilities that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

Transgender rights have become an increasingly divisive issue in the United States, and the use of public bathrooms has been a flashpoint in the controversy over the past year.

Republican lawmakers cited privacy and security concerns when they passed the law, but critics say the bill, which also blocks local measures protecting LGBT people from discrimination, is stigmatizing, insulting and unconstitutional.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory earlier this month conceded the state's contested gubernatorial race to Democrat Roy Cooper, four weeks after the Nov. 8 election that many saw as a referendum on the transgender bathroom law.

3) Malta bans conversion therapy to lead way in Europe

Malta became the first country in Europe to ban conversion therapy, a much-criticised and discredited practice that aims to change sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

The southern Mediterranean island nation criminalised conversion practices - often referred to as "gay cure" therapies - with its parliament calling it a "deceptive and harmful act".

Those who prescribe or perform the therapy can be punished with fines of up to 10,000 euros ($10,400) and one year in jail.

Malta is widely considered as one of the most progressive nations in Europe when it comes to LGBTI rights, having made a raft of legal and social changes in recent years.

It has introduced LGBTI-inclusive education, passed same-sex civil unions and allowed transgender people to change their legal gender without any medical or state intervention.

Conversion therapy is still legal in most countries worldwide, but has been banned in several American states.

4) Belize scraps colonial-era anti-homosexuality law
Belize's Supreme Court in September ruled that a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality was unconstitutional, in a judgment LGBTI activists say will boost efforts to abolish anti-gay laws in other former British colonies in the Caribbean.

The law, which punished gay sex with up to 10 years in prison, was scrapped after years of advocacy by the gay rights activist Caleb Orozco of the United Belize Advocacy Movement.

Belize became the third country to decriminalize gay sex in 2016, along with the South Pacific island of Nauru and the Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Campaign.

Yet it remains illegal in 72 countries worldwide, most of which are former British colonies, the gay rights group said.

5) Beauty pageants, film industry shine spotlight on gay and transgender issues

From the first openly lesbian Miss America contestant and Israel's inaugural transgender beauty pageant to Emmy awards for the hit transgender TV series "Transparent", the entertainment industry is shining a bigger spotlight on LGBTI stars and issues.

The popularity of shows in recent years like "Orange Is The New Black" and movies such as "The Danish Girl", which feature transgender stars or focus on issues facing gay and transgender people, have seen LGBTI rights become mainstream in the media.

Yet this success comes amid controversy within the LGBTI community over how transgender people are portrayed, and over the casting of straight men and women in transgender roles.

"I would be happy if I were the last cisgender male to play a transgender female," actor Jeffrey Tambour said in September in his acceptance speech after winning an Emmy for his portrayal of transgender woman Moiré Pfeiffer in "Transparent". (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Singaporean man charged after threatening to 'open fire' on LGBTs

SINGAPORE, Singapore - A man whose Facebook comment calling for violence against the local LGBT community went viral after a shooting at a popular gay club in Florida was charged in Singapore on Thursday.

Bryan Lim, 36, faces up to five years in jail and a fine if convicted of inciting violence through the Internet.

Lim had posted the comment on a Facebook group page set up to oppose Pink Dot, an annual gay rights rally in Singapore.

"Give me permission to open fire. I would like to see these £@€$^*s die for their causes," Lim wrote.

In the post, he identified himself as a father and a Singaporean citizen who had undergone mandatory military service and had sworn "to protect my nation".

The comment was posted on June 4 but only went viral after the June 12 shooting in Orlando, Florida which killed 49 people. Several Internet users made police reports against him.

Lim later apologised, claiming that his comment had been "taken out of context".

"I did not mean physical bullets nor physical death," he wrote. "I mean open fire in debate and remove them from Singapore domestic matters."

Lim's computers and phone have been seized by police and he will next appear in court in August.

Singapore, an ethnically diverse city-state, has tough laws against violence and hate speech.

On Tuesday, a website owner was jailed for eight months for publishing fabricated articles that stirred hatred against foreigners in Singapore.

But Singapore's leaders have had to maintain a difficult balance between increasingly vocal conservatives and gay rights supporters.

Earlier in June, the government warned foreign firms against sponsoring Pink Dot, while a local staging of Les Miserables was forced to cut a scene involving a kiss between two male actors because of public complaints.

Sex between men remains illegal in Singapore, a holdover from colonial rule that is not strictly enforced.

In an interview with journalists last year, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said the country was not ready to legalise same-sex marriage, but added that the local gay community did not face harassment or discrimination.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Singapore tells foreign firms not to back gay rights rally

SINGAPORE - Singapore has warned Google, Facebook and Goldman Sachs not to interfere in the conservative city-state's internal affairs after they and other multinational corporate giants sponsored a gay rights rally at the weekend.

The government "will take steps to make it clear that foreign entities should not fund, support or influence such events held at the Speakers' Corner", the interior ministry said in statement, referring to Singapore's only legal protest area.

The warning against foreign involvement with the annual Pink Dot rally comes as Singapore's government is taking an increasingly conservative stance against gay rights.

The ministry said it had released the statement on Sunday in response to media queries about whether foreign companies can legally provide sponsorship for the event, which was held this year on June 4 and also sponsored by Twitter, BP and major banks Barclays and J.P. Morgan.

"The Government's general position has always been that foreign entities should not interfere in our domestic issues, especially political issues or controversial social issues with political overtones," said the statement.

"These are political, social or moral choices for Singaporeans to decide for ourselves. LGBT issues are one such example," it added.

In a separate statement released on Thursday, the ministry said that no action will be taken against foreign companies that sponsored the event this year.

Pink Dot's organizers defended their choice of sponsors, saying they had done all they could to comply with Singapore's laws.

"Our Corporate Sponsors that have supported us over the years are all registered and incorporated in Singapore," Pink Dot said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

A Google spokesman said the company had supported the event since 2011, but declined to elaborate further. Other major companies who sponsored the event could not be reached for comment.

Started in 2009, the rally has grown despite a backlash from social and religious conservatives in the multi-racial nation of 5.5 million.

More than 28,000 attended last year's event but organizers said they did not keep track of attendance this year.

Gay rights movements in the wealthy city-state have grown steadily in recent years, helped by changing social norms among the younger generation and a large influx of tourists and expatriates.

However, in 2014 Singapore's top court upheld a law that criminalizes sex between men, and children's books with gay themes were moved to the adults section in public libraries.

In an interview with journalists last year, Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said the country was not ready to legalize same-sex marriage, but added that the local gay community is not harassed or discriminated against.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Thousands march in Rome for gay rights

ROME - Thousands of people marched in Italian cities Saturday to demand legal recognition for gay couples and their children, days before lawmakers begin addressing the deeply divisive issue.

Italy is the only major Western European country not to have enacted civil union legislation allowing same-sex couples to have their relationships acknowledged and protected in law.

A bill, which the Senate will start examining on Thursday, is the first to get to parliament.

If approved, the draft legislation will enable same-sex couples to commit themselves to one another before a state official, to take each other's names and, in certain circumstances, adopt each other's children and inherit each other's residual pension rights.

"The first time I marched with these slogans, it was 10 years ago, and I was pregnant. I hope this time it works," said bank worker Costanza Tantillo, who joined the Rome protest with her partner and their two children, nine-year-old Beatrice and Ludovico, four.

Two women who marched nearby held up a sign that read: "Stella and Paola, we've been together for 30 years and you still don't acknowledge us."

Protests had been planned for 90 towns and cities across Italy, under the slogan "Wake up Italy! It's time to be civil."

Opponents of the bill, in contrast, are planning a show of strength at a demonstration scheduled for January 30 in Rome's Circus Maximus.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the self-styled "Family Day," organised by mainly Catholic groups under the battle cry of "Defend our Children".

Angelo Bagnasco, the chair of the Italian conference of bishops, has denounced the whole debate as a "grave and irresponsible distraction from the real problems of the country".

In the world of politics, dividing lines cut across party loyalties. A minority faction within the ruling Democratic Party supports junior coalition partner the New Centre Right (NCD) in opposing a reform championed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Renzi, who has allowed his allies a free vote on the "issue of conscience", can however count on backing from most of the opposition Five Star movement, left-wing fringe parties and even sections of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

Most observers expect Renzi will get the bill adopted in the end.

- 'Historic day' -

According to Italian media, there were at least 7,000 demonstrators in Turin, 5,000 in Milan, thousands in Rome and Bologna, a thousand in Bari in the south, and hundreds in Naples and Venice among others.

"It is a historic day for this country, an immense protest that was fed by the desire and enthusiasm of a lot of people who hold the belief in equality close to their hearts," said Gabriele Piazzoni, the national secretary of Italy's biggest gay rights group, Arcigay.

In what many saw as papal intervention in the debate, Pope Francis on Friday ruled out any form of union except Catholic marriage.

"What he said didn't surprise me, all he did was to repeat the church's anthropological viewpoint," said Andrea Rubera, a gay man who married a fellow homosexual in Canada.

They came to the demonstration with their three young children.

"But he chose to say this on the eve of the day when we took to the streets to defend the rights of our children to have a little security."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com