LESBIAN AND GAY SOLIDARITY
NEWSLETTER
PO BOX 1675 PRESTON SOUTH, VIC 3072 AUSTRALIA PHONE(03)9471 4878
Formerly: GAY SOLIDARITY GROUP Est. 1978 email: josken_at_zipworld_com_au
LGS HOME PAGES: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~josken
ISSN 1446-4896
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ISSUE 1, 2005 NUMBER 61 JANUARY-MAY 2005
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1) GAY RETIREMENT HOME TO OPEN IN BERLIN: Adelaide's Blaze reported on the 24 December 2004 that a gay retirement home, set to open in Berlin's gay Nollendorfplatz area in 2006, was an apparent first for Europe. The Magnus Hirschfeld House will have 150 apartments, according to Hans-Jurgen Esch, one of the developers. Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the world's first gay activists. He founded Berlin's gay Scientific Humanitarian Committee in 1897. There are estimated to be about 75,000 lesbians and gays over 65 in Berlin, according to an AgenceFrance-Presse news wire.
2) GAY COUPLE SLAIN IN DELHI: A gay couple were found brutally murdered in the upmarket Anand Lok area of South Delhi on 16 August 2004. One of the two dead men, Pushkin Chandra, was a project development specialist in the US Agency for International Development at the American Embassy. Pushkin's father, Mr Anil Kumar Chandra, is an MP cadre retired IAS officer. Due to difficulties with the family, Pushkin lived in an annex at his father's sprawling mansion and had little contact with his family. Police suspect that Pushkin and his friend had indulged in a sexual orgy with others and that a heated argument had ensued which led to the twin murders. At the stage the report was issued, indications were that the murders were not gay hate crimes. In New Delhi theTimes of India reported that police sources had said that their first real breakthrough had come when Chandra's missing car had been found. They have now been able to arrest two men allegedly involved in the brutal double murder. Their fingerprints matched those on the car. Over 50 people who knew Chandra were questioned in connection with the murders. (Story provided by George Balthazaar Jan.05)
3) MANDELA SAYS HIS SON DIED OF AIDS: Nelson Mandela broke one of South Africa's great taboos by admitting his oldest and only surviving son had died of AIDS (Melb. Age 8 Jan.2005). Makgatho Mandela, 54, died in a Johannesburg clinic on 6 January 2005 after a lengthy treatment for an “undisclosed illness.” Apparently Zondi, Makgatho's wife, had died last year of what appeared to be an AIDS-related illness. Nelson Mandela said he had regretted ducking the HIV pandemic when he was president from 1994-1999, saying his administration was distracted with nation-building and shirked tackling such a sensitive subject. The current South African President, Thabo Mbeki, was accused of pandering to prejudice when he claimed in 2003 that he knew no one who had died of AIDS. Mr Mandela's announcement was an implicit rebuke to his successor.
4) ISRAEL HIGH COURT LETS LESBIAN PAIR ADOPT: PlanetOut reported in January that in a major accomplishment for same-sex couples in Israel, the country's supreme court ruled that a lesbian couple was able legally to adopt each other's children. The decision came the same day the US Supreme Court let stand a Florida law banning same-sex couples from adopting children. The Israeli couple, Tal and Avital Yaros-Hak, have lived together for 15 years and have had a total of three children. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favour of the lesbian couple. The ruling came after a big victory in December 2004 when same-sex couples in Israel won the same rights as common-law spouses when it comes to property, taxation and inheritance.
5) MEANWHILE, JERUSALEM GAY BAR TARGETED IN ARSON ATTACK!: World Pride celebrations are scheduled to take place in Jerusalem from 18-28 August 2005 and opposition is growing in Israel. The city of Jerusalem's only GLBTI was extensively damaged by fire on Sunday 24 April and is being investigated by police. No particular group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Relations between the city's GLBTI population and conservative rabbis, Muslim clerics and Christian fundamentalists have reached crisis point in recent weeks. The report in Melbourne's MCV gay newspaper goes on to say that conservative clerics from the three religions have shown a rare solidarity in initiating efforts to stop the ten days of World Pride Celebrations. World Pride is hoping to draw more than 100,000 international GLBTI visitors to Jerusalem to celebrate in August. The owner of the damaged club, who has received threats to his life, said it was too early in police investigations to lay the blame with any one person or group, and he hoped the club would reopen within a week.
LATE NEWS FROM JERUSALEM: PlanetOut reported on 5 May 2005 that the World Pride celebrations, scheduled to be held in Jerusalem in August, have been postponed, organizers say because of timing around Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. World Pride is to be re-scheduled, according to 365Gay.com to August 2006.
6) SPAIDS UPDATE: The 31st planting at the Sydney Park AIDS Memorial Groves will take place on Sunday 31 July 2005 - National Tree Day - between 11am and 3pm. There is only one planting a year now, as the tree areas of the park are completely planted. There are areas where trees have not survived though, and we shall be backplanting to fill the gaps. The Council's nursery supplies us with young native trees. So, come and join us and commemorate those we have lost to AIDS and in some cases from other causes.as well. All are remembered by entries in our updated Names File every year. Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore is planning to attend the 31st planting from 11.30 am. She will tour the site and we expect her to plant a tree to symbolize the purpose of the AIDS Groves.
7) MELBOURNE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL 2005: This year's selection of films had some outstanding documentaries as well as some excellent films based on current political crises around the world. One of these was an Israeli film called “Round Trip” and involved two women from very different cultures and races - so the film had racism, sexism, sexuality, homophobia as well as every other disastrous situation one could think of! Two of the documentaries were Australian, “The Sequin Revolution” about the early days of Mardi Gras, and “Just Married”, which dealt with the issue of gay marriage and the Howard government's attitude (and that of its loyal Opposition) in making sure that homosexuals do not have the same rights as heterosexuals in a marriage licence.
The Seniors Film Festival coincided with the Queer Film Festival and “The Closet”--a delightful French farce-- and “Funny Girl” with Barbra Streisand were presented jointly with senior gays and lesbians in mind.
8) SAUDI ARABIA ARRESTS 110 GAY MEN: According to PlanetOut a report in March from Ben Townley of Gay.com UK, police in Saudi Arabia had arrested a group of men, presumably gay, claiming that they were celebrating a gay wedding in the city of Jeddah. Press reports say 110 men were arrested at a party, with many fleeing as special forces entered. Although 80 detainees were released, according to the Guardian, 30 men were still being held and were likely to face charges. The arrests followed a growing international awareness of the Saudi stance on homosexuality, which is still illegal in the country. Jail terms and even death are permitted in a wide range of penalties.
These latest arrests are reminiscent of similarly high-profile arrests in nearby Egypt, where homosexuality is still taboo. Egypt's government has also been accused of regularly rounding up gay men, most notably in the 2001 arrest of more than 50 people at a boat party. Since then, the country has been under continuous attack by human rights groups, gay activists and celebrities. Saudi Arabia is also known to regularly block gay Web sites such as gaymiddleeast.com and international gay sites, including Gay.com
9) STUDENT TEACHER SACKED WHEN SHE TOLD HER PUPILS SHE WAS GAY: The Age Education supplement, 7 March 2005, carried a story of the sacking of a lesbian student teacher doing practical teacher training at a government school in Victoria. When, due to strange circumstances, she was “exposed” as a lesbian by some of the students, the principal of the school sacked her. Her university had to find another placement for her, which they did, but the original school and the students involved in the issue had no action taken against them. The Department of Education and Training showed, yet again, how homophobic it is, and how the more things change, the more they stay the same!
10) AIDS DENIERS AT IT AGAIN - DOCUMENTARY AT QUEER FILM FESTIVAL ON “AIDS DOES NOT COME FROM HIV”!: Entitled“The Other Side of AIDS”the film goes to show, as with the Nazi holocaust deniers, that there are still those, nearly 25 years after AIDS was first diagnosed, who will not accept that AIDS develops from HIV. They don't believe that the modern drugs treatments are the answer. Certainly they have some unpleasant consequences for many who are on them for long periods of time, but they have helped people not only to stay alive, but to have a quality of life which allows them to live fairly normal lives. Many have been able to re-enter the work force and many have undertaken all sorts of life challenging events which have added to the quality of their lives. This should be a debate whose time has come and gone, but unfortunately, as South Africa's President Mbeki and his health minister, Ms Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, have shown, no matter who they are or what position they hold, or however well educated they are, if the proven facts of AIDS developing from HIV is still an unacceptable proposition then their country's citizens continue dying at unbelievable rates. It's not just a tragedy, it's a crime.
11) DEATH OF GAYWAVES AND DEATH OF ACLGR - DON'T GAYS AND LESBIANS CARE ANY MORE?: 2005 has seen the disappearance of two long-time and much loved and much used gay, lesbian and transgender (GLT) resources --the removal by 2SER-FM, the university based community radio station, of Gaywaves after more than 25 years on air, and the disestablishment (closing down) of the Sydney University based Australian Centre for Lesbian and Gay Research. It is bad enough that two such organisations have disappeared, but the worst aspect of it is that the affected communities don't seem to care. Their voices of protest and alarm at both losses have remained silent as the grave, as has much of the gay media. It seems as if our communities are falling prey to the Howard years of gay bashing and extreme homophobia endorsed and supported by the Federal government and its loyal ALP Opposition.
GLT communities need to be aware that their rights are still very much under threat from the forces of conservatism and the religious right. It's very easy for a government in control of both Houses to decide to rid itself of thorns in their flesh. Both Gaywaves and the Lesbian and Gay Research Centre organisations were just that --thorns in the sides of conservatism and fundamentalism. Remember how easy it was for Howard to cut same-sex rights out of the Marriage Act and he didn't even control the Senate then!
12) GAY MARRIAGE COMES TO SPAIN: Spain has become the third country in Europe to legalise gay marriage, with the Parliament also giving same-sex couples the right to adopt children.(The Age, 23 April 2005). The lower house in the Spanish parliament voted to amend its marital law by adding the words: “Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or different sexes.” The vote is likely to strain relations between Spain's Socialist-led Government and the Vatican. Belgium and the Netherlands are the only other European countries to have legalised gay marriage. In Madrid, Beatriz Gimeno, the president of the State Federation of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals, said in a statement that the legislation would “turn Spain into an example for many countries where homophobia is present in the laws, a homophobia that is defended by intolerant, dogmatic, exclusionary religious sectors, including Christians, Muslims and other faiths”.
13) MICROSOFT - AND BILL GATES - REVEAL THEIR TRUE HOMOPHOBIC COLOURS? A CALL FOR A BOYCOTT OF MICROSOFT: When the report “Microsoft switches stance on gay rights” appeared in The Age on 29 April 2005 the issue was already approaching a climax. Gay, lesbian and transgender outrage as well as the uproar over Microsoft's change of tack on Washington's gay rights legislation, was causing its top executives to ponder when and whether a company should take an official stand that goes beyond the basic business of making and selling products. At the root of the problem was Microsoft switching its stand on a bill aimed at banning discrimination against homosexuals in housing, employment and insurance. Microsoft issued a letter in 2004 supporting the Bill but it changed its stance to neutral after lobbying by Pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, near Seattle. He had threatened to organise a national boycott of Microsoft's products. During the week ended 29 April 2005 the legislation failed in the Senate by one vote. .
However, in a stunning reversal, (MCV 13 May 2005) Microsoft announced in early May that it would support gay rights legislation. In an email sent to 35,000 Microsoft employees, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer concluded, “After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda,” he said, adding, “I respect that there will be different viewpoints. But as CEO, I am doing what I believe is right for our company as a whole.”
Reverend (sic) Ken Hutcherson said he was disappointed, believing that his boycott threat had persuaded Microsoft not to support the bill. (Planetout, John the list 26/27 April 2005)
14) HELP TO STOP GAY COLOMBIAN FROM DEPORTATION FROM CANADA: THE INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE - ILGHRC issued an Action Alert on 25 April 2005 as follows: “Since November 2003 the IGLHRC has supported the claim of Einar Maartman and Juan Camacho - a bi-national gay couple - to live together in Colombia and then in Canada. We now join with Einar and Juan in expressing our deep disappointment at the Canadian government's refusal to acknowledge Juan Camacho's right to asylum and to order his deportation.” Einar and Juan have written an appeal to the Canadian government to stop Juan from being deported to Colombia. Juan's claim for asylum was rejected on 19 April 2005. The two openly gay men had lived together in Colombia for many years suffering constant harassment, physical assaults and death threats until they decided to appeal to Einar's country to live together there. Immigration issued a deportation order against Juan effective 3 May 2005 but he has sought deferment pending a sponsorship application.
Support for Juan has come from around the world including from Australia in a last ditch appeal to the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Joseph Volpe to intervene. Welcome news arrived here May 23 that Juan Camacho has been granted asylum in Canada to live with his gay partner Einar Maartman.
15) BOOKS:-
a) UNITED WE STAND - Class Struggle in Colonial Australia: Tom O'Lincoln, author of this book, is an activist in Melbourne. He has also written and co-edited other books on socialist politics over the last 25 years. In this book he writes about the early days of capitalism in colonial Australia and wage labour and class struggle. He analyses racism and sexism in the context of the labour movement and explains how the working class organised to achieve social justice. Published by RED RAG PUBLICATIONS, PO Box 68, Carlton North, Vic 3054, Australia, $25 plus postage.
b) PEOPLE.DOT.COMM unity - A resouce for effective community activism: by Annie Nash. This is a practical manual on how to run a successful campaign to advance human and community rights. The book tells the stories of 9 Australian campaigns. It sets out the 6 tenets of campaigning and looks at the tools activists can use to advance their cause. A must read for activists intent on making changes to the way politicians think we ought to live, and how to get around the obstacles they place in our way. Annie Nash has done us all a favour by producing such a useful handbook on how we can change the world starting with very little in the way of resources and ending up with desirable outcomes. Published by Villamanta Legal Service Inc., 6 Villamanta Street, Geelong West, Vic 3218, Australia $25 plus postage and packing.
c) CLASS AND STRUGGLE IN AUSTRALIA edited by RICK KUHN: This book is a devastating examination of inequality and its causes in the Howard era. It is a manual for those who want to understand growing social divisions and to do something about them. It offers a no-holds barred Marxist critique of Australian society and the ideas that prop up oppression and exploitation. The contributors have had years of experience as political activists. Published by Pearson/Longman, approx $40 from good bookshops.
d) DOCUMENTARY --THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF HOMOSEXUAL AUSTRALIA: This film, on general release recently in Australia, is a panoramic look at gays and lesbians in this country from convict settlement days right through to the present. Although not as dramatic as “Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters” Digby Duncan's 1978 definitive doco, it is nevertheless a necessary addition to the limited repertoire of stories in documentary film form of homosexuals in Australia. Written by Con Anemogiannis and produced by Con Anemogiannis and Judy Menczel, the film is apparently now available on DVD and/or video, and is to be shown on SBS television's Storyline Australia, Thursday May 26.
16) GAYS AND LESBIANS IN TROUBLE AT A STUDENT UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE IN KWAZULU-NATAL: LGS member Ken Davis forwarded this report in February from Charlene Smith in South Africa.
Gay students were evicted from University of Zululand residences, following angry protests by “straight” students. Cases of harassment have been opened by gay students who claim they are being continually intimidated and insulted, which is affecting their access to lectures. For two nights in a row, at midnight, hundreds of “straight” male students embarked on a massive and fierce protest, toyi-toyied (screamed loud angry chants) against gays and lesbians staying in their blocks. Slogans and songs chanted by the student protesters included “We do not want gays and lesbians” and “Away with gays and lesbians! Away!”
Dean of students, Dr Mandla Hlongwane, in a circular issued by management, said that the university did not discriminate against sex, colour, person or creed. “Gays and lesbians on campus have the same rights as everyone else. Anyone who insults or incites others against them,” the Dean said, “will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”
The House Committee strongly appealed to all parties involved to try and settle their differences through negotiation and discussion.
17) DEPICTING LESBIANS AS MURDERERS! SWEDISH FILM on SBS and revamped AGATHA CHRISTIE EPISODE in ABC television series! HOMOPHOBIA ON SCREEN: There seems to have been an alarming trend in the last few years to depict lesbians on screen as murderers. The reason would have to be an ever increasing homphobia world-wide! The Swedish film on Sunday 1 May 2005 called Deadline is a 2001 drama in which the Olympic stadium is blown up two days before Christmas, along with the director-general responsible for the Games - a woman. Her murderer? A past lesbian lover! The newly twisted version of Agatha Christie's A Murder has been Announced was the other, in the BBC series on ABC. The murderer a lesbian? Not in the original story! And these are only two of the recent spate.
18) NEW GROUP FORMED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA --'GRAI' to examine GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDER AGEING ISSUES: InterSection in Melbourne was recently contacted by a West Australian man who called meetings in Perth to address gay, lesbian and transgender ageing issues. There were sufficient numbers of people interested, and they are now forming a group called GRAI to study GLT gerontology and discuss requirements, investigate homophobia and educate the community at large. InterSection is hoping that a nationwide network will eventuate to address all the concerns raised by studies exposing flaws in the current ageing systems in the various states of Australia.
Contact details are: Graham Lovelock, PO Box 715, Mt Lawley WA 6929
Email: graham.lovelock@swancare.com.au or homeboy@iinet.net.au
19) HOW AMAZING IS THE INTERNET? ABC Television Four Corners on Monday night (16 May 05) aired an in-depth prison interview with the man who as a teenager killed a high-school teacher, Wayne Tonks. After the programme finished at 9.15, our LGS website received over 150 visitors. That same night people obviously checked with GOOGLE for further information. The LGS site lists GLBT hate crimes and the outcomes if cases have gone to court. The 1990 horrific murder of Wayne Tonks is one of those that is listed.
20) FEDERAL BUDGET HARSH ON PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS: Media attention has focussed attention mainly on the budget's tax cuts but in Peter Costello's May 10 Budget people living with HIV/AIDS are among the big losers. The most dramatic effects for them are in the welfare areas. Under the new eligibility criteria for the Disability Support Pension (DSP), people who are assessed as being capable of 15 hours work per week will no longer be eligible for the pension. Those who do not meet the criteria will be shifted on to an 'enhanced' Newstart (unemployment) benefit which pays $77 less per fortnight than DSP and has more onerous compliance requirements. On top of that a raft of measures designed to cut $1.3 billion from the cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will cut back progressively the PBS safety net which protects people with chronic illness from prescription drugs costs. As Health Minister Tony Abbott told journalists, “There is no such thing as free medicine.”
21) RICHARDSON SAYS “SET ASIO TERRORIST POWERS IN STONE!” The ASIO director general, Dennis Richardson, who has been announced as Australia's next ambassador to the US, said that ASIO's powers to question and detain those suspected of being involved with or suspected of having information about terrorists, should be permanently enshrined in legislation. “Unless amended,” he told a parliamentary committee, “powers to question and detain will lapse in July next year.” Answering questions he said that questioning powers have been used only eight times since July 2003 and detention powers considered only once but not used. “Even if the threat of terrorists receded,” he said, “the powers should be kept.” (SMH 20.5.05) One can see why the spy agency head is so keen to keep ASIO's powers which had a sunset clause inserted back in 2003 when the original was enacted. With so little use maybe ASIO and the Federal Police are edgy that they could lose them. A lot of us remain concerned about the ease with which these terrorism powers are accepted.
Earlier this year LGS was asked to make a submission to a Senate Legal & Constitutional Committee Inquiry on the Provisions Bill to amend the National Security Information (Criminal Proceedings) Act 2004. The Bill aimed to extend the operation of the Act to prevent disclosure of information in federal criminal proceedings prejudicial to national security to civil proceedings. The inquiry was advertised and over 90 organisations were separately approached. 16 submissions were received, one of which was ours. The Bill gives extraordinary powers to the attorney general. We said as much and with others pointed out that the potential for abuse of this power, particularly as national security remains undefined, in civil cases is far more real than in criminal cases.
22) NSW NATIONAL PARTY WANTS TWO CHILDREN'S BOOKS BANNED: The National's leader, Andrew Stoner, says Koalas on Parade and The Rainbow Cubby House by Vicki Harding about same sex parents are an “outrageous attempt to brainwash our kids” and should be removed from NSW primary schools. The author, who caused a political stir last year when she and her girlfriend appeared on Play School with her daughter Brenna, thinks Stoner is overreacting. Vicki is encouraging gays and lesbians to write letters of support for the books to both Stoner and NSW Premier Carr. The books play a role in opening the door to diversity and reducing discrimination. (SSO 31.5.05)
23) STUDENT GAY BASHING RIFE IN AUSTRALIA: According to a national study by La Trobe University in Melbourne almost 50 percent of young people perceived as gay who took part in the nationwide survey had suffered verbal abuse and 16 percent physical abuse. The study detailed personal stories of assaults. Some bizarre actions included “My bed was pissed on at boarding school;” “other guys inserted a broomstick in my anus;” “I was hit in the face, called a poofter and queer weirdo, and thrown down a flight of stairs.” Suicide is often contemplated by both lesbian and gay students after prolonged verbal abuse. Some believed that the other students' behaviour is influenced by parents' attitudes. School was the most dangerous place, 74 percent of all abuse happened there. Among 14 to 17 year-olds that figure rose to 89 percent. However, it appeared that some schools were safer because of support from staff rather than from other students. (The Age 25.5.05)
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