MOSCOW — Organizers of the Gay Pride march that took place in Moscow on May 27 filed an appeal with the Moscow prosecutor’s office, which earlier refused to prosecute an attack on German Bundestag Member Volker Beck, a participant in the event. The organizers’ statement was published on the GayRussia.ru website Sept. 8, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. “Beck sent an appeal to the Russian Prosecutor’s General Office demanding a criminal case be opened against Aleksey Napylov, who said that he does not regret his actions in an interview with the Russian version of the Newsweek journal,” according to the statement. “Should there be such a necessity, we are ready to protest prosecutors’ decisions regarding the attack on Beck, including in court,” Nikolay Alekseyev, an organizer of the march, said in the press release.
Nigeria’s anti-gay marriage
bill concerns activists
NIGERIA — Nigeria’s “Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act 2006,” currently being considered in the National Assembly, is trampling on gay rights and human rights, according to international rights activists, reported the Nigerian newspaper the Tide. The bill was presented to the Nigerian House on March 30 by the executive arm of government, which requested its approval be expedited, according to the Sept. 9 article. The bill provides for five years of imprisonment to anybody who “goes through the ceremony of marriage with a person of the same sex” or who “performs, witnesses, aids or abets” such ceremonies. It also advocates the same penalty to anyone engaged in public or in private, in any form of advocacy or association supporting gay rights. Stefano Fabeni with Global Rights, a U.S. based non-governmental organization, told a workshop in Abuja that certain provisions in the bill trampled on human rights rather than on gay rights, according to the report.
Chinese NGO plans
gay-research awards
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — A Hong Kong-based non-governmental organization will begin making financial awards for research on homosexuality next year as part of its efforts to eliminate anti-gay discrimination. The Chi Heng Foundation said it will award money for outstanding research papers on any worthy topic related to homosexuality, such as lifestyles, support networks, AIDS prevention and the legal environment, the Shanghai Daily reported Sept. 8. Anyone conducting evidence-based research is eligible to submit findings for awards ranging between about U.S. $100 and $250. Chi Heng founder To Chung said the group’s goal is to encourage more researchers to study homosexuality. “Homosexuals have moved into the spotlight in recent years with the society’s growing tolerance. But the number of experts who conduct research on the subject is very limited,” Chung said, the Chinese newspaper reported.
Rights group decries Ugandan
paper publishing list of gay men
NEW YORK — A U.S. based human rights watchdog group said a Ugandan newspaper’s decision to publish the names of alleged gay men is a chilling development in the African country’s vilification of gay people. Human Rights Watch said Sept. 7 the publication of the first names, workplaces and other identifying information of the 45 men could foreshadow a government crackdown, Reuters reported. In Uganda, sodomy is a crime punishable with life in prison. “For years, President Yoweri Museveni’s government routinely threatens and vilifies lesbians and gays, and subjects sexual rights activists to harassment,” Human Rights Watch researcher Jessica Stern said in a statement. “At a moment when sensational publicity has spread fear among a whole community, the authorities must exercise their responsibility to protect, not persecute.” HRW said the list was published in the tabloid newspaper Red Pepper last month and that the paper has since told activists that it plans to publish a similar list of alleged lesbians.
South Korean party releases
report on transgender rights
SEOUL, S. Korea — A South Korean political party released an official report dealing with the human rights of transgender persons Aug. 4. The report, prepared by an agency investigating life for South Korea’s transgender citizens, was made up of members of the Democratic Labor Party’s committee on sexual minorities and an alliance of transgender people, the Korean newspaper the Hankyoreh reported last week. The report found that transgender individuals experience shame, frustration and contempt in school, which reinforces traditional gender roles. Rep. Choi Hyon-suk, chair of the party’s committee on sexual minorities, said, “We will suggest a related law jointly with the ruling and opposition parties and prepare sociopolitical plans, including [changes to the] medical system.”
