Nepal's Blue Diamond Society has called for the United Nations to admonish Iran for last week's anti-gay raid. Malaysia Sun elaborates:

[BDS] sent an appeal to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, asking for his intervention to secure the freedom of 80 men arrested by Iranian security forces in Isfahan eight days ago.

Expressing deep concern at the crackdown in the conservative Islamic country, BDS said it had received information that the detainees had been severely tortured in Isfahan jail and were in a bad state. "Their lives are in danger...We ask your timely intervention to secure their early release."

Blue Diamond Sociey's a natural ally for gay Iranians, who face very public, increasingly brutal state-sponsored attacks. BDS remains Nepal's singular gay rights organization and has repeatedly come up against the country's Maoist government, which has a less than sparkling gay rights record.

It's not all doom and gloom over in Nepal, however. The country celebrated its first gay beauty contest last night. Zee News reports that 18 cruised the catwalk last night to take win for the Pink Pageants' top slot. We wonder if the contestants dropped into Nepal's first and only openly gay-owned business, The Cutey Beauty Salon.

Despite objections by some member nations, the United Nations voted to allow three gay rights groups to work with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association and Denmarks and Germany's gay assocations will work with the governing join the Coalition of Activist Lesbians as global gay voices for the global governing body.

Patricia Pendiville of the European Region's group says:

This is a truly historic decision as now organizations representing and defending rights of LGBT people can address discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at the United Nations level. This is the best recognition of LGBT rights as human rights that LGBT activists could have received.

We hope this decision marks a fundamental change at the UN level with regards to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Just days ago 54 member states of the UN supported a statement acknowledging these forms of discrimination and calling upon the UN to seriously address them.

While this certainly looks good for the global expansion of gay rights, let's not get too excited until we see some concrete results. They can start by forcing 75 member states to dismantle their anti-gay laws.

You may recall a story back in September in which we highlighted Peter Tatchell's call for the UN to fight criminalization of homo-relations.

Well, now Tatchell's got a little help from a French man named Louis-George Tin. The founder of the International Day Against Homophobia, Tin (along with a laundry list of the planet's biggest names, including Desmond Tutu, Meryl Streep and Salman Rushdie) calling on the UN to require member states to revoke anti-gay laws. In an interview with The Advocate, Tin says:

...[T]here is already U.N. jurisprudence in our favor. In 1994, Mr. Toonen, a citizen of Tasmania, who had been condemned for same-sex relationships, won his case in what was then the U.N. Commission on Human Rights—it said his arrest was a breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the right of privacy. So we just ask the U.N. to extend this jurisprudence to other countries—75 in the world!—where same-sex relationships are still forbidden.

Tin's campaign has two primary elements: a media blitz to raise awareness and a battle within the UN Council on Human Rights.

In light of the recent execution in Iran, we hope the UN's receptive. We don't really like to see the homos hang. Well, not from their necks, at least...

• Multi-Church service will contain no gay bashing, thank you. No, not even a light smack... [The Royal Gazette]

• The UN is none to pleased with Cameroon's treatment of gays. You know what that means...well, really not that much. [365 Gay]

• The Advocate takes a long, hard look at straight men flaunting it for gay men. Oh yes, a long, hard look... [The Advocate]

• Lithuanian Parliament thinks gay materials may corrupt minors. It sure as hell corrupted us... Gay NZ]

• Gay Republican insists, "Mark Foley doesn't represent me." No, really, he doesn't: I'm from Minnesota, he's from Florida... [Donklephant]

• If K-Fed can fill up Webster Hall, we'll sell our second child. We're far too attached to the first, but the second? Not so much. [Gawker]

Peter Tatchell, an ambitious gay rights activist, has called upon the United Nations to end international criminalization of same-sex relations. As the world body comes together for the General Assembly, Tatchell beseeches them to practice what they preach.
He tells Pink News UK reports:

...Currently 80 member states of the UN have total prohibition of same sex relationships, with penalties ranging from a few years in prison, to life imprisonment and even execution. [persecution is a] hangover from medievalism which has no place in any country in the twenty first century.

Yeah, the worst fucking hangover in history.

We're all about Tatchell's efforts, but I think we can all agree that the UN isn't the most effective of organizations. Also, with today's coup in Thailand and that fucking mess in Iraq, they may be a little busy.

• The United Nations is fingering the U.S. for not doing enough to protect its gay citizens. The report, released late last month, chides officials for not enacting protection laws for gays in the workplace and on the receiving end of violence. [NYB]

• After 21 years in prison, Robert Rosenkrantz is free. He left a Los Angeles jail on parole after serving a 17-year-to-life sentence for killing his best friend from high school — for telling Rosenkrantz he was gay. Judges had approved Rosenkrantz's parole appeals before but California's State Attorney General's office rebuffed his attempts. [ABC 7]

• As conservatives in Colorado beef up efforts to have the state define marriage as a union between a woman and a man – with a state constituional amendment expected to be submitted today – gay rights advocates are taking a different strategy, putting a bill supporting domestic partnerships on the ballot instead of just asking voters to strike down the other measure. [SF Chronicle]

• Connecticut's Joe Lieberman, fighting to save his U.S. Senate seat from challenger Ned Lamont, today makes a last stab at distancing himself from President Bush by criticizing him on his handling of Iraq and making sure you're aware he doesn't agree with the White House's position on stem cell research or a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. [AP]

• While some military leaders have worked hard to ensure their outfits are at least tolerant of gays, others haven't been so friendly. On the Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, homophobia runs rampant, with a video about the F-14 Tomcat (shown to reporters) depicting pilots – including the fighter squadron's commander – wearing T-shirts reading "I'm a Tomcat guy and you're a homo." While gay service men and women can be dismissed for publicly announcing their sexual orientation, harassment is supposedly prohibited. [Reuters]

• Montana Democrats aren't so interested in supporting gay marriage this time around, though their just-approved party platform calls for civil union support and "hate crime" status for crimes committed based on sexual orientation. [365 Gay]

The United States is quietly switching its position on the acknowledgment of gays here on planet Earth: for years, gay organizations have attempted to achieve "consultative status" with the United Nations, which would allow them to voice opinions on issues concerning the rights of LGBT people. Currently there is no such organization with the UN. Obviously.

In the past the US has always voted against giving giving these organizations official recognition; no word on why our beloved country has suddenly changed its mind. Whatever the reason, we're thrilled, as are the millions of oppressed people in countries where there is no one to stand up for their rights. We presume George Bush is asleep at the wheel again, letting other people do his job for him, and someone decided to sneak this one in. Shh. Don't wake him up.

U.S. backs U.N. role for gay group [HoustonVoice]