Zimbabwe's president dismisses gay rights; says same-sex partners are 'lower than dogs and pigs'

BY GILLIAN GOTORA, ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's president said Thursday that homosexuality doesn't belong in Zimbabwe and it violates women's rights by denying the union of men and women needed to bear children.

Robert Mugabe, 88, speaking at a women's HIV/Aids and gender rights conference in Harare, said the "gay world" goes against nature.

After earlier remarks by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay referring to the criminalization of homosexuality in some countries, Mugabe said Zimbabwe and Africa won't recognize same-sex marriage because it leads to human "extinction."

He said male homosexuality took away women's traditional rights of being mothers.

Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, who has repeatedly described same-sex partners as "lower than dogs and pigs," has vowed not to allow gay rights to be included in a new constitution being drafted.

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Guyana activists call for repeal of sodomy law

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Gay rights activists in Guyana are calling for the South American nation to repeal cross-dressing and sodomy laws.

The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination says the colonial-era laws are outdated and discriminatory. Group spokesman Joel Simpson said Monday that activists will increase pressure on lawmakers to repeal the laws.

Earlier this year, Guyanese authorities promised the U.N. Human Rights Council that it would launch a debate on whether to revise the laws before deciding whether it will pursue any amendments.

The consultations so far have not been opened to the public.

Simpson says his group will stage a gay film festival in Guyana's capital next month in hopes of winning more public acceptance.

Laws against gay sex are common in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Malawi's president vows to repeal gay ban

BY RAPHAEL TENTHANI AND DONNA BRYSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BLANTYRE, Malawi -- President Joyce Banda declared Friday she wants to repeal Malawi's laws against homosexual acts, going against a trend in Africa in which gays are being increasingly singled out for prosecution.

Banda, who assumed the presidency in April when her predecessor died, made the announcement in her first state of the nation address.

"Indecency and unnatural acts laws shall be repealed," she said. But repealing a law requires a parliamentary vote, and it is unclear how much political support Banda would have for sweeping changes in this impoverished and conservative nation in southern Africa.

Malawi had faced international condemnation for the conviction and 14-year prison sentences given in 2010 to two men who were arrested after celebrating their engagement and were charged with unnatural acts and gross indecency.

Then President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned the couple on "humanitarian grounds only" while insisting they had "committed a crime against our culture, against our religion, and against our laws."

Mutharika died in office in April. Banda, who was vice president, stepped in to serve out his term which ends in 2014.

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House passes Violence Against Women Act critics say doesn’t protect gays, Native Americans, immigrants

BY WILLIAM DOUGLAS, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- Unfazed by a White House veto threat, the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved anti-domestic violence legislation that opponents charge doesn’t sufficiently protect gay, lesbian, transgender people, Native Americans and immigrants.

On a 222-205 vote, the House passed a GOP-sponsored bill to renew the Violence Against Women Act, an 18-year-old law written by then-Sen. Joe Biden that dedicates federal resources to assist victims of domestic violence.

Wednesday’s vote puts the House at odds once again with the Democratic-controlled Senate, which approved its version of the bill last month on a bipartisan 68-31 vote. The Senate bill renews the act for five years, authorizes $659.3 million in annual spending and contains measures to help victims of sexual assault, improve emergency housing services for victims and consolidate some grant programs to make them more efficient.

It also contains provisions intended to: encourage undocumented immigrants to help law enforcement identify domestic abuse victims; assure protections for gays, lesbians and transgender people, among others; and give tribal courts increased authority to prosecute incidents of domestic violence committed by non-Native Americans in Native American territories.

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Four men to be hanged in Iran for sodomy, according to Human Rights Activist News Agency

Four men are to be hanged after being convicted of sodomy in Iran this week, reports Pink News in London:

Four men named ‘Saadat Arefi’, ‘Vahid Akbari’, ‘Javid Akbari’ and ‘Houshmand Akbari’ are due to be executed shortly after their verdict was approved recently by high court judges, according to a report from the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) in Iran.

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Read the top stories: Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida now available by email in free newsletter

Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida is now conveniently available in a free Miami Herald newsletter.

Just enter your email address in the Email Newsletter Sign-up field on the left rail with my photo, just below the Facebook icon. Thanks and enjoy!

Guilty pleas in Caribbean gay cruise arrests; Atlantis president: Men had sex 'in full public view'

Associated Press reports that two gay men from Southern California pleaded guilty Thursday to indecent exposure after being arrested for having public sex on an Atlantis Events cruise in Dominica.

From AP:

John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, of Palm Springs, apologized in court and said they regretted their actions. Police said they were seen having sex in plain sight of people on land, prompting officers to board the ship and arrest them on Wednesday.

The two initially were arrested on suspicion of the local equivalent of sodomy in the eastern Caribbean island, which prohibits sex between two men.

The men's attorney, Bernadette Lambert, said they were remorseful.

"They were struck by the beautiful mountains, the clean and clear fresh air and were having a few cocktails, and so threw caution to the wind," she told the court.

Hart and Mayer were fined the equivalent of $900 and released. Click here to read the complete article.

Here's the scenario of events according to Atlantis President Rich Campbell, who posted this statement on company's Facebook page:

Please accept my apology for the late post, we have been at sea for the past 18 hours with limited internet access.

We appreciate the comments on this board regarding the incident in Dominica yesterday, but would sincerely ask that most of you get the facts correct before condemning Atlantis or Dominica for what happened. Here are the facts:

Yesterday morning around 9:30 am two of our guests were seen engaging in a sexual act outdoors on their balcony in full public view of the port and town. Not only did many of the residents witness the act, several of our guests saw this incident as well. The local authorities responded to a complaint by several residents. The two gentlemen were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of public indecency and detained overnight. They appeared in front of the local magistrate this morning, paid a small fine, and were released in full.

Please understand that the complaint and subsequent arrests had nothing to do with the guests’ sexual orientation, nor was any “anti-gay” law invoked. These guests were engaged in behavior that is inappropriate in any port of call, or major city for that matter.

The guests were never left on their own. We had both representatives from Atlantis and Celebrity cruises with them at all times during their ordeal and had our local representatives look after them last night. Furthermore, we worked closely with the US Embassy in Barbados to assure that their safety was always being monitored.

Atlantis had 2000 guests in port yesterday in Dominica and most of them had an outstanding time visiting the country. Celebrity Cruises has been extremely supportive, working with Atlantis to insure these guests’ safety and security despite their detention in Dominica. We commend them for their unwavering support through this incident.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Rich Campbell
President, Atlantis Events, Inc.

Marriage remains top gay issue, Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart says

BY STEVE ROTHAUS, SROTHAUS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

When Kevin Cathcart took the reins of Lambda Legal in 1992, the gay rights movement was slowly recovering from the poundings received by Anita Bryant’s anti-gay campaign in the 1970s and AIDS in the 1980s. Then came two events that helped set the agenda for the next 20 years: implementation of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in 1993 and the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

In December 2009, Congress repealed the military gay ban and recently a bipartisan coalition of politicians, including Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, have called for an end to DOMA.

Cathcart, who visits South Florida Sunday for a Lambda Legal fundraising reception in Fort Lauderdale, said that with the military ban now history, marriage continues to be center stage.

“I don’t think there are any new issues. Marriage is going to continue being the most visible, the most public because it gets the most attention in the media,” Cathcart said. “Marriage cases are going to continue to be hot button issues.”

Under Cathcart’s leadership, Lambda Legal’s greatest victory came in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the nation’s remaining sodomy laws. That “paved the way for many dramatic advancements that changed America’s legal landscape forever, from marriage equality to the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ according to the group’s website.

Lambda Legal began in 1973. “From the beginning of Lambda Legal, we’ve been involved in many family laws, including custody and visitation,” he said.

Back then, however, most cases involved gay and lesbian parents who had been in heterosexual marriages, Cathcart said.

“Today, most of the cases are about lesbian and gay [male couples] who are splitting up and fighting over custody and visitation,” he said. “One of the big ways the community has changed in this period is the number of lesbians and gay men raising children. ii was not particularly common 20 years ago, it’s extremely common today.”

Another Lambda Legal victory that began in Miami: After tourist Janice Langbehn was denied visitation with her dying partner, Lisa Pond, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in 2007, the federal government ordered that all government-subsidized hospitals offer equal treatment to patients with nontraditional families.

If you look at our record, giving to Lambda Legal is an investment in change,” Cathcart said. “Look at the Langbehn case, which changed the regulation on hospital policies in every state in America.”

Sunday’s fundraiser at Bonnet House Museum & Gardens will honor longtime Lambda Legal volunteer Peter Pileski of Fort Lauderdale, who in 2011 helped raise more than $300,000 for the group.

“Last year we had the largest LGBT money-raising event in Broward County: $325,000,” said Pileski, who co-chaired the 2011 Fort Lauderdale fundraiser.

Pileski, who co-directed the recent Broadway revival and tour of A Chorus Line, said he first learned of Lambda Legal about 30 years ago when he arrived in New York to pursue a theater career.

“My first job was for an LGBT law firm. One of the founders of Lambda was a partner in the firm, William J. Thom,” said Pileski, whose longtime partner is Bob Avian, original choreographer of A Chorus Line. “I really didn’t have that much of a political conscience, frankly. Bill Thom raised my consciousness about the importance of giving back to your LGBT community.”

IF YOU GO

• What: Lambda Legal reception
• Where: Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, 900 N. Birch Rd., Fort Lauderdale
• When: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday
• Tickets: $150, available at the door or www.lambdalegal.org.

Atlantis president: No concerns bringing gay tourists to countries with 'antiquated laws on their books'

An update from Associated Press on the two men arrested in Dominica after being seen from the dock having sex aboard an Atlantis Events-organized cruise ship:

Atlantis Events President Rich Campbell, who is aboard the cruise, said in a phone interview earlier that he thought the two men would be released. He later said in an email that the company has organized many trips to Dominica and would "happily return."

"Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books," he said. "These statutes don't pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit."

Campbell said he expects the two men to be released on Thursday and that they only face misdemeanor charges.

"The guests' actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience," he said via email.

Click here to read the complete article.

Immigration, marriage laws leave binational same-sex couples in limbo

BY CURTIS TATE, McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Love may cross oceans and borders, but tens of thousands of same-sex couples in the United States live under the threat of separation because federal law prohibits immigration authorities from treating them the same as married opposite-sex couples.

And in a country where feelings run deep on immigration and same-sex marriage, the foreign-born same-sex spouses and partners of Americans live in a unique legal limbo: In the eyes of the government, they're neither married nor are they citizens.

It's an emotional and financial burden. They can't leave the country to see loved ones for fear they won't be allowed back. They might not be allowed to work or get loans to pay for college. If they're deported, they can be barred from re-entering the U.S.

"It's dehumanizing," said Frederic Deloizy, a native of France who's raising four children with his American husband in Harrisburg, Pa. "You really feel less than a person. You're certainly not a citizen. You're just here and you're not allowed to do anything else."

If a U.S. citizen marries a foreigner of the opposite sex, he or she can apply for a green card for the spouse to stay in the country and eventually become a citizen. That process isn't available to about 28,500 same-sex couples, however.

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act blocks same-sex couples from receiving a variety of federal benefits that are available to opposite-sex married couples, including ones involving immigration. And it doesn't matter if they're married or in civil unions, or they live in one of a growing number of states that recognize same-sex marriages.

"The law is destroying families," said Mark Himes, who married Deloizy in 2008 in California. "We're not simply two men. We have four children who came out of the foster care system. We are hoping that marriage laws will open up in time to save us."

Click here to read the complete article.