NEWSINTERNATIONAL GAY RIGHTS

Aeroflot, Russia's national airline, celebrates its 89th birthday this week. But don't expect many Russian activists to mark the occasion with cake and candles. Instead, Russian activists are taking the opportunity to draw attention to what they say is Aeroflot's extremely anti-gay record -- including the company's refusal to recognize an LGBT group for employees, as well as reports that Aeroflot forced a 25-year-old gay flight attendant, Maxim Kupreev, to marry a woman if he wanted to keep his job.

And now these Russian activists are asking for your help. They want to hold Aeroflot accountable for its record on LGBT issues, so they're holding an all-day online action on Thursday, February 9, to pressure Sky Team -- a global alliance of airline carriers, of which Aeroflot is a member. They want Sky Team to remove Aeroflot from the alliance unless it commits to improving its LGBT record.

During the same week where Russian lawmakers passed an extremely anti-gay law that could criminalize "the promotion of homosexuality," these activists are looking to draw international attention to the marginalization of LGBT people in Russia.

So how can you help?

In the past two years, more than two dozen LGBT people in Puerto Rico have been murdered, often in very graphic and violent crimes. Puerto Rico's own police department has been singled out by the Justice Department for failing to deal with the high levels of violence faced by LGBT citizens.

Yet at a time when violence toward the LGBT community in Puerto Rico is high, the territory's legislature is poised to remove protections from their existing hate crimes law for people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Outraged that the government would consider removing hate crimes protections for a population already facing epic levels of violence, Jorge Supelveda started a petition on Change.org urging the Puerto Rico House of Representatives to keep the country's hate crimes laws intact.

More than 30,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org calling on the government of Cameroon to release two men sentenced to five years in prison for the “crime” of being gay.

The campaign was launched as the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced sweeping efforts to confront global anti-LGBT human rights abuses.  Before a speech in Geneva on Tuesday, Secretary Clinton met with human rights activists from Cameroon to discuss how the U.S. can promote the rights of LGBT residents in Cameroon, where ten people have been detained or arrested by police for being gay in the last year.

The Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEFHO), a grassroots Cameroon LGBT group, started the petition on Change.org after a judge sentenced 19-year-old Jonas and 20-year-old Franky to five years in prison for violating Cameroon’s laws against homosexuality, which criminalize same-gender sexual conduct. According to ADEFHO, Franky and Jonas never engaged in any sexual conduct but were merely walking from a bar when they were stopped by police and detained.

“Franky and Jonas should have never been condemned,” said Stéphane Koche of ADEFHO. “If Cameroon had a transparent and fair judiciary system, and if the President and Minister of Justice valued the human rights of all Cameroonians, Franky and Jonas would be free men today.”

Last month, we learned of very disturbing news from Ghana. The diverse west-African nation of 24-million people had plunged head-on into the murky waters of extreme homophobia, quickly closing the gap with Uganda and Nigeria, where ever-escalating oppression of LGBT has become vogue.

Thankfully, nations like Rwanda and South Africa continue to advance equality and justice, but the momentum in other countries —such as Ghana— seems to be quickly treading in a dangerous direction.

What is so scary about this situation is not necessarily the cultural tensions by those who are confused by or afraid of homosexuality; rather, it is the increasing politicization of homophobia, and the culturally and politically influential leaders of the country wielding fear and hate as a weapon.

Not unlike other countries around the world, Ghana has on its books loosely-worded laws prohibiting homosexual sex, but it was not until this past decade —after a surge of evangelicalism and fundamentalism— that the scapegoating of LGBT Ghanaians really began to rise.

Compounding the issue is a justifiable strengthening of a post-colonial Pan-African identity, one that seeks to establish social and economic practices based upon the countless cultural and ethnic histories and values shared by Ghanaians and other African peoples. This shift from Western influence is not a bad thing; I speak more to the point that the very history and perception of Western colonial and economic oppression is used as an excuse to subjugate LGBT (or perceived) community members, while shedding cultural or constitutional values of human rights and dignities.

A petition calling on the Hong Kong government to drop "gay cure" therapist Hong Kwai-wah -- who claims he can "cure" LGBT people through cold showers, prayer, and abstinence -- has reached more than 14,500 signatures in the last 48 hours, signaling momentum for the campaign started on Change.org by gay rights advocates Dan Choi and Truth Wins Out.

The petition has taken off on Change.org following news that Hong Kong's Social Welfare Department recently held a workshop for its staff led by Hong Kwai-wah. Hong Kong's endorsement of discredited "ex-gay therapy" and psychologist Hong Kwai-wah prompted Choi -- a West Point graduate, combat veteran, and a leading voice in the campaign to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- to work with Truth Wins Out to ask Hong Kong to end its sponsorship of "ex-gay therapy" and its promoters.
"It is shocking that Hong Kong would risk its reputation as an international business and cultural center by hiring a therapist with such disturbing views," said Choi. "Hong Kongshould move decisively to restore its honor and dignity by removing Hong Kwai-wah. The world is watching and taking note of this embarrassing travesty."

Imagine an education program that has been denounced for spreading misinformation about HIV/AIDS, and one that has ties to leaders pushing the death penalty or life imprisonment for LGBT people in Uganda. That program would be condemned and not held up as a shining example of how to teach our kids about human sexuality, right?

Wrong. Look no further than Project SOS in Jacksonville, Florida, a controversial abstinence-only program that has been active throughout the Sunshine State. What's the reason that Project SOS is so controversial? Well, for starters, research by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) shows that when it comes to the subject of HIV/AIDS, Project SOS has been spreading false and misleading information to children. To make matters worse, a study by the American School Health Association found that the curriculum that Project SOS uses -- which is taught inside a number of private and public schools in the state of Florida -- is so shoddy, it's been labeled "unacceptable" by the group for use in classrooms.

As if that all weren't bad enough, the Florida Independent noted a few weeks ago that the founder of Project SOS, Pam Mullarkey (who is still a current board member of the group), has direct ties to Pastor Martin Ssempa, the infamous Ugandan religious leader who has lobbied hard for legislation that would sentence LGBT Ugandans to either life imprisonment, or allow for LGBT people to be executed by the state. Mullarkey's own words when talking about Pastor Ssempa were shocking; she called him a "change agent," whose "passion, charisma and character make his vital message irresistible."

Yet despite the controversial and heavy baggage surrounding Project SOS, the Sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida, John Rutherford, has given the organization a full-throated endorsement on behalf of the Sheriff's Office. Apparently in Jacksonville, the Sheriff's Office is just fine lending credence to groups that spread false information about HIV/AIDS, and have ties to some of the most vocal anti-gay activists in the world.

The war against gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Ontario's Catholic schools rages on. This week, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said that he refuses to order Catholic school boards to allow GSAs. Critics say that it has much to do with the looming election, but the government says that it is not a necessity that these schools allow gay groups, as long as there are other forms of support.

“If there isn’t a gay-straight alliance, then there needs to be an alternative forum of peer support,” said Mike Feenstra, spokesperson for Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky. “If there is not a GSA, there does need to be another group that gives students the opportunity to talk about issues that are important to make them feel safe.”

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on what constitutes support. In Mississauga, a principal recently turned down an appeal for a GSA at her Catholic school, only to hand out homophobic pamphlets to teachers that suggested gay youth should "change" their sexual orientation. News flash: groups that claim to "cure" gay people are not supportive. Just so we're clear.

One of the perks of being a Canadian citizen is that I, as a big 'ole homo, can get married to the man of my dreams (if he exists, that is). Same-sex marriage has been the law for years, with Canada among the first few countries to recognize marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Sadly, some still refuse to accept this as reality.

Last week, we wrote about a New Brunswick florist who refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding. Anti-discrimination laws clearly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, so you would think that a person who owns a flower store specifically for weddings would have thought things through. Canadian law allows for same-sex marriage and your province says you cannot discriminate on these grounds. You'd think she would be prepared for all sorts of lovebirds. Old ones, young ones, fat ones, skinny ones. I sound like a Doctor Seuss book, but it's true.

Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) have been a hot topic in Ontario ever since news came out that the Halton District Catholic School Board bans the groups in their schools. It was later discovered that the same was true of all Catholic boards in Ontario, and since then, numerous news outlets have picked up both the Halton story, as well as the larger issue. Because Catholic schools receive funding from taxpayers in Ontario, the idea that these boards have policies that go against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code -- is especially appalling.

Rather than back down in the face of intolerance, some brave students have rallied in support of the cause. In particular, Xtra.ca reports that 32 students are trying to start a GSA at St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario (which, coincidentally, neighbors the Halton Region). When 16-year-old Leanne Iskander asked her principal, Frances Jacques, to recognize the GSA as an official group, her request was firmly denied. And just like that, the fight was on.

“We’re not going to give up,” Iskander said to Xtra. “We’re going to keep trying to get a GSA. This is very important. Gay kids feel alienated and need a place with a sense of community.”

Welcome to Jacksonville, Florida, where a federally-funded abstinence-only program taught to more than 50,000 students has some shady and scary ties to a Ugandan pastor who wants to see gay people locked up in jail forever or executed.

Andy Kopsa over at The Florida Independent has an amazing investigative piece looking at the organization Project SOS, an abstinence-only program founded in 1993 by a woman named Pam Mullarkey. Turns out Mullarkey is best buds with a pastor in Uganda who has been championing a piece of legislation known as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. That pastor? Martin Ssempa, the religious leader who travels around the country showing graphic pornography to men, women and children in order to whip up anti-gay sentiment, and who has said that LGBT people in the country deserve to be locked up in prison for life, or sentenced to the death penalty.