Iranian denial

Ok... I know it seems very weired, but do you remember one of the first posts on this blog? Yes, it's right! It was about Iran and its peculiar way of eliminating homosexuals. This is weired because the President of Iran, as you must be aware, was in USA. He was invited by University of Columbia and said something extraordinary... Take a look.

So, people laughed... I didn't. Certainly he is right because he might have killed everybody who was gay in Iran. That man, who is obviously a villager who raised power for being fanatic islamist, makes me remember some spokeman of Saddam Hussein. Do you remember that funny guy telling about the fantastic power of Irak and the fantastic victory against America? He was always denying Irak's defeat. Mr. Ahmadinejad is an evil man. But what makes him diabolic is his truly ability of create a world and a country that doesn't exist. He denies the existence of homosexuals in Iran with the same horrible smile he uses when he denies the Holocaust, with the same sarcasm he wears in his lips when he denies a dictatureship in that country... He is a dissimulation. He could at least admit he his a dictature who doesn't like jews, gays, americans, and everything who his not according to the Qu'ran. This way of facing the world is oldfashioned. But specially, this way of facing the world makes me believe world is, despite of everything, becaming a worst place.

In the memory of those men and women who were killed in the Islamic Republic of Iran for not being heterosexuals.

The Portuguese Great Dictator

Homophobia is everywhere! This turn it comes from the Portuguese island of Madeira, in the Atlantic ocean. The President of the Regional Government is the same since 1978: his name is Alberto João Jardim. This weekend, during a speech, he said the homosexual marriage is not a cause but "a debauch and the degradation of the Portuguese moral values". It is quite funny to hear that from someone who spent the last years imposing his will to the people of the island he rules.

He has been elected and re-elected the last 29 years, somehow like Lukashenko in Belarus, pretending to be a very democrat person and to rule a very democratic island. The truth is that Mr. Jardim allowed a group of people connected with his political party [the conservative PSD] to occupie all the kew-places and to control peoples lives. So, Madeira is an island where a lot of poeple works directly or not to the Regional Government, all mayors of the island are from PSD and people are sometimes afraid of telling waht they think about their Regional President. Mr. Jardim is not for sure the right person to tell something about "moral values of the Portuguese people" not even to tell something about abortion - he refuses to accept the new Portuguese law of abortion with the allegation of lack of money to do so.
Picture at left is from a popular party every Summer... He makes speeches and drinks beer. Picture says a thousand words...









At the same time, also in Portugal, some economist who writes articles in newspapers, Mr. César das Neves, accused the Portuguese government of "making divorce easier and promoting unions, promiscuity and homosexuality". He added "the Portuguese people is becoming extinct" and the government should make a law "to force the Portuguese couples to procreate". Another one who is a frustrated for not being Bishop or Cardinal...

«Ethnic cleaning» in Treviso

I'm back from vacation, but homophobia doesn't take any vacation.

The vice-mayor of Treviso, north of Italy, found the perfect way of fighting the male prostitution at the city: an «ethnic cleaning of faggots». Giancarlo Gentilli, from the North League (federalist and conservative party), made this proposal in order to finish with the male prostitution in some parking of the town's hospital. According to Mr. Gentilli «faggots should go to other capitals in the countryside that are able to host them». «In Teviso there are no possibilities to faggots or similars», he said.
Fortunatelly there are still wise people in Italy and political parties from all tendencies, ministers and associations criticized Mr. Gentilli words, who told in a local radio he would order the Local Police to «start the cleaning».
The italian minister of Family, Rosy Bindi, classified Mr. Gentilli words as «uncivilized» and underligned that«ethnic cleaning» was responsible for «tragedies in the History that caused suffering to millions of people».
The Homosexual Culture Circle Mario Mely and the Association Acigay had also reacted, having announced they would ask the intervention of the Minister of Interior, Giuliano Amato, «against a local administration who promotes violence».
The former minister Roberto Calderoni, also from the North League, denied his support: «Talking about ethnic cleaning of faggots no! Sorry, but I do not agree».

Ufff!!! I thought he wanted also to build concentration camps...

Independence day

This ad of gay.com was removed in Boston after complaints from the conservative group Article 8 Alliance which opposes same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
Anyway, happy 4th July!

Europride 2007

As I've written yesterday, June 30 was the day of the Europride 2007, this year hosted by Madrid Pride. Let's translate here what the main Spanish paper wrote and put some links.

Rights with Pride
(Antonio Navia / 20 minutos)

El Pais, 30.Jun.2007

The massive March Europride 2007 converted this saturday the streets in the heart of Madrid in a party to celebrate the achivements in social and legal acknowledgment of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people, but also to show how much has still to be done for equality. The Lesbian Federation, Gays, Transgenders and Bisexuals (FELGT) and the Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and TRansgenders of Madrid (COGAM) claim more than one million and half participants in the demonstration.
The demonstration, that toke place between Puerta de Alcalá and Plaza de España, had on head the slogan: Now Europe! Equality is possible, written in Spanish, in English and in other languages. The entire itinerary was crowded as well as the closest streets.
On the head of the demonstration were: the Spanish Minister of Culture, Carmen Calvo; the leader of IU (United Left), Gaspar Llamazares; leaders of UGT and CC OO, Cándido Méndez and José Maria Fidalgo; the secretary of Social Movements of PSOE [the Socialist Party in the government], Pedro Zerolo; and the speaker of IU in Madrid Assembly, Inés Sabanés. Leaders of FELGTB, Antonio Poveda, and COGAM, Miriam Navas, were also in the head of the march.

A lot to be done
March began around 6pm with firecrackers and the anthem of the gay colectivity, the famous song ¿A quién le importa? [Who cares?] performed by Alaska, that was also listened in the middle of the way, in Plaza del Callao, and at the end in Plaza de España. The Minister of Cultures and the secretary of Social Movements of PSOE sang and danced listening to this song, being dressed with glasses and necklaces with flowers and the colours of the rainbow, symbol of gays.
In the statement, read by representatives of lesbians, gays, transgenders and bisexuals at Plaza de España, it was reminded that, since the first Pride, 30 years ago in Barcelona, it was demanded a "social and legal acknowledgment" which then seemed "lamost impossible", but "there is still a lot to be done" against discrimination and homophobia.
Laws such the marriage or the one that allows the change of name and sex without surgery intervention, have assumed the acknowledgment of dignity to "homosexuals, trangenders and bisexuals", the text says. However, there are a lot of social and legal claimings to achieve, like the inclusion in the National Health System of all the process of sex change in all the provinces, as it was done in Andalucía, Extremadura, Aragón, Asturias, Cataluña and Madrid.

"Citizenship to educate clergy"

During the demonstration, among the flags of different countries, placards with slogans were exhibited: No to the resource of PP [the Conservative Party] to the marriage. Citizen Pride! , Thirty years of democracy and two of equality. Are they going to kick us?, Latin America goes ahead, To bane homofobia from the educative centers, Families do care. Those of gays and lesbians too, Freedom, equality, laicism and Citizenship to educate clergy.
At the end of the march, more than 40 floats came slowly, with hundreds of people adorned with suits and disguises dancing disco music. After the speeches, having Plaza de España as stage, they carried on the celebration with the performances of Dios y Malizzia, Hanna, Marta Sánchez, Innocence, Locomía, Harem and La Terremoto de Alcorcón.

Links (in Spanish)

20 minutos (with video)
20 minutos (photos)

El Pais (with video)
El Pais (photos)

"Gays" Anatomy

This is not so new as that, but somehow I'm glad to announce the next season of the hit Grey's Anatomy will not have Isaiah Washington (photo below) on the cast. Reason: homophobic slurs against gay castmate T.R. Knight (photo in the top).

This is how it happened:

On Wednesday, October 11, 2006, People magazine reported that an on-set fight had erupted between Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey, stars of the hit show Grey’s Anatomy. The incident started when Washington became frustrated that some of his co-stars were late to work. Reportedly, Washington made an inappropriate comment to T.R. Knight, another actor on Grey’s Anatomy. Angered by Washington’s comment, Dempsey said, "Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?" The argument quickly became heated and Washington grabbed Dempsey by the throat and allegedly yelled, "I’m not your little faggot like T.R." According to sources, others on the set were shocked.
On Thursday, October 19, 2006, People reported that Knight confirmed exclusively to them that he is gay. In his official statement, Knight told People:
"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there. While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

(from the final version of the petition “Fire Isaiah Washington”, found here)

Producers of ABC’s #1 show, Grey’s Anatomy, decided to replace the actor in the new season. I am glad for their decision. Homophobia is not the way!

Photos: © ABC

Amnesty Gay Right Spot for TV

Against homophobia. For a better World.

Riga: celebrating rights, fighting prejudice

«Gay rights are Human rights»

We are in Gay Pride season, and this weekend it was Riga's turn. It is important to remind that Baltic states are highly homphobic and Riga's Gay Pride March was the first one to be allowed in a baltic state 2 years ago.
This year, as usual, members of groups on the far right in Latvia staged a noisy demonstration in front of the Parliament on Wednesday (May 30) demanding that lawmakers ban the gay pride parade. The groups included skinheads, extreme nationalists, neo-Nazis and churchgoers. Nothing so new... More than 100 protestors shouted homophobic slogans and handed out T-shirts to passersby bearing anti-gay messages.
However, this year - on Sunday June 3 - the march took place. Amnesty International members from all over Europe, some MEPs representing the European Parliament, the Swedish Minister for Migration Affairs and some other Danish and Norwigian politicians participated in Riga Pride 2007 in solidarity with the Latvian LGBT individuals, who are facing widespread hostility and discrimination. There were around 500 people in the march that was restrited to Riga city park due to secutiry reasons.

The events organized by Mozaika, a Latvian LGBT organization, started on 31 May and included speeches, workshops and parties, culminating with the march on Sunday 3 June. In the last two years Gay Pride parades organized by the GLBT group Mozaika exposed Latvian intolerance to homosexuality on the international arena.
Following two consecutive years of Riga Pride that have seen attacks on supporters of the march, the Latvian authorities protected the participants' safety and their right to freedom of assembly. These rights, as well as the right not to be discriminated against, must be respected not just on the day of the march but all year round.

Interview with Mozaika co-founder (Real Player)

Last years...

In 2006 the capital city of Riga refused to grant a parade permit citing security reasons following a recommendation from Latvian Interior Minister Dzintars Jaundzeikars.

Pride organizers organized a service at a local church instead of holding a parade. As they left the church dozens were attacked by an angry mob.

They were pelted with bags of excrement and verbal abuse as police stood by watching.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga denounced the violence and said that it was unacceptable for the Riga City Council to refuse the parade permit.

In 2005 gays went to court and got an injunction after the city also refused a parade license. The march was marked by violence and a number of protestors were arrested.

A labor law passed in 2004 as a condition of European Union membership and as required by the EU contained protections for gays was never implemented. Last year Parliament revised it stripped out the LGBT protections and sent it to the president for her signature.

After a heated battle in Parliament the clause was reinstated and the bill was signed into law.

Tinky Winky vs Ewa

Following the extremely depressing chain of posts about homophobia - yesterday's post with D&G advertising - let's write today about the latest homophobic episode in Poland.

Poland has, maybe due to its stong Catholic faith, a lot of homophobic actions. And they seem to have incrised since a coalition of conservative and right wing parties seized the power in October 2005.
So, in March 2007, this was a title in the british paper The Guardian: «Poland to ban schools from discussing homosexuality». And the article was this:

The Polish government is to ban discussions on homosexuality in schools and educational institutions across the country, with teachers facing the sack, fines or imprisonment.
Poland's education minister, Roman Giertych, has said he hopes to introduce a similar ban across the entire EU.
Mr Giertych, the leader of the ultra-conservative League of Polish Families, a junior coalition partner in the government of prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński, said the aim of the proposed law would be to "prohibit the promotion of homosexuality and other deviance".
Mr Giertych said: "One must limit homosexual propaganda so that children won't have an improper view of family."
The legislation has been fast-tracked and could become law by the end of the month.
Human rights groups have warned that the law would promote discrimination against gays and was in danger of curbing the amount of information children are given about Aids.
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the proposal violated freedom of speech.
"Polish authorities claim to be protecting families, but in fact they are trying to deny children free speech and lifesaving information on HIV/Aids," said Scott Long of HRW. "Schools should be training grounds for tolerance, not bastions of repression and discrimination."
President Lech Kaczyński, the twin brother of the prime minister, has given his support to the law, claiming that the future of the human race is dependent on discrediting homosexuality in the classroom.
During a visit to Ireland last month, he said: "If that kind of approach to sexual life were to be promoted on a grand scale, the human race would disappear."
The government's announcement coincides with the presentation of a study by Poland's Campaign Against Homophobia, which shows a significant rise in anti-gay attitudes in Poland. Its study details eye-witness accounts of people who have been beaten, harassed, raped and humiliated because they are gay. The group said it was alarmed by the proposal particularly in the light of the recent attacks.
"I am embarrassed to hear of such a proposal," said Robert Biedron, the group's head. "Poland is like an island drifting away from the rest of Europe ... don't we already know this kind of language from not so distant history?"
During a gay campaign march through Warsaw last year, members of the League of Polish Families youth wing threw stones and bottles at the participants and shouted: "Euthanasia for gays, concentration camps for lesbians."
Radio Maryja, an ultra-nationalist Catholic radio station supported by the government, views the EU as a gay conspiracy and frequently refers in its broadcasts to "homosexual terror" and "sodomitical unions".
The European Commission has condemned the Polish government, whose motto is "moral renewal", for its homophobic views.
During a visit to Poland at the weekend, the EU's current president, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, delivered a thinly veiled warning to Poland's anti-gay politicians, telling an audience that Europe was a "continent of tolerance ... that understands variety not as a threat but as enrichment".


After reading this article you can have an idea of what the Polish government is able to think. But this weekend, when one could think nothing worst could happen, the President of Sejm (Polish Parliament) Comission of Children Rights, Ewa Sowińska, told to the Polish news magazine Wprost she will consult child psychologists about the famous TV programme "Teletubbies". What is the problem? She has some doubts about one specific character in the programme who wears a lady's handbag: Tinky Winky.
Yes, it was Tinky Winky who was accused in 1999 of being an homosexual symbol by the religious leader Jerry Falwell, arguing he was purple (the gay pride colour) and that his antenna was shaped like a triangle (the gay pride symbol). Now, 8 years later, Mrs. Sowińska suggests the lady's handbag is not useful to him, being a male character, and the public television cannot be used to promote homosexuality.
At this very moment, this lady already gave up of her intentions after a weekend fait-divers in Polish media. The case was pacified and a press conference was made today.

Now, just take a look at this outrageously soft-porn scene from the "Teletubbies" and tell me that Tinky Winky isn’t kinky?

WARNING: Some people might find the following displays an open demonstation of homosexual affection.

Arrests at Russian gay protests

Fresh report from several News Agencies
27. May.2007

The gay rights demonstrators were trying to deliver a petition to the mayor of Moscow, demanding the right to stage public marches in order to allow a Gay Pride march to go ahead.

MPs from Germany and Italy were reportedly among those arrested.
British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was arrested, along with the leader of GayRussia, Nikolai Alexeyev. Tatchell was punched in the face before being detained.
Italian MEP Marco Cappato was kicked by an anti-gay rights protester and then arrested when he demanded police protection. "Where are the police? Where is the protection? I'm a member of European Parliament," he shouted before he was led away.
Several demonstrators were punched and kicked by the anti-homosexual protesters who threw kicks, punches and eggs at the gay rights group, chanting "Moscow is not Sodom" and shouting "Death to homosexuals".
Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov has called homosexuality "satanic" and said he will never allow gay rights parades in Russia's capital.
Gay activists were also attacked by right-wing protesters and arrested during a march in 2006.
Sunday's protest was to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Russia. Moscow city police spokesman Viktor Bryukov had warned the organisers not to go ahead.
"Moscow police don't have the right to encroach on the law to pander to a group of citizens who exploit the theme of human rights while distorting this notion," he said.

On Saturday, right-wingers and members of the Russian Orthodox Church held an anti-gay demonstration in Moscow.The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, supports the ban on gay parades.


Video from Associated Press:

If you want to see more related videos click here. (BBC video)

Iran is killing homosexuals

Ok, this is not new. Everybody knows this Islamic Republic loves to be as Islamic as it gets. That includes to execute gay teenagers. Crime: to be homosexual.

Let's write today about a famous hanging of July 2005. A lot of hangings took place before and after this one (on August 28, 2005 it happened another one), but this is just an example of what happens in Iran.


Two gay Iranian teenagers - one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed on July 19th 2005 for the "crime" of homosexuality. The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), reported the execution and provided the pictures of the teens' last moments you can see on this page.
The two youths - identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Teenagers admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death. Prior to their execution, the gay teenagers were held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten with 228 lashes. The length of their detention suggests that they committed the so-called offenses more than a year earlier, when they were possibly around the age of 16.
The Iranian authorities were putting out a cover story that the two boys had participated in the rape of a 13-year-old, but this accusation was entirely trumped up by the religious authorities who control the legal system and has no basis in fact.

In Iran homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making are given a choice of four deathstyles: being hanged, stoned, halved by a sword, or dropped from the highest perch. According to Article 152, if two men not related by blood are discovered naked under one cover without good reason, both will be punished at a judge's discretion. Gay teens (Article 144) are also punished at a judge's discretion. Rubbing one's penis between the thighs without penetration shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender.
This act is punishable by death if the 'offender' is a non-Muslim. If frottage is thrice repeated and penalty-lashes have failed to stop such repetitions, upon the fourth 'offense' both men will be put to death. According to Article 156, a person who repents and confesses his gay behavior prior to his identification by four witnesses, may be pardoned. Even kissing 'with lust' (Article 155) is forbidden. This bizarre law works to eliminate old Persian male-bonding customs, including common kissing and holding hands in public.
According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. In August 2004, a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for having sex before marriage, which is, according to Iranian law, an "act incompatible with chastity".

Meanwhile, in Europe...

Swedish Public Radio, 2006
«Sweden has again started expelling Iranian homosexuals seeking asylum here – ending the freeze which went into effect after the public hangings of 2 teen-age gays in Iran over a year ago.
Swedish migration authorities say they are basing their decision on reports from the Swedish Embassy in Teheran which claim that homosexuals risk no dangers there – as long as they are discrete.
Swedish gay activists and the Swedish section of the global human rights organization, Amnesty International, sharply criticize this line as cynical – asking if other categories of persecuted refugees are being denied asylum here with the argument that they should go home and simply avoid detection by the regimes.»

Think about this... I'm waitting for comments.


The report about the hangings was obtained from DIRELAND.
More information:
OutRage report (in English)
Iran Focus news (in English)
The National Council of Resistance of Iran report (in English)