Ghana: Presidential candidate, if elected, will kill gay people by firing squad

Ghanaian politician George Boateng has vowed to unseat President John Mahama in the National Democratic Congress party’s presidential primaries in November. And in doing so, has already started making pronouncements about what he will deliver if he is elected.

Speaking on Kasapa radio, he said it was time to ‘eradicate’ homosexuality from Ghana: ‘There is too much indiscipline in Ghana, under my presidency when a corrupt person, gay or lesbian are arrested the law will make it possible for the courts to sentence the offender to death by firing squad.'

Gay sex is currently illegal in Ghana, punishable by up to three years in jail if it is consensual. There is uncertainty over whether female homosexuality is illegal. Violence against LGBTI people is widespread but highly under-reported and not prosecuted. Read More via Gay Star News

Nepal: Lawmakers approve first LGBTI protections in new constitution

Nepalese lawmakers have approved the first LGBTI protections in the country’s constitution as they finally act to pass the new constitution after years of political gridlock. Sexual minorities and transgender issues are addressed in several of the articles of Nepal’s new constitution which lawmakers are voting on article by article to approve.

‘Nothing shall be deemed to prevent the making of special provisions by law for the protection, empowerment or advancement of the interests of socially and culturally disadvantaged women, Dalits, indigenous peoples, tribes, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim, ethnic minorities, backward classes, minorities, marginalized, farmers, workers, youth, children, senior citizens, gender and sexual minorities, handicapped persons, pregnant persons, disabled or helpless, people of backward regions and economically disadvantaged citizens,’ the new constitution states.  Read More via Gay Star News

Kenya: LGBT rights must be protected to ensure healthy lives for all

Next week, 193 governments will attend the UN’s General Assembly in New York to adopt new sustainable development goals. But for sexual minorities the question is: how serious are governments about ensuring no one is left behind in the goal to ensure healthy lives for all?

After battling with acceptance of his HIV status, Joshua* visited a local hospital because he had genital warts. He recounts the painful experience: “When the nurse found out I was gay she started shouting and asking me why I was doing such bad things.”

Some medical practitioners refuse to offer services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI), citing moral or religious reasons. Fear of such discriminatory treatment has led to low access of services by LGBTI people and threatens global progress on the HIV response. Read More via Key Correspondents 

Sweden: First LGBT retirement home - a model for rainbow ageing?

There's a lengthy waiting list for a place at Sweden's first retirement home for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, its success highlighting a growing demand for accommodation specifically for elderly LGBT people.

Sweden is ranked as one of Europe's best countries for LGBT rights, according to an index that ranks European countries based on legal benchmarks for LGBT equality. Opened in 2013, Regnbagen, or rainbow house, doesn't look any different from the other modern apartment blocks in the quiet, leafy Stockholm suburb that overlooks the city's port.

Christer Fallman, Regnbagen's founder, said he liked the idea of creating a home where elderly gay and bisexual people could peacefully retire. "We are a group of people that has been harassed and seen as criminals and dismissed by law," he said. "The whole question started within myself: what will I do, what are my possibilities as a single man if I don't find anyone to live with, what will my older days look like?" Read More via Reuters

Argentina abolishes gay blood ban

Argentina lifted its ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men, a bold move that puts the country at the forefront of the blood equality movement. At a signing ceremony, Health Minister Daniel Gollán declared that the change is “scientifically and technically accurate” and based on a medical approach that replaces that old concept of ‘risk groups.’ ” Gollán explained that, under the new policy, Argentina could finally “move toward a national blood system that is safe, caring, and inclusive.” It joins a growing minority of countries, including Italy and Spain, which assess donors based on individual risk rather than excluding an entire class solely because of their sexual orientation.

Unfortunately, the United States still leans heavily on the widely debunked concept of “risk groups.” The Food and Drug Administration plans to revise America’s current lifetime ban for gay and bisexual men, allowing them to donate if they’ve been celibate for a year. 

Read More via Slate
 

Italy: Researcher suggests that homophobia is a 'disease to be cured'

Society has come a long way since homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. Now, a controversial study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine suggests that it may be homophobia — not homosexuality itself — that has elements of a psychiatric disorder.

“After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first time we demonstrated that the real disease to be cured is homophobia, associated with potentially severe psychopathologies,” senior author Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, a professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, said in the press release.

Jannini and his team surveyed university students to measure their levels of homophobia, defence mechanisms, attachment styles, and psychopathologic symptoms. There’s “a remarkable association between dysfunctional aspects of personality and homophobic attitude,” concluding that psychoticism and immature defence mechanisms can predict to a certain extent whether people are homophobic. (Things like depressive symptoms, meanwhile, were more closely linked to the absence of homophobia.)  Read More via Business Insider

Seven ways the gay community is failing our youth on HIV

At a passing glance, it would seem as if gay men in America were on top of their game. After all, gay characters are more visible in the media than ever, public opposition to homosexuality has drifted into minority status, and same-sex marriage isn’t just a geographical privilege, but a national right.

But while the mainstream status of the young gay man has drastically improved, the status of his sexual health isn’t looking so good. A new research analysis reported that young people ages 13 to 24 now account for a quarter of new HIV infections, with only 7% of youth in the study reaching undetectable viral levels after diagnosis. This number, which is far below the national undetectable average of 30%, gives insight as to why HIV infection is up 132.5% among young gay men in the same age range over the past decade.

This stain on the gay rights report card demonstrates a glaring omission in our advocacy work. While we have been teaching young gay men the importance of business, family, and law, sexual health has been all but omitted from the curriculum. In honor of the 7%, here are seven ways we are failing young gay men.  Read More via the Advocate

US: Zero gay men contract HIV in two and a half year PrEP study

Researchers at the Kaiser Pemanente Medical Centre in San Francisco have given over 600 people Truvada to use daily across a two and a half year period – with not one person contracting HIV. 

Lead researcher Jonathan Volk said these results represent a unique opportunity to truly understand the usage of Truvada and PrEP in a real-world setting. “It suggests the treatment may prevent new HIV infections even in a high-risk setting,” he said. Volk was referring to the fact that many of the men in the study claiming to have highly active sex lives – often sleeping with multiple partners in a short space of time.

“Until now, evidence supporting the efficacy of PrEP to prevent HIV infection had come from clinical trials and a demonstration project,” he added. However, while none of the participants contracted HIV, 30% did contract an STI within the first six months of the study. This number increased to 50% after one year.  Read More via PinkNews 

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights fact sheet on being Intersex

OHCHR has just launched a first fact sheet on intersex, as part of the Free & Equal campaign. The document details the human rights violations and health issues faced by intersex people, and action points for UN member states and civil society. 

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. According to experts, between 0.05% and 1.7% of the population is born with intersex traits – the upper estimate is similar to the number of red haired people.

Being intersex relates to biological sex characteristics, and is distinct from a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. An intersex person may be straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or asexual, and may identify as female, male, both or neither. Access the factsheet here

Eddie Redmayne on Transgender Rights and Finding ‘The Danish Girl’

To portray the transgender artist in “The Danish Girl,” Eddie Redmayne built the character from the inside out. He started by poring over Lili Elbe’s pseduo-autobiography “Man Into Woman,” chronicling her groundbreaking 1920s gender reassignment surgeries, and studying sketches of her.

He read other books, such as the 1974 memoir “Conundrum” by transgender author Jan Morris, and watched the British TV series “My Transsexual Summer.” He even met separately with six transgender women from different generations to absorb their experiences. “Their openness of spirit was unlike anything I’d ever seen,” Redmayne says on a recent afternoon near his home in London. “That was galvanizing — you felt the trust.” Read more 

Stunning Guinness ad features Gareth Thomas on coming out as gay

A new advert for Guinness features rugby star Gareth Thomas talking about feeling alone when he came out as gay. The new campaign was launched by Guinness this week, and celebrates “stories of strength of character and integrity from the world of rugby.”

Guinness is also releasing longer documentaries featuring Thomas and others, and their stories.
“Rather than focus on physical attributes of what makes a rugby player, this campaign looks to inner qualities like courage, empathy and resilience,” Guinness said in a release.

According to Guinness, the video “tells the story of how the former Wales captain’s greatest fear wasn’t the opposition he faced on the pitch, but the fear of rejection from everything he had known, because of his sexuality. Read more via PinkNews

Andrew Garfield Is Ready for "a Pansexual Spider-Man

Spider-Man can only be white, male and straight, according to Sony and Marvel Studios. One former Spider-Man, however, calls that hogwash.

In an interview for his new film 99 Homes, star Andrew Garfield told Mic he doesn't "give a shit about the sexual preference" of Spider-Man. This stands in stark contrast to leaked documents Gawker brought to light in June, in which the film studios strictly outlined the man behind the mask, Peter Parker, as "Caucasian and heterosexual."

Garfield admitted he didn't know about the contractual obligations when he played Peter in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel. In an interview with Mic, however, he said he hopes the role could be less limited in the future.

"I'm excited to get to the point where we don't have to have this conversation," he said, "where we can have a pansexual Spider-Man." Read more via Mic