Formerly Gay Solidarity Group 
(Established in 1978)

PO Box 1675
Preston South Vic 3072
Australia
e-mail josken_at_zipworld_com_au
 

 

ISSN 1446-4896 ISSUE 2, 2002, NUMBER 52
JUNE - AUGUST 2002
 

1) HIV INFECTIONS ON THE RISE IN AUSTRALIA:
The Australian HIV Surveillance Report of April 2002 reports a rise in HIV infections in Australia during the last 12 month reporting period - from 2000 to 2001. Although the figures may not, at this stage, be cause for alarm, they should certainly be looked at from the point of view of the reasons for the increase. Some of the evidence seems to suggest that safe sex practices, employed for so many years over the worst periods of the AIDS epidemic, are no longer being used. It seems that  people believe they are not vulnerable. Also there are therapies which, for many people with HIV,  have changed the disease from being fatal in the short term, to being chronic in the longer term. AIDS Councils around Australia are having to re-think their education strategies and design new programmes to prevent this upward trend from continuing.
 

2) HIV EXPLOSIONS IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD:
In July 2002 UNAIDS ESTIMATES  reported as follows:

AFRICA'S BLIGHT:

  * 28.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
                      * The estimated number of newly infected adults and children in Africa reached 3.4 million at the end of 2001
                    *In sixteen African countries south of the Sahara more than one tenth of adults aged 15 to 49 are infected
                       *AIDS deaths totalled three million globally in 2001, and of the global total 2.3 million AIDS deaths occurred in Africa.

Melbourne's Sunday Age of 7 July 2002 carried an article on HIV/AIDS with frightening implications for the world's nations, both developed and developing:

The statistics:    * About 40 million people around the world are living with HIV/AIDS
                        * Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS
                        * In the next 60 seconds at least four people will have died of AIDS in Africa
                        * Around the world 14,000 people were infected with HIV every day last year.

Dennis Altman stated (The Age, Melbourne, 23 July 2002) that AIDS threatens to destabilise, and eventually destroy, the viability of whole countries for three interconnected reasons:

1) the high rate of HIV infection among the military, often the dominant power in unstable societies;
2) the toll of AIDS on the most productive workers in many societies, that is men and women in their 20s and 30s; and
3) the collapse of basic communal and social structures, epitomised by the rapid growth of AIDS orphans. In many cases these orphans either eke out miserable lives on the streets or become recruits for sex work and paramilitary forces.
 

3) PRETORIA FORCES MBEKI GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE DRUGS FOR MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION (MTCT):
In The Age, Melbourne, 9 July 2002 an  article from Barcelona during the world AIDS conference reported that South Africa's Health Minister, attending the conference, has described as poison drugs used to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child.
South Africa's highest court ruled at the beginning of July 2002 that the government must permit use of such drugs, but President Thabo Mbeki's government has consistently opposed widespread use of anti-HIV drugs, citing their toxicity, costs and health-care infrastructure issues as the reasons.
A few days later Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang spoke of her unhappiness with the ruling, perhaps signalling an intention to continue to thwart use of the drug nevirapine.
The High Court has decided the constitution says I must give my people a drug that isn't approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration in the USA). I must poison my people, she said later.
The protocol approved by the World Health Organisation for prevention of transmission from mother to child calls for use of a single dose of nevirapine during delivery.
All we hoped was that the drug would be used the way the WHO (and other) international agencies say it should, said James McIntyre, director of the Soweto perinatal HIV research unit of the University of Witwatersrand when he was told of Ms Tshabalala-Msimang's comments.
Dr McIntyre estimates that 250,000 HIV-infected women give birth annually in South Africa.
A HORRIFIC MYTH that sex with a virgin will cure AIDS has spawned an epidemic of child rapes in South Africa. The Sydney Morning Herald (31 July 2002) reported that a week-old baby girl had been raped in Kwaminya in KwaZulu-Natal province, making her the youngest victim yet.
 

4) EGYPT'S  PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS:
The latest press release (7 September 2002) from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) stated that the second trial of 50 of the Cairo 52 men continued in Cairo on 7 September. The 50 defendants included both those who were acquitted as well as those who were convicted in an earlier trial that ended on 14 November 2001.
At the new hearing, Judge Hassan Al-Sayef took steps favourable to the defence. The judge issued a summons to the police who were responsible for the original arrests of those at the Queen Boat discotheque; at the next hearing on 12 October 2002 these police officers may be submitted to cross-examination for the first time. The judge also approved a motion requesting daily records of 3 downtown police stations for the 5 days preceding the raid of the Queen Boat discotheque during the night of 10/11 May 2001. Defence attorneys have argued that proper arrest procedures had not been followed, that the arrests had been made at random, and that charges had been fabricated by ambitious vice squad officers.
The defendants were first arrested on or around the night of 10/11 May 2001. That night, police  raided the Queen Boat discotheque in Cairo, believed to be a gay men's gathering place; other police pickups followed in the next few days. The 52 were tortured in detention, and jailed continuously until their trial.
(For more information, see IGLHRC's www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/Egypt2001Oct.2001.html and also www.iglhrc.org/world/africa/index.html#Egypt or write to IGLHRC, 1375 Sutter Street, Suite 222 San Francisco, CA 94109 USA)

5) NAVRATILOVA ON US OPPRESSION:
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has hit out at her adoptive homeland, the United States, saying that in some ways it is as manipulative and oppressive as the Czechoslovak communist regime from which she fled 27 years ago.
Navratilova says she escaped Czechoslovakia because it did not allow independent thought or freedom of speech - but she had ended up in a similarly oppressive world.
The most absurd thing about my escape from injustice was that I simply exchanged one system which oppressed opinion for another, she said. (Q-online 27 June 2002)
 

6) COCA-COLA AND HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA:
Q-online reported in June 2002 on Coca Cola's medical apartheid. AIDS activists have condemned this 'apartheid' in the treatment of their African workers. The report states that Coke currently only provides HIV/AIDS health care coverage to its 1500 direct employees, neglecting the rest of the large number of workers who bottle and distribute Coke products under exclusive licensing agreements in Africa.
Every day 8000 people with AIDS die because AIDS drugs aren't available. Coke is the largest private employer in Africa. Its most profitable markets in the continent are in sub-Saharan Africa, where 28.5 million people are infected with HIV.
 

7) SPAIDS UPDATE:
SPAIDS celebrated its 25th planting on Sunday 28 July 2002 with a beautiful late winter Sydney day with sunshine and a good attendance. The Groves are looking very attractive, and the Reflection Area has developed into a pleasing focal point above the Groves. Sisters of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence kindly attended and gave the new plantings and all attending a tree blessing for the event. South Sydney Council also provided a barbecue lunch for those present during the lunch period. The 24th and 25th plantings were of native grasses to protect the borders of the tree areas and to provide a filter to stop weeds and other undesirable items from affecting tree growth by pollution.
The 26th and last SPAIDS planting for this year (2002) was held on Sunday 8 September. Unlike the 25th planting, when more than 50 people planted, fewer than half that number came to plant during the planting hours on 8 September. The co-coordinators appreciated the work of those who did the planting and overseeing. South Sydney Council will advise SPAIDS of the plans for 2003 early in the new year.SPAIDS is the only AIDS Memorial in Sydney and has become a permanent part of the Council's plan for the Park. The South Sydney Heritage Society Inc. has, together with Council, published a HISTORICAL WALKING GUIDE to Sydney Park, and the AIDS MEMORIAL GROVE is listed in the walk through the park.
 

8) FAIRFIELD UPDATE:
Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne's north-east was closed in 1996, and the hospital has remained empty since then. During the last year, from 2001 till now, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT), the new residents of the site, have been organising a renovation programme of the buildings, and have anticipated occupying the site by late 2002 or early 2003. During the time between 1996 and 2001, the AIDS Memorial Garden had been accessible to the public but with limited access, until it was closed off altogether last year and access denied. Articles in B.News and the Northcote Leader in April and May 2002 showed photos of the appalling state of the area, and the high fence around it preventing access. The Garden was supposed to be maintained by the new owners NMIT, and it seems access and cleaning up of the site only occurred after there was an outcry from people interested in the fact that ashes had been scattered in the Garden and it was, in fact, a commemorative shrine.
Our recent visit to the site towards the end of August 2002 showed that access was possible, but the condition of the Garden was unsatisfactory. We are pressuring NMIT to ensure that the Fairfield AIDS Memorial Garden continues to be just that - a memorial to those who have died from HIV/AIDS and who are remembered by the fact of the Garden's existence.
 

9) ON-GOING HOMOPHOBIA FROM  NAMIBIAN AND ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTS:
The utterances from both the presidents of Namibia and Zimbabwe about
homosexuals in their communities continue unabated .Mugabe has told lawmakers he will veto any attempt to legalize homosexuality in the country. When I said gays are worse than dogs and pigs, I really meant it because pigs don't do unnatural things, said Mugabe.
Recent scandals within the Zimbabwean cabinet relating to members of the inner circle have enabled the Namibian president Sam Nujoma to climb on to the bandwagon.
He lashed out again on 16 August while addressing delegates to the Namibia Public Workers Union Conference. In Namibia we will not allow these lesbians and gays. We fought the liberation struggle without that. We do not need it in our country. We have whites who are Namibians, but they must remember they have no right to force their culture on anyone. If they are lesbian, they can do it at home, but not show it in public. I warn you as workers, not to allow homosexuality. We will combat this with vigour - - - - - we will make sure that Namibia will get rid of lesbianism and homosexuality. Police are ordered to arrest you and deport you and imprison you. (Rex Wockner column in SX issue 83, 29 August 2002)
 

10) SKINHEADS SUSPECTED IN CALIFORNIA SLAYING:
Gay hate crimes -- murders, assaults, bashings, usually by groups of predominantly young men -- continue around the world with frightening statistics, made all the more scary by the singular lack, on the part of governments, to do anything about homophobia in their communities. Unfortunately governments themselves are very often those propagating the  hatred which they spit out with such venom.
One of the more recent gay hate crime murders, reported from the USA in June 2002 concerned the slaying of a 40-year old gay man in the parking lot of a gay bar. The Associated Press reported that Jeffery Owens and a friend were attacked and stabbed by four to six men with shaved heads. The murder was in Riverside, California. The friend is recovering from knife wounds. And the slayings go on, and on, and on -----------------!
 

11) GAY BASHINGS SENTENCE IN MELBOURNE:
The Age reported on 13 August 2002 the sentencing of two young men for the bashing of gay men in Melbourne on 28 February 2002. One of the men was sentenced to 5 years, and the other, who appeared to be the leader of a gang of five, was sentenced to five and a half years. Teariki, the so-called gang-leader told the County Court that the Bible's denunciation of homosexuality had prompted him to arm himself with a 70cm machete, which was used during the attacks. The other man, Hill, justified his attacks by saying  he did not like faggots and he told police the attacks were not that bad because they were poofters. The men drove to Alma Park in East St Kilda, where they confronted a cyclist shortly after midnight. He was punched, kicked and made to take off most of his clothes as Teariki threatened him with the machete, muttering to his friends: Let me chop him bro ---- let me kill him. The victim suffered an 8cm gash to the side of his head as Teariki struck him. The victim also lost three teeth.
On 16 August 2002 Michael Kelly had an article published in The Age under the heading Who will stand up to 'poofter bashers'? Sadly, the answer is certainly not the mainstream media, not the politicians, not the religious leaders. Fortunately in this case the Melbourne judge, Pamela Jenkins, indicated that both men must attend a Youth Training Centre for re-education before serving their jail sentences. Only problem is, how will the training explain such biblical texts as Leviticus 20:13 or for that matter Leviticus 20: 10 and 27?
 

12) KEYSAR TRAD AND UWS BANKSTOWN:
A forum was organised by a psychology lecturer, Hanan Dover, at the University of Western Sydney Bankstown campus and held on 28 June 2002. The title of the forum was Islam & Homosexuality, an Islamic, scientific and logical approach.
 Speakers at the forum were Hanan Dover and Keysar Trad, vice- president, Lebanese Muslim Association, and a further speaker during question time was Sheik Shadi.
Amongst other points, Sheik Shadi called for an Islamic court to be set up in Australia, which would give Muslims the power to stone Gay Men & Lesbians to death. Keysar Trad rejected the concept of Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Vilification legislation and urged Muslims to defy these laws.
We wrote the following letter to the Sydney Morning Herald on 17 August 2002 after that
paper had quoted Trad on racist attitudes the previous day:
 Is this the same Keysar Trad, spokesman for the Australian Lebanese Muslim Association, calling on political leaders and the media to unite in a bid to tackle the social problems which contribute to young people committing violent crimes (referring to the rape case recently concluded - the gang leader having received a 55 year jail sentence) who recently spoke at a lecture at UWS Bankstown? The lecture was entitled Islam and Homosexuality, an Islamic, scientific and logical approach, and Keysar Trad was quoted at that meeting as rejecting the concept of Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Vilification legislation, urging Muslims to defy these laws. Is this the same Keysar Trad whose name is the first on a petition saying No War on Iraq? Does Keysar Trad deserve any credibility after this conflict of interests? I think not!
Correspondence between gay and lesbian groups and the university, politicians and the Anti-Discrimination Board seem to have led to some positive outcomes, with the lecturer concerned being suspended pending further investigations. Keysar Trad needs to be further discredited as a spokesperson for the Islamic community, some of whose members happen to be gay and lesbian. This ongoing homophobia needs constant monitoring.

email Keysar Trad

email Hanan Dover

Lesbian and Gay Solidarity in depth coverage of this forum
 

13) BOOK - REPORT ON GAY HOMICIDES:
The Australian Institute of Criminology in its Research and Public Policy Series, has recently published No. 43, Hatred, Murder and Male Honour -- Anti-homosexual Homicides in New South Wales, 1980-2000, by Stephen Tomsen. ($22.50 from Australian Government Information shops)
Although the report only covers New South Wales, it should be looked at in the context of Australian society and the culture which still spreads homophobia (see items 10 & 11 above) and countenances gay bashings -- and often murders --  with sentences for the offenders, if caught, which often seem inappropriate to the crimes committed. This report should be compulsory reading for all religious and educational institutions as well as judges and magistrates.
 

14) ON LINE JOURNAL - www.wordisout.info :
The fourth edition of this journal has just been published on-line and those of our readers connected to the Internet should find many items of interest to them. Readers are able to respond to the essays, and responses will be published in future editions of the journal.
 

15) THE REFUGEE ISSUE IN AUSTRALIA:
At 5pm on Friday 30th August 2002, one year after the Tampa affair, the Refugee Action Committee held a big rally followed by a street march through Melbourne city.
Over 2500 people turned up in front of the State Library in Swanston Street to listen to speakers stand up for refugee rights and to demand freedom for asylum seekers locked up in concentration camps around Australia. More people joined the march as it wound its way to Exhibition Street where it turned into Bourke Street and stopped opposite the almost demolished Southern Cross hotel, scene of a bungled ASIO training raid some years ago.
The march remained spread out there disrupting all traffic. Trams that normally travel via Bourke Street Mall had to be diverted for some hours. Media coverage as usual was non-existent.
Nevertheless, on September 7 the media dutifully published the outcome of the final appeals by 176 Tampa-rescued asylum seekers for refugee status. Rejected! Then, on September 11, the media published a further item to the effect that another 246 people sent to Nauru and
Manus Island as part of the Howard government's Pacific Solution to deal with boat people have also been refused refugee status. One has to wonder about such decisions after all most white Australians' ancestors were boat people or even more recently ten pounds boat people!
 

16) DONATIONS:
Donations have recently been received to assist with the production of the newsletter, and we hereby thank the donors for their help
 

17) NEWS IN BRIEF
The infamous ASIO anti-terror Amendment Bill to disappear people a la Pinochet's Chile was supposed to have been re-introduced to federal parliament as early as August 19. It wasn't. Some people suspect that Howard will attempt to rush it through right at the very end of the present session. So be ready to protest against any new secret police powers for ASIO.
Australian banks have frozen assets of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). Justice & Customs Minister Chris Ellison's office claimed it was consistent with an international agreement signed after September 11 (2001) and ISYF was a gazetted entity. However, the organisation with branches in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane claims it's a case of mistaken identity and denied any links to terrorist groups (Herald Sun Melbourne, 9 September 2002). According to Melbourne's The Age (18 Sept.02) the Federal Treasurer Peter Costello said that three Australian bank accounts were frozen on 13 Sept. as they were connected to suspected terrorists. Amounts involved were small, he said.
In South Africa the Sesame Street TV Show called Takalani Sesame has introduced the HIV+ Muppet, Kami, to help children understand consequences of AIDS in their communities. Kami would explain that she was born with HIV and that she has no parents but lives with a loving foster mother. However, the HIV+ muppet is banned by US television programmers because of their concern that US parents would be alarmed that a family show would include such a controversial subject as AIDS (ABC radio, 18 September 2002).
On Nagasaki Day, Friday August 9, in Melbourne a no more nuclear bombs & weapons evening rally in City Square attracted a considerable crowd at which Dr Helen Caldicott was the main speaker. Her latest book, The New Nuclear Danger, available at most bookshops for around $30, reveals the truth about George W Bush's Military-Industrial Complex. Go for it!
Who made it possible for the Iraqis, the Israelis, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis to have nuclear weapons of mass destruction? The US of A no less. So, why are the Israelis, the Chinese, the Indians and the Pakistanis the good guys while the Iraqis are terrorists? Where's the evidence? Iraq has now agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors into the country without conditions eg the lifting of trade sanctions in force for 10 years. In Australia despite the majority of its people demanding no Australian troops in any war with Iraq (media polls and petitions to Parliament) the Australian Labor Party joined with the Liberal Coalition on Sept 18 to defeat a motion by the Greens senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle in the Senate opposing the use of Australian troops in any invasion.  Who are the warmongers?
 

18) CONFERENCES REMINDERS:
ALGA Histories Conference at Newcastle City Hall, King Street, Monday and Tuesday 28th and 29th October.
Queer Studies Conference at Noah's Hotel, Newcastle, Tuesday and Wednesday 29th and 30th October
Health in Difference Conference at Sydney University, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 31st October, 1st and 2nd November
Workers Out Conference at Sydney University, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 31st October, 1st and 2nd November
Amnesty International Global Human Rights Conference at Sydney's 'Y on the Park' Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 30th, 31st October and 1st November.

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