Russia: New bill orders fines, arrest for public coming out as gay

State Duma lawmakers Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolay Arefyev want to amend the Russian Administrative Code with a new article listing “public expression of non-traditional sexual relations” as a violation.

“I think that the problem is acute and urgent because it concerns the social diseases of our society and the moral upbringing of the younger generation. Unfortunately, the mechanism suggested in the 2013 law ‘On the protection of children against the information that harms their health and development’ has proved to be ineffective and this prompted us to develop new measures,” Nikitchuk said in comments with Izvestia daily.

The lawmaker also told reporters that he considered homosexuality to be a “grave danger for any normal person and for humanity as a whole” because it can affect children and grandchildren and prevent them from reproduction. “In a biological sense, failure to reproduce is the same as death and this makes homosexuality a deadly danger for humanity,” Nikitchuk said. Read more via RT

Ukraine finally passes anti-bias law, a prerequisite for visa-free travel to EU

Ukraine’s parliament passed amendments to the Labor Code that will end lingering Soviet-era workplace discrimination over sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs.

The law was the most controversial bill in parliament among a package of anti-corruption and other legislation the European Union requires in its visa liberalization action plan.

The voting process has been excruciating, requiring six rounds of voting and frantic consultations before it finally passed. In the last unsuccessful vote, 219 lawmakers voted in favor, seven votes short of the votes that are needed for a bill to pass. Parliament’s speaker Volodymyr Groysman announced:  “Dear deputies: Seven votes stand between us and a visa-free regime,” before calling a break.

Arguing in favor of the bill, Groysman said that “the individual and his rights are at the foundation of our society.” He ensured that the anti-discrimination measure had no bearing on the broader issue of gay rights. “God forbid same-sex marriages in our country,” he said.  Read more via Kyiv Post

What You Need To Know About Chemsex

Mainstream awareness about "chemsex,” a little-discussed public health issue in the gay community, is on the rise. Programs like BBC Radio 4’s July segment on chemsex in London and Vice Media’s upcoming documentary on chemsex in England and Ireland shed light on what some say is a growing phenomenon of men using hardcore club drugs to fuel hours- or days-long sex sessions.

Chemsex generally involves taking substance like GHB, crystal meth or mephedrone (known as meow meow) to enhance or prolong sexual activity, primarily among a subset of city-dwelling gay men. Crystal meth and meow meow stimulate sexual arousal and euphoria, while GHB removes inhibitions.

Researchers suspect that the practice could be driving London’s rising HIV rates among young men, but the practice is so covert and the population of participants so small that not enough research exists about the topic.  Read more via Huffington Post

UK: Making business the frontline in the fight against HIV

In the UK, HIV represents one of the most serious health conditions; there are an estimated 107,800 people living with HIV, one quarter of whom are estimated to be unaware of their infection. The main routes of transmission vary, but infection rates remain stubbornly and disproportionately higher in some key populations such as men who have sex with men, migrant populations, injecting drug users and sex workers.

One way to reach those who either don’t want to or don’t feel able to use sexual health clinics is to deliver services where those who need them are--creating opportunities for healthier “settings”, or more supportive environments for health. A bar, club, or sauna can be developed into a healthy place to reach target populations.

In recent projects business owners successfully engaged with HIV prevention and other health promotion interventions. They provided customers with access to condoms and lubricants, HIV/STI information on prevention and treatment, and offered HIV/STI testing. In some cases, business owners went even further. Important changes were made to workplace policies to support HIV issues. Staff got sexual health training so they were better able to support customers, while staff and clients were assured non-disclosure and non-discrimination through supportive policies and practices. Read more via The Conversation 

France to lift ban on gay men donating blood

France will lift a ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men starting next year, officials announced, joining a growing list of countries that have loosened or scrapped such restrictions, which many see as outdated vestiges of the 1980s AIDS crisis.

“Giving one’s blood is an act of generosity and of civic responsibility that cannot be conditioned by sexual orientation,” the health minister, Marisol Touraine, said. “While respecting the absolute security of patients, it is a taboo, a discrimination that is being lifted today.”

Gay advocacy groups in France welcomed the end of the ban but criticized new provisions that would continue to treat homosexual and heterosexual blood donors differently. Some critics, while welcoming the lifting of the lifetime ban, say that a 12-month deferral period is not medically justified, mainly because the so-called window period for HIV is much shorter than 12 months. They assert that the restriction amounts to a de facto lifetime ban for many gay men, since it requires that they be celibate for a year before being able to donate blood. 

Read more via the New York Times
 

Netherlands: Ban lifted on gay male blood; advocates critical of new restrictions

A permanent ban on blood donations from homosexual men was lifted in place of new restrictions that state gay men may only donate blood if they have not had sex with another man over the last 12 months. The decision was announced by Edith Schippers, the Minister of Health, after she made her department’s research on the subject available to members of Parliament.

Because the ban still restricts sexually-active gay men from donating blood, even if they only practice safe sex, LGBT advocate Tanja Ineke found the new policy “very disappointing.” In an interview with broadcaster AT5, Ineke, the head of non-profit COC Nederland, said, “The policy is only of practical importance for bisexual men in long-term monogamous relationships with a woman.”  Read more via NL Times

US: Update the New Normal

Radiolab profiles the US's first openly transgender mayor, Stu Rasmussen. He became the nation's first openly transgender mayor when he was elected as the mayor of Silverton, Oregon in November 2008.

This episode we return Oregon where choice has challenged destiny to see what's changed and what has become deeply normal for a small conservative town.  Listen via Radiolab

US: New PrEP campaign targets men who like to 'party'

A new series of public service announcements is aimed at getting effective HIV prevention into the hands of those who are most at-risk of contracting the virus: men who enjoy recreational sex and drug use, but may be ashamed to address those habits with a doctor. 

As creator Kenny Neal Shults explains: "When we sat down to consider the best audiences for the campaigns we knew only one thing for certain: We wanted to address gay men who might fall under the puritanical 'Truvada Whore' classification. That is, we wanted to reach men whose sexual and recreational drug behaviors both put them at a greater risk for both contracting HIV and being stigmatized for even considering going on PrEP." Read more via the Advocate

'Transformational' HIV injection every eight weeks could replace daily pills

An injection every 8 weeks could replace the current HIV treatment of daily pills, experts have revealed.
A combination of two long-acting HIV medicines – rilpivirine and cabotegravir – injected every four or eight weeks have been just as effective at suppressing the AIDS-causing virus as a daily oral regimen of three HIV medicines in phase 2 clinical trials.

If successfully developed and approved by regulators, the new treatment could offer people living with HIV who are virologically suppressed the option to switch from the standard daily regimen of three-drug therapy to a long acting all-injectable regimen that could potentially maintain viral suppression with just six or twelve shots of each drug per year. Read more via Gay Star News

US: The NFL must move the 2017 Super Bowl out of Houston

The defeat of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) represents one of the ugliest moments in the LGBT rights movement since Proposition 8 in California. Except that this time the target was transgender people, and it was far, far nastier.

Opponents went out of their way to misrepresent the actual contents of the bill, which was to provide legal protections in jobs, housing, and in places of public accommodations for people regardless of things like sex, race, veteran status, sexual orientation and gender identity. 

It also happens that Houston is to be the site of the 2017 Super Bowl. In the past, the NFL punished the city of Phoenix by moving the 1990 Super Bowl out of the state when Arizona voters did not approve a state wide holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King. The NFL wanted to send a message that they would not tolerate even the appearance of supporting racism.

Similarly, the NFL hinted in 2014 that they would move the Super Bowl if Arizona passed a "License to Discriminate" bill allowing people to refuse to serve LGBT people on religious grounds. While the bill ultimately was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer (a Republican), it is believed by many that the NFL's threat was a factor in her decision to make such a politically unpopular move. Yet here we stand today.   Read more via OutSports

Tanzania: Fighting social stigma to prevent HIV spread

Staggering AIDS death toll has forced conservative Tanzania to help gay people long rejected by its health system. In a country where obtaining legal rights for gay people is not likely to happen soon, they are using a public health crisis to demand recognition. Tanzania has the 4th-highest number of deaths from AIDS in the world, and the HIV infection rate among gay men is more than four times the national average - yet stigma prevents many from seeking treatment.

As one man said: "In the government hospitals, we face discrimination. Instead of treating us, they'll call people over: 'Come and see, we have a gay here.' Then they'll say, 'We can't treat you. Get out of here.'"

While gay men are rarely, if ever, prosecuted under the law in Tanzania, the social stigma it perpetuates can be deadly. A new program is working to change that. Read more via Al Jazeera

Uganda: I am Other

The Queer Collective, a new organization in Kampala, Uganda with the goal of creating a space for queer artists working in east Africa to come together and share their work, is fundraising to support its first major project. I am Other will document the stories of LGBTQ people across Uganda. 

 

I am other
"I Am Other" is a multi-media research and documentation project with the goal of recording the lives and stories of LGBTQ Ugandans across the country. 

• The proposed project will collect and document through photography, audio, and video interviews the stories of LGBTQ Ugandans to preserve an often invisible community for purposes of austerity and visibility. 
• Because many political, cultural, and religious leaders believe that LGBTQ Ugandans are "un-African" and do not exist — it is important to document the vast gender and sexual orientation diversity in the country. 
• Supporting this research and documentation project will generate the first online visual archive of the daily lives of LGBTQ Ugandans — and serve as a much needed tool for local activists to fight for their human rights as LGBTQ persons. 
• The project is apart of Queer Collective — a new arts initiative with the goal of creating a space for queer artists working in east Africa to come together and share their work locally, nationally, and internationally. Queer collective aims to empower and validate LGBTQ artists by providing education and mentorship programs that will improve their craft and enable them to become economically self sustaining vessels of social change. See the group's Indiegogo campaign to learn more