Nigeria Bans Gay Marriage: Setting Prison Sentences Of Up To 14 Years

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — May 30, 2013: Nigeria's House of Representatives voted Thursday to ban gay marriage and outlaw any groups actively supporting gay rights, endorsing a measure that also calls for 10-year prison sentences for any "public show" of affection by a same-sex couple. Under the proposed law, Nigeria would ban any same-sex marriage from being conducted in either a church or a mosque. Gay or lesbian couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or anyone caught in a "public show" of affection also would face 10 years in prison if convicted by a criminal court.  Read more at Washington Post.

Priest-Led Mob Attacks Gay Rights Marchers in Georgia

MOSCOW — A throng of thousands led by priests in black robes surged through police cordons in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday and attacked a group of about 50 gay rights demonstrators. Carrying banners reading “No to mental genocide” and “No to gays,” the masses of mostly young men began by hurling rocks and eggs at the gay rights demonstrators. The police pushed most of the demonstrators onto yellow minibuses to evacuate them from the scene, but, the attackers swarmed the buses, trying to break the windows with metal gratings, trash cans, rocks and even fists. At least 12 people were reported hospitalized, including three police officers and eight or nine of the gay rights marchers. “They wanted to kill all of us,” said Irakli Vacharadze, the head of Identoba, the Tbilisi-based gay rights advocacy group that organized the rally. Nino Bolkvadze, 35, a lawyer for the group who was among the marchers, said that if they had not been close to the buses when the violence began, “we would all have been corpses.”  Read more at NYT.

Third U.S. State In Three Weeks Legalizes Gay Marriage

UNITED STATES ― Gay marriage continues its sweep across the U.S. Crowds cheered on Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday evening after he signed a bill making Minnesota the 12th state in the nation, and the third in three weeks, to allow same-sex marriage. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness certainly includes the right to marry the person you love," Dayton said before signing the bill at the steps of the state Capitol in St. Paul. The move came after the Democrat-controlled Senate passed the legislation on a 37-30 vote. Before the vote, same-sex marriage opponents protested at the Capitol. A paper tombstone on the Capitol lawn read, "RIP MARRIAGE, 2013." Two years earlier, the Legislature put a referendum on the ballot that would have banned same-sex marriage. Minnesotans voted down the proposal in November. Gay marriage will become legal in Minnesota on Aug. 1. However, churches are not required to perform the unions. Minnesota is just the latest in a string of states to allow gay marriage. Delaware became the 11th state to approve such unions last week -- and Rhode Island took similar action a week before that. Washington, Maryland and Maine voters approved same-sex marriage in November. The District of Columbia and the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York also allow gay marriage. 

Ekta Transglobal Foundation Loves Facebook!

We love Facebook! Please like our Ekta Transglobal Foundation Facebook page, and share us with your social media friends. And please join Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil's Facebook page to follow his travels and work for the LGBT community. Thank you.

Moscow Won’t Allow a Gay Rights Parade

MOSCOW — Moscow officials rejected on Wednesday an application by gay rights advocates to hold a parade later this month, saying the event could undermine a campaign to instill patriotic values in the city’s youth. The refusal emphasized the Russian government’s support for a wave of legislation in cities across the country banning “homosexual propaganda.” The Moscow decision was issued just days after a man was killed in a savage attack that investigators said was motivated by homophobia in the city of Volgograd in southern Russia. “According to Russian legislation, we must work clearly and consistently on maintaining morality, oriented toward the teaching of patriotism in the growing generation, and not toward incomprehensible aspirations,” said Aleksei Mayorov, the director of regional safety for the city administration, in a statement carried by the Interfax news agency. “In our opinion,” Mr. Mayorov continued, “there is no demand for these kinds of events in the city.” Critics of a proposed federal ban on “homosexual propaganda,” an umbrella term for rallies and other public demonstrations by gay rights advocates, say the local laws are already encouraging hate crimes against gay men. The murder in Volgograd last week of a 23-year-old man, who investigators said had been sodomized with beer bottles and beaten to death with a concrete block, was reported on the national television news and evoked an outcry from Russia’s gay community.  From New York Times.

Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil's Biographical Film and Mission

Please watch and share this movie about Prince Manvendra and his mission. We need all the attention and help we can get in continuing to build a global platform for LGBT Advocacy. Thank you for sharing!

Uruguay Lawmakers Vote to Legalize Gay Marriage

Uruguayan lawmakers voted to legalize gay marriage, making the South American country the third in the Americas to do so. Supporters of the law, who had filled the public seats in the legislative building, erupted in celebration Wednesday when the results were announced. The bill received the backing of 71 of the 92 members of the Chamber of Deputies present. "We are living a historic moment," said Federico Grana, a leader of the Black Sheep Collective, a gay rights group that drafted the proposal. "In terms of the steps needed, we calculate that the first gay couples should be getting married 90 days after the promulgation of the law, or in the middle of July." The "marriage equality project," as it is called, was already approved by ample majorities in both legislative houses, but senators made some changes that required a final vote by the deputies. Among them: Gay and lesbian foreigners will now be allowed to come to Uruguay to marry, just as heterosexual couples can, said Michelle Suarez of the Black Sheep Collective. President Jose Mujica, whose governing Broad Front majority backed the law, is expected to put it into effect within 10 days. Read more here.

Gay Couple Marry In South African Town’s First Same-Sex Union

Tshepo Modisane and Thoba Sithole
Photo: Sunday Tribune/Independent Online

DURBAN, South Africa—Two men married on Saturday in a rare South African gay wedding in KwaDukuza on Saturday, in what has been described as the town’s first same-sex union. Tshepo Modisane and Thoba Sithole, both 27, walked down the aisle in front of 200 guests at the Stanger Siva Sungam community hall, reported the Independent Online. Thoba, a Joburg-based IT specialist, is from Shakaville, KwaDukuza and Tshepo an audit manager at PwC. They have known each other for years and dated on and off, before stabilizing their relationship. Now that they are wedded, they will take on the double-barrelled surname of Sithole-Modisane. The couple appeared to enjoy the support from the community, family and friends. The couple was profiled in February by Mamba Online, and acknowledged there is a lack of openly gay role models in South Africa, especially among people of color. “People are still ashamed because the vast majority of the black community is not accepting of being a homosexual. They see it as largely being a ‘Western trend’ that is in fashion lately,” said Tshepo. “If our action of getting married and being bold and proud about it is emulated by more members of the LGBTI community who are black, then so be it. If people are inspired by our love and actions and want to do the same to follow in our footsteps then we don’t mind being labelled as ‘role models’ in the LGBTI community." South Africa outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, and in December 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world, and the first in Africa, to legalize same-sex marriage.

One Result If DOMA is Struck Down: Immigration Benefits For Gay Couples

Lavi Soloway, an attorney who represents same-sex married couples on immigration issues, said he expects his clients will be able to apply for green cards for their spouses as soon as DOMA is struck down, no matter which state they reside in. That's because in immigration law, your marriage is recognized if it's valid in the place where it was performed. In estate tax, the specific case Kaplan and Alito talked about, a marriage is considered valid only if it's recognized in the state you are residing in when your spouse dies. If DOMA is struck down, then, it will probably lead to a case by case analysis of the 1,138 federal statutes that use marriage as a factor to see which benefits gay couples who move away from states that grant same-sex marriages will qualify for. In some of those statutes—such as estate tax exemptions—the place of residence will be the deciding factor, while in others, such as the ability to apply for a green card for your spouse, it will only matter where your marriage license was issued. In cases where it's not clearly spelled out, it will most likely be up to the federal agency to decide whether the marriage is valid or not. Read the full article here.

The U.S. State Department's LGBT Travel Guide

U.S. State Department LGBT Travel Information - "By fighting for the rights of so many others, we realize that "gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights." –Secretary Clinton, December 6, 2011. Attitudes and tolerance toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons vary from country to country, just as they vary among U.S. cities and states. Most LGBT travelers encounter no problems while overseas, but it helps to be prepared and research your destination before you go. There are a number of countries that provide legal protections to those who are LGBT. Unfortunately, there are others that do not, and a significant number that even criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.  Persons convicted in these countries could be sentenced to prison, and/or be punished by fines, deportation, flogging, or even sentenced to death. Before choosing one’s international destination, LGBT travelers should carefully consider the laws and biases of their international destination and decide how open one can be regarding one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.  Personal judgment and knowledge of local laws and customs before one goes will help ensure your safety." For more information on international GLBT rights see www.EktaTransglobal.org.

World Awaits Impact of Baby Cured of HIV

Jay Ferchaud

March 6, 2013, United States―As the dust settles around the global news of an HIV cure that worked for a Mississippi infant, the effect of the announcement remains to be seen in a state with one of the nation's worst outcomes for people with the virus that causes AIDS. An HIV-positive mother from rural Mississippi gave birth to the girl who would go down in history as only the second person to have been cured of the virus. Konkle-Parker's colleague, UMC pediatric HIV specialist Dr. Hannah Gay, treated the child 30 hours after birth.

"It was a high-risk case," Gay said. "I suspected more strongly that this baby could be infected than I would if the mom had been treated during pregnancy." Gay said she began treatment with three drugs, a more intense measure than normal. HIV/AIDS awareness bracelets and buttons sit in a basket to be given away Feb. 7 on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. "We drew tests on the baby just as we were starting those medicines, and they showed us the baby already was infected," she said. "Infection probably occurred just before delivery. "When we consider starting any medicine in any patient, we always consider the risk-benefit ratio, and when the risk is something as serious as HIV disease, then it's worth the benefit you may get from preventing that disease," Gay had said during a news conference Monday night. "So even though you never want to start drugs that may cause toxicities, if the benefit outweighs the risk, you do it." The girl—whom Gay and her team lost touch with for about five months—responded better than expected. After her return to treatment, they discovered she didn't have the active virus in her system. "In the developing world, this is huge," said Konkle-Parker, who noted the instances of babies contracting HIV in the womb is a major problem. "In the United States, it's much more of an adult illness."

While Gay said the media attention has been overwhelming, she is glad this case continues to receive attention. "But I guess the message that I want to get across to the public very strongly is we don't know yet if we can create the same outcome in other babies." Konkle-Parker remained cautiously optimistic, saying the next step is to see the outcome replicated. "But what I hope will come of this, and it may take a long time, but I hope it will point us in the right direction to come up with a cure we can consistently apply to other babies worldwide."  

Gays Celebrate Marriage In France, And Adoption Breakthrough

February 13, 2013: France's National Assembly passes a highly-debatable bill that allows same-sex marriage, a step that was celebrated by pro-gay rights activists in the country. Gay rights activists were celebrating Wednesday after France's National Assembly endorsed a hugely controversial bill to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption. The bill, comfortably adopted by the primary chamber on Tuesday evening, still has to go to the Senate for examination and approval, but the upper house is unlikely to prevent the groundbreaking reform from becoming law by the summer. "I was in the Assembly and it was really a very moving moment," Nicolas Gougain, a spokesman for the Inter-LGBT rights group, told AFP. "We so badly want to see this bill adopted after many, many years of campaigning for equal rights. "It was very satisfying too that there was such a clear majority and that the debate allowed deputies to address the falsehoods that have been spread for months about families with gay parents." Gougain said his organisation would be following the debate in the Senate closely but voiced confidence the gay community would be able to celebrate a landmark victory with a once-in-a-generation party at the annual Gay Pride march, scheduled to take place in Paris on June 29.
[PHOTO: People demonstrate in support of the government project to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption for same-sex couples in Paris, Sunday Dec. 16, 2012 (AP)]