I'm Cierra. I'm 16, turning 17 in a few months. I just came out to my parents in December about me being lesbian and my mother was indenial. She was upset and she still doesn't like it to this day but I don't know what to tell her. I get picked on in school about having a girlfriend. I get called all sorts of names and I don't like it. I also don't like this issues with gay marriages and such. Love is Love no matter what gender you are. I think people should just leave the lesbians, gay, bisexuals, transexuals and intersexuals alone. Other peoples love life is not the whole worlds business. Every state should just pass the lgbt rights and the gay marriage law and just let people live there life. It's sad that couples who are in love and want to get married have to go to a different state to get married if it's illegal in their state. This whole situation pisses me off. I'm all for LGTBI<3

Tranphobia in Finland:

I am a Male to Female pre op transexual, and I was stopped on the street and immediatelly beaten because of my gender. The agressor hit on the floor, said very agressive words ("you are a fucking man! You don't have a pussy to have lipsticks or a hat like this") and was demanding to have my hair cut ("you have 1 minute to cut your hair or I will beat you"). I knew I couldn't confront him phisically and I had no chance to run away. What scared me most is that I became a sort of hostage and I had to take him to my place (!!!) - it happened very close by where I live, after I left the public bus - and after a lot of talk he went away without further phisical damage to me.

It's the first time I have dealt with transphobia in this country, and for some moments I really thought he could have killed me. I am really scared and don't know what to do, since he already knows where I live. I also woiuld like to know how to react in such cases, when calling to police is just impossible at the moment

hello i am junior mayema from DRCongo and i want to tell the story of my life

in danger i was beaten, abuses and and brought before
> court cos i was gay my name is junior mayema i was the
> leader of lgbt association arc en ciel rdcongo in
> collaboration with si jeunesse savait but francoise mukuku
> of si SJS is working with monuc and dont have time to care
> about us and now i was subject to all kinds of abuses by
im in south africa because my life in DRCongo was regularly
>> family and neighbor and i made up my mind to flee to south
> africa in order to be safe and now im leaving with my cousin
> and here in Capetown long street senator park life is really
> tough because i have no money and i have to contribute for
> the meals and o pay the rent i have no job and i don't
> know what to do please i want you to help me to find new
> life and a haven where i can stay
> safely without any discrimination and tortures because
> here my cousin don't even know that im gay an as soon as he
> know he will make my life like in DRCongo

For the international day here is my story with an ongoing battle.Check out the link below.

http://www.canlii.org/en/on/ongsb/doc/2010/2010canlii7275/2010canlii7275.html

Hello there

im a syrian activist and im planning to go on a trip to discriminlize sodmy laws in the Midlle East and to support LGBT rights in the countries which im passing through and im gonna start in Syria Turkey Ukraine Slovakia Czeck Republic .... In general its all in Europe

if you think you can help me or support me in any possible way let me know

silentb4thestorm@hotmail.com

A high-ranking medical member of the Australian armed forces told me the other day that intersex people are excluded from service if it is believed that our medical status gets in the way of being able to serve. How that is determined seems to be fuzzy though. Many intersex people, just like many non-intersex people, need to take HRT for example. Is taking HRT grounds for exclusion from service?

I would love to have'intersex' be one of the choices in 'What does your lived experience relate to?' as well as some more that directly relate to intersex.

Side Effectts of legalizing GAYSEX in india ??? http://sideeffectsof377.blogspot.com/
377 > gay get fucked on Roads freely
377 > HEJADS do crimal activetes freely
377 > HEJADS do sexwork on Roads freely
377 > GAY & HEJADS and MsM,s Terrible
377 > No Opinion HEJADS are crimals of society
377 > Appeal for Voices Against 377's
377 > MsM have 89% are PLHA ????
377 > Hijads have 89% are PLHA ???
377 > Most of CBO & NGO have a PLHA centers ???
377 > GAYSEX will destroy social fabric ???

Besides feeling that my antidepressant is robbing me of the immediacy of the fear I am running from, I am also wondering whether my claim has failed to be substantiated with the body of evidence I have. I recently had a discussion with my lawyer about what is acceptable as evidence of persecution against gay men in Guyana.

I've recently scoured the local online newspapers for evidence of gay persecution. What I found were many articles of men being shot, bludgeoned, or stabbed. I reviewed the local news upon suggestion by someone who lives there. He stated that there are many gay men being murdered, continually, that are not reported in the local media as gay crimes. They aren't reported as such for a number of reasons. One is that the men were in the closet, having gay relations in secret. Another is that their families don't want the shame of this being made public. Still, another is that the local media has ignored these as gay crimes. The culmination of this lack of reporting is that the anti-gay beatings and murders are never reported. Human rights take a backseat to shame and willful obstructionism. It also gives me insight to the amazingly ignorant rationalizations, by my mother, of the murders. She insisted that all the gay deaths that the local population hear about, but fail to report as gay crimes are not due to bigotry or hate. They are only lovers' spats.

This means I have no way of substantiating that these murders were against gay men. In December 2008, there were two reported murders of gay men that I became aware of. One murder was reported in the local media. The other wasn't. The only reason I became aware that the man was gay, was that a blog, that has since been shut down, discussed that he was well known in the underground gay community. The entry also discussed he was murdered by women in his community to protect their men. In an unrelated but important discussion, it reported there was a 'credible' call to arms against all gay men in the country. The call to arms is to cleanse the country of a moral and biological disease.

Such threats are important and dangerous. They should be well-known, however, they aren't. The fact that the local media refuses to expose the hysteria and violence against gay men means that I have little evidence to prove this in my case. Even though I managed to capture these claims on the blog, it is still technically gossip. So in both the case where I have speculative evidence that a murder was a gay crime, and the others where I have no claim that the crimes were homophobic, I have no way of substantiating their validity. In neither case is there an independent and trustworthy source validating these murders for what they were - a product of homophobia. It is a cyclic and unproductive argument, but one that is important to my cause.

In speaking to Wallaby, I discussed why there is no evidence. I suggested it is because the local population of gay people are still in the closet, living on the fringes of society, with no tourism industry and foreign media to highlight their silent plight. All the countries that are well-known to be homophobic and violent, only came to light after international media stumbled upon it. Foreign tourists, I believe are an important mode of emboldening a local oppressed population. When gay tourists bring both expectations of freedom to have sex, and the money to help the local economy, it is a strong incentive for the local gay population to inherit a sense of entitlement that they too should be treated with dignity. They are more likely to fight for it with a open-minded foreign population to buffer them from the local populace. My country has no tourism industry, economic incentive to be more liberal, or foreign media oversight.

Such countries may also seem to experience a flare-up of anti-gay crimes in proportional magnitude to the aggressiveness of the gay population's fight for legitimacy. I would argue, that what would seem like increased intensity in bigotry, to quash the confidence of the gay population, is mostly an unmasking of the problem already prevalent. So in my country, there is a hidden epidemic of homophobia that the local and international media ignore and I have no way of reporting it to save my life.

Taken from: gakana.blogspot.com

Besides feeling that my antidepressant is robbing me of the immediacy of the fear I am running from, I am also wondering whether my claim has failed to be substantiated with the body of evidence I have. I recently had a discussion with Wallaby about what is acceptable as evidence of persecution against gay men in the country.

I've recently scoured the local online newspapers for evidence of gay persecution. What I found were many articles of men being shot, bludgeoned, or stabbed. I reviewed the local news upon suggestion by someone who lives there. He stated that there are many gay men being murdered, continually, that are not reported in the local media as gay crimes. They aren't reported as such for a number of reasons. One is that the men were in the closet, having gay relations in secret. Another is that their families don't want the shame of this being made public. Still, another is that the local media has ignored these as gay crimes. The culmination of this lack of reporting is that the anti-gay beatings and murders are never reported. Human rights take a backseat to shame and willful obstructionism. It also gives me insight to the amazingly ignorant rationalizations, by my mother, of the murders. She insisted that all the gay deaths that the local population hear about, but fail to report as gay crimes are not due to bigotry or hate. They are only lovers' spats.

This means I have no way of substantiating that these murders were against gay men. In December 2008, there were two reported murders of gay men that I became aware of. One murder was reported in the local media. The other wasn't. The only reason I became aware that the man was gay, was that a blog, that has since been shut down, discussed that he was well known in the underground gay community. The entry also discussed he was murdered by women in his community to protect their men. In an unrelated but important discussion, it reported there was a 'credible' call to arms against all gay men in the country. The call to arms is to cleanse the country of a moral and biological disease.

Such threats are important and dangerous. They should be well-known, however, they aren't. The fact that the local media refuses to expose the hysteria and violence against gay men means that I have little evidence to prove this in my case. Even though I managed to capture these claims on the blog, it is still technically gossip. So in both the case where I have speculative evidence that a murder was a gay crime, and the others where I have no claim that the crimes were homophobic, I have no way of substantiating their validity. In neither case is there an independent and trustworthy source validating these murders for what they were - a product of homophobia. It is a cyclic and unproductive argument, but one that is important to my cause.

In speaking to Wallaby, I discussed why there is no evidence. I suggested it is because the local population of gay people are still in the closet, living on the fringes of society, with no tourism industry and foreign media to highlight their silent plight. All the countries that are well-known to be homophobic and violent, only came to light after international media stumbled upon it. Foreign tourists, I believe are an important mode of emboldening a local oppressed population. When gay tourists bring both expectations of freedom to have sex, and the money to help the local economy, it is a strong incentive for the local gay population to inherit a sense of entitlement that they too should be treated with dignity. They are more likely to fight for it with a open-minded foreign population to buffer them from the local populace. My country has no tourism industry, economic incentive to be more liberal, or foreign media oversight.

Such countries may also seem to experience a flare-up of anti-gay crimes in proportional magnitude to the aggressiveness of the gay population's fight for legitimacy. I would argue, that what would seem like increased intensity in bigotry, to quash the confidence of the gay population, is mostly an unmasking of the problem already prevalent. So in my country, there is a hidden epidemic of homophobia that the local and international media ignore and I have no way of reporting it to save my life.

Female to female relationship is illegal in the public eye. Who says it was legal? They force women to have sex with man, rape and drug them and which is horrible force them to perform sexual act in front of men. That's why I haven't seen any attractive lesbians openly gay in public. Most of them look very manly...Everybody despises them for that. But it's a miserable existence.

Got an information to tell u
There's a new voice surgery technology in KOrea.
They don't cut ur neck open but with endoscope, they operate the surgery.

ur male voice can be changed to female voice without having to cut ur neck.

for more info
E-mail me. yinzhen2000@naver.com

I have a good information on the voice surgery.
It's different from those surgeries where they cut your neck open and even the result is not that satisfactory.
They do the surgery with endoscope.. so you don't have to worry about cutting your neck open.

I have videos of actual patients.. if u want I can show u

yinzhen2000@naver.com
send me E-mail if u want

I've never been to Ethiopia. I'm sure it's lovely.

LGBT life in Venezuela is complex but relatively free and evolving in a positive way. Nowadays National Ombudsperson Office, lead by a female former congressperson and political ally to President Hugo Chavez, Gabriela Ramírez, has been working since five years ago on lgbt issues. Today, Feb, 23th, GR has publicly announced the possibility of creating within the institutional structure of her Office of a national instance devoted to lgbt human rights protection.

We've amended the site and the Australian page now tells about the unequal age of consent in Queensland. Thanks for this comment.

If anyone can help me, please i badly need one. My family took my free will because im in a same sex relationship. I can't do anything (to think i'm already 25 years old), i don't have the liberty to do what i want, i can't even apply for a work. Please I really feel helpless. please can someone help me .

From Kris
if you can email me at: goldenfngr2002@yahoo.com

I live and work in Tegucigalpa as Human Rights prosecutor, women and LGBT advocate.

It breaks my heart to see many LGBT Youth (18-26 years) struggle just to be able to walk on the streets just like any Honduran.

Happily for LGBT Youth, there is a safe place( where they can chat and laugh without having other people make fun of them. This place is at Apuvimeh/Project Renacer.

Apuvimeh and Project Renacer is where Walter Trochez worked before he was assasinated by the coup d'etat regime.

The safe place for LGTB Youth about to close due to lack of funding.

Project Renacer and Apuvimeh is such a fun place, a place where one can rest the mind from all the stress and intolerance from other cruel person.

If you need more information please send an e mail to:


Gilda Velasquez
ovariesinresistance@gmail.com
or renacergltb@gmail.com

Hi. Im shelby. 15 years old. And openly bisexual with everyone except family. Not because I dont think they will accept it, but just because I dont feel ready to tell them yet. I have not experienced a lot of discrimination, because I do not "look the part" But I have had people not want to be friends with me, and people give me disgusted looks when with a girl. I have had a lot of crappy experiences with girls. One that led me on for a year, all the while she had a girlfriend. She was my first ever kiss too. And another who went on a couple dates with me, then ended up making out with my best female friend, then getting a boyfriend, and stopped talking to me. I have never had much experience with guys, but I know I prefer girls more. Sometimes it scares me to think that I might be a lesbian. But then I think wait? I still think guys are hot, and I love a couple male celebrities. As well as a few female ones. Maybe I am honestly just a true bisexual? Who prefers girls more? Its so comfusing. But I know I have my whole life to figure it out, and explore the wonderful world of human sexuality.

This is a sad day in South Africa. Today a lesbian minister was fired for marrying her life-partner. The Methodist church was happy to ordain her as a lesbian minister, even assign a church to her care, and dating was never a problem either. But when she fell in love and married, that was when she was suspended and today, they fired her.

Our country recognises gay marriages. Our constitution protects all people from any type of discrimination, including discrimination because of sexual orientation. But we are still targeted. The church will not marry us, and many will not even accept us through the door. We are raped and murdered, ostracised and mocked. The country and the constitution are merely pieces of paper, impotent. Ineffective and obviously unenforced.

Yes, today is a sad day for all GLBTI people in South Africa.

On saturday february the 13th I pulled into a parking alot with my girlfriend and two of my friends as soon as I back in the parking person we were rushed by two cops dressed in all black my girlfriend the more masculine one he automatetically snatched her out the car and placed her under arrest and as many times her and I advised that she was a female they still did a full search. After that sure enough they pulled me out the car searched my car found a small marijuana cigarette and then read the mini miranda.....we were just parked they had no reasonable suspicion to search me car or even approached my car. He had actually completed the search and said ok and then other officers came and told hi to search the entire car and they found 29grams of marijuana. I the driver never granted permission for the search . Officers told her if she wears boy clothes she must be a boy.....so basically he profiled her and did a full cavity search. And they even asked me if she was a girl and I told them. Now they are charging both of us with a felony and she is a basketball player and a student and I work full time and going to school. Sure enough we made a mistake because it should have never been in our possession but the way they treated her was unnecessary they searched and mishandled her. And even though she said it was hers they still arrested me. We want to file suit against the county. What do you guys think of our situation? Can email or try and help us figure out this situation email me at st.clair37@yahoo.com

Soy Miembra Fundadora de la Asociación Civil sin fines de Lucro: DIVAS DE VENEZUELA, su actual Directora Ejecutiva y Presidenta.

Nuestro grupo fue creado el 03 de Marzo de 2004 debido a la falta de organizaciones específicas que defendieran la igualdad de derechos para la comunidad Trans venezolana y mundial. En este sentido nos sentíamos igualmente desprotegidas/os en todos sentidoS, sin una estructura organizada para la reivindicación de nuestros derechos al estado venezolano. Inicialmente participan en este proceso Desiree Pérez (Trans fem) Albertina Angulo (Trans), Y Yul Sarria (Homosexual).

TRABAJAMOS Básicamente en:

• Incidencia Política
• Proyectos de Ley en beneficio a nuestra comunidad
• Contracultura a través de las artes (danza, pintura, fotografía, etc.), asambleas públicas, foros itinerantes.
• Campañas de educación y concienciación sobre las personas sexo-género diversas (Trans, Lesbianas, Homosexuales, Bisexuales, Intersexuales…)
• Realización del primer programa radial (DIVERSIDAD HOY desde el año 2007) de corte informativo, opinión y variedades de la comunidad sexo-género diversa nacional e internacional, efectuado en una radio comunitaria denominada RADIO 23 en frecuencia modulada.

Si deseas comunicarte con nosotras/os hazlo a través del coreo:
asc.divasdevenezuela@gmail.com

y visítanos en la web: http://ascdivasdevenezuela.spaces.live.com


ENGLISH

I'm a founding member of the Civil Association Nonprofit: DIVAS DE VENEZUELA, its current CEO and President.

Our group was created on March 03 2004 due to lack of specific organizations that defend equal rights for Trans Venezuelan and world community. In this sense we were equally unprotected / you in every way, without an organized structure for the vindication of our rights by the Venezuelan state. Initially involved in this process Desiree Perez (Trans fem) Albertina Angulo (Trans), and Yul Sarria (Gay).

Basic work in:

• Advocacy
• Bills to benefit our community
• Counterculture through the arts (dance, painting, photography, etc..) Public meetings, forums Travelers.
• education and awareness campaigns on various sex-gender people (Trans, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Intersex ...)
• Completion of the first radio program (DIVERSITY TODAY since 2007) of court information, opinion and varieties of sex / gender diverse community nationally and internationally, conducted in a community radio station called Radio 23 on FM.

If you want to communicate with us / you do it through the core:
asc.divasdevenezuela @ gmail.com

and visit us on the web: http://ascdivasdevenezuela.spaces.live.com

MY activism today is to try and find out how to get IGLA to include Intersex and how to get them to correct some of the glaring errors on their web site. For instance they say that the age of concent is the same for same sex couples as they are for hetrosexuals in Australia. This is untrue.

...the next generation gay men live and love in the StadtCOLOUR! See the Website www.vuco.blogspot.com and take you planing and photos to the website! Thank you and see you later in British Columbia or another state.
StadtCOLOUR
Kommissarischer Botschafter der StadtCOLOUR
(Nichtregierungsorganisation nach EU-Recht)
Postfach 1743
D-79507 Lörrach
T. 0049-(0)160-4130366

Posición frente a temas polémicos (http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2010/febrero/03/pais2248842.html)

Chinchilla opuesta a matrimonio gay, aborto y Estado laico
Verdiblanca afirma que, de gobernar, bancada del PLN no apoyará esos planes
Alcalde Johnny Araya se dio la ‘tarde libre’ para salir y apoyar a la candidata
Esteban A. Mata | emata@nacion.com
Publicado: 2010/02/03

ENVIAR

IMPRIMIR
http://www.nacion.com

TAMAÑO

Un no rotundo al matrimonio entre homosexuales, el aborto y a la eliminación de la religión católica como culto oficial del Estado dio ayer la candidata a la presidencia del Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), Laura Chinchilla.

La aspirante verdiblanca defendió sus posiciones en dos programas de radio y uno de televisión, todos evangélicos, en una serie de visitas que hizo ayer en la mañana.

MÁS SOBRE ESTE TEMA

* Solís: sí a los inmigrantes pero deben legalizarse
* Guevara asegura que superó su radicalismo

“Mi visión es a favor de la vida, yo no entiendo cómo hay padres que enseñan a sus hijos a respetar los animalitos y cuanta planta encuentran en la naturaleza, pero están prestos a sacrificar la vida humana”, dijo Chinchilla en el programa Panorama Político , en la emisora evangélica Radio Unción.

Además, recalcó que enviará una directriz a la bancada del PLN para que se opongan a los proyectos de ley que pretendan legalizar el aborto más allá de la interrupción por prescripción médica del embarazo, que está vigente en el país.

“Lo más importante es que la bancada nuestra, que confío en que va a ser mayoritaria, se oponga a la base de estos proyectos de ley.

“Sí estamos preocupados de que algunos colectivos lésbico-gay en el país sienten que están sufriendo discriminación, que lo hablemos, que veamos por cuál vía se puede mejorar”, expresó.

Luego, la candidata se trasladó a la televisora evangélica canal 31 Cristo Visión, donde recalcó su oposición al matrimonio gay.

En ambos programas, la ministra de Seguridad en la administración Figueres (1994-1998) se expresó en contra de eliminar la palabra Dios de la Constitución Política.

Chinchilla finalizó sus visitas a medios en la emisora católica La Paz del Dial.

Aproximadamente a la 1:15 p. m., la verdiblanca inició su recorrido por la avenida central capitalina, en la esquina del Mercado Central. Allí la esperaba un nutrido grupo de dirigentes que repartió volantes, calcomanías y banderas.

Entre los liberacionistas que aplaudían y vitoreaban a Chinchilla destacó la figura del alcalde Johnny Araya, quien dijo que se había dado “la tarde libre” para apoyar a la verdiblanca.

My Country did not accept me to be married , because i wanted to married same - sex person.
This violate my Human Rights.

i live in bangladesh. now i am in vulnerable position.cz our society dose not take it easy.i dont know my future.our religious people is tremendous.i would like release such type of circumstances.pls give me a good suggetion & help me.i will be highly obligh to you .
best regards

I recently came out as bisexual to my British husband of 6 years. I hail from New York but live permanently now in south west of England with him in a relatively rural location, well outside London, so I have come to expect some relatively provincial attitudes about most things related to gender, sexuality and marriage roles. My husband's response was loving and beautiful and akin to "oh now that explains some things." He was only sad that I took so long to trust him with this and that still lingers between us, unresolved. And though he was raised by middle English parents with some run of the mill and tedious homophobic attitudes (his parents think our gay male nanny is a 'obviously' a child molestor and are entirely blind to the fact that their younger son is quite likely gay), his attitude to my bisexuality is so-far postive and progressive. After making it known to him, though, I slowly started to make it known to friends and colleagues, gay and straight, that while I was happily married with kids, my psychosexual self (for lack of less psychobabbly term) was bisexual. I got every response from neutral acceptance through to encouragement from my gay and lesbian friends, but the straight friends still surprisingly held some seriously old fashioned views. So far none of them have shunned me or seem to direct any overt hostility towards me, but there is a passive aggressive line of questioning that I keep getting. Questions like: "But doesn't that mean you are really just a lesbian and don't want to admit it?" or, "So are you leaving your husband for a woman then?" And my 'favourite': "How can you be bisexual and monogamous?" That seemed to be the prevelent attitude really -- that bisexual either meant a life-long menage with both a man and a woman at once or a life where you could not commit to only one partner. The concept that I was a married, monogamous woman just happy and more content to finally be honest about who I really am was not sufficient. Saying I was bisexual now meant I needed to "do something about it." Again, this is all very new to my friends and husband... but that is what I experienced so far. A set of sadly retrograde questions and the expectation that my ability to be faithful was under scrutiny. I suspect there will be more to come, but for now ... that's it.

My name is Arsham Parsi and I am the founder and Executive Director of Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees. IRQR is an international queer human rights organization based in Canada. We help Iranian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered refugees all over the world. We help when Iranian queers are threatened with deportation back to Iran. We also assist Iranian queers in obtaining asylum in friendly countries. IRQR helps these refugees through the process and, whenever possible, provides funds for safe houses through donations, because most of queer people are not physically safe in their transit country either.
Today, IRQR is the only active NGO that works on behalf of the Iranian queer (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) population around the world. It documents human rights violations, Iranian queer persecution on the basis of their sexual orientation, provides letters of support for Iranian queer asylum seekers and refugees, and supports anti-homophobia/anti-persecution efforts. Its documentation is widely respected for its accuracy and credibility.

Also, I am co-ordinator and cultural ambassador for the Stockholm-based International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network (ILGCN), official member of the Brussels-based International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), the Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad group, and the Berlin-based Advisory Committee of the Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation for LGBT Human Rights. In April, IRanian Queer Organization (IRQO), which was our former organization, was awarded Felipa De Souza Human Rights Award in2008 by the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). In June, I was recognized the Toronto Pride Award for Excellence in Human Rights.

I was born on 20 September, 1980, in Shiraz, Iran. After completing my basic education, I wanted to continue studying veterinary medicine at university; however, financial pressures forced me to stop my studies. While living in Shiraz and after coming to terms with my sexual identity, I began to do what I could, in a careful, discrete way, to help other gay people. Part of this work consisted of helping a doctor and doing research for a study on HIV among local gay and bisexual men. My advocacy work earned me the attention of the Iranian authorities, and I was forced to flee Iran on March 5, 2005, due to well-known fear of persecution for being gay. My train took me first to Turkey, where I was able to register as a refugee at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara. I was one of the fortunate few whose case was actually accepted by the Commissioner. Three months after arriving in Turkey my case was accepted, and two months later I was invited to the Canadian Embassy in Ankara. Eight months later, I arrived in Canada.
I began secretly working for the advancement of civil rights for lesbians and gays in 2001. In 2003, I helped organize a clandestine Yahoo chat group for gay Iranians. We called it Voice Celebration. In total there were 50 participants, making contact with each other and exchanging views on how best to achieve civil rights. What was most striking about these exchanges is that while people were emailing contact information, they were typing under false names, and nobody dared to actually speak out in public under their real names. We all feared arrest, torture and even execution if we were discovered. I am still amazed that, less than three years later, I was asked to speak publicly in Geneva, Switzerland, at the second session of United Nations Human Rights Council, and on the fourth anniversary all international media published articles about Iranian queers.

Though now living safely in a safe country, I still consider myself Iranian and never forget that I am in exile due to my sexual orientation. I consider this a big responsibility. I want to return to a democratic, open Iran, and am working actively to make that dream a reality. As I passed the border out of Iran, I promised myself and my country that I would one day return to a free, open country and until that time would work to achieve that goal. I consider the work I am doing today, as part of IRQR, to be an investment in a brighter tomorrow for all Iranians.

In August 2008, I travelled to Turkey to meet with Iranian LGBT refugees and plead their case with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights located there. As a result of that trip, I concluded that a new organization dedicated exclusively to helping sexual dissidents flee persecution in Iran was necessary. The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and mainly to Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. In Canada, they had their freedom. In the past few years, one of our major activities was with asylum seekers who must escape Iran due to their sexual orientation, and we will continue this work under the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR). We are working to create a simple structure and focus upon supporting Iranian queers to be safe on their journey and to arrive in a new country to live and be free.

I and my organization are now in contact with about 200 queer Iranian refugees currently in limbo and seeking permanent asylum. Many of them are in Turkey, which shares a lengthy border with Iran and where cultural and political homophobia is rampant, while the rest are scattered throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway. Many of them are in the United Kingdom, which has been extremely reluctant to grant permanent asylum to queer Iranian refugees, and where in the last several years two Iranians (Hussein Nasseri and Israfil Shiri) have committed suicide after receiving deportation orders back to certain torture and possible death in Iran. But there are many, many more queer refugees from Iran who haven't yet been in contact with us and who also desperately need help.

One of our goals with the Iranian Queer Organization was to increase the level of awareness about the Iranian queer situation and the horrible persecution that goes on daily in Iran, and to provide a steady stream of information about homosexuality and the transgendered via the Internet into Iran, and I think we've had great success in doing that. But after several years of working with PGLO and IRQO, I had a lot more experience, and it was clear to me we needed a new organization with fresh blood and a structure dedicated solely to helping queer refugees, to help them flee Iran, to support them while they are still in transit countries like Turkey, to assist them in finding their way through the harrowing bureaucratic maze they face in order to gain asylum, and to help them get settled and cope with setting up a new life in gay-friendly countries.

Since being granted asylum in Canada, I have been able to make several international trips to help queer refugees and have built a relationship with other international organizations. I'm so happy I've been able to build a strong relationship with the UNHCR, which is now aware of the Iranian queer situation, and of our organization, and on each of my trips I've been able to secure international refugee protection status for more and more Iranian queer asylum seekers.

I spent many hours listening to Iranian queers’ stories that I am so concerned about their situation and future. My dedication to these refugees is fuelled by my own experience as an exile in Turkey. It was the hardest experience in my life to suddenly find myself in an unexpected situation in a hostile country without money, with no personal safety or security for 13 months. I cannot forget the day in Turkey when I was walking with Amir, another gay refugee who had been tortured and flogged in Iran. We were chased in the street by a homophobic crowd, which beat us hard and tried to kill us. Nobody helped. There were no police who came to our assistance and people were just standing around watching as we were beaten simply for being gay refugees in their country. I'll never forget my refugee life in Turkey, and that's why I've decided to dedicate myself exclusively to making queer refugees' process as short as possible and to help them get to freedom in gay-friendly countries.

Martin Luther King, in one of his historic speeches in 1963, said “I have a dream”. On the 17th of May, the International Day against Homophobia, in Chicago, I, Arsham Parsi, a queer activist who must live in exile said “I have a dream, too.” My dream is that one day the rights of all queers will be recognized and respected. That one day no one will be executed, tortured, arrested, imprisoned, isolated by society or disowned by their family and community for being queer, a day when our sexual orientation will not deprive us of our rights. That is my wish for me for all those who can not speak for themselves. Although they have not chosen me as their voice, I declare this dream of mine, and I will repeat it and I’ll hope to one day achieve this dream of mine.

My name is sam. im 17 years old. I am freely Bisexual. i have a boyfriend, but i still like girls,, he has no problem with it. he just doesnt want to know that a girl can take me awa from him. i think its wrong for him to say something like that becasue i love him, but i like girls too. sometimes idk what to do. my dad doesnt like me being bisexual because im an embarrasment to him. but my mom loves me no matter what. i think the only real reason why i am the way that i am is because i was raised by 3 gay cousins. i love them to death. but sometimes ppl think that my brother might be gay and its wrong. everyday i walk around like i have a cement block on my head because i dont know the answers to myself. im stuck in a little box because no one wants to hear me out. and this is the only way i see out of that box...

I am HIV positive person and I live in Zagreb. My family registered doctor does not know about my HIV status, that is why there is special institution that take care of HIV positive persons. Health care is good, the doctor for HIV treatments is really good. If I have other problems, I dont go to my family doctor but to him, so this protect me from many misunderstandings with other clinics and doctors.

The problem is, that I should start to take a pills. Doctor told me that we still do not have that kind of pills (that treat HIV and Hepatitis B) that would be good for me. Probably Croatia bought only cheap one, that are not so perfect for me. I hope I will be able to move to Germany soon to have complete and the best medical care as possible. Thank you.

My story isn't a complete story yet. Officially, at italian Anagraphic Office, I'm a girl born in 1989. My body has shown me that I am intersexual; I don't think semen pollution is normal for young women. More on, in the last year my body is changing; something is developing and growing out where it wasn't before. I never had a diagnosis or medical help for this issue; I know that if I try to catch the attention of doctors, simply telling them "I think I'm intersexual" the more they will do will be sending me to a psychiatrist, specialized in people who don't want to recognise themselves. I don't think one of them will believe me. In Italy, as far as I know, there isn't any active association who helps intersexual people on the ground of medical help and assistance, neither in the legal and social one. My story is simply that I don't have a story; I don't have where to start it. Just to say, if I am a man, and if my semen is fertile, if in any way I can be the father of my son, I already know whose mother son's father I will be. This is a good reason for going on fighting, for she, for me, for our baby. Hope to send you another story, complete, the sooner possible...

My boyfriend and myself came down driving from Miami Beach to this lovely place Key West. We are 2 guys from Switzerland and visiting Florida for a month. We had a wonderful and friendly welcome at the b&b; we are staying in, there were other people talking to us, really nice. But unfortunately we have the impression that some people on this island (which has the reputation of being very gay friendly) are not that gay friendly any more. 
Our first experience was on Islamorada when we entered a restaurant a guy said "oh these are not the first homos we see here..." and then he left.
In the evening we sat at a bar by the Marina and the guy next to us said to the barkeeper loud enough for us to hear it: "the 2 fruits next to us are talking swedish", we were actually talking swiss german and we were dressed in a normal way wearing jeans and a shirt. Then going to a restaurant at the harbour the waitress and the people at a neighbour table laughed at us because we ordered some mineral water (we know it's very european to do that, we don't like the icy water served normally, so what?).
Up to that moment  we thougt we have been unlucky and those guys just were some uncultivated tourists travelling down from more conservative parts of the country (Mrs. Palin says hello).
Last night we were at a more upper class restaurant essentially frequented by locals where we met a women from our b&b; with whom we had a nice conversation. We left half an hour after her and a guy from a neighbour table said "ok see you later guys..." and the whole table laughed at us.
All this experiences spoiled a bit our stay on Key West as everyone can easily understand.
We could have answered those guys of course, but in such a situation one is overwhelmed and not capable of saying anything, especially in a foreign language.
But we will come back to Key West, because we do not accept to let us turn away by other people's disrespectful comments.

Appeal Italian boys: 16° days hunger strike for the acknowledgment of homosexual wedding.

Hello,
My name is Valentina Vandilli from Rome,
I’m an Italian lesbian who has decided to act in first person in the fight for rights, believing that direct participation is essential.

I would like inform about the case of Manuel and Francesco, two gay men of Savona who have decided to do a hunger strike from January 4 to request the scheduling of a law on civil marriage in Italy.

Italian media gave little attention to an initiative such blatant obscuring literally a couple who have decided to put to the corner Italian politics fasting until MPs agree to consider one of the dozens of laws that lie in Parliament for the recognition of marriages between persons of the same sex.

This would be an important step to begin to ensure to all the citizens the fundamental principle of equality and equal social status, as stipulated in our Constitution, enshrining the right to register their union, regardless of their sex and their sexual orientation.

Finally, I think that striving for such recognition is an affirmation of freedom to all those who share aspirations inclusive, secular and based on equal rights, fighting against all forms of prejudice, exclusion or discrimination, the same as the Charter of Fundamental Rights’ European Union prohibits in any form!

I invitate you to take acquaintance of the event, reading the article attached (link) and also published on my site, and to spread it more wide possible!

Thank you for the help.

You found the full story and the documents here: http://www.blog-show.com/vandilli/?p=349

Valentina Vandilli
gayhungerstike@gmail.com

I am a lesbian, living in Guyana but find it hard to be with the one i love because of what people think about it. I have had it with what people think, this is about me and my happiness so i will be with her and i will prove that it is not about SEX but rather matters of the HEART. I am truly in LOVE with her and i will have her dispite what people think because at the end of the day they dont care about me or my happiness. I choose to be happy and this is what makes me happy.

I lived now over a year in China. The following issues affected me:

Discrimination in housing
A few weeks having moved to a flat in Beijing, the landlord gave us notice to vacate the flat. Among other reasons stated, one was that me and my husband were seen giving each other a kiss on the CCTV camera for the building's lift. Neighbours would have complained about that.
There is no legal law to protect from this discrimination. While looking for a new place to live, we we about to rent a flat but when the landlady came to know we were going to share a double bed, she refused us suddenly without reasons. For our current tenancy we pretend to sleep in different bedrooms.

Discrimination in immigration
I am a student at a university in Beijing and therefore am granted a student visa with a full residence permit for one year. My husband came with me to China to find a job but had issues getting a visa. People with student visas are allowed to have their spouses registered as accompanying family members. We tried to apply for such a visa for him and issued the marriage certificate from the UK but were refused on the grounds that same-sex marriages are not recognized.

hi to all, iam Bernard castillo 21 years of age. there are so many things in this world that are quite difficult i manage to be raised in a community. who are against gay. allow me to start my story when i was still 6 years old back then no father because i was being raised by my mother alone. before there are 3 questions running in my mind where is my father? do i have a father? when could i see him. in the early days of my life i manage to be away from others coz iam an adopted by my mother . whenever i saw her doing those retouch it seems like i somehow acquire it somehow i had some confusios inside my heart what to express.where to be what to ? what will happen to me if i continue being like this . some judge me saying isnt it an abnormality they even mangae to belittle my capabilities, talents , intellectual capacity,strenght in doing little chores. i somehow ask myself why does this world put me in a cage of being punish by burning words of insults noticing that iam not doing any bad to them nor even doing anything to oppose them. guys it was so painfull, hard is this the way we should live ?i stromgly believe like others we all have the right to be normal be treated to be an ordinary person on the next door. stand high guys because in leaping can gather and in hard work we could achieve what we want.i may not be a good english speaker i could even express my real feelings but if you guys are interested knowing me feel free to check my facebook and yahoo messenger pls bare me time coz iam so feeling bitten up by blues arrising XXXX or XXXXXXX or XXXXXXXX pls

Recently in Kyiv Ukraine's LGBT community has held the final forum of the passing 2009 year, telling to the audience about its rises and falls and plans in the forthcoming 2010, reports www.ugay.ru. Its participants represented all regions of Ukraine and autonomous Crimean Republic. This event had financial support of Int'l Alliance against HIV/AIDS representative Office to Ukraine.

That forum summed up the results of Ukrainian LGBT NGO's activities in the passing year, including the data obtained from the three major researches conducted – on same-sex partnerships; on HIV prevalence among Ukraine's MSM (MSM – men practising sex with other men); on MSM needs in social and medical services.

“In some countries of the West men practising sex with other men are the main HIV risk group. In our country that way is the third on the list of HIV positive cases. The supposed stabilization of HIV spreading among gay and bisexual men tied up with improved during the last two years knowledge about ways of becoming HIV positive, enlarging field of preventive programmes and more sensitive HIV testing equipment could confirm the effectiveness of our job”, reported Inna Schwab (IAAIDS's specialist for Ukraine).

“The 2009 was fruitful for us in many ways, - noted Laima Gaydar, the head of “Women's Network” (a feminist-lesbian organization) - first, Ukraine's LGBT Network became stronger, there are 21 registered LGBT organizations and more than 20 informal unions of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, 25 HIV testing and caring outlets that give social and medical services for people who prefer same-sex relations. Second, we detect the rise of tolerance toward homosexual people among political leaders of Ukraine and third – the level of anti-gay rhetoric of religious organizations significantly decreased. The negative side is the rise of anti-gay crime and gay-hate terror from ultra-conservative groups on the ground of hatred to homosexual citizens”.

“In 2009 the scope of UN agencies work in Ukraine with LGBT community has significantly increased”, said Zoryan Kys, a consultant of the HIV/AIDS department of UNDP Office to Ukraine. Svyatoslav Sheremet, the leader of Ukraine's Gay Forum summed up that in 2010 year he would be looking for positive political shifts toward LGBT community from the authorities elected. “Civil equality for all is our goal”, he stressed.

For reference: On September 22nd, 2009, the members of the Ukrainian gay movement unveiled a Resistance Plan for counter discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, consisting of 109 planks to be fulfilled by the elected Ukrainian authorities.

http://english.gay.ru/news/rainbow/2009/12/25-17095.htm

I AM PERSECUTED I SEEK REFUGE TO THE FREE WORLD. I AM 35 YEARS OLD MAN,i feel a big pressure on me,i am forced to get married,humiliated,segregation,homophobia,please help me .i think seriously to commit suicide.

I really don't understand the way some people believe they have the power to decide who deserves the right to get married, and who doesn't.
Being straight doesn't make you a moral and perfect citizen, nor assures you that your marriage will last forever, or whether you will raise your children properly or not.
If that was true, there wouldn't exist divorces, or family abuse, because straight people would always defend family values and cohesion within society. I guess I don't need to explain that's absurd.
I have never heard about societies that collapsed because of a sexual revolution. I dont' think Mayans dissappeared becuase they legalised gay marriage, or maybe Romans collapsed because they tended to organize orgies, am I right?
The only thing I can agree with you, is that feelings are the only requirement people should have to get married. If a man and a woman who love each other can marry so easily in a small Chapel in Las Vegas (oh, what a nice way to honor the sacred definition of marriage!), why can't gay couples do that?
I don't understand the fact that marriage can be put on jeopardy by gay couples... throughout History there has been (and it still exist) polygamy and family marriages between members of royalty. However, I don´t see anyone complain about it.
So let's be sincere on this: gay marriage won't put on risk families, because straight people will continue to get married and they will also have children!

We are pleased to announce the release of LES Online - Digital journal on lesbian issues, available at http://www.lespt.org/lesonline.
LES is an online digital journal which aims to promote studies and scientific research as well as intervention projects and opinion pieces related to different aspects of lesbian issues. This journal pretends to contribute to the study of lesbian issues and to promote actions that improve lesbian equal opportunities and civil rights.
The first issue Vol. 1, No 1 (2009) tries to answer the question:
Lesbian issues are often addressed within the framework of feminist or LGBT issues. Are there specific aspects relating lesbian issues that are not visible when using a feminist or LGBT frameworks that justify a specific approach?

Articles:
Editorial (português) / Editorial (english)
Da INTERvenção à INTRAvenção: pistas para um activismo lésbico-feminista | Clues to a lesbian-feminist activism
Salomé Coelho, Cristiana Pena

Lesbianismo, Feminismo e Activismo Gay: alianças difíceis | Lesbianism, Feminism, and Gay Activism: Difficult Alliances
Ana Maria Brandão

Um nome que seja só seu – para uma cartografia da (in)visibilidade política lésbica | A name of their own - for a mapping of lesbian policy (in) visibility
Ana Cristina Santos

Reflexões sobre a questão lésbica | Reflections on the lesbian issue
Paulo Roberto Ceccarelli

La construcción del sujeto lésbico | The construction of the lesbian subject
Raquel Platero

Lesbian movements: ruptures & alliances | Movimentos Lésbicos: rupturas e alianças
Patricia Curzi

Submissions of articles for LES Online n. 2 are open. Articles should be submitted until 16 May 2010. They can be sent through the site (see instructions For Authors), or sent by mail to lesgrupo@gmail.com. The expected publication date is June 2010.
Best regards,
Eduarda Ferreira
LES Online Editorial Team

My Lived experiance relates to Intersex.
Please change your selection box to Intersex . Intersex individuals are not Intersexual!
In your what does your experiance relate to you need to have an Intersex box if you wish to have your organisation include Intersex stories and be inclusive of Intersex.

I understand you are doing this with good intentions however these kind of omissions give the impression Intersex is inclusion is windowressing

Gina Wilson OII Australia

Would you be willing to list this site in your resource section?
LGBT Immigration Stories - A Collective Wisdom
http://lgbtculture.wordpress.com/

Thank You
Beau Williams

When we (male-male couple, plus two boys, whom we have been co-parenting since their birth - at that time they were in secondary school) visited México, we thought that arrangements in hotels might be more difficult than we had experienced in Europe on previous holidays. Two adult men, two boys, four different family names.
But probably because it was so obvious that we were a family, no-one ever asked any question. Thanks for non-discriminating hospitality, Mexicans!

In the Netherlands, marriages can be between two people of the opposite sex or of the same sex. The majority of the people support this legal change. But some people don't. And some of those people have a orthodox christian background.
This has caused a problem because some of those orthodox christian people have position as civil servants, and are people who perform the wedding ceremony on behalf of the state. Among the civil servants (working for the local governments) there are some who refuse to perform a wedding between two people of the same sex.
The current government's position is that this is no problem: as long as a local government can provide at least one civil servant who can "do the same-sex marriages".
RozeLinks thinks that civil servants should not discriminate, and that at least applicants for a civil servant position in which they might have to marry people. should not be hired if they want to restrict their services to opposite-sex couples. But with two christian parties in a government coalition (together with social democrats) it is impossible to take steps against "refusing civil servants".

THE OTHER FACE OF ETHIOPIA

Like other oppressive homophobic governments & society homosexuality remains illegal & totally taboo in Ethiopia. Ethiopia's government took a strong move to ban same-sex relationship even between consensual same sex adult in the criminal & penal code of the country chapter 600/601 from 5-10 years hard imprisonment. Any acts of showing this behavior will end in imprisonment with sever corporal punishment & torture. This in turn violate Ethiopia’s own Constitution and the analogous provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (i.e. articles 2, 3, 11, and 28) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (i.e. articles 2, 18, 19, 21, 22, and 26).The legislators called homosexuality an affront to Christianity and Islam. Since, this sexual orientation does not conform to the legendary tale & primitive ideology of ultraconservative society; gays & lesbians of Ethiopia prefer to live hidden behind the curtains with lack of confidence & constant fear. Ethiopia has an ever growing gay & lesbian's population from time to time; the society thinks homosexuality as a western influence (foreign import) & inexcusable sin. Therefore, gays & lesbians of Ethiopia are suffering a lot from the government's hostility. Stigma, violence, discrimination, hatred, disrespect, intimidation, abuse, harassment, negative attitude, economic deprivation social injustice, kangaroo court trial, extra-judicial killing & even worse murder. The refusal of the Ethiopian governments to address violence committed against LGBT people creates a culture of impunity where such abuses can continue and escalate unmitigated. Often, such abuses are committed by the state authorities themselves, with legal sanction. Human rights abuses based on sexual orientation in Ethiopia violates the fundamental tenets of international human rights law which is signed & ratified by the Ethiopian government; the infliction of torture and cruel inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 5); arbitrary detention on grounds of identity or beliefs (Article 9); the restriction of freedom of association (Article 20) and the denial of the basic rights of due process of law. The Ethiopian government has an obligation to promote and protect the human rights of its population without distinction of any kind, including sexual orientation or gender identity. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Ethiopia is required to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights of all people regardless of their sexual orientation.
In Ethiopia, if some one is discovered or even suspected to be gay, no one will shake his hand; they want you to be burned in the ever-lasting flame. Many gays & lesbians of Ethiopia have committed suicide & flee out of their country in response to this & they still fear for their lives back in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian gays, lesbians, bisexual & transgender community based human right organization is established in 2007 on the aim of engaging in the areas of advocacy, relief & development for the sexual minorities of Ethiopian & Ethiopian origin, demanding & safeguarding sexual freedom in Ethiopia.We are working hard & tirelessly for the acknowledgment by the Ethiopian government & the international human rights community but the reaction of the Ethiopian government was discouraging & they told us to emigrate only for our difference in sexual orientation. As a steering committee of organization we are responsible for generating a peaceful storm of publicity about Ethiopian gays, lesbians, bisexual & Trans gender peoples sexual freedom all over Ethiopia but no way to accomplish this because the government is putting obstacles not to give press conference, no gay summit pride parade; we are surrounded by the government security forces in every step we make. We face on our day to day life a massive arrest, corporal punishment,detention,torture,forced disappearances, structural economic deprivation,inhman/degrading punishment, extra judicial killings,& other forms of government sponsored human right abuses on Ethiopian sexual community members who live in Addis especially on selectively targeted HR activists. Particularly these form of HR abuse are practiced commonly by the law enforcement officers & if the abuse is in prison it is also assisted by other inmate prisoners. We will send you if you need extra detailed information we can send you the state very inhuman & rampant human right abuse report.
We strongly believe that we don't have to get a majority of the population on our side to enjoy our basic human rights; a civil right does not depend on a majority approval to be exercised. Recently, we have started some grass root activities for the acknowledgment, understanding, & legalization of sexual freedom of gay & lesbians in Ethiopia. ESMCBO urgently need the helping hand of all International human right actors to work with us in partnership/collaboration of any means to achieve the planned projects of Ethiopian LGBT community to bring the desired human right & social justice for those who are victimized, traumatized, oppressed & stigmatized. We are also lobbying UN higher commission on human right & UN Human Rights Council to influence the Ethiopian government to abide by the Article 16, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which stipulates;
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Ensure that all allegations and reports of human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity are promptly and impartially investigated and perpetrators held accountable and brought to justice;
3•Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to prohibit and eliminate prejudicial treatment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity at every stage of the administration of justice;
4. Ensure adequate protection of human rights defenders at risk because of their work on human rights and sexual orientation and gender identity. We urgently need the recognition & assistance of all international human right actors to change the current unacceptable & oppressive situation in Ethiopia.
e.mail us;to esma2007@activist.com
Visit our web;www.esma2007.webs.com
ESMCBO Executive committee

China has opened its first government-funded gay bar! See http://www.cdeclips.com/en/nation/fullstory.html?id=36003

As gay tourist in a foreign country you always try to prepare your trip ahead, just to get the best out of it.
About the gay & lesbian life in Romania is not much known but I could find a site that provides basic gay tourist information about Romania, respectively www.gayromania.ro.
I hope you'll find it usefula s well.

The First All-Russian Gay Infrastructure to be launched in St.-Petersburg in December 2009

We kindly invite you to the press conference to be held on Friday, the 11th of December 2009 at 12.00 on the occasion of the launch of “Tao Zone” All-Russian LGBT Area. The press-conference will be followed by a buffet.
Where: St.-Petersburg, Russia. Moscovsky prospect, 109 building 3
Map (please print out the map to make sure you will find the place): attached

A brand-new LGBT network “Tao Zone”(«Зона Дао») is to be open in St. Petersburg, Russia in December 2009. It was founded by Marina Inyakina and Maria Faivisovich. They recently were successful executives with ambitious career plans. Something changed at the beginning of 2009 when they met to move from Moscow to St.-Petersburg and start their own project.
Now their ambitious aim is to create a unique infrastructure for gay community as well as comprehensive support for homosexuals from all over Russia.
It’s commonly known, that there are no gay people in Russia. The society is so kind to be blind when they just live “somewhere” and do not “expose” their way of life. Well, that’s ok for an average person to be saved by a gay resuscitation specialist, and the next day he or she will be “tolerant” (that is, pass by and not recognize the savior and his same-sex partner holding hands). It’s fine for the government to be paid taxes by a gay top-manager, but how dares he to apply for the social partnership with his long-term partner or for any rights arising from such a partnership?

A gay person in Russia is suppressed by the society and is subject to guilt, shame and reservedness. These three cornerstones are not the best ones to establish a community. But Marina and Maria made up their mind to sell out almost everything they possessed to change the situation. It is not so unusual to invest money in your own business in case you are 100% sure you will gain, but the owners of “Tao Zone” cannot be so sure. Their audience can be described as “upper-lower to middle class”. There is no trace of luxury in “Tao Zone”, everything is as simple as it could possibly be. Marina and Maria intend to create a gay-oriented infrastructure, which includes a night club, yoga and dance school, English lessons, psychological support, business network (recruitment and socialization in a new business environment for homosexuals) a bookstore, a fitness recreation studio and a mini hotel for queers who are short of money. The two ladies set up their risky project in a 170 sq.m. premises within a walking distance from “Moskovskie Vorota” metro station. The renovation was made completely by themselves with the help of several volunteers. They will launch the nigh club first to proceed with the yoga school and dance school. Marina and Maria are in need of those who share their ideas, but in the end they are ready to make the most difficult job, and like-minded people will join.


Please RSVP to Marina Inyakina dao@daodao.ru, +7 (950) 003-7147, +7 (950) 003-7142

Once upon a time, I dedided to visit a psychologist, having the feeling I am lesbian but I never admited or at least accept it personally.So here I went expressing my self to my brave psychotherapist, she actually knew I am lesbian,once she told me, I refused the idea becuase of my religion view point.After a while I was struglling with my friend that I fell in love with her. Expressing my feelings to my sister, I came out,here she surprised me by saying I accept you as you are.My sister than gave me a push to admite to my psychologist that yes I believe I am a lesbian. My psychologist immediatly replied by it's NOT a sin,a sickness, or smoething wrong. I began to work on my slef to acccpet the idea, but couldn't solve my religious view point. So here comes my smart psychologist by saying:" I asked an open minded prest and he said it's not a sin." I started anylizing things in my mind, and asking my self is it really not a sin according to my religion?I decided to go to an open minded preset, so i aksed him:"Is homosexuality a sin?" He replied by NO it's NOT.The church used to believe homosexuality is victims, now they think it's normal, but according to the churh the pupose between starights is to produce a baby, so they are still asking themselves what is the purpose between homosexuals? So here I need to find the answer until they find there too.The problem in christins is, people used to say that homosexuality accroding to christianity is a sin, because everything people believe in, they through it into religion and say Christianity say it's a sin eventhough Christianity NEVER said this, but TRADITION say this.Finally, I accept it the idea more, and believed more that yes homosexuality IS NOT A SIN ACCRODING TO CHRISTIANITY. I am very proud to be who I am whether I am a lesbian or whatever I am.