“NewsWrap" for the week ending April 25, 2009 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,100, distributed 4-27-09) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Leigh Moore and Michele Pleasant An appeals court in Senegal’s capital of Dakar this week ordered the immediate release of 9 gay AIDS educators from prison. They were arrested in December without a warrant at the apartment of Diadji Diouf, one of the West African country’s leading LGBT civil rights activists. The men had gathered there for an AIDS education workshop, so there were a lot of condoms and lubricants at the meeting. None of those charged, however, was found to be engaging in sexual activity. A lower court originally gave the men the maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for “indecent conduct and unnatural acts.” The judge added 3 more years for what he called the men’s involvement in a “criminal conspiracy.” The harsh 8-year sentences shocked even some local observers and outraged human rights groups around the world. The men’s attorney told the appeals court that the accusations against them were based on an anonymous tip, and that they were holding a meeting, not having sex. Prosecutors did not contest the defense’s arguments. Diouf told reporters that the trial itself created a lot of fear among AIDS educators across th e country especially those working with men who have sex with men. He said it will take some time for them to feel safe again to resume outreach efforts. He called his fellow defendants and others like them around the country key players in Senegal’s fight against HIV. At least 190 LGBT people were murdered in Brazil last year because of their sexual or gender identity. An annual report issued by Grupo Gay da Bahia says that 64 percent of the victims were gay men, 32 percent were transvestites, and four percent were lesbians. Thirteen percent were under the age of 21. The findings which represent what thee report calls an “alarming” 55 percent increase from the previous year have been cited by institutions like the Brazilian government’s National Secretariat for Human Rights and the U.S. State Department. The number of murders has continued to rise, the report notes, despite the growing frequency of LGBT Pride parades and government programs against homophobia. But Grupo leader Marcelo Cerqueira told the Inter Press Service during a telephone interview that law enforcement officials too often fail to fully investigate or prosecute hate crimes against sexual minorities. He said the idea that Brazil is a sexually liberated country is "a myth." The report calls for the creation of a government secretariat to defend the rights of sexual minorities, similar to the ones that already exist for women’s affairs and racial equality. Grupo Gay da Bahia warned that if the Brazilian government fails to adopt more effective measures to combat homophobic violence, it will file a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The glare of the spotlight intensified this week on the governments of Iraq and the United States as traditional media incincreasingly cover the horrific violence against gay men in the U.S.-occupied country. As we’ve been reporting, dozens of men and boys perceived to be gay have been brutally murdered in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities in the past few months, either by religious death squads or in so-called “honor killings” by family members. Posters by a group calling itself Brigades of the Righteous threatening gay men by name and calling for their deaths appeared on the streets of the Sadr City district of Baghdad last week. Openly gay U.S. Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado raised his strong concerns about the safety of sexual minorities in Iraq with the U.S. State Department after returning from a trip to Baghdad in early April. The Council for Global Equality has also contacted the U.S. State Department, as well as the embassy in Baghdad, calling on them to investigate the situation and to intervene with the Iraqi government. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and=2 0Amnesty International have appealed directly to Iraqi government officials to take action. Small protests have also been held in New York City and San Francisco. The Council of LGBT Organizations of Ukraine reported this week that dozens of people were taken into police custody during a raid at a popular Kiev gay club in early April. The group said that the action was supposedly part of an investigation into the murder of a gay man, even though police already had a photo of the suspect. More than 80 patrons of the popular gay nightspot Androgin were taken to a police station, where activists say they were rudely treated and illegally photographed and fingerprinted. The Council said that similar incidents of police harassment have been reported in the country. While the Ukraine continues to seek membership in the European Union, serious questions have been raised about its commitment to human rights. There are no specific protections for LGBT people in the socially conservative former Soviet state, which is generally dominated by the country’s Orthodox Church. But up to a thousand people demonstrated in Dublin's city center this week to call for full marriage equality and to oppose a civil partnerships bill proposed by the Irish government. The legislation was announced in January and promised for introduction in April, but as of this report a bill has yet to be filed. It would grant gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in areas such as pensions, social security, property rights, inheritance and taxation. The government has ruled out marriage, claiming that it would require a change to the country's constitution and a potentially divisive referendum. A clause in the Irish Constitution requires the government to protect the institution of marriage, but does not define who makes up a married couple. One recent public opinion poll found 53 percent support for marriage equality. Eloise McInerney of the group LGBT Noise, which organized the protest, told reporters that civil partnerships are an outdated 1990’s construct. She called the Irish government’s proposed bill “an inferior piece of legislation which does not recognize families or give people the right to adopt their partner’s children... We don’t want crumbs from the master’s table, we want the whole cake. We want the wedding cake.” Civil partnerships giving same-gender couples all the rights of marriage but the name have been legal in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, since 2005. In U.S. state legislative news, lawmakers in Connecticut updated state laws this week to conform to last year’s Supreme Court ruling ordering the legalization of same-gender civil marriage. Religious groups are not required to conduct ceremonies for those couples. Republican Governor Jodi Rell, who s said that she personally believes marriage should be exclusively heterosexual, has nevertheless signed the legislation. Existing civil unions, which have been available in the state since 2005, will become marriages as of October 1st, 2010. The Nevada Senate has approved a bill that would allow same-gender couples to register as domestic partners and receive many of same rights as married couples in the state. The bill would also include heterosexual couples who choose not to marry. The measure still needs approval by the state Assembly. But even if it passes there, Republican Governor Jim Gibbons has promised to veto it. The Senate’s 12-to-9 vote falls short of the 14 votes needed to override a veto. But the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee has recommended that its members reject a measure to create marriage equality in the state. It passed in the New Hampshire House last month. The Senate committee vote was 3-to-2, including Democratic Chairwoman Deborah Reynolds, who said she doesn’t believe her state is ready for same-gender marriage. Republicans who voted against it cited their religious beliefs that God intended marriage to be heterosexual only. The state created civil unions for lesbian and gay couples in 2008. The same committee also voted unanimously this week against a bill to add gender identity or expression to the state’s anti-discrimination laws. A simi lar measure died in Maryland’s Senate earlier this month without coming up for a vote as that state’s legislative session drew to a close. Democratic Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, however, signed a bill this week to add transgender people to the state's hate crimes law. It had passed the legislature with bipartisan support. It’s already a felony in Washington to threaten, damage the property of, or physically injure someone based on his or her ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. The new measure adds gender expression or identity to the definition of sexual orientation. And finally, conventional wisdom asks “will it play in Peoria?” That Illinois city is considered by some to be a political barometer for mainstream America. And if that’s true, progress toward LGBT equality is being made. According to a report by United Press International, local residents and an elected official recently led an effort to have a karaoke bar remove a sign that read, “We are not a gay bar!!” The Elbo Room, on Main Street, was formerly called the Quench Room, which locals knew as a gay bar. Led by Peoria Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken, whose district includes the Elbo Room, a coalition of residents held protests against the sign, which has been taken down. It recalls one of the earlier battles for LGBT humanity more than 2 decades ago in West Hollywood, California. Until weeks of demonstrations outside the eatery brought it down, a sign at the entrance of Barney’s Beanery had proclaimed “Faggots Stay Out.”