Asia-Pacific’s alarming AIDS rise

There are now 220,000 adolescents living with HIV in the Asia-Pacific region, with large cities the hubs of new infections. Risky behaviour is on the rise, and policymakers need to address the problem, Wing-Sie Cheng Regional Adviser, HIV and AIDS with UNICEF, covering East Asia and the Pacific writes.

At a time when we are tantalisingly close to ending the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, a new trend gives cause for concern. Although new AIDS-related deaths are falling in most countries, they are rising among certain groups of adolescents in Asia-Pacific. The rise in new infections coincides with an increase in risky behaviour, such as multiple sexual partners and inconsistent condom use.

These trends are not limited to Asia-Pacific. In parts of Africa, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents. In Asia-Pacific, the epidemic is growing fastest among young gay and bisexual men, and the rise of mobile dating or hook-up apps play a role as enablers of risky behaviour. Gay men are now using mobile dating apps to meet up for sex and are having more casual sex with more people with the convenience of geographic tracing of the nearest sexual interest.  Read more via Policy Forum

Ireland: Teacher to be compensated over comments on gay son

A primary school has been ordered to compensate a teacher after the Equality Tribunal found she had been harassed on religious grounds and discriminated against because her son was gay.
Resource teacher Bernie Marron, who worked at the school for seven years, said the principal made a series of critical comments about her son’s sexual orientation.

Ms Marron, a non-practising Catholic, said she felt repeatedly undermined by the principal and complained to the school in September 2013. The issues, however, were not dealt with properly by the school.

Ms Marron told the tribunal she was looking for an acknowledgment that what had happened to her was wrong and sought no financial compensation. The tribunal, however, ordered the school to award her €3,000 on the basis that the case would attract a significant award of damages in the ordinary course of events.

Ms Marron said she brought the case in order to challenge a culture that allowed personal opinion and beliefs to override other people’s human rights. “I was hurt and angry by the experience. No one should be subjected to judgment about their parenting or their son’s right to be themselves,” she said. Read more via Irish Times 

Vietnam: 'Nobody helped me,' Schools remain dangerous for LGBT youth

Le Minh Triet attempted suicide when he was a seventh-grader, right after coming home from school.  For days, he had been bullied by other students. Sometimes it was name calling. Sometimes he was beaten, had soft drinks thrown at him, and locked inside a room for hours. 
"When they beat me, they insulted my parents names for having a gay son," he said. "Nobody helped me."

Similar stories of abuse and discrimination can be found among Vietnamese LGBT youth. The country has surprised many for its recent progressive stance and new policies that recognize more rights for LGBT people. Still homophobia and transphobia are palpable. 

Multiple studies in the last 3 years have found increasing high percentage of LGBT students suffering abuse. Many activists and educators said Vietnamese schools need to introduce into their curriculum programs which raise awareness about sexuality and gender identity to fight discrimination.  Read more via Thanhnien News

Pakistan: Transgender person shot, refused treatment by hospital

Adnan, a resident of Karkhano, came to the hospital with a gunshot wound. Social activists say doctors at LRH refused to come near Adnan, whose treatment was delayed for hours at the hospital.

“The incident took place within the jurisdiction of Chamkani police station,” he said. “Adnan and his friends, Sana and Bibi, were travelling in a car to Karkhano Market from Tarnab Farm when two motorcyclists opened fire on their car. Adnan was shot on the side and critically wounded.” 

“He remained at the hospital for three hours,” Pakhtun Civil Society Network focal person Taimur Kamal, who had taken Adnan to the hospital, said. “However, doctors would not come close.” Kamal said both doctors and patients were uncomfortable with the idea of a transgender being provided treatment at the facility. “When we took him to the ward, patients started crying,” said Kamal. Read more via Express Tribune 

India: Tackling the archaic LGBT law

A 15-year-old Class XI student set himself on fire after he was caught by one of his neighbours getting intimate with a male friend.  News spread, and teasing and harassment followed. Humiliated, he locked himself in his room for two days. On Sunday, he doused himself with diesel fuel and set himself on fire. "He is unable to speak properly,” the boy’s anguished father said. “The doctors say he is out of danger but I will only believe it when my son will talk to me."

The boy’s suicide attempt is the latest, tragic reminder that much work needs to be done in India to change public attitudes and reduce hysteria over so-called traditional values. In 2010, Srinivas Ramchandra Siras, a professor at Aligarh Muslim University, committed suicide after being vilified for his consensual gay relationship.

The most urgent need is repeal of India’s archaic law criminalizing same-sex relations. Even if rarely enforced, the law, section 377 of the penal code, reinforced the idea that discrimination and other mistreatment of LGBT people was acceptable in Indian society.  Read more via HRW

El Salvador: The savior of the world watched as these trans women disappeared

El Salvador has some of the highest rates of anti-LGBT violence in the hemisphere, and trans activist named Karla Avelar recounted waves of unpunished murders over the past several decades. In 2014 alone, at least 12 women and two gay men were killed, according to media reports. There was the “Bloody June” of 2009 in which at least three trans women and two gay men were murdered. Avelar herself survived being shot in the 1990s by a serial killer who had been gunning down trans sex workers.

The ones taken from the Savior of the World were almost mythical to Avelar, who was a baby when the events occurred.

“We don’t even really know much ourselves, but a little while ago one of the survivors told us what happened and said to us, ‘Why don’t you document this, that I was a victim of that attack?’” she said. But the task seemed impossible. “There is no documentation whatsoever, no publication nor record — there is nothing.”

Avelar knew of just one witness who still survived, a woman named Paty who she said was 78 years old, a miracle in a country where violence and HIV are so widespread very few trans women survive to middle age.  Read more via Buzzfeed 

Mexico: "Miss Gay" 2015 dies after being beaten

A member of the gay and lesbian community of Nayarit, died last Thursday in the town of Ixtlan del Rio, Nayarit, after suffering a tremendous beating by unknown assailants in the town of Etzatlán, according to Jalisco Nayarit portal line.

The young man, who was originally from Ixtlan del Rio, called himself "Paloma" and last year won the title of Miss Gay Nayarit, in an event that was held at the Casino Los Fresnos, Tepic. It was reported officially by more police authorities of Jalisco, Nayarit. Read more via Provincia

Syria: Teenager thrown from roof 'for being gay' - but the ISIS chief spared

Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) executed a teenage boy by throwing him off a roof in Syria’s eastern city of Deir ez-Zor for being gay, local sources reported. The 15-year-old boy was arrested by ISIS militants on charges of homosexuality. 

“The horrific execution took place in front of a large crowd,” a local media activist and an eyewitness said. An informed source reported that the victim was captured “in the house of an ISIS leader." Media activist Sarai al-Din revealed the boy was accused of homosexual relations with prominent ISIS officer Abu Zaid al-Jazrawi. While the boy was executed, Abu Zaid was expelled to Iraq after being deprived of his position.

According to pro-ISIS sources, the Sharia Court in Deir ez-Zor had demanded the execution of Abu Zaid for being homosexual, but the ISIS top commanders insisted to let him join the battlefronts in Iraq instead, as the group has been recently exposed to heavy losses in battles both in Syria and Iraq.  Read more via ARA 

Lebanon: Transgender court ruling erases barrier to legal recognition

Lebanon’s Court of Appeals has granted a transgender man the right to change his sex in the civil registry on account of his own gender identification, marking a step toward granting trans persons legal recognition for their status.

Under Lebanese law, trans persons must complete gender reassignment surgery to petition for a change in status. An arbiter must then rule that the surgery was done to correct a hormonal or biological disorder to allow the amendment.

“The problem is requiring the surgery before the amendment. If someone wants to go through the operation, they’re not going to be able to afford it. Most likely their parents aren’t going to pay for them. They’re going to find it hard to find a job,” Zaydan said. Read more via Daily Star 

Tunisia: Advocates urge pressure on Tunisia to spare LGBT group

International human rights advocates at Front Line Defenders issued a statement today condemning Tunisia for ordering the LGBT group Shams to suspend activities. In the process, the statement clarified the context and background of this violation of Tunisian citizens’ rights to association and free speech. 

The Tunisian government had filed a complaint accusing Shams (‘sun’ in Arabic) of violating NGO laws which led to its 30-day suspension by the Tunisian Court of First Instance on January 4. Shams, which seeks the decriminalization of gay sex acts in the northern African country, is the first group of its kind to receive official authorization from the country’s interior ministry in May 2015.

Members of the group have however been subjected to systematic smear campaigns by conservative political groups and individuals, with some members receiving death threats following public appearances in the media. Read more via 76crimes 

Botswana: Gays return to court to fight government discrimination

LGBT rights group LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana) will return to court this month to oppose a government move to overturn a historic legal victory.

In November 2014, the Gaborone High Court ruled that the government must register LEGABIBO as an NGO after repeatedly refusing to do so. The court found that the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs’ discriminatory action was unconstitutional.

The government appealed the ruling and the case is now set to be heard again in the Gaborone High Court of Appeal on 15 January. The authorities argue that they should not have to register the organisation because Botswana’s Constitution does not recognise homosexuals.  Read more via Mamba Online

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