Muslim Country motions to Legally Recognise Same-Sex Unions

Yes indeed, you heard us correctly. India has been making small steps towards becoming an entity fighting anti-discrimination by first decriminalising homosexual acts in the nation's capital. This has been rivaled by a surprising Muslim country who seeks to get into the European Union. Albania, a Muslim populace of 70%, has put forth a motion to legalise gay marriage. Although it seems like a long-shot with Albania's conservative yet secular culture, it looks promising that this former Communist state will perform leaps and bounds in breaking Eastern Europe's reputation of being anti-gay.

Reports on this are on the following websites:
Pinknews.Co.UK
Balkan Insight

A breath of fresh air...

A few months ago, the US refused to sign a United Nations declaration that urged countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Well today, the Obama Administration formally endorsed that UN statement, allowing the US to finally join sixty-six other nations who supported the measure this past December. State Department spokesman Robert Wood delivered the following,

"...as such, we join with other supporters of this statement, and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora."

The approval effectively reverses eight years of silence on the part of the Bush Administration. While the declaration does little in terms of enforcement or any real action, it is the first of its kind. We can only hope that with the US vocally behind the rights of sexual minorities, nations like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka can begin to see the errors of their human rights policies.

Just hope that we won't have to wait 466 years..

"NEW DELHI (AP) — The High Court in New Delhi is so behind in its work that it could take up to 466 years to clear the enormous backlog, the court's chief justice said in a damning report that illustrates the decrepitude of India's judicial system.

The Delhi High Court races through each case in an average of four minutes and 55 seconds but still has tens of thousands of cases pending, including upward of 600 that are more than 20 years old, according to the report.

The problems of the Delhi High Court, which hears civil, criminal, and constitutional cases, is more the standard than the exception in India. The country's creaky judicial system has long been plagued by corruption, inefficiency and lack of accountability, often making the rule of law unattainable for all but the wealthy and the well-connected.

The United Nations Development Program says some 20 million legal cases are pending in India.

"It's a completely collapsed system," said Prashant Bhushan, a well-known lawyer in New Delhi. "This country only lives under the illusion that there is a judicial system." "

Indian Court is 466 years behind schedule

UK vs. Sharia

The UK is currently looking to classify all Sharia beliefs as extremist. If the plan goes forward, those who strictly abide by the Islamic scripture will find themselves on the opposite side of British Law. The Guardian reports that the change would, "widen the definition of extremists to those who hold views that clash with what the government defines as shared British values." The government believes that by targeting hardline Muslims, the nation will be better able to combat terrorists.

What probably interests most of us is how this measure will effect Sharia's views on homosexuality. Islamic law does not beat around the bush when condemning same-sex love; many Muslims, from Mecca to Madrid, strictly enforce this social code. In a 2007 UK survey, 65% of the general population found homosexuality "acceptable", compared with a paltry 5% within the nation's Muslim communities. If Britain looks to classify all Sharia beliefs as extremist, the book's anti-gay sentiments will fall under the category.

While I disagree with several tenants of Sharia, I can't help but feel that the UK's plans carry a tinge of xenophobia. Such a law only expands the schism between "us" and "the other" -- that sort of isolation breeds more anger and resentment, I can only see more bad than good come from it.

Weekly Mix Masala

In India, a pro-gay play finally starts running after receiving its censor certificate a year later.
Videos From India

More info on the play here: Queer Media Watch

Indian theater manager is killed over his sexual advances towards one his male employees
Queer Media Watch

Hare Krishna Women discuss research that 72% of truck drivers in North Pakistan who participated in a recent survey admitted that they had sex with males. And there's some really interesting research on homosocial relationships in South Asian culture in this post. Go check it out!
Hare Krishna Women

Assholes in India run women out of a bar by kicking and slapping them
The Observers

Ugh more assholes. Ken Starr is trying to forcibly divorce already married gay couples in Cali
Courage Campaign

Whoa - Kansas is introducing a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s anti-discrimination law. If this full-blown Midwestern state is going for this, there is hope for the US.
365 Gay News

But then again - New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith said that he did not believe legislation to legalize marriage between same-sex couples has enough support to become law in 2009.
NYTimes

Full list of donors who donated to support Prop 8 in California
California Secretary of State

Weekly Mix Masala

Pune sees its first gay play-- Offbeat
Times of India

A look at the Highs (and Lows) of 2008 for South Asia
Global Voices

Forum on Islam and Homosexuality brings heated discussions from both sides of the table.
Beliefnet.com

As much as we at queeristan love NDTV for it's queer-friendly programming, it's facing heat in the Indian blogging community for infringing on free speech
Desi Pundit

Delhi woman demands alimony from gay ex-husband
Times of India

India not alone in suffering from dated Victorian "morality"
PinkNews

Trials begin in Punjab on possible HIV viral filter
Deccan Herald

15 South Asian NGOs unite to seek acceptance for sexual minorities.
Times of India

GLAAD publishes Media Reference Guide, 7th edition
GLAAD.org

South Asia, US refuse to sign UN gay-rights declaration

In December, 66 countries signed a United Nations declaration that urged countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Unfortunately the US, along with all South Asian countries (aside from Nepal) refused to sign!

"Sponsored by France, the declaration was backed by the 27 member European Union, but the US, the Vatican, Russia and China, along with all Islamic countries, refused to sign the declaration.

The non-signatories also included seven of the eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Nepal was the only signatory from SAARC.

According to the media report, Sri Lanka had also refused to sign a counter-declaration by Syria, which warned that decriminalising homosexuality may “legitimize paedophilia”. This declaration was signed by 57 countries, mostly from Catholic and Muslim countries.

The unprecedented gay rights declaration was submitted to the UN General Assembly by Argentinean ambassador Jorge Arguello, representing a third of the world body’s 192 countries.

The appeal is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states in article one that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

The European nations backing the declaration waged their campaign in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Lanka's decision to shun UN gay rights resolution flayed

Weekly Mix Masala

Looks like New York's Senator replacement for Hillary Clinton is not too gay friendly
The Daily Dish

A new way for doctors to identify if someone is suffering from domestic violence by the pattern of fractures around the face
Jezebel

Facebook as political activism? Hello, we were totally on top of this trend circa 2006 (go check out our facebook group, Queer and Trans Desis (South Asians))
Jezebel

Iran has sentenced two internationally renowned Irani AIDS physicians to six and three years of prision for their plot to overthrow Iran’s Islamic regime. Sounds like some shady governing to me.
365gay.com

Eunuchs in da house! Eunuchs in India seek quota in jobs, government.
NDTV.com

In US schools, gays of color are at the highest risk for violence
365gay.com

At a photography session with Prince Mavendra Singh Gohil
asianwindow.com

New cases registered under section IPC 377:
Man booked under 377 for sexually assaulting an under-aged girl
Times of India

Teenaged boy says cop in uniform sodomized him for refusing to get liqour
Indian Express

And my personal favorite...
Murdered homosexual man posthumorously booked under 377 because he allegedly came on to the man that murdered him. How the hell is he supposed to defend himself if the only witness to his crime was his murderer? Does this not prove that Section 377 needs to change??
Express India

Nepal grants Same-sex marriage rights!

"In a landmark verdict, the apex court in Nepal has given its consent to same-sex marriages, a move that beats off social taboos in the conservative valley.

The apex court on Monday directed the Maoist-led government in Nepal to formulate necessary laws to guarantee full rights to gays, including right to same-sex marriage.

"The court has instructed the government against making any discrimination on the basis of sex. This is a landmark decision for the sexual minorities and we welcome it," Sunil Babu Panta, a leading gay activist in South Asia and Nepal's only lawmaker in the Constituent Assembly representing the community, said."

Maybe we should get some tips from them??

Nepal SC approves same-sex marriage

Map: Counties against Prop 8 vs. Asian Population

Here's a fun little diddy for your Wed. Brought to you by OCD and MS Paint. Bee-tee-dubz, out of all the counties that voted against Prop 8, only two of them had no asian populations. In case you can't tell from my ghetto map.


*Based on 2007 Projected figures from US Census. Asian-only population.

Losing the Battle but Winning the War

Just two weeks ago, Barack Obama became the President-elect of the United States of America. And in a twist of fate California's notorious Proposition 8 also passed, effectively banning same-sex marriages in the Golden State. While similar anti-gay measures were passed in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas, the California decision has stung our community the most.

In the past fourteen days there has been much finger-pointing as to who is truly responsible for getting this measure to pass. At first socially conservative African-Americans and Latino Americans were singled out for voting for a progressive presidential candidate while supporting this oppressive ballot question. Recently, The Church of Latter-Day Saints have been bearing much of the brunt after The New York Times revealed that significant Mormon donations may have tipped the scales. The outcry by the American gay community has been enormous. Perhaps some of you readers participated in the nationwide protests last weekend; it was queer mobilization to a scale not seen since Stonewall.

Nevertheless, one group remains relatively free from the Prop 8 backlash -- Asian-Americans (yes, that's us too). In the weeks leading to November 4th, The South Asian Journalist Association published that a majority of South Asians were against a ban on gay marriages. The South Asian Bar Association even endorsed NO on Prop 8, while the South Asian Network's director, Hamid Khan, spoke out against the measure as well.

On election day, the vote on Proposition 8 was split down the middle among Asians in California. According to exit polls, 51% of Asian-Americans voted against the ban while 49% supported it. Believe it or not, Asian-Americans came out on top in voting NO to Proposition 8. Out of the racial groups polled, Asians and Caucasians were the only two that voted as a majority against the measure. Check out the maps below!

County-by-County Breakdown of Prop 8 Voting Record vs. Asian-American Population

















Prop 8 Map -- The Los Angeles Times
Asian-American Population Map -- US Census Bureau
NO on Prop 8 Poster courtesy of thaths on Flickr

Weekly Mix Masala

The Kinsey Institute's International Encylopedia of Sexuality is all available online. Articles about India: 516; Nepal: 714; Sri Lanka: 972. For those of you virgins to the Kinsey name - Kinsey is considered the father of sexology. Go watch Kinsey, the movie, for a better idea.

The Kinsey Institute

Check out the website of famous Indian photographer Farrokh Chotia - he's photographed the likes of Aishwariya and Lakshmi Menon. Note the, ahem, color differences between the "ideal" beauty of the Bollywood stars and the more varied features of the legitimate models.

farrokchothia.com

Can't swallow the idea of real live Indian porn? Well there's a comic alternative for you, Savita Bhabhi. Unfortch, no queer scenes as of yet, but it's delightfully ironic.

Savita Bhabhi

Apple donates $100,000 to fight against Proposition 8, which is on the California ballot to eliminate the right of gay marriage from the state constitution. You know, I never would have guessed...

The Tech Chronicles

Turns out that Indians in the US aren't as conservative as we sometimes think. Indians are strong supporters of Obama, and additionally *drumroll* - A majority of Indians in California are against a constitutional amendment banning gay-marriage (aka Prop 8).

SAJA Forum

Voices From The Community: Fighting for Human Rights or Battling Ethnocentricism?

I come on Queeristan to read for news on Section 377. I notice a lovely debate posted by a fellow blogger (http://queeristan.blogspot.com/2008/09/getting-ball-rolling.html). It made me question myself and my thoughts on decriminalising homosexuality in India.

I would love to say I am for human rights, but I’m also a huge fan of respect. Sometimes I find myself making very ethnocentric remarks, like “In Canada, such discrimination is illegal, I don’t see why they do that here” or “North America has a different opinion on this topic and it seems to work better for us”. They really are ethnocentric remarks, because my experiences are solely Canadian. And those experiences temper my judgement and consequently my actions.

Human rights are important to me, but to what extent can I fight for them in another country? It reminds me of those groups worldwide boycotting the Olympics in China, or even the US’s War in Iraq. Granting democracy in another country is a very ethnocentric ideology, because the ‘if it works in my country, it will work in yours too’ phrase is reverberated exponentially to prove ‘my country works better than your country’.

What I’m trying to say here is that as much as I would love to see my Indian homosexual brethren to live happily as who they are in their own country, the laws must reflect society. The video posted by Samsaricanu featured a panellist who said: “in 2000, there was a survey conducted in 41 countries that should homosexuality be accepted in society… in India the results were 7% for [decriminalisation of homosexuality] and 63% against [decriminalisation of homosexuality]…” If 63% of responses believe that homosexuality should not be legalised, then why should I say that they are ‘wrong’? Laws should reflect society’s views. Human rights, as much as I hate to say it, differ from country to country. What I see as a human right back in Canada or here in Germany could be different from that in India or China or any other place for that matter.

With my background and environmental upbringing, I can see, as a Canadian through our legal and freedom system, that decriminalising homosexuality is undoubtedly the way to go, hands down, no doubt about it, etc. But I’m not Indian. I am not a citizen and I really do not know exactly how culture is, how it is defined, and how the overall population feels about certain issues. So when I make a comment that “homosexuality should be decriminalised in India”, am I making a statement for human rights? Or am I just being ethnocentric?

The Home Ministry ain't real friendly

The Home Ministry of India dealt a devastating blow to the gay rights movement earlier today. P.P. Malhotra, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and lead counsel for the ministry, declared that they were not going to overturn IPC 377:

"Obviously, we will take a stand against the scrapping of Section 377 IPC that classifies sex between two men as a criminal offence. We object to their plea."

The discrepancy between Health Minister Ramadoss' progressive politics and the Home Ministry's regressive attitude is unsettling at best. Although the petition of the Naz Foundation does not have the complete support of the state, the final decision is still in the hands of the Delhi High Court.

Fortunately the bench has some clear problems with the state's anti-IPC 377 arguments.

"To Malhotra's argument that Section 377 is required to contain spread of HIV virus, the bench said: 'Why don't you ban sexual intercourse (involving HIV infected person) if you want to contain the spread of HIV?'"

We hope the judges continue their non partial investigation of this case and we are waiting anxiously for their final verdict.


Centre against scrapping of law outlawing homosexuality

Gay ban: Court makes moralist government squirm

Getting the Ball Rolling!

NDTV ran a segment about two weeks ago on the decriminalization of homosexuality. Some good arguments are raised and most of the panel (and the host) seems to be in our favor. Check it out!

Weekly Mix Masala

More Reviews of A Jihad for Love
Arab American News
Bay Area Reporter
San Fransico Bay Times

Behind the veil lives a thriving Muslim sexuality
Sydney Morning Herald

Victims blame Nepali PM for floods
SindhToday.net

HIV positive Indian boy wishes to be sent back to Pakistani jail
Pakistan Daily
The News

Gay and Democracy- how queers are becoming more involved in politics.
Times of India

Carriers of HIV ignored in India
NDTV

Activists want British apology for IPC 377
The Independent

Essay on homosexuality in India
CounterCurrents.org

Health Minister Ramadoss champions gay rights
Sahara Samay

How to combat distance in fighting India's war against HIV/AIDS
Reuters India

UAE contradicts itself in terms of lifestyle
International Herald Tribune

Sanjaya, from American Idol, returns!

Mark your calendars - Sept 18!

The IPC Section 377 case is scheduled for Sept 18-20th. Hopefully this date sticks! Although it has not really been used to charge or arrest LGBT folk, Section 377 must go! As long as it remains part of the Penal Code, queers will be harassed, blackmailed, and extorted by others who threaten to reveal their sexual "misconduct". Section 377 also presents many legal hurdles, as illustrated by the following:

A gay-rights activist at the Alternative Law Forum, Ponni Arasu, says gays and lesbians who live together are sometimes charged with other crimes, such as kidnapping, by disapproving parents.

"We have gone to court many times where we actively cover up the nature of the relationship between two women because we do not want to complicate the case. You just want to get rid of the kidnapping charge so they can go on and live their lives. And that is because of a law like Section 377. If we were not actively criminalized by such a law, then we would be able to go to court and say, 'They are lovers. They are adults. And they have the right to live with each other,'" said Arasu.

Indian's anti-gay law set for biggest court challenge

Weekly Mix Masala

Interview with Onir, director of My Brother...Nikhil
DesiCritics.org

Protests urge US and Europe to stop aid to homophobic countries
Pink News

Gay honor killing, a first in Turkey
The Independent

What's wrong when men come together?
Business Standard

Trans tourists detained in Dubai
Gulf News

Profile of The Wire's Omar Little, "the gay stick up man who robs drug dealer for a living"
The Guardian

Pakistan at risk for HIV/AIDS epidemic
Daily Times of Pakistan

South Asian gays silent no longer
The Province

Because I Have a Voice

For those of you interested in learning more about the queer movement in India, this book is a great place to start: Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in India, edited by Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan. This is an informative collection, comprised of academic essays, activist accounts, and personal narratives. Narrain and Bhan’s introduction is especially useful in delineating the uniqueness of South Asian sexuality studies in relation to postcolonial studies, legal battles, and debates over terms and definitions. Alok Gupta’s essay on class dynamics in the queer movement opens up a series of questions about the influence of globalized gay identities and (limited) access to queer resources. Nivedita Menon offers a powerful polemic about the need for South Asian feminists to take up compulsory heterosexuality as a founding structure of patriarchy. Gautam Bhan looks at Section 377, and the need for legal reform to be included in the larger political movement of queer activism. The personal narratives, though often brief, are moving accounts of queer life in India. Highly recommended.

Because I Have a Voice is published by Yoda Press, a wonderful publisher based out of New Delhi. Recently, they've introduced a new book series called "Sexualities," which includes a number of very interesting titles. Check out Gayatri Reddy's With Respect to Sex as well; it's a deeply moving ethnography of hijra communities living in and around Hyderabad. You can access the website for Yoda Press here.

For Queer Dummies: Nepal Elections Cheat Sheet

May 28, 2008

• 575 members sworn in to Nepal's Constituent Assembly
• 26 seats are still open; these are to be filled by members elected by the Cabinet.
• The assembly officiated the end of 340 years of religious monarchy in Nepal
• Responsible for overseeing the transition from an absolute monarchy to a federal republic and creating a new constitution for Nepal.
• The three major parties within the assembly: Maoists, Nepal Congress, and the CPN(UML).

How is this queer?

• 191 members (33%) out of the 575 are women, a record high in any Nepali political institution
• 35 year old Sunil Pant, founder of the Blue Diamond Society, becomes the first openly gay politician to serve in the Nepali parliament.
• Pant's party, CPN-U, split from the third largest party in the assembly, the CPN(UML). Perhaps CPN-U picked up it's pro-LGBT tendencies from it's mother party?
• With 26 seats still open, there's room for more women and more people who identify as LGBT. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Is this significant political transition the perfect time to adapt Nepali society into a more homo-friendly one?

• We certainly hope so.

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News Alert: Nepal Elects Gay Leader
Nepal, Land of High Peaks, Opens Bosom for LGBTs