Citing: City's Human Rights Law, NYCTA not exempt

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY, Jul 14, 2009) - Despite reports of transgender women being attacked and beaten up, one member of the community received a favorable ruling from the New York State Appellate Court in her suit against the New York Transit Authority (NYCTA), signaling a major victory in the recognition of human rights for all in NYC.

According to her Myspace.com page, Tracy Bumpus, a residence manager and life skills coordinator with Housing Works, which is a social service and advocacy NYC-based HIV and AIDS organization; obtained a ruling in her favor from the State Appeals Court on Jul 13, against the NYCTA. In the an unanimous decision the Court ruled that employees of the NYCTA are not exempt from the City's Human Rights Law and can be held liable for discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.

In a press release, Housing Works said the Appeals Court upheld a lower court's decision, Bumpus v. New York City Transit Authority, by refusing to dismiss the case against a transit employee who had launched a prolonged and vicious transphobic assault on Bumpus at a Brooklyn subway station.

"The Human Rights Law affords protection to transgender people in New York City. By riding the subway, a transgender person doesn't become less of a person and lose the protection of the Human Rights Law," said Justice Robert J. Miller in a February 2008 ruling.


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LGBT reports from the continent

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

Cameroon:

Man arrested, charged for being gay and on suspicion of sodomizing a minor.

A gay rights group in Cameroon is calling on the justice department to immediately drop charges against and release Yves Noe Ewane, who was arrested in May for being gay and was charged under Cameroon's Penal Code Sections 74 for criminal intention, 346 for gross indecency and 347 for homosexual conduct, following a complaint filed against him by the mother of a supposed minor who accused Ewane of having sexual relations with her son. A medical examination failed to prove that the boy was sodomized as alleged by the parent.

Alice Nkom, president of Association pour la Defense des Homosexuels (ADEFHO), an organization that defends the rights of homosexuals in Cameroon, who is representing Ewane, said that the judge has everything he needs to drop the charges since "it appears that there is no witness or plaintiff."

In the absence of complainants, Ewane argued his innocence saying he had never had sexual relations with the boy.

Sebastien Mandeng, vice president of ADEFHO says Ewane is just a victim of stigmatization since he was arrested last year for homosexual conduct and remanded in custody for six months at Douala New Bell Prison before being released.

"He has never been tried nor convicted and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. He is a very sociable man who likes to entertain people at home. But every time he is seen with somebody there are allegations of homosexuality. Just because he was accused once, and although he was cleared, his neighbors still stigmatize him," he said.

Ewane was sent to Douala New Bell Prison on May 19 after being kept in police custody for three weeks at Douala Bonanjo Police Station. His sentence could be from six months to five years with a fine of $50 to $500, if he's found guilty.

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Today is a great day for gay people in Indian.  The High Court of Delhi has ruled in Naz Foundation (India) Trust v. Government of NCT Delhi and Others that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is unconstitutional.  The Delhi High Court ruled that treating consensual gay sex between adults as a crime is a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's constitution. The ruling, the first of its kind in India, is not binding outside New Delhi.

 

Reaction in India was instantaneous: "I am ecstatic, euphoric," said Sumit Baudh, a lawyer active in Voices Against 377, a coalition of social organisations that petitioned the court for the repeal of the Britishimposed law. "This means a tremendous boost to pride, and dignity." "Given the kind of closeted lives that people have been leading, it's some measure of reassurance that the law is not going to be a hindrance to the leading of open, honest lives," he said. The constitutional challenge to India's ban has been watched closely by gay activists across Asia and Africa, especially in former colonies of the British that decriminalised homosexuality at home in 1967. The verdict was also praised by human rights groups and the UN. However, Indian religious organisations, which carry considerable political clout in a constitutionally secular but religiously conservative society, expressed dismay. Father Babu Joseph, a Roman Catholic priest, said: "We cannot afford to endorse homosexuality as normal and socially acceptable."

The Anti-Sodomy laws in India were enacted in the 1860s during British colonial rule to criminalize non-procreative sex, specifically sex between men, Section 377 has been used by police and other individuals to entrap, harass and blackmail those with non-conforming sexual orientations and gender identities and human rights defenders. This law has encouraged sexual and physical abuse of gay men and transgender people in police custody.

While the text is silent on lesbianism, it has facilitated an environment where family violence against lesbians and bisexual women happens with impunity, leading to women's injury, death, and suicide. The Court's decision to change this law helps ease the environment of fear in which countless LGBT people live their lives in Delhi.

Sources: IGLHRC, Time Magazine

A former British colony - the Indian High Court sets example.

By Antoine Craigwell

Perhaps, the ruling by the Indian High Court on Jun 2, decriminalizing homosexuality is the beginning of the collapse of colonial era laws against gays in former British colonies. But, when several months ago the Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, declared in a BBC interview, that as long as he's Prime Minister, he would have no gays in his Cabinet, he was not only in violation of his country's Constitution, he was subscribing to a colonial era law imposed by the country's former British colonial masters.

 

The High Court in Delhi, India, ruled that being homosexual is not a crime and that the law, Section 337, imposed by the British in 1861 during colonial rule, was itself antithetical to the Indian Constitution. While the High Court ruling, for the moment, applies only to Delhi and the immediate area, there is an expectation that it would spread to the entire country and that, even though appeals by anti-gay elements to the Indian Supreme Court are likely, the next step is repeal of Section 337 by the Indian Parliament, which would not only decriminalize homosexuality, but make it possible for same-sex marriages. Last Sunday, Jun 28, many native New Yorkers, many who came to visit the city, and many people world over, celebrated and commemorated the protests of a group of fed-up, angry men and women - without regard to race and age, but with a common purpose, that of being gay; at the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. For those who lived through the persecutions of gays and lesbians pre- and post-1969, this celebration was not only a coming of age, but it was the acknowledgement that with the many burgeoning gay movements and clamor for gay rights worldwide, the consciousness of the peoples of the world is changing, at last emerging from under the remnants of a colonial imperialistic thumb into the light of an awareness and acceptance of each other as humans first, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or class.

Balaji Ravichandran, offering a commentary on the Indian High Court decision in the Jul 2, edition of the Guardian newspapers, wrote: "The importance of this verdict cannot be understated. This is the first time that an Indian court has gone on record to say that sexual minorities are not second-class citizens, and that they cannot be discriminated against…However, for decades, the police and sometimes society at large used the law as an excuse to persecute gay men and women, who were harassed, blackmailed, detained or raped, unable to seek any protection or justice from the law. In addition, the law was also a significant impediment to fighting HIV/Aids among sexual minorities." In another commentary in the same Guardian edition, Anil Bhanot stated that homosexuality is an accepted part of the Hindu religion, the national religion of India: "The ancient Hindu scriptures describe the homosexual condition to be a biological one, and although the scripture gives guidance to parents on how to avoid procreating a homosexual child, it does not condemn the child as unnatural." In ancient Hindu texts, reaching as far back as 2,100 BCE, Bhanot said that the culture recognized homosexuals, accorded them a place as members of the society, and who even had their own Hindu deity, "Mother Goddess Bahuchara, for their spiritual link to the Absolute Brahm."

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Calls for accountability reveal theft, misappropriation of public funds, and failed internal controls

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - Ten months after the cancellation of "Pride In The City," there has been no comprehensive explanation from any of the so-called leaders to the New York Black gay community on what happened and why, after 21 years, People of Color in Crisis (POCC) was shut down. Financial irregularities and discrepancies unearthed at the New York State Black Gay Network (NYSBGN) led to unraveling an intricate web of deceptions, thefts, collusion, clique-ism - "sistahs" or "girlfriends," secrecy, intimidation, and falsifications and probing questions being asked about an almost $2.5 million POCC budget.
 

Copies of documents obtained by GBMNews.com, including a letter and an Aug 2008 site visit report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one of POCC's major grant funders, which provided 50 percent of the organizations funding on three grants; detailed a laundry list of findings and recommendations, culminating in a decision to terminate all grants effective Aug 31, 2008. Additionally, a number of people, who were either employed by the NYSBGN or POCC, who now live in fear of retaliation, have come forward and are quoted as anonymous sources.

POCC was founded in 1988 and according to its still active Website, its mission is "…

to build community and improve the quality of life and health among gay men, bisexual, men who have sex with men and trans-gendered individuals of African decent through advocacy, education and direct services."

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Amid calls for accountability, transparency and restructuring

By: Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell
Photography by: Taylor Siluwe

(New York, NY) - In an era of large corporate bankruptcy filings involving billions of dollars in debt, the recent announcement by the New York State Black Gay Network (NYSBGN) that it was filing for Chapter 7 seems inconsequential in comparison. Of consequence, added to the nearly $260,000 in debt, is the loss of confidence and the sense of betrayal of the Black gay community by one of their own.

 

L to r, Gary English, interim executive director, NYSBGN conferring with Tokes Osubu, executive director, GMAD

At a Town Hall meeting held at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center on May 21, Leo Rennie, a community consultant invited six members of the community to form a panel to ostensibly address and dispel the rumors and stories swirling around the closure of People Of Color in Crisis (POCC) in Brooklyn and the move by Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) to new offices in Brooklyn. The forum which began half an hour later than its scheduled 7:00 p.m. start, was called to order by Rennie who reminded the assembled audience of close to 150 men and women, of the reason for the meeting, introduced the panelists, which included Tokes Osubu, executive director, GMAD; Gary English, interim executive director, NYSBGN; Cary Alan Johnson, executive director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; this writer representing GBMNews.com; Manuel Rivera, chair, Consumer Advisory Board, Gay Men's Health Crisis; Nathan "Seven" Scott, a life coach; and Traci Gardner as the moderator. After setting the ground rules, advising the audience to hold questions until after the panelists had made their opening presentations, Gardner indicated that Osubu would begin.

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Katina Parker's Labor of Love Exemplifies the Good in Humankind
Part Two
By Sr. Correspondent, D. Kevin McNeir

In part one of this story, we introduced our readers to Katina Parker, a talented visual artist whose work has garnered her industry awards and praise as well as a comfortable way of life. But her life took on a very different path when she took a group of students to New Orleans in 2007 for a one-week stay where they were scheduled to help rebuild homes and produce a podcast. What she didn't count on was God placing a new mission on her heart. Today she is the founder and executive director of New Orleans: A Labor of Love, an organization that continues to inspire and assist those who remain in need because of the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav.

 

Katina Parker is a woman who sleeps very little these days, but it's not because she suffers from insomnia. Her often sleepless nights occur because as she explains, there is still so much work to be done in New Orleans. In August Americans will mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - one of the worst tropical cyclones this country has ever faced. But the pain and anguish remain for far too many. And that's why Parker is "sleepless in New Orleans" and beating the pavement with a network of volunteers under the banner of A Labor of Love - making a difference one person at a time. "Last year one of the things we focused on was negotiating our way through the maze of requests that we were receiving from people," she said. "Once you get into something like disaster relief and working with the underserved community, you discover that there are always requests that come to your organization that you really are unable to properly address. We had never dealt with the possibility that we might have to tell someone no. So we began using feedback to see how we could accommodate every kind of request. First, we had to categorize the requests then find the available tools online to fill the specific need. Once our new website is launched [early this spring] it will be much easier to make those connections."

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By Kheven LaGrone
Photography by William Jones

This year, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) “brought church” to San Francisco. There was praising, shouting, gospel singing, clapping—even a preacher wiping the sweat off his face as he delivered his uplifting message.

 

Titled Power of Us: Moving Beyond History, it was NBJC’s 4th Annual Black Church Summit and National Town Hall Meeting. Glide Memorial United Methodist Church—where homosexuality is not tolerated, but embraced—hosted the event.

Amos Brown (Pastor of Third Baptist Church & President of the SanFrancisco chapter of the NAACP) San Francisco CA Chair of SF NAACP, most staunch No on 8 supporter among mainstream Black ministers.

While the format of the meeting I had gone to was a traditional Black gospel service, the theme wasn’t: Sexual Activism, Justice and the Bible. The Black Church has historically been the site of Black activism, but can the Black Church combine racial/sexual/spiritual activism? Why not? As one panelist argued “oppression is oppression, hungry20is hungry.” During American slavery, the Bible was “interpreted” to oppress and control African Americans. Slaveowners hired preachers to read the enslaved people the parts of the Bible that kept their minds enslaved. Many African American Christians are still oppressed by a slave mentality.

Yvette Flunder, (Founder and Pastor of City of Refuge Church)San Francisco CA w Life Partner (wife) Shirley Miller2060 Lawrence Ellis (Founder of Paths to Change) and Rev. Mark Wilson(Former pastor of McGee Avenue Baptist Church Marlon Rigg’spastor)

According to the panel titled “Allies in Partnership of Faith,” Black homosexuality/bisexuality/transgenderism brings additional layers to that oppression. The panelists challenged African American Christians to read the Bible for themselves so that they can take spiritual ownership of their own sexualities. They discussed how spirituality informs sexuality. The panelists challenged Christians to question what the Bible really=2 0says about gender construction: How can the Bible be read to embrace feminine men and masculine women? They discussed the question: Is homosexuality nurture or nature? (One panelist answered that question with a question, “Does it matter?”). Liberation would require change from the comfort of what we already believe. Change would not be easy; to quote a panelist, “You can8 0t have change and comfort.” Contrary to what some believe, Christianity and the Bible are not anti-intellectual. Harvard, Yale and other elite universities have divinity schools.

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By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - As New York's Governor David Patterson (D) stridently and defiantly, declared, "It's time to take a stand," at a press conference, he referred to the abolitionists' fight against slavery and drew parallels between the struggle for civil rights and same-sex legal recognitions. The Governor, throwing down the gauntlet and daring the state legislature, especially State Senators, who had refused to pass the marriage equality bill when it was presented to them in 2007, called on the Senate and Assembly to pass the marriage equality bill and make same-sex marriage legal in New York.

While the Governor's press conference was heavy on political rhetoric, unclear was whether or not the Marriage and Same-Sex Couples in New York Act, would be accompanied by two other equally important bills, the Dignity for All Students Act, and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act. The Governor with his wife, Michelle Patterson, by his side, on Apr 16, 2009, and surrounded by elected officials which included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, State Senator Tom Duane, State Assemblyman Danny O'Donnel, U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, U.S. Rep. Gerald Nadler, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Queens Borough President Helen Marshal, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; civil rights advocates Mike Fishman, S.E.I.U.- Local 32BJ; Randi Weingarden, the American Teacher's Union; and representatives of agencies serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities (LGBT) such as, Alan Van Capelle, Empire State Pride Agenda; Cathy Marino-Thomas, Marriage Equality New York; and Dr. Marjorie Hill, Gay Men's Health Crisis; announced, "I'm introducing a bill to bring marriage equality to the state of New York."

Speaking to a wider audience, beyond the confines of the press room in the State Office, which had an inclusive bathroom sign in the lobby, the Governor alluded to the debacle of Proposition 8 in California and said that many in New York wondered if after many iterations and evolutions, a same-sex marriage bill would ever become law. "I'm here to speak against those who I think are antagonistic and antithetical and always have been, not only on marriage equality, but equality for gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens and who have stoked the flames of what is really an honest difference of opinion or maybe even of a little trepidation in favor of making sure that no legislation is ever passed at all. I will not permit it on my watch. It's time to take a stand," the Governor said.

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By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - Cary Alan Johnson, executive director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) sent a letter to Wijdan Salim, Minister of Human Rights of Iraq. In the letter, Johnson implored Salim to take "specific measures to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqis and prevent hate crimes against those perceived to be gay," which was to coincide with the Minister's impending Washington, D.C. visit, and is in response to reports of violent crimes against Iraqi's suspected of being gay. IGLHRC has collaborated with the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Global Equality to bring the matter to the attention of U.S. government officials, with whom Salim is expected to meet next week.

 

US supported Iraqi government does nothing or tacitly supports gay murders.

Tellingly, an Iraqi group calling itself "Fazilat," which means virtue, posted flyers on walls in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Bhagdad, the capital, that threatened gays and lesbians with death. Distributed on Apr 17, some flyers listed names of people suspected of being gay and claimed, "we will soon punish all you perverts." According to reports from Sadr City residents, those named on the flyers have gone into hiding. According to the IGLHRC press release, acts of anti-LGBT violence in Iraq include the murder of two men in the Sadr City on April 2, and one unidentified local official described the two men as "sexual perverts who were killed by members of their tribe to restore their family honor." As with many cultures worldwide, prior to them being killed, the men's relatives had disowned them and excommunicated them from their respective tribes. To date, their bodies remain unclaimed for burial and the government has not launched an investigation into their deaths. One week before, on Mar 25, authorities discovered four men who were killed by gunshot and on whose bodies "pervert" and "son of a bitch" (jaravah, a derogatory term used to describe gays) was written on their chests.

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CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq  -- Six gay men were shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents in the past 10 days, an official with Iraq's Interior ministry said.

 

 

In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad after they were disowned by relatives, the official said. The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims. On March 26, four additional men were fatally shot in the same city, the official said, adding that the victims had also been disowned by their relatives. The official declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Witnesses told CNN that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire Source link

By Ken Horton
Atlanta

SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, is an Atlanta-based non-profit organization, which provides stronger and amplified, collective voices of indigenous women and women of color so that they may secure human rights, and thus achieve reproductive justice. SisterSong fights equally for the right to bear--or not to bear--a child, along with the subsequent and necessary enabling conditions to realize these rights.


 

SisterSong represents five ethnic populations/indigenous nations in the United States: Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Arab American/Middle Eastern/North African, Latina, and African American/Black/Caribbean/African.The Collective has over 80 women of color member organizations and individuals, as well as hundreds of white women and male allies who support their goal of improving the lives of women of color. "We do reproductive justice training, which is modeled after the national program where we go to various organizations and talk to them about training women to obtain their reproductive rights," said Heidi Williamson, advocacy and membership coordinator, SisterSong. "We also do a lot of mentoring locally for organizations that are in fledgling stages and need assistance, whether it's the use of our building or asking for help about developing programming."

In addition, SisterSong has an advocacy program called the Urban Initiative that brings together advocates, elected officials, and public health officers who routinely talk about reproductive healthcare disparities. Loretta Ross National Coordinator

"HIV and STD's are on the rise; cancer rates among black women are on the rise - the state and the federal governments are turning their backs on women," Williamson continued. "What responsibility does the local community which actually serves these men and women have? So, city mayors, county commissioners, and public health officials are coming together with advocates to address the need of the community."

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GMAD moves to Brooklyn, takes over POCC

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) is moving from its home in Manhattan to Brooklyn, and in so doing it is supposed to be taking over of People of Color in Crisis (POCC) which has seen a crisis in its operations, since scandal rocked the agency last summer.

 

Early in the summer of 2008, in the height of plans for NY's Black Pride, word started seeping out that something had happened at POCC. When the August date for Black Pride arrived, the final word was that Black Pride was canceled. Rumors swirled about theft and allegations in news reports that the executive director, Michael Roberson, had misappropriated the organization's funds for his personal use, including, using the organization's corporate credit card to pay the bail for one of his paramours. This act was seen as the final straw, for an organization that had been under federal and state scrutiny for misuse of funds. POCC began in 1988 by a group of African Americans and Afro-Caribbean gay men, but, as is usual for organizations receiving federal, state or local government funding, there is an annual audit of how organizations use and manages funds. After many years of auditing questions, POCC was targeted for funding cuts.

Gary English, former POCC executive director, now interim executive director of the NY State Black Gay Network, said that POCC had problems with the accounting and when the Inspector General came in and conducted an audit, along with several accounting irregularities, many items were found out of place.

English added that he doesn't know if there would be a Black Pride celebration this year, and if there would be one, who is sponsoring it. As part of the shake-up, while GMAD would retain an office in Harlem, their main office would now be in Brooklyn. Part of the condition for moving, is that GMAD would have access to the funds previously earmarked for POCC. And, according to a source, with this move, GMAD would step into the void created by POCC's absence, which means taking over the work that POCC was doing in Brooklyn, to provide HIV/AIDS and counseling services among a predominantly Afro-Caribbean gay population.

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IFBP to Convene Regional Black and Brown Summit

By Viktor Kerney

Los Angeles - The International Federation of Black Prides, Inc. (IFBP) announces the second Regional Black and Brown Summit on Saturday April 4, 2009 at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s The Village at Ed Gould Plaza. The Black/Brown Coalition was conceptualized by Carolina Ramos, Latino Services Coordinator, San Diego LGBT Community Center and Earl Fowlkes, IFBP President/CEO after a joint presentation on reaching out to LGBT Communities of Color for the Democratic National Committee Western Region training in Las Vegas, NV in March 2007. The National Black and Brown Summit was held in Philadelphia in April 25, 2008 and during Philadelphia Black Gay Pride. The first regional Black and Brown Summit was held in Dallas in October 3, 2008 during Dallas Black Pride.

The IFBP is a coalition of twenty-nine Black Pride organizations formed to promote a multinational network of LGBT/Same Gender Loving Pride and community-based organizations dedicated to building solidarity, health and wellness, promoting unity, and ensuring the development of education, economic empowerment, and individual and collective work, responsibility, and self-determination. Over 350,000 people attended Black Prides in the United States in 2008.

Regional Black & Brown Summit Saturday April 4, 2009   Los Angeles

“The purpose of the National & Regional Black and Brown Summits are to identify areas for potential collaboration between African American and Latino LGBT communities, leaders, organizations, and grass roots movements,” said Earl Fowlkes. In short, the IFBP is hoping the summit will help to inspire African American and Latino LGBT communities’ action, motivate young leadership, accentuate and embolden our collective political power and voice in this very important election year and beyond. “We are really excited about the possibilities of this historical summit in Southern California based on feedback from both communities over the past few months” said Ramos. Other members of the Black & Brown Coalition include Michael Hinson, IFBP Board Chair; Marjorie Hill, Gay Men Health Crisis, Executive Director; and Jose M. Roman, Executive Director Sponsored Projects Finance at Columbia University. Registration is $10 which includes materials, breakfast and lunch. The registration form can be downloaded on the IFBP web site: www.ifbprides.org. The Summit will be preceded by a reception on Friday evening April 3, 2009 at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center’s The Village at Ed Gould Plaza. from 7 to 9 PM. The Regional Black and Brown Summits are funded by generous support of the Arcus Foundation. The LA Regional Black and Brown Summit is co sponsored by the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, and Black Pride Los Angeles.

By Sr. Correspondent,  Antoine Craigwell
Photography by Laurence Pickney

(New York, NY) - As the saying goes, three times is a charm. And, a charm event is what the organizers and sponsors of Verve achieved when the production graced the halls of the Brooklyn Ethical Society for Culture (BESC), on Friday, Mar 6, 2009.

Begun as an example of a higher level of entertainment for the sophisticated crowd at last summer's New York Black Pride, Verve has evolved into a fundraising event that is more about promoting social interaction in an upscale environment with appropriate entertainment for and among mature same gender loving (SGL) people, than about raising money. 

One of Verve's key organizers and producers, Germono Toussaint Bryant, who is also an account manager with Blur Advertising and a part of Well Entertainment, said that surveys conducted revealed that there was a dearth in upscale and sophisticated entertainment for LGBT adults.  He recalled that at Verve's premier presentation, called "Pride Slam Jam," the performers represented, indicated a high quality in entertainment and included Nhojj, Sean, ButtaFly Soul, Calvin Davis, Kenya Solas, and Cordell McCleary, whose work was a testament to the need to entertain a mature audience. And, to show openness, through out the various iterations of Verve, he said, the performers were a mixture of gay and straight.

At this Verve's third presentation, close to 100 people - men and women, ages ranging between mid-20s to 50s, were smartly dressed mainly in business casual wear, though some wore suits - mixed and networked at a getting-to-know-you reception where wine and food was provided in a conservatory styled room that looked out through large glass French windows to Prospect Park and to snow covered lawns, and was followed by a program emceed by Buttafly Soul, who with a mixture of comedic sketches and impromptu a cappella singing, kept the audience laughing as he introduced the feature performers Chester Gregory, Nhojj and Dy'ari (pronounced Diary). "We want to give this group of people a chance to socialize with each other before live entertainment," said Bryant.

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By Sr. Correspondent,  D. Kevin McNeir
Photography by Troy David

Jungle [2115 Faulkner Road, Atlanta] owner Brad Williams appears to have a hit on his hands with his 70s-style parties, including the most recent one held just last Saturday night. And with special guest, DJ Ed Bailey spinning the sounds, it was an evening that celebrated disco and funk - from Donna Summer and the Village People to Parliament/Funkadelic and Michael Jackson - and included costumed patrons and bartenders adorned in platform shoes, bell bottoms and afro wigs.

In addition, several of Atlanta's more popular female impersonators showed up and showed out performing to the music of some of their favorite divas from back in the day - including Cheryl Lynn and Diana Ross. There was even a special dance lesson for those patrons who somehow never learned how to do the "Bus Stop."


 

And so, with GBMNews guest photographer Troy David, this reporter made his way around the club, talking music and life to eager revelers who were clearly hot for the sounds of day's long past. And it should be noted that this crowd had no particular sexual orientation - brothers and sisters who lead an SGL-lifestyle partied without incident with those from the hetero world. [Yeah Rodney King, we can all get along].

"I came out because this is my kind of music," said Gary Hill. "When I heard that they were going to have a 70s party reminiscent of Studio 54 I had to be here. I grew up on this kind of music - it was the greatest era ever when people seemed to be happier. I would love to somehow return to those days."

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By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) issued a joint statement condemning a seminar intended to attack the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Uganda.


 

Using religion as a cover, a three-day seminar opened on Thursday, Mar 5, 2009, in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and featured Americans known in the U.S. for their dehumanizing of LGBT people and supporting the belief that homosexuality is curable. In a press release, Hoosein Alizadeh, communications director for IGLHRC said that the speakers included Scott Lively, Don Schmierer, and Caleb Lee Brundidge. Alizadeh said that Brundidge is affiliated with the Extreme Prophetic Ministry in Phoenix, AZ, Schmierer is on the board of the "ex-gay" organization, Exodus International, and Lively is well known for his belief that the Nazi holocaust never happened. According to Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC's newly installed executive director, the American religious right is finally showing its hand and revealing the depth of its support for homophobia in Africa. "This seminar will increase violence and other human rights abuses against LGBT people, women and anyone who doesn't conform to gender norms. This newest form of colonialism is deplorable and must be stopped," said Johnson. The seminar was hosted by the Family Life Network (FLN), a Ugandan non-governmental organization started in 2002 that claims to be committed to restoring Ugandan family values and morals, opposes access to safe and legal abortions, the use of condoms, and promotes abstinence-only programming as its approach to HIV prevention.

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By Antoine Craigwell, Sr.Correspondent and Editor

(New York, NY - Feb 16, 2009) - While all the talk and concentration is on collapsing economies and a global financial crisis, in some countries, one of the most pressing issues for members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities is simply maintaining one of their basic human rights - their freedom. 

On Dec 19, 2008, 12 days after the conclusion of an international conference on HIV/AIDS in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, eight men, ages 21 to 28-years-old were gathered at Diadji Diouf's house, when on a tip from a neighbor, all the men in the house, including Diouf, were arrested by the police. Less than one month later, on Jan 8, 2009, these nine men were charged, tried and sentenced under two specific Penal Codes: "engaging in acts against the order of nature," which is punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of 100,000 ($200) to 1.5 million CFA francs ($3,000); and for forming an association of criminals.  They were each sentenced to eight years, the maximum under the "acts against nature" charge and three years for being automatically guilty of the first charge, thus branding them as criminals. The trial and sentencing of the nine men was conducted according to a standard penal code and not Sharia or Islamic law.

The arrest and imprisonment of these nine men has attracted very little U.S. media interest. Except for human rights organizations, such as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and UNAIDS, the implications of the Senegalese government's about face has sent shock waves throughout that country and reverberated in LGBT communities and countries around the world. Providing some perspective on the impact of the Senegalese government's actions and not relying entirely on reports from sources outside of the country to supply details and context, Professor Cheikh Niang, of the Department of Social Anthropology and Environmental Sciences at the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, said that to most of the vocal population, the arrest and imprisonment of the nine men is justified. Some in Senegal, he said, think the sentences are not severe enough and while others feel sorry for the men, only a few dare to openly express their views.

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By Antoine Craigwell, Sr. Correspondent

In what appears to be a volte face, the government of Senegal, on Dec 19, 2008 (some accounts claim Dec 16 and others Dec 22) arrested nine local men and less than a month later tried and sentenced the men to eight years imprisonment. This draconian action, which some suggest is part of a pattern, occurred 12 days after the conclusion of the ground-breaking International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), which was held in Dakar, Senegal from Dec 3 to 7, 2008.

 

According to the BBC-Country profile, the Republic of Senegal is a predominantly Muslim country, which through the leadership of its pro-democratic president Abdoulaye Wade, is held up as one of Africa's advancing democracies - with an established multi-party system and a tradition of civilian rule. But, recent government actions have puzzled many in the country and in the international community. The ICASA conference, which was sponsored by many of the international agencies, accepted Senegal as one of the most HIV/AIDS aware and progressive African countries. At the conference, officials representing the Senegalese government, in speeches and presentations publicly joined with and pledged to the 8,000 HIV and AIDS professionals, public health leaders, scientists, clinicians, community and political leaders to support and meaningfully address HIV in populations of gays, and men who have sex with men (MSM).

Senegal's hardline President Abdoulaye Wade

Yet, contradicting this openness, the December arrests finds some of its roots in a previous case in February 2008 when 11 men were arrested and jailed on suspicion of being gay. With pressure from international aid, relief, HIV, and AIDS organizations, along with foreign countries, the Senegalese government released the men. As a case, those arrests sparked a retributive vigilance from many of the Senegalese people against the LGBT community, seen as the basis for later arrests.

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By Correspondent, Victor Kerney

Los Angeles - For the first time in years, the Black LGBT community marched at the 24th Annual Martin Luther King Day Parade in South Central, Los Angeles.

After the disastrous Prop 8, three LGBT groups: Here To Stay Coalition, National Black Justice Coalition and The Jordan/Rustin Coalition got together and decided it was time to put a face to the LGBT community of color.

 

Yardenna Aaron, founder of Here To Stay Coalition, knew something had to be done. “People needed to see that we are here and we care about our community,” she said. “Our visibility is very important on this historic day.” Once the group was approved to march, they immediately sent information out from their websites, inviting any and everyone to join them for this historic event. Once I saw the invitation, I knew I had to be there. During the parade, we realized the significance of each step we were taking. We were telling the Black community that yes; there is a Los Angeles Black LGBT community. We are just like you and we are not going anywhere. However, as we marched, a few of us became a bit nervous as much as excited. “I realized that I was coming out to my people, and that frighten me and inspired me at the same time,” a fellow marcher stated. The crowd showed nothing but love for us. Thousands of people were able to see and hear us as we walked roughly two miles from Crenshaw to Western Avenue down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. I can’t tell you how the smiles and cheers just encouraged everyone to move on. Of course there were some people who were not happy to see us, but the interesting part was how the crowd around them responded. Many people chastised the ‘haters’ and quickly turned it around. Many of us were moved by this gesture. This was truly a momentous event. We hope we inspired others to take a stand and possibly join us next year.