Obama Signs Landmark US Military Gay Law

Obama Signs Landmark US Military Gay Law

President Obama has signed a landmark measure ordering the US armed services to allow gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.

Approval of the measure by Congress this month was a victory for Mr Obama after he made the repeal of the so-called 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy a campaign issue.

At the signing ceremony in Washington the president said that valour and sacrifice in the armed forces are no longer defined by sexual orientation.

Mr Obama said he was proud to fulfill his campaign pledge and sign a bill which he believes will "strengthen national security".

Since 1993, when the Pentagon introduced the policy allowing gays and lesbians to join the armed forces if they did not reveal their sexuality, at least 13,000 people have been expelled from the armed forces for violating the rules.

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The Pentagon will now have to draft a plan for implementing the altered rules, deciding how troops will be educated about the new policy.

Decisions will also have to be made about disciplinary procedures and the status of those who were fired for violating "Don't Ask" in the past.

Some top military figures have opposed the repeal and believe it is too risky to make such a change when the armed services are already stretched fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A recent study found about 30% of troops expressed negative views or concerns about the repeal.

But the signing is a victory for America's gay community and for Mr Obama who had been criticised for not acting swiftly enough.

He hailed the courage and vision of defence secretary Robert Gates and praised Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, who advocated changing the 17-year-old policy.

"No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country they love," Obama said.

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Serb gay pride parade off on lack of security assurances

Serb gay pride parade off on lack of security assurances

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Gay and human rights activists in Serbia have called off their September 20 Pride Parade after being urged to move venues for safety reasons, organizers said on Saturday.

The announcement followed a meeting with Prime Minister Mirko Cvektovic, who said the police had recommended the move after threats from ultranationalists and others.

A previous event ended with running battles on the streets of Belgrade.

"We were told in the meeting with Prime Minister Cvetkovic that the gathering is impossible for security reasons and that we should choose another location," said Dragana Vuckovic, member of the Pride Parade organizing team.

"Taking the Pride Parade to another location is simply not acceptable," Vuckovic said. "Pride parades are traditionally organized in the main streets of big cities and the message is that groups kept on the fringes of a society need to be integrated."

Serbian President Boris Tadic had promised on Friday to protect marchers.

A government source, who did not wish to be identified, said the decision to move the march to a venue usually used for music gigs was prompted by concerns police might not be able to contain violence toward marchers.

The Yugoslav Committee for Human Rights, an organization of lawyers, accused the authorities of having capitulated.

"The prosecutor's office has openly acknowledged that they are incapable of finding the legal grounds to prosecute the hooligans who openly call on murder, violence and human rights violation," YUCOM said in a statement.

The only public event staged by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists in Serbia was in 2001 and ended in clashes, with dozens of gay activists and policemen injured by nationalists, neo-Nazis and soccer hooligans.

In February 2008, a government-backed rally to protest the independence of Kosovo, turned into scenes of vandalism, with attackers setting the U.S. Embassy on fire, stoning other diplomatic missions and foreign businesses, storming shops in central Belgrade and clashing with police.

(Reporting by Gordana Filipovic; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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Alarming Africa male gay HIV rate

Alarming Africa male gay HIV rate

HIV rates among gay men in some African countries are 10 times higher than among the general male population, says research in medical journal the Lancet.

The report said prejudice towards gay people was leading to isolation and harassment, which in turn led to risky sexual practices among gay communities.

But the risks are not limited to gay men, as many of the infected also have female sexual partners.

The report called for greater education and resources in the fight against HIV.

The Oxford University researchers found that the prevalence of HIV/Aids among gay men in sub-Saharan African has been "driven by cultural, religious and political unwillingness to accept [gay men] as equal members of society".

Lead researcher Adrian Smith told the BBC there was "profound stigma and social hostility at every level of society concerning either same-sex behaviours amongst men, or homosexuality".

"This has the consequence that this group becomes extremely hard to reach," he said.

Mr Smith said that gay male sex had always been acknowledged as being particularly dangerous in terms of contracting HIV/Aids.

But gay men were also more likely to be involved in other high-risk behaviours, including sex work, having multiple partners and being in contact with intravenous drug use, he said.

Education crucial

George Kanuma, a gay rights activist in Burundi, told the BBC many men "hide their sexual orientation" to get married and have children, but continue to have sex with men.

"Most of them know that you can contract HIV/Aids or any infection when you are making sex with women, but not when you are having sex with another man," he said.

Mr Smith said there was "a desperate need for delivering a basic package of prevention for HIV", including ensuring supplies of condoms.

"There is also a need to sensitise, educate and train those involved in HIV, the interface with men who have sex with men, to educate those involved in care and prevention activities," he said.

The United Nations Aids agency estimates that 33 million people in the world have HIV, of whom two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger

Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger

The boy writhes uncontrollably on the floor, but the church members remain calm, if increasingly loud. They're trying to drive a "demon" out of him.

"You homosexual demon, get up on outta here!" they say. "You demon, loose yourself!" "You sex demon ... you snake!"

The shouts, the convulsions, the references to homosexual spirits -- they are all captured on a video posted on YouTube by the Manifested Glory Ministries. The video has sparked anger among gay youth advocacy groups and put the small church from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the middle of an ongoing national debate on gay issues.

Patricia McKinney, pastor of the nondenominational church who describes herself as a prophet, said she has even been receiving death threats as a result of the video, but doesn't understand the outrage.

"I believe in deliverance, I believe in anointing, I believe in the power of Jesus," she said in a phone interview with GC USA. "I've been threatened already, I've been attacked, and it doesn't make any sense to us. Really, what they're doing, they're putting me out there on the mat."

McKinney says she doesn't refer to the events of the video as an exorcism, but rather a "casting out of unclean spirits." She said this isn't the first time that an event like this has taken place at her church, but it is the first one centered around homosexuality.

McKinney said the boy approached the church and told her he wanted to be a pastor, but was struggling with his sexuality. "We allow [gay people] to come into our church. We just don't allow them to come in and continue to live that lifestyle," she said.

"God made Adam and Eve," she said. "He made a woman to be with a man, and a man to be with a woman."

Robin McHaelen, who worked with the 16-year-old boy at the center of the video in her position as executive director of True Colors Inc., a gay youth advocacy and mentoring program in Connecticut, said the video was taped in March. She would not identify the teen.

McHaelen said she doesn't think the church acted maliciously -- but that's part of her problem with the video.

"None of the people in this video were intending to hurt this kid," she said. "They performed this ritual in an attempt to rid him of feelings that he didn't want to have."

The boy is the fifth teen True Colors is aware of that has undergone an event like the one documented in the video. But unlike the boy, not all the teens approached a church or religious organization.

The event, McHaelen said, reflects a culture and society that doesn't believe a person can be both Christian and gay.

"That's what makes me so sad and so mad," she said.

McHaelen said she talked to the boy since the incident and said he's feeling very conflicted and confused in trying to reconcile who he is with his religion.

"He's 16 and having the feelings that he's having, the relationships he's having, and then [he's] being tormented by 'What if I'm going to go to hell because of what I feel and who I am?'" she said.

McHaelen notified the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, as she's mandated to do in her position when she suspects abuse or neglect of a minor. However, she told CNN the department will be looking into whether or not abuse or neglect occurred by the parents and family of the boy, not the church. The department declined to comment Thursday.

Isaiah Webster, Director of Communications for the National Youth Advocacy Commission, said he was deeply saddened by the timing of the video and the accompanying uproar.

"It's very, very sad that this still takes place in society," he said. "It's also very sad that it comes about during this week, [as the] 40th anniversary of Stonewall is this weekend."

The so-called "Stonewall Riots" are believed by many to have kicked off the gay liberation movement.

"That is really something to celebrate," Webster continued, "and it's unfortunate that young people still have to endure things like this."

McHaelen said that as an advocacy group, she doesn't think True Colors can take any legal action against the church, and said she would rather engage in an open dialogue with its members.

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Gay protest broken up in Moscow

Gay protest broken up in Moscow

Police in Russia have broken up a protest by gay rights activists in Moscow, staged to coincide with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

BBC

Some 30 campaigners had gathered near a university in defiance of a ban on their march and many were dragged away by police when they shouted slogans.

British gay rights activist, Peter Tatchell, was among those detained.

A counter-demonstration by nationalist and religious groups was allowed to go ahead elsewhere in the Russian capital.

Equal rights

The gay rights group had been waving flags and chanting slogans demanding equal rights and condemning the treatment of gays and lesbians in Russia.

At least 20 were arrested as police moved in to disperse the protest.

As he was being taken away by police, Mr Tatchell shouted: "This shows the Russian people are not free."

Speaking from a police station, he later told the BBC: "The way the police violently broke up our peaceful protest is an indication of a drift toward authoritarianism that is affecting all Russians."

'Satanic'

The organiser of the gathering and leading campaigner, Nikolai Alexeyev, was also detained at the event, which took place in the south-west of the city.

The Eurovision Song Contest traditionally has a large gay following and activists in Russia had seen its staging in Moscow as a great opportunity to highlight what they say is deep prejudice, says the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Richard Galpin.

There have been many attacks on members of the gay community - they also say they risk being sacked by their employers and shunned by their families.

The Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhov has described gay parades as "satanic".

Anti-gay groups had threatened to take matters into their own hands if the police failed to stop the protest.

Several dozen nationalist and religious protesters earlier staged an anti-gay march near central Moscow.

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Peru 'bar gay people from police'

Peru 'bar gay people from police'

Peru has announced that it will ban homosexuals from the police force for damaging the image of the institution.

The law is one of several new regulations put forward by the Interior Minister, Mercedes Cabanillas.

Ms Cabanillas is trying to shake up the institution, which has a dismal reputation among the general public.

But critics say some of the new laws, especially those regarding sexual orientation or activity, are unconstitutional.

The law states that any police officer who has sexual relations with someone of the same gender will be indefinitely suspended from the police force.

The same applies to officers who have extra-marital relations - their actions are also deemed to cause scandal and denigrate the institution's image.

They are among a raft of new regulations, which also include provision for sacking police officers who accept bribes, organise or take part in strikes and protest marches.

Ms Cabanillas' strong-arm tactics have earned her some public backing and the nickname "Thatcher" in the Peruvian media, after the former Conservative British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

Traditional machismo means openly homosexual police men are extremely scarce, but gay rights activists are growing in strength and this new law will provoke a debate.

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