China: Lesbian couples resort to foreign sperm banks to evade domestic restrictions

As China does not acknowledge gay marriage and unmarried women are not allowed to use assisted reproductive technology, more and more lesbian couples in China are now seeking foreign sperm banks and IVF clinics. Experts said as the country is aging, fertility rights of the LGBT group should be guaranteed which will help alleviate the imminent old age problem.

Dou and Zhi, a lesbian couple living in Beijing, had their twins not through natural means, but through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) performed with sperm provided by a sperm bank based in the US. Zhi got pregnant last October and the couple spent about 300,000 yuan ($46,380) on their fertility trip to the US.

"I've always wanted to have my own child. When I met my wife, I knew it was time to do it," said Dou, 34, an NGO worker. Since gay marriage is not legal, it's impossible for lesbian couples to use IVF in China.  Read more via Global Times

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Cuba: Gay scene and HIV education as borders open

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As a youth growing up in Chicago, Phill Wilson had a Cuban fetish. The Spanish literature major romanticized the island nation, which was off-limits to U.S. travelers since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963.

A half-century later, Wilson — now the out president of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute —would find himself en route to Havana, not just to soak up Cuban culture, but to see what the U.S. and Cuba could learn from each other in the fight against HIV and homophobia.

Wilson led a delegation of 15 gay men, many of color, to Cuba for two weeks starting on Christmas Eve; that was less than a year after President Obama helped normalize the once-strained relationship between the U.S. and communist Cuba.

Wilson says his team was greeted warmly, meeting with government officials, everyday Cubans, and people living with HIV. Wilson was impressed with the nation’s response to the disease, which has been greatly aided by the public information campaign of Mariela Castro, the LGBT-supportive daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro.

“From a public health perspective, from a human rights perspective, they are light years ahead of where we are with HIV,” Wilson says. Read more via the Advocate

International Day of Trans Visibility – a statement by GATE

On March 31st, Global Action for Trans* Equality (GATE) calls for collective and critical reflection as we honor the International Day of Trans Visibility.

Undoubtedly, individual and community visibility has been a key strategy to build trans* social and political movements. Visibility has played a central historical role in the ongoing work to transform our material and symbolic conditions of existence in the pursuit of social justice. In fact, the very recognition of our existence and affirmation of our full selves demands visibility every day. Nevertheless, trans visibility does not happen without risk: those who are visible are also exposed to the very dynamics they are challenging – discrimination, oppression, and violence. Read more via RHM Journal  

Balkans: The LGBT community is invisible

The young gay activist slowly stirs sugar into his coffee as he says he’s never had a boyfriend who would hold his hand in public.

“Most people from my generation are too scared to come out,” says 22-year-old Liridon Veliou, who works with the LGBT rights group QESh. Behind him, is a cafe scene from any European city – smartphones and MacBook computers illuminating the faces of young men and women against a backdrop of bookshelves stacked with 60s American novels.

But beyond the cafe’s terrace and its young, open-minded clientele, lies a country where 81% of the LGBT community has suffered threats or insults because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This is the highest rate of discrimination in the western Balkans, according to a 2015 poll by the National Democracy Institute. The statistics are a sharp reminder that, despite appearances, this isn’t London or Rome – this is Pristina, capital of Kosovo.

On paper, Kosovo looks modern and inclusive – its progressive constitution written in the aftermath of the 1998-99 war includes a ban of discrimination based on sexual orientation. But LGBT groups say this image contradicts reality. 

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Ukraine: The 'new Ukraine' is failing us, LGBT activists say

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With the subsequent ousting of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych – who was known to court president Vladimir Putin’s favour by emulating his infamous “anti-gay laws” – the LGBT community was optimistic that attitudes would change.

However, two years on many have since found that persecution and prejudice continues, and that the free­doms called for by the protesters in Kiev’s independence square have been un­evenly ap­plied in post-rev­o­lu­tion Ukraine – particularly when it comes to sexuality.

In the west­ern city of Lviv lo­cal au­thor­i­ties announced earlier this month they could not pro­tect a fes­ti­val or­ga­nised by an LGBT or­gan­i­sa­tion, allowing the ho­tel where the event was about to take place to become sur­rounded by far-right ac­tivists in masks shout­ing “kill, kill, kill”. The or­ga­nis­ers were forced to cancel the event and leave the city over fears for their safety.

“The sit­u­a­tion can lean ei­ther way,” says Kis, explaining that with the Maidan protests now playing a key part in the narrative of the “new Ukraine” the LGBT community – despite being on the frontlines of the unrest – has struggled to find its place.  Read more via the Guardian 

Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy

The world's largest organisation for psychiatrists - the World Psychiatric Association - has announced their opposition to the so-called practice of "gay conversion" or "reparative" therapy, declaring it unethical, unscientific and harmful to those who undergo it.

"There is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed," the group said in a statement released this month. "Furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality can create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish, and they can be potentially harmful. The provision of any intervention purporting to 'treat' something that is not a disorder is wholly unethical."

As the WPA membership contains countries that criminalise homosexuality or may condone "reparative therapy", they hope this will force governments to re-evaluate the rights of their people. Read more via BBC

Mexico: Football body urges fans to stop anti-gay chants

The Mexican Soccer Federation launched a campaign on Tuesday urging fans to refrain from anti-gay chants that drew fines from FIFA earlier this year. It may be a tough fight, judging by the plea’s failure to deter fans at a Mexican national team game Tuesday night.

Called “Embraced by Soccer,” the campaign consists of a couple of 30-second videos in which popular stars including forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, captain and defender Rafael Marquez and midfielder Andres Guardado ask fans not to engage in discriminatory behaviour. Announced hours before Mexico hosted Canada in a 2018 World Cup qualifier for the CONCACAF region, the campaign didn’t stop fans at the capital’s Azteca Stadium from making the chants during the nighttime match won 2-0 by the home team. The message was played for the crowd before the game and at halftime.

In a statement, the soccer federation said the videos aim to discourage “a practice that is contrary to respect and the dignity of people.” 

Read more

Malaysia: Transgender activist wins US government award for courage

Malaysian transgender activist Nisha Ayub, once jailed for cross-dressing and sexually assaulted in prison, is the first trans woman to win the US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.

Nisha ― who co-founded two transgender rights NGOs, the SEED Foundation and Justice for Sisters ― was one of 14 women around the world who received the 2016 award yesterday. Read more via Malay Mail Online

Germany: Landlord must pay fine after refusing to rent to gay couple

A man has been slapped with a steep fine by a Cologne court after he refused to rent a villa to a same-sex couple. The landlord must pay €1,700 in compensation to the couple, a regional court said.

The man regularly rented out his personal villa to newly-weds to earn a bit more cash, but when he learned that the couple in question were gay, he refused to sign a contract with them.

The court charged the man with discrimination, stating that his refusal to rent to them was illegal and violated German law concerning equal treatment, calling it "discrimination based on sexual orientation". Read more via the Local

Mozambique: Enduring discrimination leaves gay men untreated for HIV

Despite a veneer of progressive policymaking, bias against the rising number of men with HIV remains commonplace in Mozambique, deterring many from seeking treatment
In June, Mozambique dropped a colonial-era law criminalising homosexual activities. The change passed relatively quietly in the southern African country. After all, no one had ever been convicted.

A few weeks later, Tony Andrea felt like he was coming down with malaria. The 22-year-old went to a government health clinic. Andrea is gay and, despite the recently overturned prohibition, had always felt safe being open about his sexuality. He certainly never suspected it might interfere with his ability to access malaria treatment.

When he arrived at the clinic, “the nurse told me, ‘People like you, you lie a lot … You don’t have malaria,’” he says. Andrea said he was not sure why she suspected he was gay, but he put it down to his dress or speech. Aside from being demoralising, discrimination against men who have sex with men is jeopardising government efforts to reduce the high incidence of HIV and AIDS. At 11.5%, Mozambique has one of the 10 highest HIV rates in the world. But in Maputo, the capital, among men who have sex with men and are aged 25 years and older, that rate nearly triples to 33.8%. Read more via the Guardian