Iraqi gay men face "lives of hell"
BAGHDAD, IRAQ ; April 18, 2009 — Baghdad police have told BBC News that a campaign is underway in Iraq that targets gay men and has claimed more than 60 lives since December, 2008. Posters have appeared on public walls in the poor Shia suburb of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad listing men who are alleged to be homosexual and threatening to kill them. The subject men have gone into hiding while gay men throughout Iraq also live in fear. BBC reports: "The phenomenon seems mainly to be affecting Shia neighborhoods, where a number of clerics have given sermons seen as homophobic inticement." In the past month, the bodies of six young men have been found in Sadr City, some with placards labeling them "perverts" or "puppies", the derogatory Iraqi term for gays. (Source: BBC News).
Senior gay couple from California regrets not marrying
when they had the chance
LOS ANGELES, CA ; March 6, 2009 — Bob Claunch and Jack Reavley, each in their 80s, fell in love in 1951 and have been together for more than 50 years. The couple now regrets not having been married when they had the chance. They are registered domestic partners in California, but did not marry during the period when same-sex marriage was legal in the golden state, prior to California voters having approved Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. The state Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of the measure. Claunch told The Los Angeles Times: ""I suppose it's because for so many, many, many years and centuries, men have not married men, and women have not married women," Claunch said. "We've been brought up not having anything like that, not wanting anything like that … We've always been given the impression that it was a horrible kind of situation, and it is not easy to cross over that line." The couple was featured in a 2006 documentary titled "Bob and Jack's 52 Year Adventure," by Stu Maddux. (Source: AOL News)
Gay marriage a sore subject for black women,
says NY Times columnist
NEW YORK, NY; November 29, 2008 — Proponents of gay marriage should focus on converting black women to the cause, according to Charles M. Blow, a columnist for The New York Times. "Marriage can be a sore subject for black women in general," writes Blow, a black man, who works as the paper's Visual Op Ed Columnist. "According to 2007 Census Bureau data," he continues, "black women are the least likely of all women to be married and the most likely to be divorced. Women who can't find a man to marry might not be thrilled about the idea of men marrying each other."
Two gay Obama supporters assaulted near White House;
police did not record as a hate crime when reported
WASHINGTON, D.C.; NOVEMBER 7 , 2008 — D.C. media outlets have reported an attack on two gay men who carried a rainbow flag to a post-election celebration near the White House. The two victims, identified as Zack Pesavento and Steve Kensinger, were not seriously injured. The unidentified assailant had just left a Republican party event at the Capital Hilton Hotel. The two men told a reporter from Washington's Channel 7 that the assailant lunged at them and grabbed the rainbow flag Kensinger was carrying. As Kensinger tried to grab back the flag, the assailant attacked him by hitting. Officers who took the initial report did not report the incident as a hate crime. Lt. Brett Parson, who manages D.C. police's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, stated that a follow-up report is likely to list the incident as a bias-related crime based on sexual orientation and political affiliation.
Gay men should have sodomy "warning" tattoos, says priest
LONDON, ENGLAND; OCTOBER 7 , 2008 — Rev. Peter Mullen, a priest of the Church of England, has announced that homosexuals should have "sodomy warnings" tattooed on their bodies. The priest was ordered to remove comments posted on his blog which stated that homosexuals should have the slogan tattooed on their rear ends reading "Sodomy Can Seriously Damage Your Health." Rev. Mullen is now saying that the posting was made in jest and that he has nothing against homosexuals. He faces possible discipline from the Diocese for engaging in unbecoming or inappropriate conduct to the office and work of the clergy.
Many gay men do not disclose sexual orientation to their physicians
ATLANTA, GEORGIA; AUGUST 2, 2008 — The Center for Disease Control has reported results of survey conducted in New York City during 2004 and 2005 which indicates that 39 percent of gay men in the City have not told their doctors that they are gay. The New York Times reports that 452 gay men were surveyed in bars and clubs. The report cites that African American men were least likely to report their homosexuality to physicians, with just 40 percent choosing to disclose the information. Asian and Latino men followed with 53 and 52 percent disclosing respectively. Eighty-one percent of the white men surveyed reported to being honest with their physicians about their sexual preference.
Men over the age of 28 were 17 percent more likely to honestly discuss their sexuality with their physicians. The study revealed the the more educated a gay man is, the more likely he is to be frank about his sexuality with his physician. The same holds true if he was born in the United States.
Gay activist group protests Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference
LONDON, ENGLAND; AUGUST 1, 2008 — A social action group calling themselves "OutRage!" has protested at the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference, complaining that the Conference has failed to defend gay human rights. The group's complaint centered on the failure of the Church to stand against a group of African bishops who oppose homosexuality and gay human rights projects.
The Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, has backed legislation that would outlaw gay churches and organizations, including those that feature HIV prevention.
The picketing group of gay men and women unfurled a 40x20-foot banner which read: "Stop Crucifying Queers." Forty senior Anglican bishops debated homosexuality at the conference, though no official proposal came out of the meeting.
The Lambeth Conference ends Sunday, August 3.
