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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Hotel chain asked to cancel conference with ‘anti-gay hate preachers’


The hotel chain Ibis has been urged to cancel a Muslim conference which includes speakers who have called for gays to be killed.

Gay campaigners said that events would be cancelled if speakers had called for the death of Muslims.

The Ibis Hotel in Earls Court, London, will host the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) conference on Sunday.

Speakers include Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick, who was recorded saying that the Islamic position on homosexuality is “death” and the Muslims will have to do more than “call names” to counter it.

Another speaker is Abdur-Raheem Green, who is said to have written on his website that adultery and homosexuality must be treated “harshly” to protect society and that “a slow and painful death by stoning” is the punishment.

The conference is titled ‘Changing The World Through Dawah (preaching)’ and is billed as “one of the most groundbreaking events to happen in the UK for the last ten years”.

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is calling for the Ibis group to cancel the conference’s booking, saying that events calling for Muslims to be killed would not be allowed.

He said that five more conference speakers – Shaykh Ala El Sayed, Shaykh Yusuf Estes, Shaykh Shady Suleiman, Hamza Tzortzis and Yusuf Chambers – had made anti-gay statements.

Mr Tatchell said:”The Ibis Hotel group should not facilitate speakers who promote homophobic discrimination and violence. They should cancel this booking.

“Neither the government nor the police would allow an event with speakers who had called for the killing of Muslims to ‘keep society pure’ and stop the spread of their religion. Such extreme anti-Muslim hate speech would not be tolerated.

“The event would be stopped and the speakers arrested if they expressed those views. Why the double standards?”

Mr Tatchell added that gay and lesbian people should boycott Ibis hotels.

According to his gay group OutRage!, the headline speakers at Sunday’s conference are associates of the hate preachers Dr Zakir Naik and Bilal Phillips, both of whom have been banned from entering Britain by the Home Secretary, Theresa May.

No one from the Islamic Education and Research Academy was available to comment this afternoon and PinkNews.co.uk was told that staff were busy preparing for the conference.

In a June 2009 press release, the organisation responded to accusations of extremism by saying that its speakers were “committed to presenting Islam based upon its original sources and in accordance with mainstream Islamic scholarship”.

Claiming that quotes had been taken out of context, the group continued: “Hence the accusations that our speakers are ‘radical’, ‘extremist’ are completely baseless and absurd, for this would equate to condemning the entire corpus of Islamic scholarly tradition as such.”
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Video: The New York gay couple who have received hundreds of letters addressed to Santa Claus


A gay couple living in Chelsea, New York City have received hundreds of letters from children all across New York hoping to reach Santa Claus.

The couple, Jim and Dylan, have with the help of friends responded to hundreds of the letters but there remains a mystery as to where the children located their address.

The couple told the New York Times, “we considered if it were a scam, or maybe a cruel joke that someone is putting on us.” The couple joked, “I sometimes imagine that a teacher wrote our address on a chalk board and said to the kids: ‘right, lets write to Santa.’”

The couple live in an apartment on West 22nd Street, once the home of Clement C. Moore who wrote the children’s classic ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ now more popularly known as ‘The Night Before Christmas.’

A delightful video from the New York Times about the tale is found below
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Video: New Zealand airline pulls ‘anti-gay’ scene from safety film


A New Zealand airline has ditched a scene from a safety video after complaints that it was anti-gay.

Air New Zealand’s humorous inflight safety video features a flight full of rugby fans and some members of the All-Blacks national team.

In the deleted scene, All Black centre Richard Kahui poses for a photo with a female flight attendant but politely declines to give gay staff member Will Coxhead a kiss on the cheek.

However, Air New Zealand said the lighthearted video had to be changed after complaints.

“The move comes after complaints from members of the gay and lesbian community in the past week,” the airline said.

The company said it had been told by a university professor, who it did not name, that the video could lead to suicides in the gay community.

Earlier this week, Air New Zealand manager David Morgan told the New Zealand Herald that the video had been shown to some gay people, who approved it.

Mr Coxhead, the Air New Zealand flight attendant who turned actor for the scene, said he was “gutted” by the response of “some people in the gay community”.

“I’m proud to be gay, proud to be an Air New Zealander and extremely proud of my role in the safety video … It was a bit of fun and was only meant as such,” he said.

“Obviously there are some people in the gay community that can be a little precious and need to lighten up.”
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Labour leader Ed Miliband calls for progress on gay marriage


Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for progress on gay marriage by the end of this year.

Speaking on Saturday on the tenth anniversary of the equal age of consent, he said that there was more to do on marriage equality.

Mr Miliband said: “The introduction of civil partnerships was one of the most significant changes introduced by Labour. Those equalities now have overwhelming public support and are being copied by many countries around the world.

“Five years on from the first civil partnership it is right that we look at extending marriage equality for those people who want it. I hope that we can make progress on this during the year ahead.”

He added that more must be done to tackle homophobia in schools and ensure that young people have “positive role models”.

In July, Mr Miliband said he did not think there was enough support for marriage equality.

“I will listen to what people have to say on going further than that if there is a demand. No one has yet put that to me in the leadership election,” he said.

Last month, it was reported that potential reforms to open up both marriage and civil partnerships to all couples were “being discussed” by coalition government ministers.

In a separate move, equality minister Lynne Featherstone is expected to announce plans soon to give gay couples the right to have religious civil partnerships.

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is to launch a legal challenge against the bans on gay marriage and straight civil partnerships at the European Court of Human Rights shortly.

A Times poll in 2009 found that 61 per cent of the general public were in favour of gay marriage, while a PinkNews.co.uk poll carried out last year found that 98 per cent of readers wanted the right to marry.
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Elton’s son’s welfare is at risk, former bishop claims


The former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has claimed that Elton John and David Furnish’s new baby psychological welfare is at risk.

Rev Nazir-Ali said he was concerned that baby Zachary had been born by surrogate mother to two fathers and suggested that John was too old to be a dad at the age of 64.

He told the Daily Telegraph that surrogacy introduces a “third party” which will “affect the welfare of the child, psychologically and in other ways”.

He added that parents should be of an age that “provides the child with a fair chance of being brought up by them without unnecessary disruption” and said that all evidence shows that children are best brought up in a heterosexual “stable” marriage in order to have “healthy relationships”.

In 2009, during London Pride, Rev Nazir-Ali called on gay people to “repent and be changed” and said the Church of England must not be “rolled over by culture.”

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell called on the bishop to “repent his homophobia.”

John and Furnish have chosen a lesbian couple to act as godparents to Zachary.
Instead of looking to their celebrity friends, the couple reportedly asked close friends Ingrid Sischy and Sandy Brant.

Ms Sischy and Ms Brant were part of a small circle who were told that John and Furnish were expecting a baby by surrogate.

A source told the Daily Mail: “Ingrid and Sandy are two of the most genuine people they know. They were among a handful of people Elton entrusted with the details of the surrogate pregnancy.

“Zachary means everything to Elton and David and they have chosen Ingrid and Sandy as godmothers for the traditional reason: to take care of the child’s welfare in case something happens to them.”

The couple may chose more godparents. John is a godfather to a number of celebrities’ children, including David and Victoria Beckham’s three sons.

Baby Zachary was born on Christmas Day.
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Gay Soho priest sacked after propositioning gay men


A gay priest has been sacked for “inappropriate” conduct after he sexually propositioned a gay couple who were staying with him.

The Rev David Gilmore, rector of St Anne’s Anglican Church in Soho, was found guilty of “conduct unbecoming or inappropriate to the office and work of a clerk in Holy Orders”, the Evening Standard reports.

He had offered to let two servicemembers stay at the rectory while they attended a gay and lesbian Armed Forces conference in December 2009.

The tribunal heard that he entered the couple’s bedroom naked during the night when he knew they were having sex. He had also asked them to sleep in his bed.

The couple left early in the morning and made written complaints about his behaviour.

Mr Gilmore was barred from working as a priest for two years, a statement from the Diocese of London said.
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Former Labour candidate avoids jail over anti-gay abuse


A former Labour Party candidate has avoided jail after admitting sending homophobic text messages to a gay rival.

David Bradley, 29, of Bristol, sent 33 text messages to Ed Bramall, 33, calling him “creepy” and “vile” after Mr Bramall was selected instead of him to contest the Whitchurch Park ward at last year’s local elections.

Other explicit messages called Mr Bramall a racist and made reference to anti-gay legislation in Uganda.

Bradley was handed a eight-month suspended sentence after admitting to a charge of harassment without violence between March and August last year, the Bristol Evening Post reports.

A court heard that he was “very remorseful” for his behaviour and had received help for depression and drinking too much.

Bradley was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service and pay Mr Bramall £200 in compensation and £85 costs.
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Poll puts gay senator David Norris ahead for Irish presidency


Irish independent senator David Norris is ahead in the race for the Irish presidency, an opinion poll predicts.

The gay politician was favoured by 27 per cent of the 1,001 people surveyed by Red C for Paddy Power.

Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness was on 13 per cent, while former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was on 12 per cent.

Mr Norris is a former academic with almost 25 years of political experience.

Speaking to the Guardian in October, he said that if he were elected president, he would use the ensuing media attention to “sell Ireland”.

He said: “Anybody else elected as president of Ireland I don’t think is going to get the same kind of sensational news coverage. And I think that’s splendid, because if I went to Washington as president every single news channel will be there hungry for a story.

“I have been around long enough to deal with that story with dignity and then move on to talk about Ireland, to sell our country.”

Mr Norris added that he was not fearful of media attention on his private life, saying: “I have lived a decent, respectable life, and there has been no scandal.”

In October, two other polls put him at the front of the race to succeed current president Mary MacAleese in the autumn.
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Johnny Weir: ‘I don’t celebrate being white so why should I celebrate being gay?’


Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir says he was surprised by the press reaction to his coming out as gay.

The American star told NBC’s Today show: ”I’m very surprised by the reaction. I’m a person – I’ve never lived in a closet. I’ve never claimed to be anything – I’ve never claimed to be straight or gay. I claim to be Johnny Weir.”

He announced he was gay earlier this month, having refused to clarify his sexual orientation in the past.

Continuing, he said: “And I think that’s something that’s very important for anybody in this world, is to own who you are, regardless of what you’re born into.

”I was born a white male. A white gay male, and I don’t celebrate being white or male. So, why should I celebrate being gay. That’s my opinion on the whole thing.

When asked if he would consider becoming a gay rights activist, he said: “I know people have been after this for years, and have worked so hard and tirelessly…. They definitely wanted me to be an activist.

“But the best way I can be an activist is to live my life, and not make that the main thing that is Johnny Weir. I’m much more than just a gay man.”
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New Zealand McDonald’s lifts ban on some gay websites


McDonald’s says it has begun lifting the blocks on some gay websites in its New Zealand restaurants.

The fast food giant was criticised by gay website GayNZ.com for blocking non-sexually explicit gay websites on its customer wifi network.

The company said yesterday it would begin lifting the blocks on the Rainbow Youth and Agender websites, as well as the website for New Zealand Family Planning.

But it says it will continue to block GayNZ.com because of some “sexually explicit” third party advertising. The company has offered to meet the site’s editor to discuss how the ban could be lifted.

The gay website had pointed out that other sites which were deemed to be “family friendly” had far more explicit and sexual content on user discussion areas, yet were not blocked.

McDonald’s began installing wifi in its restaurants in December and says it is now New Zealand’s largest free internet provider.

An email from the company to New Zealand media said the chain would continue to “actively discriminate against access to all sexually explicit and pornographic material in restaurants”.

It added: “We would also like to stress that it was never our intention to discriminate against the gay community.

“Our review process is of course on-going and we’re absolutely happy to check out websites on a case-by-case basis, if our customers believe some have been unjustifiably blocked.”
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Pro-gay US congresswoman shot, six killed


A pro-gay US congresswoman is in a critical condition and six people were killed after a gunman opened fire at her public meeting in Arizona.

Gabrielle Giffords, of Tucson, remains gravely ill in hospital after being shot in the head at close range on Saturday.

She has reportedly been able to move her fingers and toes, giving doctors hope she will recover.

Her intern, Daniel Hernandez, has been credited with helping to save her life by applying pressure to the bullet entry wound on her forehead.

Despite being 30 metres away, the openly gay staffer is said to have run towards the gunshots to help victims. He had only started his job five days before.

Ms Giffords’ aide Gabe Zimmerman, 30, was one of those killed when a gunman began shooting during the meeting in a shopping centre.

The others were US District Judge John Roll, Dorothy Morris, 76, Dorwan Stoddard, 76, Phyllis Schneck, 79, and Christina Taylor Green, nine.

Thirteen more people were injured.

Jared Loughner, 22, has been charged with the shootings.

He is said to be refusing to cooperate with police and has been charged with one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. He is expected to face further charges.

Mr Loughner is said to have written a note which allegedly indicates he planned to assassinate Ms Giffords.

The shootings have reignited debate over right wing rhetoric and Sarah Palin has been drawn into the debate after naming Ms Giffords and other Democratic politicians as “targets” in last year’s mid-term elections.

It has been suggested that this helped create a vitriolic political atmosphere.

But some conservatives suggested that liberals were trying to exploit the tragedy for political gain

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson wrote on his blog Red State that liberals were “subtly and not so subtly pinning the blame . . . on the Tea Party movement, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, me, you, and everyone right of centre”.
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UUP leader Tom Elliott will meet gay community


The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Tom Elliott, is to meet a gay rights organisation.

He said in September that he would refuse to attend gay rights parades or GAA matches if elected leader of the party.

Mr Elliott was invited for a meeting by the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (Nigra) and said he would be willing to accept.

Nigra president P A Mag Lochlainn told Press Associated that he had read an interview with Mr Elliott in which he said he had found support on a gay website.

In the article, Mr Elliott said: “I read on a gay website just shortly after [saying he would not go to Pride], saying ‘At least this person’s being upfront and honest with us and he’s not trying to come here for a photo opportunity and take some sort of privilege that he doesn’t deserve’.”

Mr Mag Lochlainn said he was “delighted” that Mr Elliott had been reading gay websites and said his group was eager to discuss issues such as homophobic bullying with the politician.

Mr Elliott said he would be happy to meet the group.
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Mary Portas says she can’t explain her sexuality


Retail guru Mary Portas says female sexuality isn’t black and white.

The presenter of the BBC’s Mary, Queen of Shops was ranked joint top of the Independent on Sunday’s Pink List last year, alongside Gareth Thomas.

She recently had a civil partnership with magazine journalist Melanie Rickey, having ended her 13-year marriage.

Speaking to the Guardian, Portas said she could not define whether she felt like a lesbian or a straight woman who had fallen in love with another woman.

She said: “When you look at female sexuality it’s very different. Lots of women have been in love with men and then women and vice versa, it’s just not so defined and I couldn’t explain it in black and white.

“Have I loved men? Yes. Have I loved more than one woman? No. But did I know that I’d had crushes on men and women in the past? Yes. So it was never like, oooh! But was I happy in my heterosexual relationships? Yes. That’s the way it just happened.”

Portas says she had an amicable divorce from her husband, with whom she has two teenage children.

She added: “I certainly wasn’t a suppressed lesbian thinking, ‘God, I can’t wait to get out of this marriage’, cos that would be just awful, awful, awful.

“No, my ex-husband and I know what we had, and it was great, some of the best years of my life, really some of the best. We just grew apart, and that happens. And I happened to fall in love with a woman.”
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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Teen attacked man he thought was ‘gay flasher’


A teenager from Plymouth faces jail after he attacked a man he thought was coming on to him.

Liam O’Brien, 18, punched and kicked the victim on the floor because he believed he was exposing himself deliberately, Plymouth magistrates’ court heard.

However, the victim was a man whose trousers were “in disarray” after he drunkenly urinated in the street, the Plymouth Herald reports.

He suffered bruises and grazes after the attack last April in the city centre.

O’Brien was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm, which put him in breach of earlier convictions for theft and assault.

He was released on bail to return for sentencing in February and has been warned he can expect a custodial sentence.
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Report: French government accused of transgender hypocrisy


When it comes to transgender issues, France leads the way in hypocrisy.

That is the charge levelled at the French government this week by national transgender organisation Trans-Aide after the French minister for justice Michel Mercier confirmed that the state will not recognise a change of gender identity without proof of “irreversible sterilisation”.

Mr Mercier gave this view on December 30th in response to a written question in the Senate by Maryvonne Blondin.

He wrote: “The irreversible characteristic can result from hormonal treatment, which has the effect of altering certain physiological aspects of an individual, notably their fertility, which can itself be irreversible. It is for those concerned to bring forward proof…”.

This statement follows a bad year for transgender identity in France, leaving the battle lines now drawn for a struggle between Trans-Aide and their allies on one side, and the government and legal establishment on the other.

In April last year, French representatives in the parliament of the Council of Europe buried their political differences and joined with others to support resolution 1728 (2010), requiring member states to ensure that recognition of transgender people should not be contingent on a legal requirement for sterilisation or any other specific medical treatment.

Despite this, when trans woman Delphine Ravisé-Giard, who had already seen her change of civil status turned down by the courts, took her case to the Court of Appeal in Nancy in October, the court refused to endorse this position, stating instead that it would issue its verdict on the matter in the New Year.

In November, Stephanie Nicot, an author and national spokeswoman for Trans-Aide, took her case for gender recognition to the same court with much the same result. The fact that she was living as female and was recognised as such by her circle of friends cut little ice as the court declared: “The right to a private life does not absolve transsexuals from the obligation to provide proofs.”

Both Stephanie and Delphine are continuing their struggle through the French legal system, which is the necessary precursor to taking the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Trans-Aide’s views on the matter are clear. Highlighting the hypocrisy of France co-sponsoring a conference in Geneva in 2010 against the violence that results from homophobia and transphobia, the group has asked the European Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg to recognise that France is failing to respect transgender rights, and to take up the case.

And in a statement issued yesterday, Trans-Aide told PinkNews.co.uk: “The cynicism of many politicians, even at the highest level, will come as no surprise to anyone. But our new minister for justice beats all records!”
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Trans woman performs DIY castration


A transgender woman in North Derbyshire was so determined to have sex reassignment surgery, she performed a DIY castration.

The patient, 22, waited 24 hours before going to hospital, the Sheffield Star reports.

She is understood to have been determined to undergo sex reassignment surgery and did not use an anaesthetic.

She told doctors that the process hurt less than she expected as they treated the wound and offered psychiatric help.

A spokesman for Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Trust said: “A man [sic] in his early twenties presented himself at the hospital minus his testicles, which he had removed the previous day.

“He was treated, then discharged.

“We can say no more because of patient confidentiality – but this is pretty unusual.”

Referrals for medical treatment of transgenderism can take months and patients are required to live in their new role for a set time period before surgery takes place.

In December, PinkNews.co.uk revealed that one NHS trust was temporarily stopping referrals for transgender treatment.

NHS West Kent is also ceasing referrals for gastric band surgery and couples seeking IVF but trans campaigners say people with these conditions do not have a high suicide rate, unlike trans people waiting for treatment.
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Former chair says Brighton Pride is failing the gay community


The former chair of Brighton Pride has said that the festival needs a “radical” overhaul.

David Harvey, who ran the event between 2003 and 2006, said Brighton Pride was too straight, that LGBT people did not feel safe there and and that trustees could be breaching Charity Commission rules by “running a party disguised as a charity”.

Mr Harvey managed to attain charitable status for the festival in 2004 but says that the current management of the event means it is failing.

In an open letter and speaking to PinkNews.co.uk, he claimed that Pride should be commercialised to allow it to start supporting community activities again and said he and Brighton Liberal Democrat leader Paul Elgood would be writing to the Charity Commission to raise concerns.

In October 2009, the struggling festival announced it would no longer give out grants to local groups.

Mr Harvey said: “As a charitable trust this is its primary function and it isn’t doing this anymore.”

In 2009, organisers admitted the festival was not paying for itself and cancelled the winter event. A £50,000 budget deficit was announced and the 2009 festival was described by organisers as “a bad year” in financial terms.

Mr Harvey, who now lives in Spain, told PinkNews.co.uk that the festival could be rescued by commercialising it, erecting gates around Preston Park and charging for entry.

“It needs a radical change. It needs something to ensure it becomes solvent.” he said.

He claimed that a takeover bid by production company Wilde Ones and club brand Wild Fruit contains a promise to create grants for local groups.

The two companies worked in partnership with Brighton Pride with Mr Harvey while he ran the event. He said he had no current connection to either company.

Mr Harvey also claimed that the fees charged by Brighton council for holding a commercial event in Preston Park could be “ringfenced and distributed to the community groups instead”.

He admitted he did not know how likely this was, but said it was “worth arguing for”.

He added that he had been “urged” by people in Brighton to speak out about the festival.

“They are disenchanted, upset at the way it’s gone and feel its way,” he said. “They have urged me to make a public statement.

“My understanding is that some of the people running it are straight. If you work on a cricket magazine, you have to like cricket.”

He added that the event was losing its gay identity and LGBT people no longer felt safe at a festival which was becoming a “straight jamboree”.

“if you’re going to a gay event, you have to feel safe,” he said. “Pride is for LGBT people and their friends – it is not just for anyone who wants a party.”

Brighton Pride could not be reached for comment. An automated email reply said the festival’s office was closed until Monday January 10th.

Mr Harvey’s letter in full

Where has my Pride gone?

It is with a sad heart that I have read the many news articles on Pride, listened to key people in the community who feel alienated by its organisers, and heard from close friends who say it’s unlikely they will ever go to Pride again.

Something has gone wrong. Pride should be an organisation to unite all people from the LGBT community and beyond. However, in recent times it has bred discontent, caused divisions and hurt some of the people who helped to make it great.

With my fellow trustees, we turned Brighton Pride into a charitable trust in 2004 to run the high profile festival promoting equality whilst giving grants to voluntary groups to participate. It included week-long winter and summer festivals with a focus, not on fundraising, but on community events. Activities were funded by grants, encouraging a wide participation especially from marginalised groups. Businesses did their bit by running fundraising events to boost the grants fund. The Preston Park festival acted as a showcase for all of the charity’s efforts throughout the year. It was funded through sponsorship and bar/food concessions. The activities run by Pride touched all sections of the LGBT community: arts workshops for the parade, an annual dog show, a drug awareness campaign, to name a few. Sadly, in the last few years a lot of these activities have tailed off.

Pride could have expanded its portfolio rather than cutting it back. For example, as a charitable trust it could have acted as a field agent to much larger charitable trusts by administering LGBT grants locally. However, in October 2009 it announced that no more grants would be given out at all. As a charitable trust this is its primary function and it isn’t doing this anymore. As a result I shall be writing to the charities commission to highlight my concerns.

As the community activities have diminished, the effort has been pushed into raising money to pay for an event that has grown year on year whilst slowly losing its gay identity. The last Brighton Pride I went to was in 2009– the crowd has become so mixed that it didn’t feel like a gay Pride event anymore. I now live overseas and would have made the journey back to Brighton for my beloved Brighton Pride this year but it didn’t feel right. My friends who went stayed for less than an hour declaring it had lost its LGBT identity and vowed they won’t be going next year unless something changes radically.

It has become a free party for anyone. This is not what we set the charity up to do. Ethically the charity should stop. Running a party disguised as a charity is morally wrong and an affront to the tens of thousands of charitable efforts across the land.

The Pride trustees should wind up the charity and allow a commercial operation with gay standing to take over the pitch. Charging for the event will end the “free for all” and help return the festival’s gay mix. There is a business bid on the table backed by two key LGBT community groups with a promise to create grants for local groups. However, as this is a commercial operation, the council will wish to charge for the use of Preston Park. It could easily insist that this fee is ring-fenced and distributed to the community groups instead. It would make no financial difference to the Council yet it would provide a massive boost to our voluntary sector.

This bid comes from the production company Wilde Ones and club brand Wild Fruit – they the very people who, in 2003-6, helped me, my fellow trustees and workers, make Brighton Pride the best gay event in the country. Perhaps they can return the that jewel to the gay community’s crown?

David Harvey

Disclosure: David Harvey is the former owner of 3Sixty Magazine. Five years ago, PinkNews.co.uk and 3Sixty jointly published a pilot Pink News magazine.
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Door staff attacked with knuckle-duster at Belfast gay club


Three door staff at a Belfast gay club were taken to hospital yesterday after being attacked with a weapon believed to be a knuckle-duster.

The staff – two women and one man – were treated for non-life-threatening head or facial injuries.

They were attacked shortly before 12.20am at the Union Street club Kremlin, which is said to be the city’s best-known gay venue.

Police investigating the incident have arrested two men and a woman, all in their twenties.

One of the attackers is said to have used a knuckle-duster.

Officers are working to establish a motive for the attack.

Anyone with information should contact police by calling 0845 600 8000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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Turkish LGBT group shut down by court


Another Turkish LGBT organisation has been ordered to close.

A criminal court in Bursa, north-west Turkey, ruled that the Rainbow Association must shut down after claims by the local government that its members had engaged in prostitution.

However, the LGBT group denies the allegations and says that no illegal activity has taken place.

Rainbow Association president Öykü Evren Özen said his group would appeal the ruling.

He added that the group would continue operating during the appeal and would reform under a new name if unsuccessful.

According to the Gay Middle East website, the Bursa local government has been “harassing” the Rainbow Association since early 2007 and has previously denounced it as “immoral”.

The January 2nd ruling follows a lawsuit originally brought against the group in 2008.

Lawyer Esra Yener told English-language website bianet that even if Rainbow Association members were working as prostitutes outside the group, it would be contrary to the law to associate their activities with the organisation.

Gay Middle East pointed out that Turkey, as a member state of the Council of Europe and part of the United Nations, has signed both the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The website urged the Turkish government to quickly pass a bill to uphold the rights of LGBT people.

At least three other Turkish LGBT groups have fought legal challenges to stay open in the past six years.

In 2009, Lambda Istanbul was granted permission to continue operating after it was ordered to be dissolved the previous year.

Ankara-based group Kaos GL was ordered to close in 2005 by city deputy governor, Selahattin Ekmenoglu. The closure petition was dismissed by prosecutors.

Last year, The Black Pink Triangle Association of Izmir was taken to court after the city of Izmir accused it of immorality. It later won the right to stay open.
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Viewers complain over BBC interview with anti-gay extremist


Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has received 95 complaints over a BBC news bulletin which invited an anti-gay extremist to air his views about gay parenting.

Complaints have also been made directly to the BBC but the corporation refused to reveal how many it had received.

A spokesman said the BBC does not release the number when there is “evidence of a lobby”.

The December 28th bulletin, about Elton John and David Furnish’s new baby boy, featured an interview with the homophobic preacher Stephen Green, of Christian Voice.

Mr Green, who has supported the death penalty for gay people with HIV and prison sentences for others, told the BBC: “This isn’t just a designer baby for Sir Elton John, this is a designer accessory… [cut]

“Now it seems like money can buy him anything, and so he has entered into this peculiar arrangement…[cut] The baby is a product of it. A baby needs a mother and it seems an act of pure selfishness to deprive a baby of a mother.”

In response, the BBC said the decision to interview him reflected a genuine debate over the issue of surrogacy for gay couples.

The corporation said Elton John could not be reached for an interview and that it had used old footage of him speaking about parenting. It would not say whether it had attempted to contact pro-gay commentators or organisations for comment.

In an email sent today to those who complained, the BBC said: “We appreciate some viewers were unhappy that a report on Sir Elton John recently becoming a surrogate father included the views of Mr Stephen Green.

“We recognise this issue can arouse a diverse range of contrasting opinions. This brief report featured Sir Elton John’s thoughts and an opposing view on the matter at hand. It must be stressed that over time we have heard from all sides of this debate, dealing the subject in a fair and impartial manner.

“We acknowledge the strength of sentiment on this matter, thanks again for taking the time to contact us.”

But PinkNews.co.uk reader Edward Bentley, who was among those who complained, said: “Their reply acknowledges not a shred of improper behaviour. Furthermore, their reply has about it a tone of arrogance, condescension and ‘Auntie knows best’. It’s like talking to a brick wall.”

Ofcom is understood to be considering whether the programme breached the broadcasting code.

The BBC has a history of offending LGBT viewers. Last year, the corporation apologised after the BBC News website hosted a debate entitled ‘Should homosexuals face execution?’

Along with supporting a proposed death penalty for some gay men in Uganda, Mr Green has also called openly gay rugby star Gareth Thomas a “wicked” role model for children and compared openly gay singer Ian Watkins (H from the band Steps) to a mass murderer.

He also unsuccessfully attempted to bring a private prosecution for blasphemy against the director-general of the BBC after the character of Jesus said he was “a little bit gay” in the satire ‘Jerry Springer: The Opera’.
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First US transgender trial judge is sworn in


Victoria Kolakowski made history this week when she became the first trans person to be sworn in as a trial judge in the US.

The trans campaigner, who has over 20 years of legal and judicial experience, took the oath of office at a special session of the Superior Court of California on Tuesday.

Her wife and parents were present at the ceremony.

Speaking before the ceremony, Ms Kolakowski told Dot429.com: “It’s been very hard as a transgender person.

“We’re a community that’s chronically under- and unemployed and I’ve encountered that sort of discrimination in the past, but we’re making so much more progress now. In terms of my career, I think part of it is hard work and perseverance, and part of it is good luck.”

California state Senator Ellen Corbett introduced her as “a friend, a colleague, a trailblazer,” saying, “as we celebrate this new decade we mark our own start and our own first….We all know the tremendous hurdles that [she] and the transgender community have overcome.”

In the race, she beat deputy district attorney John Creighton with 51 to 48 per cent of the vote.
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New Rhode Island governor calls for gay marriage


The newly-elected governor of US state Rhode Island has used his first speech to urge for legal gay marriage.

Lincoln Chafee, a Republican turned independent, was sworn in yesterday and took the oath of office on the front steps of the Legislature.

In his inauguration speech, he said: “When marriage equality is the law in Rhode Island, we honour our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality.”

He continued: “Rhode Island today must be as welcoming to all as [founder] Roger Williams intended it to be.”

Referring to gay marriage and his pledge to repeal anti-immigration policies, he said: “These two actions will do more for economic growth in our state than any economic development loan.”

Rhode Island and Maine are the only two New England states which do not allow gay marriage.

A 2009 poll found that 60 per cent of the Rhode Island public were in favour of allowing gay couples to marry.

Last year, politicians approved a law to allow people in gay relationships to make funeral arrangements for their partners.
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Research finds straight men are happy to kiss


Research has suggested that straight male students are happy to show affection to their same-sex friends.

Eric Anderson, a sociology lecturer at Bath University’s department of education, found that 89 per cent of 145 male students he surveyed were happy to kiss their friends on the lips.

Almost 40 per cent of those polled said they had engaged in sustained kissing with a male friend, “initially for shock value, but now just for ‘a laugh’.”

Mr Anderson, who is gay, said that results suggest that homophobia among the young is declining.

He told the Guardian that he believed attitudes towards male intimacy had changed substantially in recent decades and that young men no longer fear being seen as gay for being affectionate with each other or kissing for a joke.

Similar patterns can be seen in studies on US football teams and sport may have a big effect, he said.

“That has been mimicked by footballers at lower levels – a kiss in a moment of sporting glory.

“When these men brought it into the pubs, their kisses made it OK for other men to do the same. The knock-on effect is that gay men can now kiss in student spaces as well.”

He added that his findings indicate that the UK is “near the end of homophobia being acceptable for youth in the UK”.

“Sexual minorities have made tremendous cultural and legal improvements towards equality – the media is saturated with images of sexual minorities, and homosexuality is almost normalised today,” he told the newspaper.

“This is particularly true of youth. Young people have disassociated themselves from homophobia the way they once did from racism.”

Mr Anderson, who hopes to research platonic male hugging next, concluded: “You would be gravely mistaken to think that most youth are homophobic.

“Kids are coming out earlier and earlier – contact theory works: we all have gay friends and family members today. Homophobia is in rapid retreat – it’s just not the issue it was when I was a kid.”
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