GLAA Forum

The fuss over the Queen's #DiamondJubilee

Our good friend Bob Witeck on Monday posted the above photo on Facebook with this comment:

Today's milestone must be marked as the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's remarkable reign, and a moment to recall the young princess who grew into a sovereign.

With all due respect, what in the world is remarkable about it other than her sheer longevity? Her job is purely ceremonial, is entirely out of date, and reinforces romanticism about what was a far more bloody and ruthless empire than many are willing to admit. Look up the Opium War and the Amritsar Massacre. Yes, those events were long ago. The Falklands war wasn't so long ago--a bizarre colonialist adventure. What unthinkable horrors would have befallen England had Betty Windsor publicly criticized Thatcher? Then there is Hong Kong, which was acquired in a disgraceful way. It was only a few years before they had to turn it over to China that the British Crown (as they perpetually refer to themselves) at long last decided to democratize the place. Please.

The fondness for the British royals by many Americans is baffling. We fought a war to be free of them.

Update: Bob Witeck replies:

Rick, two words: Costume flicks. No matter how irrelevant the monarchy in the 21st Century, my own appetite for historical (and even contemporary) films about the royals is still strong. What a crop in recent years with Helen Mirren playing QEI and QEII, Emily Blunt playing Victoria, and flock of English players playing everyone from Richard III to Prince Harry. There are enough narratives, melodramas, murders, misbegotten romances to fill movie theaters till kingdom come.

That I agree with. There is certainly no shortage of drama with that lot.

Tahrir Square, Jan. 25, 2012

Alex Nicholson writes:

A great set of video cuts from our day today. This is not stock footage... Jonathan [Smith] actually shot this footage while I dragged him around trying not to draw too much attention to the [only] two blue-eyed white guys around.

Rushdie says Indian police invented death threat

Agence France-Presse reports:

British author Salman Rushdie on Sunday accused Indian police of making up an underworld plot to assassinate him that forced him to pull out of a literary festival this weekend.

Rushdie withdrew from the event in Jaipur, the state capital of Rajasthan, after being warned by Indian officials that paid gunmen were heading to the city to kill him for his writing that is alleged to insult Muslims.

But Rushdie said that he now believed the supposed plot — apparently undertaken by Mumbai criminal gangs — had been invented to keep him away from the festival and to avoid controversy.

“I’ve investigated, & believe that I was indeed lied to. I am outraged and very angry,” Rushdie said on Twitter after newspaper reports that Rajasthan police had concocted the death threat.

Rushdie’s 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses”, which remains banned in India, is seen by many Muslims worldwide as a blasphemous work that insults their religion....

Writers Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar read out passages of “The Satanic Verses” from the stage in protest on Friday, angering some local Muslim groups who had welcomed Rushdie’s withdrawal from the programme.

The festival in Jaipur is a high-profile event, with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Richard Dawkins in attendance. Bravo to those who protested the threats against Rushdie, and to the authors who read from his work there.

As disturbing as those who respond to disagreeable literature by threatening to kill the author are those who sympathize with them or say things like, "You don't have the right to offend other people's religion." Yes we damn well do. And I am not just talking about the United States, whose First Amendment protects freedom of speech and of the press in addition to the free exercise of religion. One of Europe's most renowned writers is Günter Grass, whose most famous novel, The Tin Drum has some astonishing blasphemous passages (which I, who was raised a Catholic, loved). In that case, the blasphemy related to Christianity. In 1989, during the furor over The Satanic Verses (which I have read and enjoyed, btw), I heard Islamic scholars insist that the West would never tolerate anti-Christian blasphemy. That claim was demonstrably, laughably false. Grass, incidentally, was one of the authors who guaranteed publication of the German translation of Rushdie's book.

As it happens, Rushdie is one of my favorite authors. I have had countless hours of enjoyment reading his imaginative, perceptive, vivid and witty work. My favorites among his books include The Moor's Last Sigh, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Shalimar the Clown, and The Enchantress of Florence — all of which, incidentally, were written after Ayatollah Khoumeini issued the fatwa against him. Possibly his greatest work is Midnight's Children, which won Britain's Booker Prize and the Booker of Bookers. I do think that having read his work makes me more qualified to speak about it than people who condemn him without having bothered to read him. But those who oppose him, whether they are informed or not, are free to avoid reading him. They are also free to write books or articles or blogs criticizing him. They are not free, or should not be free, to suppress his work or to call for his death.

Incidentally, while it is not pertinent to the issue of defending his freedom as an author, Mr. Rushdie is a longtime pro-gay liberal. Besides the Ayatollah, one of the other real-life characters whom he lampooned in The Satanic Verses was Margaret Thatcher, whom he dubbed Maggie Torture. In contrast to the Ayatollah's reaction to the book, Mrs. Thatcher's government placed Rushdie, a British subject, under her government's protection. That nicely illustrates the difference between a free country and a theocracy.

Bravery at sea

(Photo courtesy John Sweeney Jr.)

LGBT Asylum News roundup

Here are the latest stories from LGBT Asylum News:

• Video: In US, another gay bi-national couple faces deportation

• New research on mental health of LGBT refugees

• Israel refuses citizenship for Israeli man's husband

• Torture killing of another trans person in Mexico

• Video: Brave LGBT Russians protest in Red Square

• Honduras is test of new American policy on gay rights

• Report: Who are the refugees 'lost' at Europe's borders?

• Asylum seekers tunnel to freedom in Indonesia

• Report: Trans woman killed by Cuban police

• Finnish court stops removal of gay Iranian

• Video: Persecution of gay people in Sri Lanka

• Swiss violated asylum law in ignoring thousands of Iraqi applicants

• Ugandan ambassador: 'Kill gays' bill dead, 'no persecution'

Note: Do not trust any Ugandan official. The "Kill the Gays" bill is being pushed by associates of President Yoweri Museveni's wife. Eternal vigilance is especially required in that country.

Stella monstrat viam

That phrase is Latin for "the star shows the way." In this case it shows that the observer took this series of time-lapse photos from Australia. From my latitude you can never see Alpha Centauri, the Southern Cross, or the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Toward the end of the video an upside-down Orion appears; to see that here, you could stand on your head. As for the Milky Way, you could view a different stretch of it from these parts, assuming there were a massive regional power outage on a cloudless night.

This piece is called "Ocean Sky" and is by Alex Cherney at Terrastro.com.

Uganda's push back against "Kill the Gays" bill criticism

Check out this story from BTB.

The Canada Party: America, but better.

The waterboarded harp seal pup is a nice touch.

Leaked video shows U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban members

Joe Jervis shares this latest dishonorable demonstration of a breakdown in military discipline. You can follow the link to view the video; I do not wish to show it. Jervis also links to news reports about this. As he notes, there will be blowback.

Noebel on Obama's "Radical Homosexual Mafia Plan to Sodomize the World"

Right Wing Watch reports:

Summit Ministries founder David Noebel is out with yet another screed against LGBT rights, this time attacking the Obama administration for pushing back against attempts to criminalize and persecute gays and lesbians abroad. “Obama and his radical homosexual mafia plan to sodomize the world and make such perversion seem as wholesome as apple pie and vanilla ice cream,” Noebel writes, “In reality, such perversion cannot be printed in a family publication or broadcast on any FCC regulated TV or radio stations.”

Imagine how the Jesus of the Gospels would react to what is being said and done in his name.

The argument over Ron Paul and gay people

More on Jamie Kirchick's NYT piece on Ron Paul. Among other things, Paul evidently agrees with the 9/11 "Truthers" (who think the U.S. Government or the Mossad were behind the 9/11 attacks) but told supporters he has too much on his plate (such as taking on the Fed) to deal with it.

Dave Weigel in Slate raises a question: Given the anti-gay statements in those newsletters, why aren't gay activists in more of an uproar against them? Dan Savage explains:

Ron may not like gay people, and may not want to hang out with us or use our toilets, but he's content to leave us the fuck alone and recognizes that gay citizens are entitled to the same rights as all other citizens. Santorum, on the other hand, believes that his bigotry must be given the force of law. That's an important difference.

I agree with that, but Andrew Sullivan, who quotes it approvingly, then states, "The attempt by the left and the neocon right to make Paul out to be the real bigot in this race is gob-smacking." Huh? Who said any such thing? Since when can there be only one "real bigot," or person with problematic views or record on racial or sexual minorities, in a given race? As Ta-Nehisi Coates writes:

I think there's an essay to be written about why any accusation of a racial offense is so often reduced to "Are you a racist?" It would be as if my wife said, "You forgot to check Samori's homework" and I responded, "I'm not a bad father."

I wish Andrew would take Ta-Nehisi's point to heart. But Andrew is on a tear against the political establishment's scorn for Ron Paul. He writes:

Hard to beat Michael Medved, for whom Paul's non-interventionism simply cannot compute. Decades of marination in the view that America can do no wrong ever anywhere, means that Medved can simply appeal to what he calls "the mainstream", which, for him, includes those who want to "cure" gay people, deport 11 million illegal immigrants, invade Iran by land or by nukes, turn the US Congress into a part-time endeavor, increase defense spending while slashing entitlements, and reinvigorate the drug war. Yep: that's the mainstream, and Paul is clearly demented to challenge any of it.

I get Andrew on the folly of neocons and social conservatives who scorn Paul; and I am with him in appreciating Paul's opposition to starting a third war against a Muslim country within a decade. But can we please separate the different issues? I understand that Andrew has a running argument with Jamie Kirchick and others over America's Israeli policy, and with the general tendency of people to cry "anti-Semite!" at anyone who raises a critical word in the direction of Jerusalem (btw, I am a longtime supporter of Israel, and was once called a "Righteous Gentile" by Kirchick). But first, Paul's isolationism goes far, far beyond that, and I can't believe that Andrew really believes that the only answer to excessive American interventionism is to go to the opposite extreme; and second, it has nothing to do with Paul's attitudes toward gay people.

"But remind me," Andrew says, "which of all the candidates has refused to sign the anti-gay Marriage Pledge?" It's Ron Paul, of course. Yes, Paul's leave-us-alone libertarianism puts him in a better place on the law as it relates to gay people than Santorum, Perry, or Bachmann. That's not setting the bar very high, but sure — giving people credit where due is one of the keys of effective activism in my view. But let's be fair on both sides of the ledger. For example, Andrew Belonsky today reported that Paul's campaign is suddenly being cagey about the endorsements he has received from right-wing extremists, including Rev. Phillip G. Kayser who advocates the death penalty for homosexuality. The plain reason for the newfound caginess is Paul's eagerness to get those endorsements (thus a reluctance to repudiate people like Rev. Kayser).

Conor Friedersdorf has a critique of Kirchick's post that ends with this excellent observation:

Kirchick is right to hold Paul accountable for his ugly past. Having done so -- and now that Paul and his movement have grown bigger by disavowing that past and running inclusive campaigns against wars, prohibition, and profligate spending -- perhaps Kirchick can continue his critiques of movements that use paranoia and bigotry. I can point him to candidates and ideological warriors fretting about the imposition of sharia law in America, the need for racial profiling in airports, the special oath Muslim appointees should have to take, what needs to happen in Saudi Arabia before Muslim Americans should be allowed to build mosques in New York, the supposedly corrosive effect that gays are going to have on the military, and whether or not they can be "cured."

In the end, the controversy swirling around Ron Paul, thanks to his surge in Iowa, helps gain greater public attention to these issues. And that's more important than the axes that various writers may be grinding. As Mike Rogers is saying right now on The Ed Show, Paul wants the federal government to be weaker so that states can enact things such as Rev. Kayser advocates. The fact that Paul invokes states' rights should be of no more comfort to gay people than the same justification was to slaves a century and a half ago.

About those North Korean mourners

Our friend Ester Goldberg mocks the choreographed wailing of Kim Jong-il's mourners in North Korea. I myself commented on Facebook, "They were all told that whoever looks the most grief-stricken will get dinner."

I wonder, though, if some of the grief might be real. Given the context of a brutally repressive police state topped by a cult of personality, it would be surprising if there were no Stockholm Syndrome dimension to the funeral observances. To paraphrase William Faulkner, "She clung to that which had robbed her, as people will." But all that means is that decades with Kim's and his father's boots on their necks have immeasurably damaged the people of that country, with the assistance of subsidies from China. It's an interesting model of foreign aid — designed not to raise people up but to hold them down.

Not that we should be surprised. Countries give foreign aid based on their own perceived self-interest. Sometimes that prompts them to perpetuate conflict or dysfunction in other states. It takes a lot of trouble, and help, to destroy a country as thoroughly as this one has been. The satellite photo of the Korean peninsula at night, with the borders outlined, shows the impoverished North Korea is a sea of darkness. One can glibly say that they simply don't believe in wasting energy and causing light pollution, but that is not it. Where there is freedom and thriving commerce and flourishing culture, there is light. None there.

Rick Perry annexes Canada

Here's Rick Perry's latest:

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,” Perry told a campaign stop in Clarinda, Iowa.

Rick Perry for President. Get in touch with your inner nitwit.

Sedaris on other countries' silly Christmas traditions

John Aravosis shares a set of three videos of David Sedaris getting a great deal of comic mileage by simply describing the Dutch version of St. Nick. What he fails to mention is that, judging by the photos used in the video, the "six to eight black men" who traditionally accompany the Dutch version of St. Nick on his illicit house visits appear to be white guys in blackface. Okayyyyyy, so that takes us to America circa 1927. (Or Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson in 1993, but let's be charitable and try to forget that one.)

According to the Dutch, St. Nick is also the former bishop of Turkey, is much thinner than America's fat and jolly version, and might beat and kidnap a child rather than stuff its shoes with gifts. (Wouldn't you prefer a lump of coal?) Sedaris points out that, lest you find this version of Christmas distasteful, the Dutch sweeten the deal with legalized drugs and prostitution, so what's not to love about the Dutch? Actually, I'm not so sure about the answer to that breezy question. I just found out from my enterprising niece Missy that she and I are descended from someone named Nieuwenhuize from the southern Dutch town of Roosendaal. A Miss Nieuwenhuize sometime in the latter part of the 19th century married a guy named Janse. I've lost track of whether it was they or their progeny who emigrated to America, but I don't think it reasonable to flatter myself by assuming that the journey was motivated purely by adventurous spirits.

What I want to know is, were my Dutch ancestors fleeing something? Was it, for example, an arrest warrant, or (I speculate with Ron Paul's rants ringing in my ears) stifling government regulation? Clearly, I'll have to get Missy to continue her investigations. After all, the Dutch may seem peaceful and tolerant enough today, but let's remember that those bloody Boers in South Africa are descended from the Dutch; and Holland's colonial past (along with that of the Americans, British, Russians, and French) is enshrined by Stephen Sondheim in Pacific Overtures in his historically accurate "Please Hello." In short, if the Dutch Christmas tradition bears whiffs of racism, trust your nose.

Mugisha: 'Gay and Vilified in Uganda'

Ugandan gay rights activist Frank Mugisha, who visited the United States a couple of times this year and received the 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, wrote in The New York Times on Dec. 22 about the situation in his country:

I remember the moment when my friend David Kato, Uganda’s best-known gay activist, sat with me in the small unmarked office of our organization, Sexual Minorities Uganda. “One of us will probably die because of this work,” he said. We agreed that the other would then have to continue. In January, because of this work, David was bludgeoned to death at his home, with a hammer. Many people urged me to seek asylum, but I have chosen to remain and fulfill my promise to David — and to myself. My life is in danger, but the lives of those whose names are not known in international circles are even more vulnerable.

Still, I continue to hope. There are encouraging times when my fellow activists and I meet people face to face and they realize we aren’t the child-molesting monsters depicted in the media. They realize we are human, we are Ugandan, just like them.

Standing on David’s shoulders, we are no longer alone. Political leaders like Mrs. Clinton and religious leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu are willing to publicly state that being gay is just one of many expressions of what it means to be human. I call on other leaders — particularly my African-American brothers and sisters in politics, entertainment and religious communities — to come to Uganda, to stand with me and my fellow advocates, to help dispel harmful myths perpetuated by ignorance and hate. The lives of many are on the line.

Gorillas out of the mist

A tourist gets a thrill of a lifetime: an up-close encounter with wild mountain gorillas near Uganda's Bwindi National Park. A young gorilla grooms the tourist, and an adult female kisses him, while a silverback and several others look on. This recalls a beautiful moment in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist in which Sigourney Weaver, playing primatologist Dian Fossey, encounters one of the magnificent animals. The animals in these scenes with Weaver are wild gorillas. You can see that Weaver had studied how to behave in such a situation so as to appear non-threatening, as the tourist had also been taught to do. The gentleness and curiosity of these endangered creatures are both moving and a reminder of how vulnerable they are to the poachers who have killed so many of them — as indeed the poachers killed Fossey, who fought to protect the gorillas.

Another gay-affirming HitchSlap

Another moment from the October 2009 Intelligence Squared debate in London, which I quoted in my column on the late Christopher Hitchens. Sitting beside openly gay actor Stephen Fry, Hitch says this:

Amazing! No one, though they were asked repeatedly, would say whether they thought Stephen Fry, my friend, was in a state of mortal sin or not. They wouldn't tell you. Something about the question brought out their inner coward. Well, I say that homosexuality is not just a form of sex, it's a form of love, and it deserves our respect for that reason; that when my children were young, I'd have been proud to have Stephen as their babysitter, and I'd've told them they were lucky; and if anyone came to my door as a babysitter wearing holy orders, I'd call first a cab and then the police.

Hitch, a big smooch to you beyond the grave.

Zimbabwe MP Arrested After Saying Mugabe is "Homosexual"

Rod 2.0 reports:

An opposition member in Zimbabwe's parliament has been arrested after saying their notoriously anti-gay despot Robert Mugabe has "practiced homosexuality", report Kenya's Daily Nation.

"Mrs Lillian Kirenyi, a legislator from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party was on Tuesday charged with undermining the authority of President Mugabe. The court was told that the MP committed the alleged offence during an address to party supporters on December 9.

"She allegedly said: "Zanu PF (President Mugabe’s party) members been attacking MDC president Tsvangirai alleging he is pro-homosexuals yet Robert Mugabe has practiced homosexuality with (Professor) Jonathan Moyo (former Information minister) and Canaan Banana (Zimbabwe’s first ceremonial president)." The late Mr Banana was jailed for sodomising his bodyguard."

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai—Mugabe's political rival—has called for greater tolerance and promised "not to prosecute anyone who is gay." Tsvangirai says he will continue to call out for tolerance despite an onslaught of criticism after his remarks.

What amazes me is the willingness of Zimbabweans to say such provocative things despite Mugabe's long record of brutality. But my main reaction to the suggestion that Robert Mugabe has been having gay sex is:

My eyes! My eyes!

(Hat tip: Ronald King)

"Any President Mr. Romney? Really?"

From the Democratic National Committee.

Line of the week: 44 fights back

President Obama succinctly responds to several Republican presidential candidates who accused him of appeasing Israel's enemies. The notion that this hawkish president is a weakling because he doesn't make himself a doormat for Bibi Netanyahu was always ridiculous. Now Newt Gingrich rejects the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute which has been American policy since LBJ. Which brings up a candidate for runner-up line of the week — Rep. Ron Paul slamming Newt's statement that the Palestinians are "an invented people" as needlessly "stirring up trouble."

Secretary Clinton gets fast results

Here's an interesting news item:

Malawi to review anti-homosexuality law

That was fast!

Peter Sprigg responds to Hillary Clinton

You may be surprised to learn that Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council is concerned about American cultural imperialism.

Obama administration takes action on global gay rights

The White House today issued a Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on "International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons." Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has delivered a resoundingly pro-gay Human Rights Day speech in Geneva. I'll post links and video when they're available.

The Blade reports here. Metro Weekly reports here and here. The Twitter hashtag is #Dignity4All.

Here's a link: White House Fact Sheet: Working to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Persons Globally.

NYT reports.

Update: The full text of Secretary Clinton's speech is here.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry today said, "Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America's interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers' money." This pathetically small response to such a large statement by our nation's top diplomat demonstrates what is at stake in the 2012 election.

Belgium gets gay prime minister

NYT reports:

The financial markets have finally done what 18 months of talks, a large protest march and a series of bizarre demonstrations failed to do: broken Belgium’s political deadlock.

After an indecisive election in June 2010, the country’s fractious political parties could not manage to form a governing coalition until this week, when a credit downgrade and the threat of being engulfed in the euro debt crisis brought new urgency.

Six parties with enough combined Parliament seats to govern reached a coalition agreement late Wednesday and presented it to King Albert II on Thursday. Barring any new problems, Elio Di Rupo will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday.

A leader of the country’s Socialists, Mr. Di Rupo, 60, will be the country’s first head of government since the 1970s whose first language is French, a subject of controversy in a country divided between 4.5 million French speakers, who live mainly in Wallonia in the south, and 6.5 million Dutch speakers, who live mainly in Flanders, the wealthier northern region, where separatist parties have gained ground.

The trouble with Di Rupo, according to the Guardian, is that he speaks poor Dutch in a country whose northern (and largely separatist) half speaks Flemish, which is a close cousin to Dutch:

At 60, he will be Belgium's first French-speaking prime minister in 30 years, a rare centre-left voice in a European Union that has veered right, and one of few proudly gay world leaders. He's also the first Socialist to take the premiership in Belgium since 1974.

But he speaks poor Dutch. This is a serious problem in a country where language is so important and so fiercely protected that, in areas of Dutch-speaking Flanders, town council meetings can find their decisions annulled if anyone is heard to utter a word of French.

The biggest Flanders daily, Het Laatste Nieuws, has slammed Di Rupo's dire pronunciation and syntax. He has promised to improve. But the failing is not lost on the Flemish separatist De Wever, who said: "My Nigerian-origin cleaning lady who has been in Belgium for two years speaks better Dutch than Elio. In Brussels you can't sell a handbag without being bilingual, yet you can become prime minister without speaking proper Dutch."

What progress we've made, for a PM's gayness not to be the controversial thing about him.

(Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

Nigerian senate passes extreme anti-gay bill

The march of anti-gay radicalism continues across Africa. LGBT Asylum News reports:

Nigeria's Senate 28 November passed an 'anti gay marriage' bill adding further penalties and extending its scope.

The Senate added to provisions targeting those living together (and those who don't report them) with new clauses making it illegal to register gay clubs or organizations, as well as criminalizing the “public show of same-sex amorous relationships directly or indirectly” with 10 years imprisonment....

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, then for signature by the President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Rod 2.0 reports here and here.

Bachmann, ready to implement President Carter's policy on relations with Iran

Michele Bachmann says that if she were president, she would close the American embassy in Iran.

Trouble is, we haven't had an embassy in Iran since Jimmy Carter was President, during the Iran hostage crisis.

But never fear. Crazy Eyes has clarified.

Australian marriage equality ad: It's Time

HuffPo reports:

An Australian same-sex marriage advocacy group's sexy, dramatic new campaign has the blogosphere abuzz.

The independent advocacy organization GetUp! Action for Australia produced the new ad, simply titled "A Love Story," which depicts two handsome men enjoying romantic dates and dealing with family crises before a proposal and the subsequent nuptials.

"It's time," the ad proclaims at the conclusion. "End marriage discrimination."

Though a slim majority of Australians support marriage equality, few reportedly rate it highly as a national issue.

Walzer in NYT responds to a slanted column on Israel

D.C.'s own Lee Walzer has an excellent letter in today's New York Times responding to a slanted column about Israel and gay rights. The standard is simple: give credit where due, not just criticism. Lee gets it exactly right.

LGBT Asylum News roundup

Here are the latest international news items from Paul Canning at LGBT Asylum News:

• Global campaign to decriminalise homosexuality kicks off (Video)

• In Spain, detained immigrants "treated like criminals"

• In Canada, what happened to the refugee private sponsorship route?

• Danger follows those who defy sexual taboos in Indonesia

• Video: Australian TV documents mental harm caused by prolonged immigration detention

• 'Insidious' Nigerian anti-gay bill will effect more than gays

• Dutch relax rules for gay binational couples, possibly Ugandan gay refugees

• How a lack of ID impacts transgender people in the worst situations

• Moscow now proposing anti-gay law

• In first, husband of Brazilian man gets permanent residency

• In the Philippines, gay people shot in drive-by

• Why are so many women from St. Vincent and the Grenadines seeking Canadian asylum?

• In Honduras, special police units investigate gay killings

• SA denies Congolese albino gay man asylum

Islamic militant in Gaza: killing Jews "an act of worship"

Andrew Sullivan shares this chilling video from MEMRI TV showing how thoroughly Gaza's Islamist fanatics have perverted religion. Meanwhile, Andrew also slams WaPo's Jennifer Rubin for approvingly quoting someone who thinks that Arab prisoners should be thrown into the sea as food for sharks.

Time lapse views of earth from space

This NASA video was compiled from images taken during the past three months from the International Space Station.

Frank Mugisha wins 2011 RFK Human Rights Award

Ugandan gay rights activist Frank Mugisha received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington on November 11. Congratulations to this brave man.

LGBT Asylum News reports here.

A man who would be President

Herman Cain here is not having a Perry-style brain freeze; he is simply an ignorant person bullshitting.

Best in travel for 2012 -- Uganda?

Next stop, Kampala? I don't think so, Lonely Planet. What vacation sweepstakes from hell is this? Granted, my own partner was recently there on family business, but he isn't recommending it as a destination.

(Hat tip: Joe Jervis)

Gerson on Bachmann: "a mix of extreme nationalism and utilitarian lifeboat ethics"

Conservative columnist Michael Gerson deplores Michele Bachmann's callous campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Meanwhile, George F. Will, the dean of conservative columnists, does a job on Flip Romney.

Also, Herman Cain's campaign is denying sexual harassment allegations. Maybe that's what they mean by "Let Herman be Herman."

Best of all, Newt is doing a stint as the Comeback Creep.

The GOP voters facing this rogues' gallery make me think of the hapless Charlie Brown looking in his trick-or-treat bag: "I got a rock." Then there's Marlboro Man, below, evidently feeling no pain.

Linda Harvey tweets of suing Wayne Besen

Wayne Besen's column this week concerns right-wing radio host Linda Harvey, whom he dubs "The Most Homophobic Woman in America".

Harvey in 2010 endorsed Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, and said this:

The fact they are re-criminalizing homosexuality is (a) their business, (b) it is patronizing for white Westerners to be telling these folks — they are seeing George Soros funded gay groups going into Uganda. They are all through the schools, lots of promotion to kids. Poor kids, poor kids are being offered money and favors and gifts to have sex. That’s exploitation. That’s sex trafficking. And it’s being done mostly homosexually. By Western homosexuals coming in and trying to get involved in Uganda.

Besen responds:

It is absolutely abominable and shameless that Harvey peddled such unsubstantiated propaganda about LGBT westerners coming to Uganda to exploit children. In reality, the Westerners who are actually going to this nation are fundamentalist Christians who are exporting homophobia in an effort to take over Uganda though business contracts and the funneling of US taxpayer money into this repressive, rogue state.

More disturbing, it seems that Harvey thinks it’s okay to terrorize, imprison, and even murder LGBT people in any country that would allow it. One wonders if she would deem it a local matter if the legislation in Uganda were called the “Kill the Christians Bill.” And one also questions if her support for such brutal punishment would apply to American states had they the ability to pass such punitive anti-gay laws.

Harvey, in turn, has threatened a lawsuit.

I am inclined to think that Harvey unwittingly helps our cause by demonstrating the fanaticism and viciousness that we are fighting against. But I could do without this particular brand of help. In the meantime, Wayne could use your support. Follow the link to the Truth Wins Out website near the top of this entry and click on the "donate" button.

Update: Wayne replies to Harvey: "Bring it on!"

LGBT Asylum News roundup

Here are the latest international news items from Paul Canning at LGBT Asylum News:

• Video: A Distant Voice from the North

• Kenyan court recognizes traditional same-sex marriage

• Turkey jails trans activists for 'insulting police'

• 'Kill gays' bill returns in Ugandan parliament

• Tunisian Islamists offer reassurance to gays, women

• Commonwealth chief backs LGBT rights

• Video: Accessing Protection: The NGO Sector and LGBTI Refugees

• Video: Tsvangeri backs LGBT rights: A 'U-turn'?

• Video: The invisible refugee: Intersex, persecution and protection

• Video: LGBT asylum in the EU: Expert presentation to Euro Parliament

• Video: Very brief gay pride parade in Minsk, Belarus

• UN human rights commissioner tells General Assembly 'LGBT rights should be non-controversial'

Gay in Ghana

The Talk Party Series: Gay in Ghana from REDD Kat Pictures on Vimeo.

Rod 2.0 writes:

Many of the men seen in the video are from the Coalition Against Homophobia in Ghana, which was created last summer to respond to the attacks from government and media.

Under Ghanaian law, male same-sex sexual activity is officially illegal. Police have been accused of randomly arresting, detaining and beating suspected gay men.

In this context, the video of the "out and proud" gay men defending their humanity and sexuality is all the more amazing. Bless them for their courage and dedication.

Paula Ettelbrick dies at 56

Paula Ettelbrick, an influential activist who held top posts in several LGBT organizations, succumbed to cancer on Friday at the age of 56. Phil Reese reports for the Blade:

“Paula’s extraordinary service to the movement included senior-level posts at Lambda Legal, NCLR, the Task Force Policy Institute, the Empire State Pride Agenda, IGLHRC and Stonewall Community Foundation,” said Andrew Lane, Executive Director of the Johnson Family Foundation. “She also taught on sexuality and gender at the undergraduate, graduate and law school levels. Her contributions to law and policy affecting LGBT lives across the past three decades are simply immeasurable.”

Aside from her advocacy work, Ettelbrick lectured on Sexuality and the Law at New York University Law School as an adjunct professor, and served as lecturer in the Women’s Studies Department of Barnard College, according to the Stonewall Community Foundation.

Ettelbrick was also the mother of three, and served as Family Policy Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Policy Institute.

Ettelbrick's untimely death robs our movement — at the statewide, national, and international levels — of one of its most impassioned and dedicated voices. As former GLAA President Barrett Brick says, may her memory be for a blessing.

Gay activists in Belgrade defy government's cancellation of Pride

Michael Petrelis shares photos taken by Connecticut gay activist Billy Urich of gay pride activities in Belgrade. Bravo to these brave Serbians.