Infighting continues over same-sex love over in India.

A High Court last week ruled that their colonial era prohibitions should remain, but some in the government, particularly the Health Minister, insist the law, called Section 377, does more harm than good. But government leaders aren't having it and told the Court yesterday to ignore Minister Anbumani Ramadoss pleas, which include highlighting the rate of HIV infection among shamed gays.

…The Government on Monday told the Delhi High Court not to consider Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss’s views on legalising gay sex among consenting adults and said Section 377 of the IPC was “the will of Parliament and the people, how so wrong it may be”.

“Your Lordships can ignore the statements of the Minister…his statements cannot change the law,” said Additional Solicitor General PP Malhotra on Monday before a Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar.

Such a stance astounds us - if a health official insists a population - and a nation - are in danger, we would be inclined to believe them.


Gay marriage foes sure are clever!

For so long this fine nation's homophobes and other narrow-minded baddies have been associated with stodgy, wholly unfashionable leaders like James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly and the ne'er done-up Shirley Phelps. None of these people speak to the youth of America.

So, in an effort to make themselves more youth-friendly, California's anti-gay marriage activists have established a new site, iProtect Marriage, a spin-off of the more staid Protect Marriage.

Like its sister site, iProtect urges voters to vote "yes" on Proposition 8, a ballot measure aimed at overturning this year's gay marriage win. Unlike its sister site, however, iProtect has a decidedly youth-oriented outlook, complete with fresh, concerned faces. See that guy above? He's so young! His pensiveness really speaks to us.

And no spry site would be complete without to popular sites like Facebook and MySpace. How hip! How media-savvy! Even the intentionally lower-case "i" seems eager to suck the teat of Apple's ubiquitous iPod and iPhone.

Despite these juvenile measures, iProtect's inherited the tried and largely untrue tactics employed by their right-wing forefathers. We do some dissecting, after the jump. It's scary stuff…

CONTINUED »


Indian activists are gearing up for a battle this week as their government prepares arguments for and against Section 377, a colonial era law banning same-sex love.

The Indian government has agreed to hear their pleas after eight years of struggle. And, if all goes according to plan, lawmakers will revoke the legislation.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss twice last month called for 377's removal, saying such a law only brings shame and self-loathing, which can lead to unsafe sexual practices and, of course, the spread of HIV.

» Scary Stats.

"HIV infections in the U.S. are highest among gay black men under age 30, an analysis of government data found. More than half of 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 were in men who have sex with men, and the largest number of any demographic group — 12 percent of the total cases — were in young, homosexual black men, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released today." [Dallas Morning News]

  Respond
» Scary Stats.

"The transmission of HIV/AIDS among gays in the Chinese capital was even worse than through sex workers, the city's disease control center said on Friday. Up to 5 percent of homosexuals in the city were infected, compared with 0.5 percent of women sex workers, said He Xiong, the Beijing Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention deputy director." [Xinhua Net]

  2 Responses


New York City prides itself on being at the forefront of the action. This action, however, is not boast worthy:

The virus that causes AIDS is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate — an incidence of 72 new infections for every 100,000 people, compared with 23 per 100,000 nationally — according to a study released on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Blacks, and men who have sex with other men, are the groups at greatest risk of contracting H.I.V., the study found. A summary of the new data:

• Men accounted for 76 percent of new H.I.V. infections and women for 25 percent. (The figures exceed 100 percent because of rounding.)

• Sex between men was the main cause in 50 percent of new infections; high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8 percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent.

One would think this city, the epicenter of the AIDS crisis, would have learned its lesson. But, you know, New Yorkers aren't always so fast on the uptake…

» Tenacity…

Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss again reiterated his opposition to the nation's ban on gay sex. Said the politico: "Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes men who have sex with men, must go. I want to do away with it to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS… We need to accept it as a problem as the provision is preventing our work to control, curb and reverse the AIDS situation." [Thaindian]

  Respond


The ongoing discrimination case against Australia's Red Cross continues - and the organization's allies keep offering outlandish arguments against allowing gay blood donors.

Yes, even more ridiculous than the "screening takes too much time" defense:

US professor Dr Paul Holland, a former blood source executive testifying for the Red Cross, claimed even digital penetration of the nose or ear would justify the lifetime ban his country imposes on gay men.

"That would usually be sufficient to exchange fluid and qualify as sex,” Dr Holland told the Tribunal. When asked if that included gay men who had done nothing more than kissing, Holland replied, “Yes, sir, because they increase their chance of transmitting an infection such as HIV.

Wait, wait - haven't we all been taught that kissing doesn't transmit HIV?

Unless, you know, you drink like 2 gallons of someone's saliva, or something. So, Holland's testimony isn't simply wrong, it's dangerous.

[Image: "Kiss" by Robert Richards.]


Contrary to what some believe, all black opinion is not informed by what is discussed in houses of worship and barber shops.

However, it would be foolish to deny that black churches, especially in the south, yield a lot of political and social power.

That power could be used to help fight HIV and AIDS in the black community, but, by many accounts, the church is not doing its job in that arena.

CONTINUED »

» Long Shots…

"The Tribunal hearing a case against the Australian Red Cross gay blood ban has been told today that if the current bar on gay blood donation is lifted, a single HIV-positive blood donation from a gay man will slip through clinical screening in Tasmania once every 197 years. If only gay men who have safe sex are allowed to donate, as sought by the man who initiated the current gay blood ban challenge, Michael Cain, that figure decreases to once every 5769 years." [UK Gay News]

  Respond
» Words…

"The vast majority of MSM believe you cannot contract sexually transmitted infections from anal sex. In Nigeria we don't talk about anal sex, and all the [AIDS] interventions are targeted at heterosexuals and vaginal sex. The perception of gay people not using condoms is not because we don't want to, but because we are not well informed." - Gay activist "Oliver Okem" on the trials and tribulations of living gay in Nigeria. [Reuters]

  Respond
» Advertising Activism

GLAAD Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson wrote an op-ed praising all the progress media has made on covering HIV/AIDS, but then wags a finger at them for not including any personality in their stories. [HuffPo]

  Respond
» Pushing…

The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS will meet with member nations this fall to recommend relaxing anti-gay laws, which they say help spread HIV/AIDS. And they're right. [Jamaica Observer]

  2 Responses
» Eeks.

"[Washington DC's] Whitman-Walker Clinic has revealed the number of its clients testing positive for HIV jumped from 80 in the first half of 2007 to 266 in the first half of 2008 — an unprecedented increase of 232 percent." [NY Blade]

  3 Responses
» Bloody Excuses.

"[An Australian] Red Cross donor rule rejecting sexually active gay men is being challenged before the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, which was told yesterday it amounted to textbook discrimination. The organization replied that the proposed change would be an experiment with the blood supply that made humans the guinea pigs, at real risk of HIV infection." [The Age]

  Respond


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