New Zealand: Increasing HIV+ numbers strain services

Figures released show that for three years the number of new diagnoses amongst men who have sex with men has continued to rise, to the point where it is at the highest annual level since the epidemic started. Opinions are mixed as to the contribution to the high rate of diagnoses of heightened HIV testing campaigns, immigrant communities with less knowledge of HIV and how to avoid it and the increasing pool of people with HIV.

The country's largest HIV peer-support and advocacy organisation, Body Positive, already has 800 people on its books and funding to provide services to the increasing numbers of gay and bi men with HIV is not keeping up with demand, says Body Positive general manager Mark Fischer.  Read More

Australia: Domestic violence in gay and transgender community neglected

Domestic violence rates among LGBTI Victorians mirror the broader community but support services are not equipped to provide adequate help, a leading research centre has reported. Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria is calling for better-targeted training for family violence support services and the justice system.

The research centre's submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence said too many abuse victims in  the LGBTI community suffer in isolation.

"Generally services are indicating they haven't thought about [the LGBTI community] much or aren't confident," submission author Dr Horsley said. She said support services needed specific training in dealing with the LGBTI community. Read More

UK: Bisexuals still face discrimination from the National Health Services and LGBT services

With the legalisation of same sex marriage in Britain and Ireland given the green light over the past few years, it’s easy to assume attitudes toward the LGBT community are becoming more accepting. Yet despite this, a portion of bisexual people are still experiencing discrimination.

Almost half of bisexuals claim to have experienced biphobic comments while accessing mainstream services, a new report launched by the Equality Network found. Biphobia was most commonly experienced within NHS and LGBT services. The research is said to be the first UK-wide research report on bisexual people’s experience of services. The study revealed 66% respondents felt they had to pass as straight and 42% felt they had to pass as gay or lesbian while accessing services.

More than a quarter of those asked claimed to have experienced prejudice even when accessing LGBT services. One respondent reported they had “heard lots of negative comments about bisexual people and dismissal of the need to include bisexual people”. Another respondent reported being told that “bisexuals are ‘confused’ and not as good as ‘real gays’”. Read More

Ugandan academy endorses pro-gay report

The Ugandan National Academy of Sciences (Unas) has endorsed a report that says homosexuality and gender and sexual diversity are natural phenomena, which contradicts Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s stance that homosexuality is abnormal and should be outlawed. Unas and the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (Assaf) are the only academies of science in Africa to endorse the report.

Uganda’s infamous anti-gay laws were justified with a study which Ugandan MPs claimed stated: “Homosexuality is not a disease but merely an abnormal behaviour which may be learned through experiences in life. In every society, there is a small number of people with homosexuality tendencies. Read More

Gay High School Valedictorian Gets Second Chance At Graduation Speech He Was Banned From Giving

Evan Young was not permitted to speak at graduation after school officials found out he was planning to come out as gay during his speech. He had the opportunity to read his full speech, as intended, on Sunday at a fundraising event.

According to Young, he received several edits to his planned speech from the school’s principal, BJ Buchmann, all of which he was fine with making — except for the edit asking him to remove the section in which he discloses his sexuality.

“One of my themes is that I was going to tell everyone my secrets,” Young told Daily Camera. “Most of the things were stupid stuff — books I never read that I was supposed to, or homework I didn’t like. But then I gradually worked up to serious secrets.” Read More

Science alone can’t shift anti-gay prejudice in Africa

South Africa was the first country in the world to include protection on the grounds of sexuality in its constitution. It remains a marked contrast to many of its African neighbours, which have either retained colonial laws against homosexual behaviour or, in some cases, introduced or strengthened such laws.

Thus it is not surprising that a report such as the Diversity of Human Sexuality, Implications for Policy in Africa should come from the Academy of Science South Africa.

The report provides a clear and rigorous summary of the current state of the science on diverse sexuality. But given the strength of anti-gay sentiment in Africa, whether it will be able to influence politicians is far from certain. Read more

Palestine: Documentary Oriented

New talent Jake Witzenfeld takes a look at the LGBT community of Tel Aviv in his directorial debut, Oriented. The documentary takes place over 15 months, through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2014, and follows three Palestinian friends living in Tel Aviv as they face struggles with their nationality and sexuality.

Khader, son of a notorious Muslim mafia family lives with his Jewish boyfriend, David. Although legally Israeli, Fadi doesn’t identify as such and doesn’t feel he has the right to call himself a Palestinian. Instead he just defines himself as Arab. Naim struggles with coming out to his parents, something he feels empowered to do whenever he’s in Tel Aviv, but anytime he goes home, his return is met with crippling insecurities. Read More 

The science behind a more meaningful understanding of sexual orientation

People who are attracted to others of the same sex develop their orientation before they are born. This is not a choice. And scientific evidence shows their parents cannot be blamed.

Research proving that there is biological evidence for sexual orientation has been available since the 1980s. The links have been emphasised by new scientific research.

In 2014, researchers confirmed the association between same-sex orientation in men and a specific chromosomal region. This is similar to findings originally published in the 1990s, which, at that time, gave rise to the idea that a “gay gene” must exist. But this argument has never been substantiated, despite the fact that studies have shown that homosexuality is a heritable trait.

Evidence points towards the existence of a complex interaction between genes and environment, which are responsible for the heritable nature of sexual orientation. Read more

Why anti-gay sentiment remains strong in much of Africa

This article is part of a series The Conversation Africa is running on issues related to LGBTI in Africa. You can read the rest of the series here.

Of the 76 countries that still criminalise same-sex relationships and behaviour, 38 are African. Recent surveys also show that the overwhelming majority of people who live in Africa strongly disapprove of homosexuality. This is even the case in South Africa, the only country on the continent that has legalised same-sex marriage.

Last month, socially conservative Ireland voted convincingly to legalise same-sex marriage. It became the first country where the people, as opposed to the courts or parliament, decided to legalise same-sex marriage. Ireland is now one of 20 countries globally that permit gay marriage. Fifteen years ago, such marriage was not legal anywhere in the world.

What the science is saying

Africa’s strong anti-homosexuality sentiment, harsh laws and active discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people warrant exploration. Read more

Cambodia's LGBT community finds its voice

Cambodia, a country known for its abysmal human rights record and gender inequality, is now home to a print magazine geared toward the LGBT community and its allies. Q Cambodia, the country's first gay magazine, seeks to entertain, inform and bring more visibility to the community through interviews, stories and photos of both local Cambodians and foreigners, according to Sorel Thongvan, editor-in-chief of the magazine.

Thongvan, who was born in France to Khmer parents and lived in the United States and Cambodia, said he noticed something was missing within the LGBT community when he returned to Cambodia to live in 2012, so he decided to bridge that information gap with Q. Read More

Explainer: tackling the stigma and myths around sexuality

This article is part of a series The Conversation Africa is running on issues related to LGBTI in Africa. You can read the rest of the series here.

Increasing anti-homosexuality sentiment across Africa has been based on the belief that homosexuality is “contagious” or that people can be “recruited” to it.

These sentiments are reflected by 38 countries in Africa outlawing same-sex relationships. Several others are thinking about new laws against “promoting homosexuality”.

These views are dispelled as baseless by a report from the Academy of Science South Africa released this week. The report, Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa, is based on a consensus study of research from across the world. Read more

UK: Stars campaign to keep Human Rights Act

Imitation Game star Benedict Cumberbatch is among a number of stars who have recorded videos celebrating the Human Rights Act – amid government plans to scrap it.

David Cameron has pledged to “once and for all” repeal the Human Rights Act, and during the State Opening of Parliament today, the Queen confirmed “proposals” for a British Bill of Rights, which is expected to replace the law. Read More