LESBIAN AND GAY SOLIDARITY NEWSLETTER NUMBER 64

           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

ISSUE 2, 2006                                          NUMBER 64         JULY 2006-FEBRUARY 2007

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The editors wish all newsletter readers a happier and politically more satisfying 2007, with equal rights being achieved in our fields of endeavour.

1) S. African AIDS delegates seek refuge in Canada: PlanetOut reported on 5 September 2006 that about 150 delegates to last month’s Toronto conference, mostly women from South Africa, say their countries’ HIV policies put their lives at risk. 137 South African delegates to the AIDS conference have sought refugee status according to Agence France-Press. Another dozen delegates, mostly from southern Africa, are also believed to have stayed behind and filed refugee claims after attending the weeklong event, which drew more than 24,000 delegates from around the world.

 Canadian immigration lawyer Karen Shadd-Evelyn confirmed to the Toronto Sun newspaper that up to 150 claims were received from participants at the August 13-18 conference. South African officials said they were awaiting official word from Ottawa on their nationals among that group. Among the would-be refugees is (name removed by request), an HIV-positive AIDS activist and founder of (country removed by request)'s 6,000-member association for people living with AIDS. Others are believed to have come from Zimbabwe and El Salvador. Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported. 

A Canadian immigration lawyer, Michael Battista, said the South African women face severe stigma and discrimination at home that amounts to persecution—loss of homes, loss of jobs and in some cases threats of violence, the BBC reported Tuesday. The asylum seekers are being housed in a Toronto hostel while their cases are investigated—a process that could take up to a year, the BBC said. It’s not clear how many of the would-be refugees have HIV/AIDS. But South Africa’s AIDS policies were the subject of stinging criticism at the Toronto conference. Stephen Lewis, the Canadian UN special envoy on HIV/AIDS, told delegates that South Africa’s was the only government on the continent “still obtuse, dilatory and negligent about rolling out treatment,” the Globe and Mail reported. Lewis added that South Africa “is the only country in Africa whose government continues to propound theories more worthy of a lunatic fringe than of a concerned and compassionate state.”

South Africa’s health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has been derided at home and abroad for advocating a diet of garlic, lemons, beetroot and potato as an alternative to antiretroviral drugs. The BBC, quoting South African media, reported Tuesday that Tshabalala-Msimang’s ministry has instructed officials to have nothing to do with Lewis, whom South African AIDS activists had invited to visit their country. The trip has apparently been cancelled, the BBC said.

Some 5.5 million South Africans are HIV-positive, a number second only to India, according to United Nations health officials. South African President Thabo Mbeki’s government did not provide antiretroviral drugs until 2002, after activists sued to force it to do so. The government now has more than 140,000 people on the drugs, the largest such program in the world. A further 80,000 South Africans pay for the drugs themselves at a cost of about $315 a year. But such figures are dwarfed by the 700,000 South Africans in urgent need of the drugs, the Globe and Mail reported. More than 330,000 South Africans died of AIDS in the past 12 months alone, the Associated Press reported last week.(The Advocate)

2)  BOOKS: I.J.Fenn – The Beat: a true account of the Bondi Gay Murders,  published by The Five Mile Press, 2006. This book is a must-read for those concerned at the ever present and ongoing gay and lesbian hate crimes, murders and bashings in Australia and around the world.

Pride History Group – Camp Nites: Sydney’s emerging Drag Scene in the 60s,  published in 2006 by the Group. Email for information: phg@chilli.net.au 

Colin Batrouney – Omar and Enzo in the Big Talking Book, published by Thompson Walker 2006/2007 – deals with the perennial topic of panic advance defence in Australia and Gay Panic Defence in the USA.

3)  POSITIVE AGEING WORKSHOP – Darebin Council (Vic) 28 November 2006:  We were invited to attend a Positive Ageing Project workshop to be held at one of the Darebin Council’s libraries. This was not a gay and lesbian workshop but one at which 25 people from various groups within the Darebin Council area were also invited to attend. The session lasted about 3 hours and we were able to suggest that the people running the workshop put gay, lesbian and transgender ageing on their agenda for further discussions. At this stage we suspect that nothing further will come of this workshop. We await a promised report from the organisers with great interest! We aren’t holding our breath!

 

4)  AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF GERONTOLOGY CONFERENCE, Sydney, 22-24 November 2006: This 3-day conference was called “Diversity in Ageing”, although this was not entirely obvious from the keynote speeches. Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and HIV/AIDS issues were, in the main, all together on the second day, although we belatedly discovered that there had been a session on the first day which was not listed as being relevant to our communities.

The main sessions of interest on 23 November were titled: “Coming out from the shadows”. The papers presented were:-

Jo Harrison: Coming Out From the Shadows and Into the Light: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) Ageing – Celebrating Diversity and Taking Action;

Mark Hughes – Imagined futures and communities: older lesbian and gay  people’s narratives  on health and aged care;

Michele Chandler – The only gay in the village? Residential aged care for older lesbians and  gays in NSW;

Graham Lovelock – Building bridges – a strategy to ensure older GLBTI people are able to enjoy a rewarding quality of life.

 

Because it had not been marked as a gay, lesbian and transgender relevant item, we missed Simon Morris’s talk on Do I belong? Sense of belonging and mental health among older and younger Australian men.

The other session on Thursday 23 November of relevance and interest was called: A way

forward for better understanding. The papers presented were:-

Heather Birch – Are we there yet? Key collaborations on the pathway to quality services for

GLBTI seniors in Victoria;

Ivan Skaines – Love match or marriage of convenience? Learnings from an ongoing

partnership between a university research centre and a GLBT community;

Scott Berry – Ageing disgracefully – toward healthy ageing for gay men, lesbians and

transgender people;

Joy Phillips – Coming out, Coming in: How do dominant discourses around aged care facilities take into account the identity and needs of ageing lesbians?

On Friday 24 November there were a few more talks of interest. Unfortunately we do not have sufficient space for more details but these can be obtained from the Australian Association of Gerontology. Check the website: http://www.aag.asn.au

 

5) SOUTH AFRICA GETS GAY MARRIAGE: The South African Parliament has voted to legalise same-sex marriages, making the nation the first in Africa and the fifth in the world to remove legal barriers to them. In many African nations, homosexuality is still treated as a crime. Some impose stiffer penalties for consensual same-sex than rape or murder. Only the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada allow same-sex marriages (NY Times, Nov.).

  

6)  MEXICO CITY GETS GAY MARRIAGE:  Mexico City MPs approved homosexual civil unions by a vote of 43-17 on Thursday 9 November 2006 (reports Reuters), legalising gay partnerships for the first time in the world’s second-largest Catholic country.

 

7)  SOUTH AUSTRALIA GETS GAY AND LESBIAN RELATIONSHIP RECOGNITION AND EQUAL RIGHTS – WELL SOME!!!  The following report is from the Let’s Get Equal Campaign.

Domestic Partners Bill passes South Australian Upper House.  The Statutes Amendment (Domestic Partners) Bill passed the Legislative Council with a massive majority at 4.38pm on Thursday, 7 December 2006, exactly two weeks after it passed the House of Assembly. Of the members present, 16 voted for the bill and only 3 against (the two members of the Family First Party and a single Liberal, Terry Stephens).  The Let’s Get Equal Campaign would like to thank all those Members of the Legislative Council who voted for this legislation, and especially those who have consistently supported same-sex couples gaining equal rights. You know who you are –THANK YOU ALL!!

As the Bill passed through the Upper House with no amendments, it could then be expedited through the Lower House once again, which happened later in the afternoon. Consequently, all that remains is for the Governor to sign the legislation for it to become law. This means it’s time to celebrate!!  We’ve finally gained some measure of equality in South Australia. Of course, there are still areas of law where we aren’t equal –for example, with regard to adoption rights and reproductive rights. But it’s a start. Thanks to all who have supported our campaign in many ways over the years, in and out of Parliament. Without your support, without the rallies, without the lobbying, without the efforts of a whole group of people, we would never have got this bill passed. We’ve come a long way; stay tuned for what we have to do next!!      

 

8)  DAVID HICKS AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT: Australia demands David Hicks be brought back to Australia NOW – not when the US administration has dealt with him in 1,5,10,20 years’ time!!!! There is a federal election due later in 2007, and if John Howard suddenly discovers that the Hicks issue has become an election issue, he will suddenly find the “compassion” to arrange with his close friend and ally George W Bush that Hicks be removed from Guantanamo Bay concentration camp and returned to Australia. Wishful thinking perhaps, but he may even tell Bush: CLOSE GUANTANAMO!

 

9)  DAREBIN LIBRARIES: Finally a break-through in our approaches to our local council‘s library service: the Libraries have issued a leaflet called “Rainbow Book List” with gay and lesbian fiction and non-fiction items listed. The Libraries have been approached to establish an on-line data base along the same lines and we will continue urging them until it has been done.

 

10) SPAIDS: On 30 July 2006 SPAIDS had a very successful planting day at Sydney Park with about 300 trees planted by about 70 volunteers – one of the biggest numbers we have had in recent years. The weather was perfect and the AIDS Groves have been aided by a fair amount of rainfall in recent months. The signs showing where the Groves are were still in place and we assumed they would remain there until such time as the Parks Administration had permanent signage ready to replace the temporary signs.

How wrong can one be! On our visit to the Groves in November 2006 we discovered our signs had been removed and there were no new signs where the old ones had been. We are now in the process of ensuring that new signs are erected as soon as possible, so that the SPAIDS Groves are marked for visitors to the Park who are specifically looking for the AIDS Memorial Groves and the SPAIDS dedicated Reflection Area.

11) WITNESS TELLS  ADELAIDE COURT “HIV does not exist!” The following report appeared in the Pink Broad newspaper on 7 January 2007 written by Andrew M Potts.

A pro-bono team, defending a man convicted of having sex with three women without protection even though he knew he was HIV positive, has taken the extraordinary step of using a defence witness who claims their client is innocent because she says she believes “HIV does not exist.”

One of the three women, who was raising two children at the time, contracted AIDS, but the other two did not become infected during their sexual contact with Andrew Chad Parenzee, the man at the heart of the case. Parenzee faces 15 years in prison if his appeal fails. This is the first time anywhere in the world that a court has allowed a debate on the existence of HIV during a court case.

Self-styled Australian “AIDS Dissident” Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos told the South Australian Court of Criminal Appeal that she believed that scientists had not convincingly proven the existence of the HIV virus and that, therefore, Africa does not have an AIDS epidemic. Papadopulos-Eleopulos is a medical engineer at the Royal Perth Hospital and a member of the so-called Perth Group of scientists who deny the existence of HIV. Papadopulos-Eleopulos’s work at the hospital is not related to AIDS and the Royal Perth Hospital has consistently distanced itself from her views on this subject.

The explanation that the Perth Group puts forward is that the symptoms associated with HIV and AIDS are the result of bad diet, malnutrition or drug use. They also claim that AIDS in gay men is caused, not by a virus, by what they claim is oxidisation of cells as a result of prolonged exposure to semen. This view has been widely condemned by the international scientific community is not just wrong but homophobic as well. The Perth Group also seems to ignore the fact that before the introduction of condoms, many societies around the world used heterosexual anal sex as a form of contraception for thousands of years without developing AIDS-like symptoms. Papadopulos-Eleopulos claims that it is next to impossible for heterosexuals to pass AIDS to one another through vaginal sex.

The Perth Group claims that it does not encourage people to have unprotected sex or share needles, but its website openly states that it wishes to exploit court cases to further its agenda. It writes that one of the three ways it intends to push for the acceptance of its views “is for seropositive individuals to have the evidence for their diagnoses of ‘HIV’ infection examined in courts of law.” It is unlikely that such an opportunity would arise from any other kind of case other than those where a crime has been committed by HIV-positive individuals who knowingly passed the virus to others.

The South Australian case has effectively put the existence of HIV on trial as state prosecutors have been forced to put their own experts on the stand to refute the Perth Group’s argument. (LGS assumes that Parenzee’s defence counsel will also call on “expert witnesses from South Africa”—President Thabo Mbeki and his Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang —to give evidence that AIDS does not exist and HIV can be cured by sucking on lemons and eating garlic!!!)  NB: Parenzee comes originally from South Africa!!!      

12) HOMOPHOBIC CENSORSHIP AT VILLAWOOD DETENTION CENTRE: It was reported in mid-January that two of Sydney’s gay papers, Sydney Star Observer and SX, have been banned from the Villawood Detention Centre. On 18 January 2007, MCV, sister paper to Sydney’s SX, reported that former detainee Motahar Hussain was attempting to deliver copies of the papers to inmates at Villawood on 29 December (2006) while on a private visit, which a representative of Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) also attended. They were told by a Villawood staff member that they could not bring the papers into the centre as they contained “inappropriate content” and were “pornographic.” CAAH co-convenor Rachel Evans said that the group’s members had previously delivered the papers on a weekly basis to Villawood detainees throughout 2006, together with other publications including the Sydney Morning Herald and Green Left Weekly and they had never had this problem before.

This is censorship gone mad and Amanda Vanstone’s successor and his department have got a lot of questions to answer in relation to this latest act of homophobia. This is yet another attempt to prevent gay and lesbian people from accessing information while in illegal concentration camps in Australia.

13) JUSTICE MICHAEL KIRBY ATTACKED YET AGAIN: The Sydney Star Observer reports (11 January 2007) that a case of online identity theft targeting High Court judge Michael Kirby highlights ongoing concerns about internet misrepresentation in the gay and lesbian communities. A profile claiming to represent Kirby appeared on popular website MySpace and included a photograph of the judge and offensive comments. The site, which apparently has links to the Australian newspaper, has since been closed down. This is no doubt yet another shabby attempt by those connected to the Howard government to denigrate a gay high court judge. It does little credit to Howard and his watchdog, Bill Heffernan, and the federal government in general in the whole sordid exercise.

 

14) HISTORIC RECOGNITION IN THE UNITED NATIONS OF LESBIAN & GAY ORGANISATIONS after decades of continuous efforts by ILGA (formerly IGA).

11 December 2006:  The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) granted consultative status to three gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organisations. The groups to receive UN recognition were ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, the Danish and German national lesbian and gay associations LBL and LSVD.  Consultative status granted by the ECOSOC allows NGOs [non-government organisations] to enter the United Nations, participate in its work, and speak in their own name. No other LGBT group till this day enjoyed this right, apart from COAL, the Coalition of Activist Lesbians, a group based in Australia.

“State homophobia has been hit and will not remain unchallenged anymore,” says Rosanna Flamer Caldera, Co-Secretary General of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. “It is a very special moment for the LGBT movement: this historic decision follows the statement made by Norway at the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of 54 countries, pushing that forum to address sexual orientation and gender identity.”

ILGA, a federation of 550 LGBT groups around the world, has been working for a number of years to have sexual orientation and gender identity come out at the United Nations. The first speech at the UN on LGBT rights was given in its name in 1992. In 2006, ILGA held its world conference in Geneva, European headquarters of the United Nations and organised four panels on LGBT issues at the second session of the Human Rights Council.

ILGA also initiated a campaign to have an increasing number of LGBT groups apply for ECOSOC status. In a clear demonstration of uneasiness and an attempt to avoid any debate on the topics of sexual orientation and gender identity, countries sitting at the ECOSOC postponed the debate, using procedural manoeuvres from one meeting to another. “This last meeting of the ECOSOC is the fourth this year where countries have had to discuss these applications from LGBT groups,” comments Rosanna Flamer-Caldera.

“Some states argue or fear we may be asking for special rights and use this as an alibi to block us from entering the UN,” she continues. “This is not a question of special rights. It is a basic question of equality and universality of human rights. We demand the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of who we are, as lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons. On the international level, this starts with the United Nations recognising the mere fact LGBT people exist, that they can organise as groups and, as such, participate in UN work and protest against the many human rights violations we still suffer from around the world.” ILGA thanks the many NGOs which have supported this campaign - with special recognition to Arc International and ISHR, the International Service for Human Rights. In 2007, applications from seven other LGBT groups will be considered by the ECOSOC.

+Patricia Curzi and Stephen Barris, International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA).

15) RUSSIA SUPPORTS EQUAL RIGHTS FOR SEXUAL MINORITIES. Despite banning the 2006 Moscow Gay Pride procession, the Russian Federation has stated that sexual minorities do have the right to freedom of expression and assembly. Its spokesperson said the police have a duty to protect such peaceful demonstrations when they take place. President Putin is in agreement. (MCV, 15.2.07) 

 

16) SAME-SEX CIVIL UNIONS BILL IN ITALY: The cabinet of Italy’s Prime Minister has approved the creation of Civil Unions legislation for lesbian, gay and unmarried (presumably meaning defacto) heterosexual couples. It will allow couples to register their union and receive some but not all the benefits of marriage. Pope Benedict XVI blasted the plan as “subversive.” The Bill has yet to be presented & debated in Parliament. (MCV 15.2.07)

 

17) AUSTRALIAN  GOVT  BLOCKS  ACT’s latest bid to legalise SAME-SEX COUPLES.

The federal government has announced that it will block the A.C.T.’s latest bid to recognise same-sex partnerships. Federal Attorney-General Ruddock said the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) bills would allow gay couples to have formal ceremonies and that would be “equating (gay partnerships) with marriage.” (The Age, 10.2.07)

 

18) NO RECOGNITION OF GAY FOREIGN ADOPTIONS. Adoptions of foreign children by same-sex couples will not be recognised in Australia under legislation fore-shadowed by the federal government. The bill has not yet been made public. Democrat Senator Bartlett says that as soon as the family walks through Australian Customs such a child will cease to have two legal parents, and have reduced legal and social recognition and protection. Lesbian and gay rights activists have expressed alarm at the government’s intentions. (The Age, 2.2.07)

 

19) EX-HIGH COURT JUDGE QUESTIONS TERRORISM LEGISLATION: According to retired High Court Judge Michael McHugh, significant parts of the Federal Government’s terrorism laws could be unconstitutional. Writing in The Australian Bar Review (December 2006), he says he thinks the ability to detain people for questioning who aren’t suspected criminals is on dubious ground, along with control orders placed on people convicted of nothing as well as the prohibition on praising terrorism acts. An organisation may breach the new terrorism laws if it “directly praises” a terrorist act. “If this offence had been in operation during the existence of apartheid,” he says pointedly, “it would probably have been an offence to praise the actions of Nelson Mandela that led to his imprisonment, or to praise the actions of the PLO.” McHugh has serious doubts about the validity of other provisions and comments, “What is there about al-Qaeda that now requires some of the fundamental values of our democracy to be overturned?” (The Age, 18.12.06)

 

20) SAME-SEX PROHIBITION ACT IN NIGERIA OF SERIOUS CONCERN!

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s new report “Voices from Nigeria”  (New York, 17 Feb.2007) provides personal accounts of homophobic attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions since the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2006 was introduced into the Nigerian National Assembly. If passed, which is very likely this month (February), it will create criminal penalties for engaging in same-sex relationships, same-sex marriages and even advocating for the rights of lesbians, gays, trannies and bisexuals or their support groups. The Nigerian President’s office claims the bill helps fight HIV. Not so, say activists. It will force sex in secret without condoms because there will be no time to develop relationships for fear of being caught. The report is available online at: http://www.iglhrc.org/files/iglhrc/reports/Voices_Nigeria.pdf

 

21) DONATIONS: Although newsletter production in 2006 was slower than usual, people have still kindly made donations to help with the production of the current issue. Our

     grateful thanks, as usual!

 

+ +TANDBERG  ALWAYS ON THE BALL in The Age: “Are we still calling it THE PACIFIC SOLUTION?

      No, it’s called THE DAVID HICKS SOLUTION. (The Age, Saturday, February 17, 2007.)