Hungarian state homophobia

Posted on June 30, 2012 by petrel41

This video about Hungary says about itself:

Fascism in Hungary- Hungarian Guard- Magyar Garda

Magyar Gárda Hagyományőrző és Kulturális Egyesület (English: Hungarian Guard Association for Protection of Traditions and Culture) nationalist, paramilitary movement in Hungary. It was founded through an “oath of loyalty to Hungary” by its members in Buda Castle, Budapest, in August 2007.. They are backed by and developed out of the right-wing party, Jobbik.

By Jake Blumgart, Truthout in the USA:

Homophobia on the Rise in Eastern Europe as Rightist Extremism Intensifies

Friday, 29 June 2012 00:00

On July 2008, Michael Simmons marched in the tenth annual Budapest gay pride parade, just as he had in previous years. Established in 1998, Hungary’s pride parade is one of the longest established in Central and Eastern Europe, and for the first nine years of its existence it was marked by the festivities – transvestites dancing in flatbed trucks, loud music, colorful floats – familiar to inhabitants of most Western European and American cities. Back then, the conservative and skinhead counter protesters were a joke.

That changed in 2007 when large groups of right-wing thugs attacked the marchers with vegetables, rotten eggs, rocks and bottles. Some people who left the parade were beaten. The police response was inadequate, as they were unprepared for the sudden violence. In 2008, Simmons experienced the same thing, “well-organized and well-orchestrated attacks” by crowds of counter protesters.

“It was four hours of sustained attack and it never let up; there was never a breathing period,” said Simmons, a lifelong human rights activist, who took part in the civil rights movement in the American South and has worked extensively in Eastern Europe since the late 1980s. “Their [faces were so full of] hate. And their children were there. It reminded me of those pictures you see of lynchings, where young men are holding their girlfriends’ hands.”

Although police protection for the marchers improved after the first couple of years, the general situation of Hungary’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has worsened. The extreme right-wing party Jobbik, which is often associated with such hateful attacks, has grown rapidly. (They even have a paramilitary wing.) In 2007, Jobbik could be dismissed as a fringe group with no parliamentary representation. Today, Jobbik is the nation’s third-largest political party, with 47 of 386 seats in the Hungarian Parliament.

The nationalist conservative Fidesz Party, which controls two-thirds of the parliamentary seats and has been widely condemned for authoritarian tendencies, is less overtly discriminatory. But before Fidesz’s 2010 electoral sweep, LGBT rights in Hungary were rapidly progressing. Today, the new Constitution that Fidesz wrote and implemented unilaterally stipulates that marriage must be between a man and a woman. For the last two years, the Fidesz-controlled city government of Budapest has tried to ban the Pride March, citing traffic concerns and the presence of small children on the city streets. In both cases, the ban was challenged by LGBT groups and overturned by the courts.

“We are working in a context of rising extremism, which not only targets the LGBTQ community, but also the Roma and Jewish community,” said Dorottya Karsay, one of the organizers of Budapest Pride. “We’ve seen a number of hate crimes, hate attacks in recent weeks, both in Budapest and in the countryside…. Extremism has been on the rise in the region for the last few years; it definitely has something to do with the crisis.”

More than 60 per cent of Scottish people agree that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people face prejudice – and it’s time MSPs tackled it, campaigners said today: here.

Britain: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people often hide their sexuality or gender identity in sports, research by the Equality Network found today: here.

This weekend sees London play host to the third ever WorldPride event – a global celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture: here.

Europe and the Resurgent Politics of Ethnic Scapegoating (theatlantic.com)
The “true” Hungarian (ailsackay.com)
On the Queen’s Lack of Pro-Gay Speech (towleroad.com)
Clubs asked to tackle homophobia (bbc.co.uk)
Hungary to Amend Constitution as EU Monitors Backsliding – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
Hungarians in massive rally to keep freedoms (wnd.com)

Kuwait dictatorship persecutes LGBTQ teenagers

Posted on June 10, 2012 by petrel41

This video is called Censorship hits Kuwait’s Music Scene – BBC Report.

From Bikya Masr:

Kuwait morality police arrest LGBT teenagers

10 June 2012

CAIRO: Kuwait’s morality police have reportedly arrested at least 10 LGBT teenagers in the country for “satanic rituals” under a crackdown in the name of “morality.”

Security sources in the country have said that the LGBT youth were targeted under “vice” claims.

PinkNews.co.uk reported that the 10 teenagers between the ages of 16- and 18-years-old were arrested on June 8 after police alleged the rituals and “indecent acts” taking place.

The Kuwaiti daily al-Rai in addition claimed that they are also “suspected of homosexuality.”

Kuwaiti police “received complaints” the group held nightly meetings in a disused building in Al-Sharq district of Kuwait city, the report said.

…

Brigadier General Hossein Shirazi referred the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department of Kuwait.

Al-Rai has also reported that 20 men and one woman were arrested in the areas of Salamiya and Hawalli of Kuwait city for “suspicious parties.”

The al-Anba daily claimed the number of people arrested was 27 in several suspect apartments where they usually meet to commit “immoral activities.”

…

Al-Rai claimed that some of the suspects were arrested in previous raids and were released after signing a document that they will not repeat their “activities.”

The daily Al-anba reports that in other raids held yesterday against illegal migrants some were found to be conducting ‘immoral activities’ and running ‘brothels’.

Last week a municipal park restroom was closed for suspected ‘immoral activities of homosexuals’, two ‘European’ men who were sighted by the police managed to escape. Criminal investigators were assigned to “monitor the location’.

These ‘morality campaigns’ that have greatly intensified this year are ‘continuous and relentless’, a transgender Kuwaiti activist stated.

She reported that in fact ‘many of the people arrested are just having private parties, but the police allege they were engaged in prostitution, drinking, and so called “immoral activities”.

“The laws in Kuwait allow the police to violate the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ Charges are often fabricated and thus this is essentially an assault and violation of people’s right to dignity and a fair trial,” the report added.

Briefing: Decriminalising homosexuality in Belize: here.

Swaziland dictatorship and homophobia

Posted on May 16, 2012 by petrel41

This video is called Swaziland’s monarchy faces protests over ‘joke’ election.

From Swazi Media Commentary:

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

‘TIMES‘ GAY HATE: CALL TO OMBUDSMAN

A formal complaint has been lodged against Swaziland’s Times Sunday and its writer Qalakaliboli Dlamini after the newspaper published an article encouraging hatred of gays.

The Times readers’ ombudsman has been asked to investigate a complaint that Dlamini broke the Swaziland National Association of Journalists’ code of ethics.

Prof Richard Rooney, former head of the department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Swaziland, has written to the ombudsman to ask for a formal investigation.

The ombudsman adjudicates on complaints readers have against articles published in the Times group of newspapers.

Rooney wrote, ‘The article contained a lengthy attack on homosexuals and included the phrase, “I hate homosexuality with every fibre of hair or flesh in my body.” Dlamini also wrote homosexuals performed “satanic deeds” and were an “abomination”.

‘Dlamini’s article contrives Article 13 of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists code of ethics which states, “Hate speech: ‘Journalists shall avoid by all means the publication of speech that might promote hatred, spite and conflict amongst the Swazi or any other nation.”

‘Hate speech is a type of speech or writing which can do any of the following: deliberately offend, degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against someone based on their race, ethnicity, profession, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. It can be aimed at an individual; or racial, ethnic, religious or other group. Such speech generally seeks to condemn or dehumanize the individual or group; or express anger, hatred, violence or contempt toward them.’

Already many readers have lodged complaints against the article on the Times’ website and the Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations has asked Times Managing Editor Mbingo Mbongeni to take ‘positive action’ against Dlamini.

Also from Swazi Media Commentary:

Swaziland: More Self-Censorship At ‘Times‘

9 May 2012

The Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, has for the second day running censored itself in its reporting of King Mswati III.

Today (9 May 2012), the Times reports on a Gallup poll that asked Swazi people whether they approved of the King’s leadership.

According to the newspaper, the King ‘received a majority vote from the Swazi people’.

Today’s publication follows a report in the Times yesterday that the Swazi Government had received only 40 percent of Swazi approval in the same Gallup poll. The Times made no reference to the King’s poll rating in that report.

The Times was criticised yesterday by Swazi Media Commentary for censoring itself by not reporting the poll result for King Mswati, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

Today, the Times responded with its report on the King’s rating.

But, although the report says the King received a ‘majority vote’ of his people, it does not give the figures.

That is because the King received only 56 percent approval – another 43 percent of the Swazis interviewed by Gallup disapproved of the King’s leadership.

The real story is not the number who approve of the King, but the 43 percent who disapprove.

In Swaziland, the mainstream media do not allow any criticism of the King. Instead they are likely to play up the importance of the King and report that his subjects unreservedly love him.

Also, the King has strict control over his subjects’ lives, especially the 75 percent who live in rural areas. Chiefs of areas are the King’s representative and they can decide who is able to live and work in the area. If you criticise the King, you upset the chief, and you can be sent into exile.

This means that when people have criticisms of the King, they keep them to themselves.

So, the fact that more than four in ten people are prepared to tell a Gallup pollster they disapprove of the King’s leadership is a significant development and might encourage others who have been too scared to voice their objection.

The Times newspaper knows this and that’s why it censored itself in the report.

USA: Chris Hedges | Homophobia Threatens to Turn Democracy Into a Fundamentalist Theocracy.
Chris Hedges, Truthdig: “The long-term unemployment, the collapse of housing prices, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the draconian cuts in social spending have created a climate in which the vulnerable, the different, the marginal – from Muslims to undocumented workers to homosexuals – are blamed for the nation’s decline, White argues. This climate is fueling a culture of hate”: here.

LGBTQ repression in dictatorial Bahrain

Posted on April 4, 2012 by petrel41

In oil-rich Iraq, ever since it was “liberated” by George W. Bush, there is mass murder of gay people; and of “emo” subculture youth just for the way they dress.

In the oil-rich monarchies of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, dictatorial allies of the Pentagon, young women are persecuted if they don’t dress “female” or “decent” enough; like (shock horror) wearing trousers.

Neither are men who don’t dress “male” or “decent” enough safe from state-sponsored violence.

This video is called Jailed Bahrain Doctor Tells Voice Of America of Abuse, ‘Mental Torture’.

I usually don’t quote from Gulf News daily in oil-rich Bahrain, as it is a mouthpiece for the dictatorship.

However, now I will make an exception. Just to let the hatred and prejudice of the pro-regime paper condemn itself.

From Gulf News:

Crossdresser sent to Bahrain jail for indecent behaviour

Undercover policemen arrest man wearing a wig and heavy mascara while walking down the road

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief

Published: 13:01 April 4, 2012

Manama: A young Bahraini man was sentenced to one month in prison for crossdressing in public.

The man was walking down a busy road while wearing a wig and shorts and had heavy mascara around his eyes when he was arrested by undercover policemen, according to the charge sheet.

He was later charged with indecent behaviour and encouraging debauchery. Homosexuality is banned in Bahrain.

Lawmakers, wary of the growing number of homosexuals in the country, have been pushing for a crackdown, including the adoption of tougher immigration measures and prompt deportations for foreigners.

Yeah right. “Tougher immigration measures and prompt deportations for foreigners”. These MP’s in the absolute monarchy’s puppet parliament behave just like Dutch xenophobic bigot politician Geert Wilders (who wants to deport especially Muslims).

In 2010, nine Arab crossdressers were arrested and charged with public debauchery on New Year’s Eve.

The police did not mention their nationalities, but said that they were from different Arab countries and that they were arrested in a hotel disco house in Manama.

The crossdressers, heavily made-up and wearing provocative outfits, were reportedly soliciting revellers at the disco house.

US fundamentalist Christians persecute gay Ugandans

Posted on March 15, 2012 by petrel41

This video is called UGANDA MP URGES DEATH FOR GAY SEX.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Gay activists begin Lively legal action in Uganda

Thursday 15 March 2012

by Our Foreign Desk

An African gay rights group filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts on Wednesday against a US evangelist over allegations that he has waged a decade-long campaign to persecute homosexuals in Uganda.

The suit was filed in federal court in Springfield against minister Scott Lively under a statute that Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMU) says allows non-citizens to file US court actions for violations of international law.

The complaint claims Mr Lively issued a call in Uganda to fight against a “genocidal” and “paedophilic” gay movement, which he reportedly likened to “the nazis and Rwandan murderers.”

The suit asks for a judgement that his alleged incitement is illegal and violates international law and human rights.

Senior SMU activist Frank Mugisha said the group was targeting Mr Lively for “helping spread propaganda and violence” against Uganda’s gay community, which endures widespread discrimination and legal restrictions. “We hope that he will be held accountable for what he did in Uganda,” said Mr Mugisha. “We want to send out a clear message to him and to others.”

Mr Lively of Abiding Truth Ministries is one of a handful of US pastors whom Ugandan gay activists accuse of having helped draft the original version of the African country’s draconian anti-homosexuality Bill.

The Bill called for the death penalty for Aids sufferers convicted of having had sex with a member of the same sex. It has since been revamped to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment as a maximum sentence.

About 70 protesters marched about half a mile from the US District Court in Springfield to Mr Lively’s business, the Holy Grounds Coffee House.

They dressed in black and beat drums, carrying signs with the names of persecuted Ugandans and coffins to symbolise the scores of gay people who have been killed by bigots in the developing country.

British government apology on homophobia after 55 years

Posted on September 11, 2009 by petrel41

From the New York Times in the USA:

Britain: Apology to Gay Mathematician

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Published: September 11, 2009

Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized Friday to the mathematician Alan Turing, who committed suicide in 1954 after he was tried and convicted of “gross indecency” for being homosexual.

Mr. Brown said that Turing had been treated “terribly” and that the outcome of World War II could have been quite different had it not been for Turing’s efforts in cracking German codes, notably the Enigma coding machine. Turing is often hailed for his influence on modern computing. Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for a formal apology from the government, though Turing has no known surviving family, The Daily Telegraph reported. Writing in the newspaper, Mr. Brown said: “On behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work, I am very proud to say: We’re sorry. You deserved so much better.” Turing was sentenced, as an alternative to prison, to chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones, the prime minister noted.