Madagascar has no law against homosexuality, however the age of consent for same-sex intercourse is different of that of heterosexual relations (21yrs vs 16yrs).
Despite this, homophobia is still very present in the general population which consist largely of low or non educated very poor people viewing homosexuality as a "fady", a "forbidden" state of things. At best it is ignored, shunned and not recognised, homosexuals are often married with children and have hidden intercourse. At worst it is despised and homosexuals are banned from society.
Police forces play a large role in this state of things as well, not paying attention to the fact that homosexuality is not against the law.

I'm a openly homosexual male, currently studying to become a teacher (ages 16-19) in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. I have been adviced by other students to not make my sexual orientation public in my profession.
I feel that teachers are seen as heterosexual until proven otherwise. Does that meen I need to go back into the closet as long as I'm a teacher? I want to be free to say things like: "I was discussing the topic of corrective eye surgery with my boyfriend last week and he told me that..." and not having it be a big deal (which it is as long as teachers are kept in the closet.

Making Our Struggles Visible: Advances in LGBTI rights demand courage and solidarity

These weeks of early spring 2013 gay rights have made the headlines in newspapers across the globe. Equal marriage bill is being debated in United States, Brazil, Colombia and Finland.
12 countries have granted the equal right to marry to same-sex couples after Uruguay's decision to legalise same-sex marriage. Earlier this week the French national assembly approved "Marriage to all" bill increasing expectations of equal marriage.

At the dawn of a brighter future, I was reminded of the importance of providing media coverage to these advances; for worldwide the battle for equality is nowhere near to be finished. LGBTI rights are a question of survival and a pending human rights issue. I will share you a story which happened to me this late March in 2013. The event took place on diplomatic grounds in Finland, hence, beyond the reach of local anti-discrimination measures.

I had written a solid application for a job, and was soon called for a round of interviews. I made it to the last stage. At first it seemed very promising. I was being congratulated for an excellent application, my broad experience and language skills. Soon the awkward question popped up: "Are you married?" I answered simply "No, I am not." This led my high-ranking interviewer onto the follow-up: 螯覚 you have a boyfriend?The seemingly obvious response "Yes, I am in a relationship" did not occur at that instant. Instead, I opted for the gender-neutral choice "Yes, I have a life partner." My interviewer got slightly confused. After confusing the pronouns him/her in his speech, he looked at me and said: "So, you do have a boyfriend or what?" Feeling puzzled about what my relationship actually had to do with the position in question, I decided to be frank and not lie about who I am. He had, in fact, asked me a straight-forward question and deserved an honest response: "I have a girlfriend", I said.

From there on, my interview turned into an odd quiz about [my] sexual orientation. Despite my ongoing efforts to steer the conversation back into the topic, my experience and professional strengths, I found myself with no resorts. Over the next 45 minutes, I was directed with questions that ranged from the age in which I had discovered my orientation (if I knew what was meant with it) to the citizenship and life interests of my girlfriend, and further along to whether I had preferred female or male teachers, if I got along with people regardless their gender, if I held grudge against some women, and which one of us two was the dominating one in the relationship.

My interviewer kept on assuring me that my sexual orientation was not a decisive factor. Yet, in the midst of it, I was never given the chance to defend myself for the job. Somehow, my private life had become the factor that defined me as a professional. I could have interrupted him. But I knew that this was a well-educated bigot who was not going to offer me the job. Instead, this was my chance to set some miss-guided presumptions straight.

This experience forced me to ask myself a question, pondered by many others before me: where should we draw the limit between acting professional and being political? How far can we go in respecting our privacy? Can we actually afford to stay quiet?

I am someone who considers private life private. I firmly believe that our personal lives should have no bearing over how we are perceived as professionals. That it is no concern of our employer's with whom we share our lives. I also think that office hours are office hours, and that personal issues are best left outside. However, we are social beings and sooner or later one of your colleagues will want to know a bit more about you. Then if an acquaintance assumes you straight, is it alright for us to stay quiet?

Recent evidence in United States shows that people seem more willing to support equal right to marriage if they know personally someone who is gay. I know this. Still, I am ashamed to confess that I have confided in separating the private from the public and hidden behind my deceiving appearance as a straight woman. Twice have I found myself cornered up and closeted at work. This has made me feel like a liar and a cheat. It has really made me question my values and beliefs, for I know that the advances in LGBTI rights have come about because ordinary people have had the courage to stand up and fight. I know that if we want to improve our status as equal, worthy and capable citizens and professionals, we must make our lives and battles visible. We must turn the private into public.

In contrast to the 12 countries with equal right to marriage, a third of the countries world-wide consider homosexuality a crime. In nine countries it is punishable by death. Many others have approved anti-discrimination measures to varying degree. No matter which end of the spectrum, there are no guarantees that we are not discriminated against.

My story is not unique. Around the world people are killed, attacked, harassed, bullied and many are at risk of losing their work because of their sexual orientation or gender. The denial of equal rights and the lack of effective anti-discrimination measures threaten the lives and livelihoods of many people like me. Being outspoken probably cost me the job. Paradoxically, it made me more determined to make my life count. I was reminded that LGBTI rights are human rights. They are a global issue. And that advances towards equality can be achieved only through tremendous acts of courage and solidarity.

the following is my friend Tom's story, in his own words

I committed statutory rape with a 15-year old male when I was 51. He was my student. I loved and love him whole-heartedly and completely, and promised him unconditional love, long before any sex took place. Human behavior is complicated and has many varieties. This is an unusual story. The government told a cartoon story with broad strokes of black and white.

I was imprisoned without bond, and had my freedom of speech taken away before I had been convicted of any crime. Newspapers printed government press releases without any checking of any facts. If necessary, I will submit to a polygraph on any statement I make, from any independent administrator. Ask those who contradict my statements if they will do the same. If a statement was proved by evidence or the victim's statements, I will put (P). I have discovered that the police falsify information, and distort and manipulate facts and testimony. My belief in the United States has been shaken.

The young man, a South American adopted into an Orthodox Jewish family, was cutting himself in September of 2009 when we met. He told me it was from the frustration with his home life, and not being allowed to be Latino or social, and being forced to observe a religion he found oppressive. He said one sister attacked him physically several times. He is a remarkable, bright, witty, and kind human being, with a fierce urge for freedom. I found him to be extraordinary. He came to see me most days, even more often after he was warned by his parents that I was homosexual, I found out later.(P) He brought a chess board in for lunches when he found out I played chess. We talked about history, religion, politics, psychology. He eventually he told me about the cutting.

I called his father, talked to the rabbis, called a psychologist, put him in touch with a former student with whom I thought he might click (heterosexual), gave him a copy of The Road Less Travelled, the best book I thought on how one gets happy. He kept cutting. I was frantic to help. I promised to love him unconditionally, forever. We loved talking, and I hoped I could make up whatever he lacked. I promised to do anything in my power to help him be happy. I sent him affirmation texts. (Know you are loved, you are great as you are, say "I am a wonderful person," etc.)

Some months later, on the phone, he said we should have sex. I told him that was a "really bad idea."

Some time later, he said he was playing tennis next to my building, and he would come by to work on a project. He came up, and said he was not there to work on the project, but to have sex. I tried to talk him out of it. (P) I said I could love him without sex. (P) He said I didn't have to. I said he did not owe me sex for love. He said he knew he did not owe, he wanted it, and he said I did too. I said sex was not that important, that he should not ask such a thing just for sex. He said it was for true love, that we were soul mates, we would be together forever. I said if we were soul mates then, we would be so in a few years. He said, true, but since we were we did not have to wait. Many times, he said he needed it to live. He confirmed at trial that he believed that. (P) He believed he loved me and that I loved him. (P) I said he should be with someone his age. He said he was attracted to older men. (P) I said everyone would assume it was my fault when it came out (even years later if we were together). He said he would tell them he picked me, and besides, we would be together. He said he had known what he wanted for a long time. He said such things happened all the time. Nothing happened that day (Feb,. 13 2010) We agreed to work it out. The conversation continued the next day with many more reasons for no on my part. He finally said if it was not me, it would be some other older white guy. (P) I agreed on February 14.

I have tried to be a good person my whole life. I try not to manipulate people. I love people without sex; sex and love are not the same thing. I do not even like to have sex with someone drunk, even a boyfriend because of the consent issue. I have always tried to tell the truth. Even in teaching, I would tell students the reason I was doing something (quizzes are designed to force you to read, etc.) I have tried to help the outcasts, with chess and theater. Many students said I saved lives, saved souls.

No combination of things could have made me give in like those. I had to save the life of someone I loved, a soul mate with love so true that 35 years made no difference, and if I didn't do it he would go do it somewhere else. I justified it by saving his life, not denying true love, and protecting him from those who did not love him. It was clearly wrong, but has anyone been subject to such arguments in such a situation? He said, trust me, believe me.

I thought that rejection just might kill him. I thought he wanted to be trusted and believed. I rationalized that the release of sex with someone he loved might stop the cutting. I let myself believe. He said in a statement later he did it for power and control. (P) The cutting stopped for four months until another fight with his sister.

Once I agreed I did whatever I could to make him happy. He was very advanced sexually. He claimed that I was the first, but close examination of his statement excluded from trial makes that claim dubious. He wanted to try light bondage and spanking. I always did what he asked. The prosecutor loved to say "penetrated with objects." I was the far more often penetrated. Everything done was done mutually. He was very happy, almost giddy. Only he could arrange meeting times. I came when he called, and did what he asked. He estimated 50 to 60 times in 5 months. The frequency with which he chose should have been proof of a loving if wrong relationship; I had no ability to arrange to see him. The schedule was his. He repeatedly texted and told me "You saved my life."

I had to move to Virginia to make more money. He said he wanted us to be together, so I remained faithful. I saw him that Christmas break, once, and it was clear he was no longer interested. He had been sleeping with a number of other older men. (P This is factual from his statements, not speculation.) I did not know that until my arrest. He called me to officially end the relationship in January. I was heart-broken, but I never raised his vow of eternal love. I tried to continue loving him as a friend. We soon emailed, and I never asked to renew the sexual relationship. I offered to be a best friend (my choice) or never talk to him if that was what he needed. (P) His emails say things like "Thank you...for everything," and "Not worry about you? Not possible." The emails are available.

He broke contact in early June of 2011. I heard by email from someone claiming to be him in October of that year, but it was not him. I denied the sex, thinking it was his family. I promised to do anything to help him if HE asked, and ended contact with the impostor. It was a Florida law enforcement agent. That was my first offer to turn myself in.

He got in trouble for his sexual contact with men. He refused to cooperate with police. (P) He was locked in psychological facilities for a year. He was brainwashed into changing the facts of what happened, (P) and his attitude was reversed. As far as I can tell, he was locked up for being actively gay. He was 17 for most of that time. In May 2012 he cooperated with police, and contacted me. When he called, I said I was ready to come tell the truth if that was what he needed. My second offer. He said he wanted me to come see him (reversed by police) and that he could not wait until he was 18. (P) I was confused by his previous rejection and now reversal. The policeman, as the young man, sent me sexually suggestive texts and emails, begging for me to renew the relationship, and made me promise to say something on the phone. It was the young man on the phone. I promised, and the young man initiated phone sex at the behest of the police. (P) I tried to decline; he said he had "needs." (P) I came to Florida and was arrested, after telling him twice more on the phone I would come and tell the truth. He was three months away from his 18th birthday at this point. The federal age of consent is 16, but they charged me under the Florida age of 18, but using a federal charge that carried a sentence of 10 to life.

The young man's police statement on which the indictment was based was largely disproved at trial. (P) The federal government charged me under an internet predator law, convinced that there were other victims. The police directed or suggested the false testimony. (P) They said I showed him child porn, which makes no sense. This was dismissed on sentencing, but they used it twice in trial to disgust the jury. They kept hinting at trial and sentencing about other victims, who do not exist, in spite of running a hotline number that was carried in the US and England. I find men from the age of maturity to 30ish more attractive sexually than older men, though not exclusively. Do heterosexuals do this as well? Does a 50 year old heterosexual fantasize about 50 year-ld women? I tried NOT to see students outside of school. I would never seduce anyone; the greatest attraction for me is someone's desire for me.

When the other victims did not appear, they brought in the FBI grooming expert to say I groomed him, since the evidence of persuading, enticing, inducing or coercing was slim. No grooming scenario exists in which the "groomer" waits for the "victim" to ask for sex, and then tries to dissuade the "victim." As unlikely as my story sounds, at trial he admitted that he, not I, proposed sex, that I tried to talk him out of it (and thus he talked me into it), that he BELIEVED he needed it to live, that I said I could love him without sex, and that he said he would find another older white guy if I said no. He AFFIRMED these at trial.

The interpretation of the law for induce as "cause" is to "allow to happen," when it should mean force. Under this absurd reading, this law has a LOWER threshold of guilt than statutory rape; a text message saying "OK, I will pick you up," would convict, without any contact. If every gay teen who texted an older lover were to be found in South Florida, there would be an army in prison. Statutory rape under federal guidelines carries a 41-51 month sentence. I was given 200 months under the persuasion statute. I had offered to plead guilty to statutory rape and it was rejected; they blamed me at sentencing for putting him through the trial.

Most heterosexual women in the same situation are sentenced to probation to two years. The application of this statute was arbitrary and unequal. The prosecutor announced to the jury that he granted that the "sex was consensual." The age of consent in Israel is 15, so in that civilized a country I would not even have committed a crime at all. The rich are sued for this. Where is the moral fairness?

Why was I prosecuted this way? Conservative politics and homosexuality. The family is Orthodox Jewish, the investigator who fashioned the testimony is Catholic, the prosecutor is Republican, and the judge voted for Rick Santorum.

I believed saving his life, or both of us believing it, would mitigate the statutory rape charge. I believed telling the truth and offering to turn myself in would mitigate. Telling the truth was the worst thing I could have done. Had I denied him when he called, and lied, nothing would have happened. I tried to be honest; rejecting him seemed to violate my vow of love.

I do not "blame" him for sleeping with other men. I do not love him less. I would have done anything for his happiness. I would have gladly NOT slept with him. I rationalized that I was being courageous to save his life and risk my own. I felt he was testing to see if my vow of eternal, unconditional love was real. He convinced me we were breaking convention for our mutual happiness. I thought I could serve some years to save him. If it truly saved his life, I wish I could say that knowing what I do now, I would still have been loyal enough to say yes. I would not have had the courage. I am sorry it happened either way.

Does love matter? Does fairness matter? Does the truth matter? When does a person have sexual and religious freedom? Can a conservative family change those by locking someone in psychological units, to change attitudes and alter facts? Does gay sex justify any level of charges, and any lying by the government?

I hope the young will save my life some day.

Please tell my story.

Thomas Patrick Keelan 98219-004
FDC Miami

where ours orthodox norms crushing us, ours cruel stereotypes suffocating us since centuries the LGBT compaign is a hope for the people like me to breath at will but on it positive senses......like me i am an mphil qualified person . From a prestigious university of islamabad city with thirty years of age i do not have any job because i looks gay.... Evn i am not....and evn if i am so should i not have right to earn my livelyhood?
We need change we need help....we need this revolution.

MEGALOMANIA IN A HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATION: THE CASE OF NEPAL’S BLUE DIAMOND SOCIETY AND SUNIL BABU PANT
Kedar Maharjan
1. Issue
As a Nepalese-born gay man who’s suffered discrimination – and watched others close to me also suffer because of that – I’ve everything to gain from supporting a local gay rights NGO as well as a South Asian gay games that this NGO is organizing for Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. What compels me then to call on the international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identified (LGBTI) community across the globe to boycott the games and why should I denounce their chief organizer as a phony?
The NGO concerned is Nepal’s Blue Diamond Society (BDS). This organization was spawned a decade ago in a whirlpool of national politics when overnight the small Himalayan kingdom was precariously yet peaceably transformed, not just into a republic, but an inclusive one could potentially embrace the country’s remote populations, its multiple ethnicities, its women, and its social minorities.
The BDS was the brainchild of Sunil Babu Pant (nicknamed ‘Panties’ behind his back) the objects of which were dedicated ostensibly to attainment of civil equality for Nepal’s historically oppressed sexual minorities. Given the reality that vestiges of feudalism and patriarchy would persist in Nepal’s national psyche long after the monarchy’s removal, it was predictable that the BDS would court controversy. Although political modernisation has successfully unpeeled layers of tradition in several areas of Nepalese life, the country’s LGBTI people are still largely ignored and unrepresented.
The political activism of the BDS has frequently caught spotlights in international human rights advocacy circles. It’s also heightened Nepalese awareness of the existence (and plight) of sexual minorities. Paradoxically, the everyday quality of life for Nepal’s LGBTI people stays unchanged – in fact, their oppression might be worsening. While this turnaround can be partly attributed to the fragility of Nepal’s neonate democracy, the organization’s corporate dysfunction, disturbing reports of which are published with increasing frequency, is rapidly sabotaging both the public credibility of the BDS and the cause of Nepalese LGBTI rights.
The picture of the BDS that has latterly emerged is sickening. The organization has degenerated into shop-front of drag-queens who camouflage Pant’s parasitic pursuit of political ambition. The most obvious of several unanswered questions is why the BDS’s record in protecting Nepal’s LGBTI people is so abysmal when overseas funding in support of its objects seems limitless? Another is why only a coterie of transgendered (TG) people, who are also on the BDS payroll and beholden to Pant for their jobs, seems to comprise the organization’s main beneficiaries?
2. Background
At first glance, reasons for the BDS’s scant effectiveness in achieving LGBTI rights could be multiple. There are indications that the organization wants for strategic vision and agenda, this being attributable to inadequate leadership and managerial skill. There is likelihood that BDS research and field workers are unqualified for their roles. It’s probable that there’s too often a mismatch between noble objects of donor-backed projects and grass-roots needs which a majority of Nepalese LGBTI people faces on a daily basis.
Fingers also point to the corporate governance of the BDS, together with its underpinning culture which, contrasted with NGOs in the advanced democracies of the West, is characteristically autocratic, hierarchical, and secretive. In such an environment, it’s expected that harassment, abuse, falsification of data, financial manipulation and sham services will flourish. As with many a dysfunctional organization - be it entrepreneurial or eleemosynary - the cronyism and nepotism metastasizing within the BDS are ineradicable cancers.
Pant, who’s unchallenged as the public face of the BDS, has successfully marketed Nepalese LGBTI people and causes abroad among writers, activists, journalists, and lawyers. Prey to a glamorous but superficial media charade of fabricated case stories, presumably spun from Pant’s pen, these generous and sincere international donors back the movement, gullibly believing that their largesse will enable delivery of positive societal outcomes.
From my experience of the past year, the BDS has become wholly ambivalent to the oppression of gay, lesbian and bisexual people and now focuses its attention largely on the TG community, which the Indian subcontinent euphemistically calls the ‘third gender’. This is the face of same-sex engagement with which Nepalese in particular are traditionally comfortable, the notion being that a homosexual man is a woman who’s coffined in a male body. As it utterly defies modern scientific understanding of same-sex attraction to the point of denial, the concept of ‘third gender’ is not only farcical; it's also one that I steadfastly refuse to recognize.
3. The ‘Spice Girls’ and their ‘Panties’
‘Panties’ professes to be gay with a liking for silver-maned sugar-daddies. While presenting himself to the global press as Nepal’s first openly homosexual parliamentarian, he stops at nothing to keep his homosexual ‘daddy-son’ liaisons hidden from the gaze of the Nepalese public, for whom an unscientific world view still holds sway.
Rumours abound among his gaggle of bisexual lovers that his political drive compensates for an underperformance on the mattress. So dependent is ‘Panties’ supposed to be on poppers and potions, the joke among his detractors is that the BDS is no more than a paper contrivance through which he can clandestinely exchange ‘blue diamonds’ for ‘blue pills’.
In my own associations with the BDS and Pant, I’ve hardly met any gay, lesbian or bisexual person but I’ve certainly seen trains of TGs approach BDS for various kinds of services. It was the case that the BDS organised a beauty contest for Nepalese TGs as a publicity stunt but, by not advertising the event nationally, Pant’s payroll puppets ensured that contestants were confined to BDS employees and their hangers-on.
Many TGs who are on the BDS payroll are paid a monthly wage of US $40, which is scarcely enough to cover rent, let alone buy food and clothes. I was therefore unperturbed when one underpaid TG employee blatantly boasted that he/she frequently tricked from BDS headquarters and other public venues to support himself/herself.
BDS has provided vocational training to certain of its staff in the fields of beautician, three-wheeler tempo driving, and basic frontline management. There’s no apparent evidence of providing entry-level employment skills to other LGBTI people. Given the paucity of professional qualifications, broad-based job-enriching experiences, and attested skill among current BDS employees, my personal summation is that none would win a post in any other NGO involved with human rights advocacy or public health promotion.
In such an environment it’s those BDS employees who pander to Pant that are rewarded with promotion and appointments to better paid jobs. As it’s comprised of meaningless foreign material that’s mechanically translated into Nepali – with no cultural contextualization or tailoring to address local challenges, empowerment training he currently provides to his lackeys is yet another device in Pant’s propaganda toolbox by which he entices his foreign audience to loosen its purse-strings. Rather than generate enduring empowerment, the training will inevitably sabotage Nepal’s LGBTI human rights cause.
Employees have claimed that, under Pant’s watch, the BDS introduced two sets of accounts, one set yielding a financial report for overseas donors’ benefit and the other for that of local employees. The donors’ report perpetuates the myth of the BDS’s commitment to social justice, as shown in the comparable salaries ostensibly paid to all staff members. The employees’ report reflects a totally different situation.
4. Child Abuse Allegation
Pant’s Jekyll-and-Hyde character surfaced when Nepalese TV news broadcast an allegation that he’d physically and psychologically abused an underage male domestic. As Pant was a sitting MP at the time, the news was of public interest. Despite repeated denials and attempts at its suppression, this particular allegation continues to dog Pant.
The allegation was repeatedly aired on Nepalese TV news but was kept from Pant’s international donor network. If the veracity of the allegation were judicially tested, the child rights organisation that represented the victim holds sufficient evidence to confirm the incident.
5. HIV/AIDS Prevention
In the crucially pivotal area of HIV and STD prevention, the BDS does little to promote safe sex practice amongst LGBTI Nepalese. Workers engaged to distribute condoms and lubricants, as well as perform outreach education trick whilst on the job. BDS management is aware of this practice but does nothing to prevent it.
In mobilising support for LGBTI rights across the nation, the BDS has had a woeful impact. Project and program evaluation is an anathema to BDS leadership. Tragically, while the LGBTI community has had only a handful of confirmed HIV/AIDS cases, those sufferers who are other than TG have been too embarrassed to approach the BDS for advice on treatment and support. The BDS has never explicitly refuted claims that it has actually processed only about 300 HIV sufferers instead of the published throughput of 5,000. There are allegations of the BDS providing HIV clinical and support services to heterosexual people (sometimes to the disadvantage of LGBTI sufferers) so as to conflate BDS statistics.
By excluding stakeholder interests in BDS governance and resisting external scrutiny of organizational activities and finances, Pant’s intransigence has led the local reputation of the organization to irreversibly nosedive: in the eyes of local LGBTI people, the BDS is an object of ridicule, and its leadership, embodied as it is in Pant’s duplicitous personality, a laughingstock. Pant’s ‘my way or the highway!’ style of control, typifies corporate megalomania and organisational psychopath (who often cling on the position for financial benefits rather than making organisation grow as a credible and accountable one same time knows how to falsify testimonies towards donors to gain sympathy, knows how to disconnect from donors to other staff, very savvy to talk in languages to persuade his position and have sex drive which he conduct even at his office).
6. Kathmandu’s LGBTI Games
For some time, the BDS has advertised LGBTI games as a South Asian-wide event. Even though none pursues any kind of sport day-to-day, the BDS has sponsored several of its own employees as prospective competitors but failed to enable, engage, encourage or welcome other LGBTI sports people (especially those with natural sporting prowess or talent) to join the event. This is yet another strategy designed to impress donors and, at the same time, quarantine Nepal’s LGBTI people who aren’t on the BDS payroll.
The reality will be that the games are a private event that’s depicted across the airwaves of the wider world, not only as a public one, but also as one which is inclusive of all LGBTI athletes and competitors from Nepal, as well as other Asian countries.
7. Lesbians
The BDS has never repudiated the allegation that a lesbian organization, Mitini Nepal, made concerning its plan to organize an event as part of the LGBTI games. In Mitini Nepal’s case, Pant is alleged to have blatantly rejected the plan for the laughable reason that lesbian competitors would ‘dishearten’ BDS employees.
BDS indifference to the plight of Nepal’s lesbians is pitiless. In September 2012, a violated mother and self-identified lesbian, Rajani Sahi, endured indescribable trauma that also entailed multiple violations of universal human rights. Owing to widespread ignorance of human sexuality that prevails in Nepal, her extended family and caste community had Rajani forcibly restrained, institutionalised, medicated and deprived of liberty. Whereas the BDS ignored Rajani’s case, the Maiti Nepal organization came to her aid. This response aligns with what most international aid workers have long known: it’s a developing country’s most vulnerable women who often provide quality leadership in times of crisis.
Another instance of the BDS’s appalling mistreatment of lesbians was recently shown when, in response to a sexual assault on a BDS lesbian worker by a senior female employee, the victim was dismissed because she sued the perpetrator. No action was apparently taken to eliminate future workplace sexual harassment within the BDS. Worse, the BDS provided no special protection or support to the victim. Recently one of the prominent member of BDS and a key person (Badri Pun) of board member has been sacked because she has been asking for transparency and accountability towards LGBTI community of Nepal. According to Badri Pun, She has been emotionally traumatised and pressured to get a third gender citizenship without understanding the real implications of having third gender identity in the country as well as internationally. The real question arise here is has Sunil acquired third gender identity himself? Probably not because he is a savvy communicator who has successfully enticed global LGBTI funders by their not because he leadership is credible just because he knows how to sell his ass to so called industrialised ass holes of the international aid business, the real culprits of the human rights who not only blatantly funded such organisation without scrutiny but also trying to suppress the LGBTI movement who are asking for transparency and accountability. Although these donors did try to meet the concern people or victims of BDS in reality these were act of showing teeth not the munching teeth.
8. Suicide
In many countries, the oppression of vulnerable LGBTI people leads to their suicide; Nepal is no exception and here the incidence appears to be rising. Although most of these deaths are reported as intoxication, cirrhosis of the liver and other alcohol-related abuse, the BDS has been spineless in investigating the extent of this trend and its underlying causes.
9. Research
Over the decade of its existence, the BDS has neither produced nor supported nor funded any independent systematic credible research into Nepal’s LGBTI communities. The BDS has no links to any Nepalese university or overseas research centre which specializes in gender studies or human rights. The view that’s widely shared among BDS critics is that the organisation’s leadership clique is paranoid over what shams, scams, and related racketeering independent researchers might expose. With no employment security or ethos of protected disclosure, the numerous BDS employees who fear Pant are terrified of retribution should they dare criticize his leadership.
In televised presentations (especially on Nepal’s NTV ‘Pahichan’ - ‘identity’ – program), Pant has had ample opportunity to openly share struggles stemming from his own sexuality and has never done so. He avoids debate and discussion with notable local and global commentators and experts involved with the politics of sexuality and gender identity. With financial support from international activists, Pant has mounted a challenge in Nepal’s Supreme Court seeking removal of a range of civil disabilities under which the LGBTI population labours. The Court is still awaiting (and may wait yet for a long time) for the submission of population and other relevant data that confirm claims of inequality.
This delay stems from Pant’s incompetence and inability to commission any credible project that would enable collection and analysis of the material that Court has predictably requested. As these data would need to include statistics pertaining to oppression suffered by lesbians and female-to-male TG people, Mitini Nepal would necessarily become involved, a prospect which Pant strenuously wants to avoid.
The rampant practice of intimidation and bullying that’s become a byword for BDS management and operations has eroded the BDS ‘brand name’ to a point where it would destroy the credibility of any research or investigative report published under its auspices.
This leadership of Sunil Babu Pant if not corrected will pulverised not only the organisation itself but also the burning activism of LGBTI people in this country. The leadership and contribution of Sunil Babu Pant towards LGBTI people is very trivial if analysed properly. He is merely a high class sex worker within international industrialised assholes who has skilfully directed his ass towards powerful people nationally and internationally to get the wealth and fame accordingly. The poor TG community who are supporting his leadership are merely scapegoats of his psychopathic nature to retain the position unconditionally forever.
10. Appeal
I earnestly request those in the media and civil societies to press the Nepalese Government to instigate a public inquiry into alleged abuses occurring in the BDS and lobby for urgently needed organizational reform. For the donors, I request them to cross-check all the testimonies presented in the documentaries made by TV channels, news articles and radios. I am agreeable to discuss these issues and where possible verify allegations mentioned.
For further information, see:
• Khoj Khabar (search news, 14 August 2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn4otTu_VDs
• Khoj Khabar (search news, 15 August 2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2FQXDoQQxI
• Khoj Khabar (search news, 27 September 2012): Why so? Where is our right? -- Nepal's LGBT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmziIhz7j1I.
• Khoj Khabar (search news, 24 December 2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC-iswA0Jh8
• Khoj Khabar (search news, 25 December 2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcIN83_egFc
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kedar Maharjan attained a bachelors degree in Medical Sciences from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a masters in International Public Health from Sydney University.
In 2011, Kedar was awarded a European Union scholarship to complete Sydney’s innovative masters’ degree in Human Rights and Democratisation in Asia and the Pacific. He’s Nepalese born and belongs to the country’s minority Newar community. Kedar has worked professionally for NGOs in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Katherine, Australia.

Dear Sir and Madam

It is good that you are initiated some activities to know the realities of LGBTIQ issues in Nepal but I am sad to say that this is not relevant since 90% of LGBTIQ are computer illiterate and rest do not give a damn about LGBTIQ activism.

My recent research on LGBTIQ findings shows that Blue diamond society who is working towards HIV/AIDS has failed in number of ways;
1. it has hardly done anything to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS,
2. The staff members are too busy falsifying services given about HIV/AIDS awareness, treatment and prevention and research.
3. BDS has successful trafficked transgender people from around the Nepal into sex trade which has caused heavy budget to bile out illegal sex workers from the police,
4. BDS supports this because Sunil Babu Pant ( president of blue diamond society) as misued these community for his benefit including becoming a CA member 2008-2012.
5. BDS has mis-infromed international activists about HIV/AIDS status of LGBTIQ people to secure further funding.
6. 99% of LGBTIQ people neither trust BDS nor visits BDS to take any service because of its corrupt leadership.
7. Even 90% staff of BDS hates its key leader of BDS and leadership but unable to raise the voice simply because of fear of losing job and livelihood ( they are neither qualified to do anything apart from working here for tokenism)
8. BDS has focused its activities on unnecessary projects which raises more hype (internationally) than impact.
9. BDS recruits its key staff not based on merit but on his (sunil Babu Pant) link so that he can manipulated further international activist and donors,
10 Any news or research came from the orgnisation is 99% fulsified which is not related to the field stories and issues.
11. I can challenge and prove that HIV/AIDS data represented by BDS is untrue.

11. The government not willing to renew the organization not because the government of Nepal is homophobic because our government have enough evidence of corruption, misused, Human rights abuse and falsification occurring at the current leadership.
12. Sunil Babu Pant is powerful because he has formed sexual relationship with powerful people like Peter O' Neal and other UN staff who can not be challenged by average people.

This is all for this I will update further later when I have time.

Kind regards

K Maharjan

Read about the story of Steven transitioning to Kirsty

<a>http://www.livingwithatransgender.com/why-transexual-steven-preferred-barbie-to-ken/</a>

im gay for cow meat

Hi everybody, i dont know how to explain da situation here ,day after day i feel losing hope in life and feeling really destroyed.
I present myself, my name is EMy "nickname", born in 1985 and I live in Morocco, a Muslim country where there is no gay rights at all, we are now in 2012 and there is any homosexual law reform expected !!
Since i was teenager i always felt that my choices and my way of thinking is like a girl, I dressed as a woman (in privacy) and so far I shaved all my body parts regularly .. in recent years I did my eyebrows and I tried to wear feminine clothes .. but i was firmly confronted by my family and entourage and I lost my job and all my friends just because i tryed to be me.
I avoided having homosexual relationship just because the law is not tolerant;
My life is wasted; prisoner in men clothes I find no taste to continue this life, get outside my room and see the world, nobody understands me, it's taboo to talk about homosexuality here coz of religion beliefs !! I lost hope to live and I swear i start to think about suicide.
I tryed several times to contact many gay rights comitee in several countries but in vain, they all told me that i have to be in that country in ordre to deal with me, i was seeking for a humain asylum.
My relationship with my surroundings have become worse especially with my family, and one day I'll leave home without knowing where to go.
i need some one to help me to live my life in a country where there is gay rights, I want to live and work in peace, get dressed with respect and freely.
my email: bi.cool@live.com -sincerly-

Need a boy who will love me for who am I. I am willing to support him in any means.
Please feel free to contact me at this number. +639262624635

ILGA is an education in homofascism. ILGA discriminates against people based on sexual orientation - the ultimate hypocrisy. ILGA sucks.

well i dont tell long stories im 28yrs.got in a Fight with my boss becaiuse she wanted to pay me ne to nothing coz according to her gay people should be glad they getting a job. i cant go to the police for that. 2. trying to access public tranport. wow. ive been pleted with bottles many times and recently as well just for being at the park to catch the buss to go home and the moile police outpost is right their and the guy the police man just came out and close his door. i figure coz he realize im gay being the people are ccreaming our burn battiman. 3. its rediculas to get health care in guyana when u r gay. first they dont want to look at you and then when you turns comes which is way after they arrast you. 4.human rights is not even a issue in guyana when it should be.5. im a gay male and Guyana had scuccesslly made me know that im a outcast. thanks Guyana.6. I was a christian un till i was trown out o my church they should e somthing that monitors that coz it has had a real impack on my social life. who is to e heald responcible? but then again im gay, its my fault

Hello I am a girl from Pakistan. I need help for myself. I want to change my sex and I want to become a boy. I know my need is unusual and there are many problems and needs to fulfill in this world. But I cannot stay any more in this life as girl. I am fed to live as a girl please considers my request as soon as possible. I am very small more than a particle but how is it possible to live with that body which I cannot accept at heart and soul inside me there is no wish to live any more as girl. I wish any one would help me and support me in all the way I have sent mails to white house and secretary of Helery Clinton but no one is responding me please do something don't let me down I will be thankful to you.Every one read my mail and delete it or they send it to dustbin I am surprised from all those to whom i sent mails because if they are human being they will obviously help me they only make excuses that its not their department or they only help group of people not individual. Please don't ignore my wish, also give orders to help me to the concerned authority am alone without power without money without support I am a Muslim girl so thatâ&euro;&trade;s why I can't ask to anyone in my country everyone say that I am mad but a I am not mad I am in my conscious I just want to become a boy I can't sleep I hate myself thank you so much. Can you help me waiting for your positive responseâ&euro;&trade;s don't have money I am help less but I am not fake please don't ignore my message. The basic reason for all this is I am not satisfied with this life I cannot do anything no further study no emotions no thoughts no hope except this because I always lost, when I want something it became possible because I am selfless because of this body, I want to die thatâ&euro;&trade;s all . I cannot do anything for my self because i am helpless just like a toad in a well.
Regards.

My name is Dr. Mark S. Simpson. I am a living example that homophobia is alive and well. I was a career educator at some of the finest institutions in the United States, including Director of the Upper School at Windward in Los Angeles and Trinity in New York. A very sad event occurred in 2008. The head of Trinity School, a friend, mentor and amazing leader passed away. I decided to ease my pain by moving on. I was offered a job as the headmaster at a school in Morocco. It seemed like destiny – to serve a school in an area of the world where so many were denied education. To lead an institution towards that most honorable goal – educating the young and giving them hope for a better future. This choice would ultimately lead to the devastation of my stunning career, the shattering of my personal well being and the destruction of my life.

When I arrived at the school, it was instantly apparent that it was infiltrated with shady, dishonest and criminal characters. Not a safe environment for children, and come to find out, not a safe environment for a person like me (while I had a genius IQ), unfortunately, I went through life without ever learning (what my partner calls) street smarts. So many horrible things happened; I did not even survive the first year. The major event that occurred; and for which I had no participation - a dual national (American and Moroccan) person was fired by the Board of Directors. Sadly for me, this religious fanatic and true homophobe, decided to focus his intense revenge on me - for three years now. He sent communications to schools I applied to; contacted the agency that represented me and put out terrible lies; most notably that I was a pedophile. Needless to say, in the world of education, even a lie about that issue ends your career. He didn’t stop there. He stalked me on email, Facebook and my blogs; he had infiltrated my computer in Morocco and obtained my contact lists and has also written 30 page diatribes about me; or in some cases pretended to be me – writing to former students saying I was sexually interested in them. I have continuously relocated around the world, concerned about my personal safety.

All of this has more than devastated me. I am being treated for PTSD, and in my mental state, I am unable even to search for or hold a basic (non-education) job. As if destroying my professional career and my personal life is not sufficient, he has now taken to filing suit against me for slandering him (what a joke that is).

Homophobia is alive and well. The one thing I have remaining is my ability to write. Truth be told, I am a good writer and it brings me some semblance of satisfaction. I write this story, not because I am looking for empathy but to tell gays and lesbians that not only is homophobia alive and well, but that it takes on many different faces. I have a strong and loving partner who gets me through each day. However, by sharing this story I hope I can give some support to others who share life altering experiences because of who they are.

I invite anyone that wants to read my blog (http://www.whitmanandrimbaudkissing.com/) and to join me as I continue to battle this deep rooted hatred and bigotry because of who I love.

BEING AN LGBTI/MSM/S/ACTIVIST IN UGANDA

When the Anti Homosexuality Bill (often referred to as the Bahati Bill) introduced in parliament. This Bill sought to criminalize LGBTI persons in Uganda, all of us were condemned and we live in fear each day.

In Uganda, the tabloid media has been at the forefront of whipping up public sentiment against LGBTI persons, in its coverage, the tabloid press has been irresponsible and libelous contributing significantly to the violence and hatred upon LGBTI persons by society like red paper and its sister Kamunye.

To add on that, due to the homophobic society, we have been expelled from all leisure joints and movements, the tabloid media also writes homophobic stories, no positive stories comes out and the readers believe that what is written is the truth.

You can not stop people from harassing you when they want; after I was exposed in the tabloid media Kamunye, of 28th may 2012, as gay activist, my neighbors, parents and friends turned/started harassing and being rude on me.

LGBTI persons face discrimination by both employers and employees. After I was exposed in the media Kamunye, my workmates and my boss started to victimize me at work and finally my boss handed me a termination letter, when I asked him why he was sacking me, he said that I was fired for being outed in the media Kamunye as gay activist and he wanted to protect his job/customers and the young workmates from my abhorrent act.

My straight friends formed a group which went around campaigning that they have a gay person who stays in their area without their knowledge, they also said that I wanted to recruit them into homosexuality, disgust; name calling, gossip, and black mailing

LGBTI persons face harassments from Landlords and neighbors when their orientation is discovered. When I was outed in Kamunye, My Landlord gave me 24 hours to vacate her house failure she was going to call a local Bukedde TV news media agataliko nfufu to reveal me, and people threatened to burn down her property for accommodating me.

In addition to that, our families are often the target of abuse, violence and parents are sometimes pressured into disowning their children, when my parents learnt that I am gay activist, they grabbed all my assets and started selling them, telling me that it’s a foreign plotters because it was imported by whites, Gay is seen as a western phenomenon and since westerns seen as having money, many opponents dismiss African gays as self seeking opportunities who claim to be gays, In their opinion gays have a lot of money, my step-mother went a round telling every body that I am gay to the point I was forced to move from the neighbor hood in which I grew up since people wanted to attack me, more to that they started paying spies to monitor my movements and place of residence, my parents failed to understand that being gay is normal and natural, they consider me as abnormal, cursed and all the bad things you can ever image.

Kayigoma Ronnie Lule
Kampus liberty Uganda-Klug (An LGBTI University and Ex-camper organization) Founder/Executive Director, Human Rights Defender and LGBTI Activist

‘Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Intersexes do not claim any ‘special’ or ‘additional’ rights’ but the observance of the same rights as those of heterosexual persons. LGBTI persons are denied-either by law or practices-basic civil, political, social and economic rights.

Am one of the gays that the Uganda Police wanted to kill in 2010 when we were paying the last eye to our bro David, Am so down and stressed up, I need to share my experience with some one. Text me your contacts on +46769774591

one day i was late at work and had to stay back. the new office boy was a middle aged man and a bachelor. i asked him to get me some coffee. he spilled the coffee near my table while keeping it on my table. he got a mop and while bending down i noticed that his zip was open and i cud see his uncut cock since he was not wearing an underwear.
he saw me noticing it from the corner of his eye and smiled at me. i did not react and kept doing my work. i noticed that he did not put his zip up again. so i asked him why and he told me that the zip was not working and he needed someone to hold the zip while he put the mechanism in place. he asked me if i could him him. i had not other option and he came and stood near me and i held the ends of the zip while he was trying to push the lever.

during this exercise my fingers touched his cock and i noticed it enlarging in size. finally he had an erection. Since i had a slight gay tendency i liked it and started to fondle it. he too responded back by pulling out my cock and sucking it.
we came one after other...

Well it's a funny one, the day when a man is proud to lay with another man. Why not just pick up a fun and end it this is not a thing to take pride in I fear bring up my son in such a place. all I can do is tell him how wrong it is and there are no rights for these people. had one tell me it's wrong not to hire them I mean come on where's might right to tell a gay to f off If don't won't one working for me. That is my straight right.

Hello,
I'm in need of help . My husband and I are married in Germany . I'm an American and he is German . We got married in Germany and now being that I'm a
Department of defense commissary agency  employee ( i work for the usa army europe ) It has come time for me return to the USA . I can not get a green card for him due to DOMA . It all started march 18, 2011 my husband and I got married then 8 day later I was told by my grocery manager that I wouldn't be given an over seas tour extension, no reason was given and after talking to the store deputy ( who I told about my problem in detail) he said that he was told that a reason doesn't need to be given to me. I have made 2 EEO complaints dealing with discrimination and harassment. Because Deca ( commissary ) refused to. Help me in my problem . I was told that it was my fault for marrying a local national ( my husband is German) I should have thought about the consiquences before hand. Since then I have been fired while on sick leave . While fighting to keep my family together and to get my job back I still suffer from my work related sickness . I wait for help from any legal group willing to help us . My email is centilyen@yahoo.com

My suit is currently in the MCAD and will hopefully be moving forward in August. Discrimination and allowing a hostile work environment is horrible. I lived it for almost a year before US Airways accused me on writing the comments and firing me without even doing an investigation. I hired my own handwriting expert who sliced US Airways handwriting expert to pieces. It is foolish to think that companies today still discriminated against GLBT person. Help me speak out against this company and let them know enough is enough!


COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination


________________________________
)
Jeff, )
Complainant, )
)
v. )
)
US AIRWAYS, INC., )
Respondent. )
________________________________)


COMPLAINANT’S STATEMENT IN REBUTTAL

In accordance with correspondence from the MCAD, and as discussed at the Investigative Conference held on February 22, 2012 before Investigator XXXXX, the Complainant (“Mr. Wood”) hereby submits his Rebuttal to the Position Statement of the Respondent, US Airways, Inc. (“US Airways”), which he received on Friday, February 17, 2012.
For the reasons set forth below, Mr. Wood has established the requisite probable cause that he was subjected to a hostile work environment, and that he was later subjected to willful and unlawful retaliation.
I. Facts
There is no need to recount all the facts, as alleged in the Amended Complaint and the company’s response thereto. With regard to the company’s Position Statement, however, Mr. Wood notes the following.
In fn. 2 on page 2 of the Position Statement, US Airways states it lacks sufficient information about the statements attributed to The Director. Mr. Wood, however, has alleged there was a witness to the statements. See Amended Complaint (“Am. Compl.”) ¶ 5.
In paragraph 2 on page 3 of the Position Statement, US Airways denies knowledge of two instances of graffiti (found in August and September 2011, Exhibits 8 and 10 of the Am. Compl.). Mr. Wood did inform and advise HR representative XXXX and Managing Director about all the instances of graffiti, by either telephone or emails.
In the fifth paragraph on page 3, US Airways states that it “involved” Mr. Wood in the installation process. Mr. Wood responds that he was advised and directed by Station Director XXXXX with regard to where the cameras would be installed.
In the sixth paragraph on page 3 of the Position Statement, US Airways denies Mr. Wood’s allegation that he raised certain issues with The Director of HR in a conversation Mr. Wood had with on or about September 7, 2011. As alleged in the Amended Complaint, ¶ 19, this conversation was witnessed by another Manager, who could confirm that these issues were discussed at that meeting. In addition, Mr. Wood did inform Ms. XXXX from HR and the station directors of the comment made by fleet service agent XXXXX Further, the comment itself was overheard by Ramp Shift Manager XXXXXXX.
In fn. 3 on page 4, US Airways acknowledges that Mr. Wood informed Mr. XXXXX about the comments made by two union representatives. Mr. Wood hereby alleges that he also informed a HR representative about these comments, and also spoke with HR about the xxxxx matter around the same time. At the bottom of page 4 of the Position Statement, US Airways states that Mr. Wood never raised the issue of the interaction between Mr. XXXXX and Agent XXXXX. Mr. Wood, however, did mention to Mr. XXXXX , in a conversation in Mr. XXXXX office, the exchange between Mr. XXXX and Ms. XXXXX, as well as the comment made by Ms. XXXXXX.
In fn. 7 on page 5, US Airways denies any knowledge about the graffiti found on or about January 3, 2011 (exhibit 27 of the Am. Compl.). In rebuttal, Mr. Wood states that US Airways employees were aware of, observed, and/or photographed that graffiti, including XXXXX and XXXXX (who was referred to by name in this graffiti).
Finally, as for the company’s retention of a handwriting expert, Katherine Koppenhaver, and her January 19, 2012 letter, which is addressed in the Position Statement and was discussed at the Investigative Conference held on February 22, 2012, Mr. Wood offers the following in rebuttal. Mr. Wood has retained his own independent handwriting expert, Dr. Richard S. Fraser. Dr. Fraser has reviewed Ms. Koppenhaver’s letter, as well as the materials she used in forming her opinion, and found that her conclusion was flawed and unwarranted. See Exhibit 1 (March 4, 2012 letter report of Dr. Fraser). Among other things, Dr. Fraser questions Ms. Koppenhaver’s methods, and points out numerous shortcomings with her analysis and conclusion.



II. Legal Argument
Turning to the applicable law, Mr. Wood responds to the Position Statement of
US Airways as follows:
A. Mr. Wood’s Work Environment Was Sufficiently Hostile and Offensive
The factual allegations demonstrating the hostile work environment that Mr. Wood was subjected to are described in his Amended Complaint. “A hostile work environment is one that is ‘pervaded by harassment or abuse, with the resulting intimidation, humiliation, and stigmatization, and that poses a formidable barrier to the full participation of an individual in the workplace.’” Cuddyer v. Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., 434 Mass. 521, 532 (2001) quoting College-Town, Div. of Interco, Inc. v. Massachusetts Comm’n Against Discrimination, 400 Mass. 156, 162 (1987).
The hostile work environment consisted of vulgar and offensive homophobic graffiti directed specifically at Mr. Wood, over approximately nine months, and the corresponding failure by US Airways to timely and adequately respond to that graffiti. Under applicable case law, this was sufficiently severe and pervasive to constitute a hostile work environment. For example, in Salvi v. Suffolk County Sheriff’s Dept., 67 Mass. App. Ct. 596, 603-606 (2006), a hostile work environment was demonstrated by homophobic verbal statements made to the plaintiff and about the plaintiff, together with one instance of out-of-work harassment. In Belanger v. Sant-Gobain Industrial Ceramics, Inc., 1999 WL 1324190 *3-4 (Mass.Super. Feb. 24, 1999), two comments by a coworker about the plaintiff’s sexual orientation, made within one week after the plaintiff’s return to work following an absence stemming from sexual harassment by a different coworker, were sufficiently severe and pervasive for the jury to have concluded they created a hostile work environment. Accordingly, the Superior Court denied the defendant’s motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial, leaving intact the jury’s damage award of $634,000, consisting of back pay ($102,000), front pay ($372,000), emotional distress damages ($52,000) and punitive damages ($108,000). And in Messina v. Araserve, Inc., 906 F.Supp. 34 (D.Mass. 1995), two months of name calling and sexually suggestive gestures were enough to constitute a hostile environment. See also Modern Continental/Obayashi v. Massachusetts Comm’n Against Discrimination, 445 Mass. 96, 115 n.23 (2005) (assuming that graffiti constituted a form of harassment). In Rolando Cano v. Chertoff, 2006 WL 2332538 *10-*12 (E.E.O.C 2006) the hostile environment consisted of unwelcome comments, rumors and graffiti. The graffiti there was similar to that directed as Mr. Wood, including: “Cano swallows,” “Cano sucks dicks” and “Cano’s a queer.” Id. at *12. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concluded that:
the sexually explicit comments and graffiti directed at complainant, after he expressed that he found them offensive, were sufficiently severe and pervasive to create an intimidating, hostile, and offensive work environment. The Commission notes that, evaluated from the viewpoint of a reasonable person in complainant’s circumstances, the sexually explicit comments and graffiti were extremely offensive and we not the record shows that complainant, a veteran supervisor with the agency, had his authority undermined by the offensive conduct.

Id. Mr. Wood submits that offensive verbal comments are equivalent to offensive written graffiti, and perhaps more so as they are anonymous and can be seen by many people.
The company’s failure to effectively stop the graffiti contributed to and exacerbated that hostile environment. This environment was severe and pervasive enough to alter the conditions of Mr. Wood’s employment. He suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the repeated instances of graffiti, as well as the company’s lackadaisical response to it. The totality of these circumstances are indeed enough to be offensive to a reasonable person, and were experienced as such by Mr. Wood. See Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 23 (1993) (“whether an environment is ‘hostile’ or ‘abusive’ can be determined only by looking at all the circumstances including the frequency of the discriminatory conduct”); Ruffino v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., 908 F.Supp. 1019, 1038 (D.Mass. 1995) (“hostile environment discrimination typically is not confined to one act, directed at one individual, one time; rather it is a composite of workplace action and inaction”); Belanger, supra at *4, citing Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc.
B. The Company’s Response Was Not Reasonable
Furthermore, the company’s response was not reasonable in these circumstances. The response was clearly not prompt, as US Airways acknowledges that surveillance cameras were not fully installed until September, six months after Mr. Wood’s initial complaint about inappropriate graffiti and vandalism of company property, and only after Mr. Wood had made repeated requests. Nor was appropriate training of all employees promptly undertaken or completed. As of the filing of the company’s Position Statement in February 2012 — nearly one year since Mr. Wood’s initial complaints — they concede that not all employees have completed anti-harassment training, but that it “will be completed shortly.” See Modern Continental, 445 Mass. at 111 n.17 (noting that a plaintiff’s claim survives summary judgment where there was a “protracted delay before taking any remedial action”).
Statements made by Mr. Wood’s superiors at US Airways also demonstrate the company’s unreasonable response to his repeated complaints. See Am. Compl., ¶¶ 5, 8, 10-11, 18-19. “An employer who passively tolerates the creation of a hostile working environment implicitly ratifies the perpetrator’s misconduct ….” Modern Continental, 445 Mass. at 105. The SJC continued:
Moreover, acquiescence on the part of the employer effectively communicates to the victim of harassment that her employer does not care about the hostile environment in which she must work, a message that can only operate to exacerbate the adverse effects of that hostile environment. In this context, an employer who is not part of the solution inevitably becomes part of the problem.

Ibid. See also Salvi, 67 Mass. App. Ct. at 606; Barbot v. Hapco Farms, Inc., 19 M.D.L.R. (1997) (MCAD ruled that where an employee who was called names, the employer’s response of telling the employee to “ignore the situation and get back to the job,” and promising she would be “on the lookout” and would be calling a meeting of employees in which she would condemn the name calling, was ruled an inadequate response by the employer). Commentary in this area of the law notes that “reported MCAD cases reveal a tendency of employers to underreact to claims of antigay harassment in the workplace.” Massachusetts Employment Law, MCLE, Vol. 1, Ch. 12, § 12.7.2 (2009).
With regard to the investigation of Mr. Wood’s complaints, the company’s initial response was inadequate and ineffective. Later, the company apparently began investigating whether perhaps Mr. Wood was himself responsible for the homophobic graffiti directed at him. Accusing the victim of being the perpetrator cannot possible qualify as having conducted a reasonable investigation — especially where Mr. Wood’s own handwriting expert has undermined and refuted the company’s handwriting expert’s report and conclusion. See Exhibit 1. The company’s resorting to an investigation of Mr. Wood, let alone relying on the inadequate and inconclusive report of their expert, buttresses the evidence that the company’s response was not only unreasonable but retaliatory.
C. Retaliation
With regard to Mr. Wood’s claim of unlawful retaliation against him by the company, this is demonstrated by, inter alia: the company’s delayed and ineffectual response to his initial complaints; various statements made to Mr. Wood by his supervisors; the company’s lack of legal support when Wood was falsely accused of harassment in December 2011 by fellow employee XXXXX, after Mr. Wood has filed his charge with the MCAD in October 2011; the company’s accusation that Mr. Wood himself was responsible for the offensive graffiti; and the company’s reliance on the handwriting expert’s flimsy findings as the basis for ultimately terminating his employment. The investigation of Mr. Wood, the victim of the hostile work environment, and later termination of Mr. Wood based on an inadequate and inconclusive handwriting report, constituted willful retaliation by US Airways.
Conclusion
Having offered the handwriting analysis of Dr. Fraser in rebuttal to the company’s own handwriting expert, which demonstrates the ample shortcomings with Ms. Koppenhaver’s methods and conclusion, Mr. Wood has established the necessary probable cause that he was both subjected to a hostile work environment and retaliated against.


I swear or affirm, under the pains and penalties of perjury, that I have read the above Rebuttal Statement and that it is true to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.


__________________________
Jeffrey R. Wood, Complainant
Dated: ____________________


On this ___ day of March, 2012, before me, the undersigned Notary Public, personally appeared __________________, and proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, which was ___________________, to be the person whose name was signed on the within document in my presence.

__________________________
Notary Public
Commission Expires:_________




Respectfully submitted,
Complainant,
Jeffrey R. Wood,

By his attorneys,


_____________________________

ILGA is fascist.

By David von Burgsdorff | February 23, 2012
I didn’t know I was gay when I was younger; I just knew that I wasn’t attracted to girls. In Kampala, nobody mentioned homosexuality; growing up, I never met anyone who was openly gay. You only heard about it on the radio, distantly, in passing.

“Why can’t they leave this country?” callers asked when the topic was raised. “Find an island for them!”

At 19, I went to university and met a man — the first person I wanted to be with. He told me that we could be partners, but only in secret because homosexuality is illegal in Uganda.

After I finished my advanced degree in accounting, I moved to the city with gay friends I’d met at school. We all loved fashion and talked about cute guys. But we were only fully honest with each other. Of course, we couldn’t completely hide who we were; people suspected us of being gay. The way they looked at us – we knew they’d beat us if they found us in a dark corner. In some areas, strangers threw stones or boiling water. They shouted, “We hate you, and next time we’ll hurt you!” Certain shopkeepers wouldn’t serve us.

Still, we were young and starting out our lives. Our community was small and secret, but close-knit. I got a good job as a waiter at a Muslim luxury hotel. Everyone knew I was an excellent server, but eventually, rumors about my sexuality began to circulate.

“Are you a gay?” a co-worker asked.

“Anyone could be gay for all we know,” I said. “Even you.”

Soon enough, they fired me. It hurt me terribly to be dismissed from work I’d done so well, but I didn’t know that worse days were ahead.

I got a new job at another restaurant. With my pay, I went shopping and met a sweet, handsome salesman. He told me that we could start dating – but first, he began to ask me for money. I always gave him something, and he always disappeared. We never slept together.

One Monday, my day off, he called me.

“Are you at home?” he asked. “Can I come by?”

I had a weird feeling on that call. My heart weakened. I didn’t want to see him. But I ignored it and told him to stop in.

He arrived and before I could offer him a drink, he stripped off his pants and shirt. My shirt was already off because it had been scorching hot. I heard banging at the door. I thought it was the houseboy who did some errands for me, so I opened it. And my breath left me.

Six men stood there: one with a gun, one with a video camera, and one with a machete. I turned to the guy I’d been seeing. He had set me up.

Before I knew what was happening, I began to fight them, but it was seven against one. They pushed in, and the man with the machete slashed me, cutting me from shoulder to armpit on each arm. I began to bleed, so much blood.


Roy shows one of his scars

“I’ll cut off your arms,” he said.

I knew of this gang: They had killed one gay man before and brutally beaten another. They had robbed them and blackmailed one with a video.

“I’ll give you all my money,” I said. “Let me live.”

They wrapped my wounds in rags, and took me to the ATM. I drained my account for them. They left me bleeding on the street in the sun.

My friends found me and took me to a hospital. My kind boss gave me a month off, since I couldn’t lift my arms to carry a tray.

The physical pain was terrible, but the fear was worse. I believed the men would come back, push into my house, and kill me. I began working the dinner shift again. Scared of the night, I hired a special taxi to take me home. I could not sleep. I was isolated. Uganda was no place for me.

I found a tourism conference in Port Elizabeth online. I registered and paid the conference fee with money I made from selling all my belongings. With the conference invitation, I applied for a tourist visa. I never planned to attend the conference; I just needed to get to South Africa.

With my visa in hand, I bought a one-way bus ticket and left Uganda. I knew it would be forever. We passed overland for a week. I was tired, lonely. I watched Zimbabwe and Zambia go by, my mind on the past.

I entered South Africa on New Year’s Eve 2009. On January 1, 2010, I traveled from Johannesburg to Cape Town. I saw this beautiful city from the distance and I thought, “This is where I’m supposed to be.”

I’ve been here for over two years now, living with gay refugee friends. It hasn’t been easy. I work three days a week at a small shop but I’ve had trouble getting a job because I only have temporary asylum, which I renew every six months. I need to get permanent papers to get proper work so I’ve come to PASSOP for help.

I dream of my perfect life here in South Africa. I want to get a job in accounting or marketing because I’m a trained professional and I have degrees. I feel so useless now; I want to have a purpose and contribute to something. I’d like to be a citizen. I’d like to have a partner one day. And if I could get enough money, I would buy a lovely house on the beach.

But even now, with all the struggles, this is the only place for me. When I got those injuries, I thought my life might be over. But I have a new life here now, and some rights, and I am fear-free. That’s why I must stay in South Africa; I simply have no other option.

If you want to help Roy, please contact us at office@passop.co.za or (0027) 021 762 0322 .

(R

Watch out for Mantrav Engeland. Unfortunately Mantrav UK is scamming collegeaus abroad concerning their Club Mancha situation. I have a gaytravel agency in the Netherlands and I have booked Club Mancha for the beginning of 2012. The park did not exist at that time en my client moved to a real gaybungalowpark. As Mantrav is the biggest gaytouroperator in the UK you should expect an honest and reliable settlement. No Mantrav is scamming their collegaues in the gayscene. After many, many emails, question etc. I haven't still seen my money. The refund department doesn't even repy on email anymore. It is unbelievable that they act this way. So I wanne warn everybody world wide. Don't book with Mantrav. You cannot trust them. They put letters on their websit with reliable explanations as they say but meanwhile they do not reply on emails and give no refunds. Regards, Mark van Laarhoven. Freedom Travel. The Netherlands.

i am a Yemeni guy , i am 24 years old, live in Aden, and finished studying in Jordan this year, i am taking a training to stay as possible as i can but i can't tolerate the cost of my sitting abroad, plus i can't come back to my country Yemen to live a normal life while i am gay, in Yemen all the community have a bad look at gay people, they don't respect us at all, and if u are not strong enough to shout on the community face(( no one did so)), most gay had bad stories as me, abusing, beating, and abundance from family, friends and all people talk on you as a shame, because we are gay, i am still waiting to my destiny to change and have my rights i can't go back to my country i feel scare of what is going to happen to me if anyone knows i am gay, and i can't to stay in Jordan for more time i can tolerate one month else but no more. this is my short story while i have lot of stories.

About one or two weeks ago a Dutch court decided that hermaphrodites (persons with a certain intersex condition) do not have to undergo medical procedures in order to get their preferred sex registration recognised. Anticipating the new gender recognition law and political statements of government,a general registral mistake law can indeed be used for this aim and not the (currently) archaic gender recognition law that requires sterilisation.
We have been instrumental in both the political statement and in the pointing the lawyer to the right grounds on which to act.

I could receive my paper after the sex change.I didn't find any NGO or other organisation in Tajikistan,what were able to help me for cunsultation.If you know any NGO or organisation in Tajikistan please let me know.I chaged my papers from female to male (FTM)My e-meil your-sunatramblerpointru .I'll be glad to hear your opinion.

im now suffering alot because ma parents have negerated me because im aguy and i going to miss out my education im looking for aids im in for what i want (guy) and hope not to give it up because thats me i have house rent no up keep some one over there please help me out bsemwo@hotmail.com

It's so big of you to report them & then actually get things fixed & now you're improving things for other people, People who may have been victimised just for being who they are. You truly are an inspiration.

Also you picked a great union! My Dad works there :)

Ah, Jordan, homophobia to its fullest. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is anonmous, and Im a 14 year old straight boy living in Amman, capital of Jordan. Now lately ive been interested in guys so i guess Im Bi-Curious? Anyway, Ive been living here all my life, except for a couple of years I lived in the states for. And being gay, lesbian, trans, inter, is not anything to be in Amman. There is no law about it, so yes its not illegal, but if you are found out to be any of the above, expect to possibly be: Hated on, harrassed, physically hurt, maybe killed. In Jordan, an islamic country, being gay is forbidden in there religeon, so its not gonna be cool for the people is it? Th funny thing is, if you are caught with your girlfriend dating somewhere public, you will be mocked, but Ive seen guys hold hands, embrace and even kiss on the cheek randomly and no one says anything about that.... Help me.

My name is Cevat SOGUT, but I am better known to LGBT People in Turkey as Nikopol "Founder of Turk Gay Club"
I was fired from my job at a bank's cultural center being as a gay
and an gay activist at 2009
i hadn't worked for more then 15 months.
it's too difficult to be a gay "lgbt" in a islamic country.
there is some changes but
life is not getting better then yesterday in Turkey.

Velvet Milestones:

2008- Conceptualization of Velvet to create a safe space for LBT community which was absent in kolkata specially. People needed a friendly environment with privacy and security where they can discuss their day to day life and ask for help if needed.
2009- Velvet Facebook group launched. Base shifted to Delhi. More than 300 members joined. Regular nteraction, discussion and exchange of ideas started actively on facebook.
2009- Took part in Delhi Queer Pride 2009
Organized community based programs
Active participation in queer scenario of Delhi
2010- Took part in Delhi Queer pride 2010
2011- Networked with Mumbai queer community actively
Back to kolkata to focus dedicatedly on VELVET along with Alka Kedwal
Actively participated in KOLKATA RAINBOW PRIDE FESTIVAL 2011
Introduced LBT participation in Kolkata Pride walk 2011, 17th july for the
first time.
Velvet Became support group for LGBT
Velvet became recognized by ILGA
Started personalized counseling for LBT community
Started close interaction with Sangini to have them as Mentor to Velvet
Sonali and Alka came out in FEMINA ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 14th October
2011 as lesbian couple
Took part in IBN7 Zindegi Live talk show as Lesbian couple- to be aired on
November 2011
More than a dozen individual ongoing cases handled and still getting requests
everyday.
Creating Network between LGBT community in Kolkata to fight loneliness
among queer population
FUTURE PLANS:
To register Velvet as a trust by January 2012.
To start mainstream activities to build and spread awareness and eliminate Homophobia

employed in gay/lesbian/transexual movement and pride organization in Sicily.

Kadından müdür olur mu?
13.09.2011 - TCAE






Ağustos ayı içerisinde kuruluşu tamamlanan Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Azınlıklar Enstitüsü (TCAE) üyeleri Ömür Yılmaz, Enver Ethemer ve Umut Özkaleli Limasol Türk Kooperatif Bankası’nın "Müdür" alma ilanında koşullardan birini "erkek olmak" olarak tespit edince kadınlara karşı işe almada ayrımcılık gösterilmesine dur demek için facebook üzerinden bir kampanya başlatarak “bu ifadenin acilen düzeltilip ilanın yeniden açılması ve bankanın kadın erkek eşitliğine hassasiyet göstereceğini ifade etmesi” yönünde talepte bulundu. Eşitlik ilkesinin her alanda uygulanmasına duyarlılık gösteren, sosyal sorumluluğu yüksek vatandaşlık bilinciyle hareket eden yüzü aşkın kişi, Limasol Türk Kooperatif Bankası’na bu taleplerini e-posta aracılığı ile iletti. Kampanyayı takiben açıklama yapan Limasol Türk Kooperatif Bankası, ilanın dilinin değiştirileceği müjdesini verdi.



“Limasol Türk Kooperatif Bankası'nın gerekli düzeltmeleri yapacağı yönündeki açıklaması yanlışların düzeltilmesi ve ileri adım atmakta hepimizin kendine ayna tutması gerekliliğine ve bunun başarılabileceğine bir örnektir” açıklamasında bulunan Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Azınlıklar Enstitüsü, kadınların yüzdelik olarak çoğunlukta bulundukları öğretmenlik ve memuriyet gibi mesleklerde alt ve ara kadrolarda sıkışmasının aşılarak, yönetici kadrolarda da yer alması gerektiğine ve bunun ayrımcılıktan arınmış toplumsal barışın, adaletin ve ilerlemenin yol haritası olduğuna vurgu yaptı.

Misyonunu toplumda dezavantajlı noktada bulunan bireyler ve gruplarla dayanışma içinde çalışmak ve cinsiyet, cinsel yönelim, bölge, sınıf, etnik köken, milliyet, fizikse/zihinsel engel sebebiyle ayrımcılık ve şiddet yaşanmasını elimine etmek olarak belirleyen TCAE, toplumun farklı kesimlerine karşı yapılan ayrımcılıkları takip etme ve ortadan kalkmaları için mücadele etme sözüyle yola çıktığını ifade etti.

I don't think it's correct to say that Male to male relationship's are not legal in the country. There's no law making them illegal, so I don't know where that came from. This country merely has no provision made for LGBT people. There are however only laws that protect the people, and they count for ALL people in Namibia. Being LGBT in Namibia is not legal, or illegal. There's just no enforcement in it at the moment.

VULNERABILITY SPECTRUM

BACKGROUND: A systematic review of responses from 30,000 spaces was carried out in 10 regions of Uganda.
OBJECTIVE: A systematic review of responses from 30,000 spaces where inquiry into who MARPs are, what MARPs need, who provides services, what is demanded, what are the behavioural characteristics unique to MARPs and other contexts influencing issues of MARPs that was conducted between July 2010-August 2011.
DESIGN: Conduct Review of literature, Interviews, structured conversation and focus group discussions. Respondents were drawn from; 150 farmer groups, 220 hair salons, 27 landing sites, 27 police posts, 110 cattle/village markets/social spaces, 225 major RH/FP/MH/CS/Health Services organisations, with leaders and members of 100 FBOs/2200 CBOs/CSOs/Community Groups, 2,550 lower level governments and communities, with members of 3,000 men/Women groups/settings, in 19,174 trading and urban spaces (Artisanry marts, car dealerships, repair garages, washing bays, food vending kiosks, video kiosks, shopping malls, recreational spaces) along 6 major trunk roads and 25 other roads leading to rural districts, 250 educational institutes (higher institutions of learning, colleges, senior/primary schools), 100 minorities’ spaces, 72 fresh foods markets, 200 hotels/lodges, 25 housing estate areas ( e.g. Jinja industrial area, Kampala, Gulu, Mbarara, Kasese, Tororo, Mbale), 170 ludo/snooker points, 1,700 storage and parking bays/car-park/boda/lorry/bus-parks in urban settings.
SETTING: Uganda was divided into operational regions: Central, Northern, Eastern, North Eastern, Mid-Western and south-Western where 30,000 were identified and these included: Lower level governments, urban centers, municipalities, towns, market areas, boarder points, social-meeting places, recreational spaces, food vending areas, film kiosks, shopping malls, parks, washing bays, road stop spots, educational institutions and CSOs. 5 lakes were visited to generate understanding of fisher folk communities.
RESPONDENTS: We used groups and individual key informants that way 30,000 Key informants were mobilised to include; leaders, community members, PLHIV, MSM, Substance users, sex-workers, fisher folk, key persons at road stop spot, bar-owners, informal sector, car-parks, bus-parks, work-place-exit points, school leaders, out-door games’ organizers, and uniformed services.
INTERVENTIONS: The police and criminal justice system are points for violence redress. Other forms of Violence/stigma counselling centers exist in major towns/municipals; public and private health facilities provide treatment and management of HIV/STIs; CSOs and government social services’ departments have planned programmes targeting MARPs.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: MARPs character and vulnerability spectrum in Uganda.
RESULTS: At community of residence level right through the Criminal justice system, substance users, MSM, Sex-workers and PLHIV still face stigma and violence. Sex-work (female, male and child sex-work) is rampant along all major road trunks and in major destination towns towards Uganda’s boarders. Education and housing areas have high prevalence of male/female sex-work, same sex practices and substance use. Violence/stigma counselling centers exist in major towns/municipals; public and private health facilities provide treatment and management of HIV/STIs; CSOs and government social services’ departments have planned programmes targeting MARPs. Key affected populations such as MSM and substance users being criminalized still lack focused programmes targeting them. Communities still do discriminate and stigmatize Key affected populations such as PLHIV, MSM and substance users. There is a tendency to box MARPs issues into HIV Programmes and this has influenced the approach to most programming. Messaging to eradicate risks to HIV should factor in fact that substance use, unprotected anal sex, female sex-work, male sex-work, child sex-work are interconnections in sexual networks
VULNERABILITY:
CENTRAL REGION: These included; Buganda, Busoga sub-region, Bugwere and Bugisu. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, fisher folk, MSM, LGBTIQQ, male/female sex-work, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active, long distance drivers, and uniformed services. Vulnerability was around; quick mobility, fear of consequences of visibility, stigma, sexual practices, gendered sexual beliefs and the gap between haves and have nots.
NORTH-EASTERN REGION: These included; Karamoja sub-region. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active. Vulnerability was around; quick mobility, displacements arising from searching for pasture and child neglect
MID-WESTERN REGION: These included; Kasese, Hoima, Buliisa and Fort Portal. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, fisher folk, MSM, Indigenous Tribes, male/female sex-work around mining and cement industry, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active, long distance drivers, and uniformed services. Vulnerability was around; perceptions of men about mid-Western Uganda females, quick mobility, fear of consequences of visibility, stigma, gap between haves and have nots.
SOUTH-WESTERN REGION: These included; Kabale and Ankole Sub-region. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, fisher folk, MSM, LGBTIQQ, male/female sex-work, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active, long distance drivers, and uniformed services. Vulnerability was around; quick mobility, fear of consequences of visibility, stigma, cultural perceptions around sexuality and sexual intercourse acts.
WEST-NILE REGION: These included; Arua and Madi Sub-region. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, fisher folk, male/female sex-work, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active, long distance drivers, and uniformed services. Vulnerability was around; quick mobility, fear of consequences of visibility, stigma, cultural perceptions around sexuality and sexual intercourse acts, and inter-cultural social experiences.
NORTHERN SUB REGION: These included; Acholi and Lango Sub-region. The MARPs characteristics range from substance use, child sex-work, fisher folk, MSM, male/female sex-work, PLHIV, young people who are sexually active, long distance drivers, and uniformed services. Vulnerability was around; quick mobility, fear of consequences of visibility, stigma, cultural perceptions around sexuality and sexual intercourse acts.
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS:
“As a town dweller, I do know of substance use, anal sex, female sex-work, male sex-work and child sex-work in this town and many others. The clients include professional persons, odd-jobs workers, artisans, students and non-school young people”. Ashraf (Wandegeya), Florence (Nansana), Grace (Kawempe), Jerome (Migyeera), Cosma (Nimule) and Rashid (Mbale).
“Am a male sex-worker since 2007, my kind of clients have my phone contacts and book in different hotels in different towns of Uganda. They send me a text message and we meet for sex. Most times they also ask me to bring other friends when they are many. Some of our clients do use substances, especially they smoke marijuana”. Crystal (Kampala).
“We want to be trained in skills to start up alternative businesses besides depending on Fishing”. Bukenya (Kyamuswa, Mazinga, Kalangala Islands of Lake Victoria), Arthur (Lake Albert), Ogwer (Lake Kioga).
“Yes, there are programmes on HIV and Human Rights as part of the prison services, hopefully this will be a big step in improving prevention practices”. (Key informant).
“Am interested in two things now that we have met. How your organisation can help us “handle” MARPs since we are increasingly working in that area” . (Key informant from a leading health organisation).
“ What is that nonsense? Every one is a MARP!” ( Key informant and district official).
“ The issues such as stigma, dialogue around discrimination and their relation to HIV are points to start with in starting and driving conversation around MARPs issues”. (Key informant and Community Development Officer).
“Am a trans-woman and I feel so insecure. I have to keep in-doors and only get out at night or make sure I put on long coats and a cap if am to conduct outreach services for other trans-women in Uganda”. (Leader of Trans-Women Bureau Uganda).
“ I am a transgendered male to female person and my parents are aware of my sexuality and gender identity. I wonder why we do not have seminars targeting parents and families. Our families are the first points of insecurity for many of the gay people.” (Leader of Young MSM Club in Uganda).
“ We are ready to conduct community campaigns against “mob-justice” as this is one very unjust way communities deal with what they disagree with. Communities should learn to use the justice system and believe in it. Other reported complaints are evictions, black-mail, extortion and deliberate hostility actions”. (Key informant from law and order section).
LIMITATION: This exercise was conducted to generate vulnerability before testing and it explored issues around visibility of various MARPs.
CONCLUSION: Contexts ranging from Policy, programmes, public and private settings form and influence actions targeting MARPs issues. HIV risk is one major issue most organisations target. However, before testing or accessing an HCT service MARPs need to be looked at as vulnerable and that vulnerability is disproportionate. Criminalization, Stigma and violence form a barrier that silences MSM, Sex-workers and substance users and it may cause them to go underground. This may not be the case for fisher folk, Long distance truckers or uniformed services. MARPs issues include demand for skills training to access anti-poverty programmes such as social grants. Public and private settings have all the basics in place to provide redress to all issues of MARPs. However, they are also points of violence to some MARPs.

When we invite communities to access and attend our outreach health fares we do not exclude other categories of people. We also use peer mobilisers to reach out to LGBTIQQ people. We follow up LGBTIQQ people by e-mail, phone or coupons. It is possible to meet all categories of minorities in Uganda. The trick is to understand the difference between a Public-Health-Human Rights activist/advocate and a reactionary advocate/activist. One has to create networks in the homes, villages, be ready to be seen with leaders, avoid being a show-off, come down to grass-roots and have skills in negotiating diplomatically. The other,tends to use emotions/sympathy.

I lived half of my life in the USA and when I came back here I saw so many bad things happening to my people and they even don't know about it. Sense I am a stranger in my country, makes very difficult to start something with the help of others. Specially because here in Brazil they believe you must know someone to get some where and they don't believe a person can do good just because to do good is the right thing to do. So I started what I call the VOICELESS PROJECT. I will create my youtube account showing the things I am doing and the things I believe is wrong and solutions we could use to make things better for everyone.
Sad part is the GLBT community here in Brazil they don't know their own rights and most of them live in the shadows afraid of the worst. Those are out some end up doing drugs and prostitution cause they can't get education ( afraid of bullying ) or a job ( specially when the men are so feminine, or women so masculine). Those are transgender, few can get a job at some beauty shop and most end up doing prostitution. I was thinking of giving to them free english lessons, to help build up some confidence in themselves and show there is a huge world out there and they can dream about a better life. But it isn't easy, I am still by myself and all the people I tried to reach for help called me crazy for doing so ( including some people from the own gay community). But I know it happens cause they don't have role models to follow, and I can't be one yet. That's why I am trying to affiliate do organizations so I can make a network that will help me to get where I want to get to help those are in need. I am well spoken person, I can speak fluently in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Also I have very good knowledge about the bible and human rights to win a debate with respect and control of my emotions regardless how mean someone can talk to me.
So if you want to help me in my project, let me affiliate your your group so I can build up a strong network.
Here is my email
RonaldUSA@hotmail.com
I live in Brazil now for the past 8 months, but must of my life I lived in Boston USA.
Well thanks for your attention, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Ronald ;-)

We ve experienced alot of suffering from government,community and also from our family members that ve expressed strong resentments towards us yet we would have expected protection refugee from them can you imagine your own family member threating you all the time because of you being ahomosexual
I have afriend who told me that because of his family members knowing that he 's agay some of them are now taking advantage of him by demanding money from him threating to report him to police community leaders (Local council chairman) and to his boss. He told me his father has now chased him away and told him if he see him back again on his land or house he will pull out his machete and cut him he 's ready to go to prison. I call upon all members to come out and help our brother
Please we ' re seeking for your advice

Sometimes the best action is no action;other times the best action is teaching by example. If one is oppressive then one is oppressed. Do we fight, do we flight? Out the oppressor if you want to be Out; report the security guard, write an editorial, publicize the employer. It may make no difference then again it may. Recommended reading: Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mendela biography). Recommended film; The Accused (based on a true story)

As an ESL/EFL educator, I yearned to create a safe education environment, to deliver curriculum inclusive of GLBT global culture. While Canada as a whole is making progress in this area, smaller less urbanized less culturalized communties are still oppressed thus discriminate GLBT teachers, students and incorporation of related curriculum. While teaching in a rural Canadian public university, I felt extremely oppressed, fearful for my job and my students. My goal is to teach, to educate through example. Canada's laws and legislated policies exists to protect all yet falls short of their true mandate. All human rights and equality depend on education, hope and courage. We,the educators and learners need to feel safe in our educational environment,need to feel free to experience a safe education in a fair playing field. Rather than wait, rather than fight, I have adopted a holistic approach to ESL/EFL -a virtual global teach and learn community that is accepting, fosters choice and embraces differneces among All People from All Nations. We must make it better, we must erase hate, we must advocate, we must EDUCATE; ours is the legacy that we leave to the future.
"The measure of oneâ&euro;&trade;s character is not what they get from their ancestors,but what they leave their descendants." ~ AU

I live in Athens-Greece.To be gay/bisexual in Athens and generally in big cities and famous islands in Greece is not unusual,but in the Greek countryside is somekind unusual..At my work everyone knows about my sexual orientation and i have never been a discrimination victim.Co-workers accept it normally.Also,my friends who are straight guys and girls dont have any problem.The same thing in my university.Young Greeks accept it normally in the most of cases.Also,in the public areas when i talk about my boyfriend with a friend on my phone,noone cares about it.I think that this situation is completely different in the Greek countryside.Church causes troubles(church is accepted only by old people and very conservative people)in lgbt community but government tries to recognise same sex couples with a law which is gonna be voted in the next months.

Its better you try to get help from some LGBT communities in Tanzania.I understand the situation you are going through its unfair for you to work and then pay someone how is taking advantage because of you being a homosexual and i know our situation in Africa concerning with homosexuality.Let us come out and condemne such acts.We should request to decriminilse homosexuality in East Africa like in Rwanda
Steven kasiko

LGB people have almost achieved legal equality in New Zealand. M/M sex was decriminalised in 1986. Anti-gay discrimination was added to the Human Rights Act in 1993. The exemption from this anti-discrimination law for the public sector was removed in 2000. We have openly LGT officers serving in the police, and LG officers in the army and navy. We don't have adoption rights or full marriage equality but many younger LGB people don't worry about that.

Bullying at school, especially for transgender young people, is still a big problem. New Zealand has high rates of suicide and of child abuse. Many intersex children report being abused and some are still genitally mutilated without their consent. Invisibility of some problems means that there tens to be media focus on problems when something particularly bad happens, like recent arson attacks on an older lesbian couple's business in a rural community. The violence has led to them leaving that community. Police are still investigating the crime, and many straight people in that community are outraged by the crime.

Life in bigger New Zealand cities is fine for most LGB people, and even for TI people who pass. It is legally OK to be transgender and there is some Government work to improve processes and policies relating to transger people at work and in the health services. Police will investigate crimes against transgender people but there are no laws against hate crimes. NZ was the first country in the Pacific to have a transsexual Member of Parliament. There are only limited public funds for gender reassignment treatments so many transgender people save up for private treament. Some MtF women work as prostitutes to pay for treatment. Prostitution is legal for NZ citizens over 18 years but not for international visitors.

I never came out to myself that i am a "bisexual" i am really highly attracted to lesbians.... Some of my friend knew this but my sister overreacted with who i am... i hated her a little bit, she cant understand that i am so madly in love with my lesbian friend... she called me immoral, but i dont care...

In Tanzania being LGBT is an offence that one can face up to 35rs in prison, though no one have been jailed so far but the life is not that good.
religious houses and leaders are againist LGBT, this makes the whole community go againist us.
We are not accepted, not recognized, stigmatized and discriminated. We really have no support from NGOs both local and international, not even human rights activists.
We are crying for help from our fellow friend worldwide join us we want our rights in Tanzania.
WEZESHA work to promote and protect the rigbhts of LGBT in Tanzania

As part of its work to combat discrimination, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) is privileged to present this story from the Spectrum of Korey Chisholm, a 20 year old man who lives in Guyana.
Who are you?
I am a young person who is interested in community development, especially working with young people and children. I have done training as an HIV peer educator, and I am working on some other courses in youth leadership so as to become better informed to take up a leadership role. I am active in a few youth groups, and I am grateful for all the training I have received. I am currently working in trying to ensure that orphans and children vulnerable to HIV are getting care. My role models are two young men and a young woman who have mentored me and allowed me to be open with them. I have recognised that there is a need for leadership within sections of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, in terms of identifying important values so that we could support ourselves and not be self-destructive.
What is your sexual orientation?
I am gay, I am attracted to other men. I have had good relationships with girls when I was younger but after awhile, I have recognised and accepted that I am gay. For me, being gay means having some feminine qualities and sometimes I think like a woman.
Do you want to be a woman?
I would like to be a woman so that I could feel like a woman, but I do not have the desire to go through a sex change operation. I am comfortable with my body, and my genitals. I like dressing in drag , and I used to do it quietly at home, in front of the mirror. However, recently I took a major step, and participated in the Miss Gay Glory pageant.
What was it like to participate in the Miss Gay Glory pageant?
I wanted to help the organisers in terms of training and to make the pageant a success. I think it was important to give gay people a chance to be themselves and also to look at other things like intelligence and talent. I ended up participating in the pageant. The experience was very good for me in that I felt that I came out more to myself. I wanted to have fun, but there was serious aspects for the contestants to train and learn about their platforms, which were social issues. I felt that the makeup and the clothes would be a disguise, and that no one would know me. However, some people recognised me and shouted my name, not maliciously. I have been out a few times, dressed in drag, and had a good time in places where the owners are tolerant. I sometimes think of the risk, but I think that I want to be myself and sometimes I get tired of pretending. At work they ask about girlfriends, but I donâ&euro;&trade;t say anything. On the night of the pageant, there were some people from my church who were in the audience.

Are you religious?
Yes, I am religious. I follow Christian principles. I am active in the church, and I love working in the different groups, especially with children and young people. I like music and singing. I find that that gospel music is uplifting, and for me, the songs when I sing them, they make me feel good especially when I am down. I know that if the church elders find out about me, that I could be dis-fellowshiped. I am at a stage of my life, where I would not have any problems with that, because I am comfortable without the church and I know that I could worship God on my own. I think many gay people are spiritual. At the pageant, we included gospel and a prayer which all the contestants had written. The other people from my church who were there, some are gay and some are not, they are supportive. I took pictures with them
How do you feel about HIV and gay men?
I am glad for the knowledge I have and I want to make sure that the LGBT community is informed and has access to services. I know that HIV is still a big risk to gay men. I always practice safe sex. I believe in monogamous relationships and even then, I will practice safe sex. Sometimes, people will say that they love me, and want to have sex without condoms. It is difficult to imagine, but this is still happening.
What is in the future for you?
I have to further my education while I make a living. I have to get some qualifications. In five years time or so, I hope to have my degree and be in a position to continue the work in community development. There are many options for me â&euro;&ldquo; community health, governance, working on leadership development. In terms of family, I know I cannot have children of my body. I think I will adopt when I am settled. There are many children out there who need care and I believe I am a fit person to look after them.

Gay Bashing In Georgetown, Guyana - A Gay Man Shares His Experiences
Homosexual men in Guyana are still finding it difficult to live free from fear of stigma and discrimination as the World celebrates another AIDS Day today. These are everyday parts of their lives whether at school, work or accessing services from hospitals or transportation service providers. Korey, a young openly homosexual man, said his first experience with stigma and discrimination goes way back to his childhood when he was bullied and harassed. `Being in school, having persons tell you or trouble you and you would have to shift to doing certain things.` He explains some of the shifts he is forced to make to avoid the harassment. `If I see a set of guys lining at a corner I would walk around or take the longer route if that was the shorter route [to avoid passing there].`…If I go back home right now to where I am from in Berbice I would experience a great deal of stigma in terms of verbal words. Most of the stigma that I receive is verbal words,` he said. Korey said that although he has overcome being affected by words, some people take their attacks further than that. He said that up to the day before (being interviewed) while he was speaking on his cell phone, five young men were passing and one of them picked up a bottle to toss at him.
‘I stop at the time and I stand up, waiting to see if they were going to shy (hit) me with the bottle. When they realized that I am standing up there they start to say, `Oh, I am getting brave,` and that sort of thing,` he said. He added that the day prior to that incident, he was actually pelted with a bottle by another set of 20-something year old young guys. He said that most of the harassment that he receives would be in the form of people smiling in a mocking manner or nasty comments from older people. Korey works in a health facility. He says a lot of people know who he is. He thinks that because of this, he is able to access services quite comfortably, despite the occasional gesticulations from persons. But, the worst forms of discrimination come when he seeks access to public transportation.
`You find that bus conductors and drivers may not stop to pick you up, or upon discovering the person`s orientation may not want that person in the bus. I go to shop and I get sold, I get [attended to]. But even the taxi drivers, you have a big issue where they might not want to pick you up. They may slow down when flagged down but when they see who you are they drive away,` he said. He said that he has never confronted a transportation provider to know why he was asked to exit the bus. Instead he would simply comply with the demand to leave the car or bus. But there was one time when the minibus operator objected to him being in the bus and other passengers in support exited the bus also. Korey said that the problem has been escalating of late and it has been costing him money to move around. Openly gay men have more difficulties when it comes to employment. According to Korey they sometimes have to be somebody else before they are given employment because of employers` requirements for dress code.
`Lots of young gay flamboyant men are unemployed because of this, and this may lead to them engaging in transactional sex. They may not go out there at night, but engage in it right in their homes. In their minds it is not sex work. They do it occasionally to get income to [supplement] support from family,` Korey explained. Gay men do experience sexual assaults. Relating to an incident earlier in his life, Korey said that when he was gang-raped, he could not go to the Police nor could he tell his parents, because of the fear of stigma and discrimination. `When I got home I didn`t tell my family anything, I just told them I got robbed and dropped the matter,` Korey said. `The same is about telling the story over and over…and then to get the reaction from the Police, a laugh or a smirk or a smile, and the questions that they ask,` he said.

Today, Korey is part of the Guyana Rainbow Foundation and is also affiliated with the
Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). He also has a youth community based organization called Diverse Youth Movement which looks at issues in the younger Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community. His organisation looks at personal development and capacity building for young persons. He said that because the Guyana Rainbow Foundation is fairly new, they have not approached agencies for assistance with funding to look at social cohesion and conflict resolution. `I am now finishing the governance manual for the organization and once that is off, [we will be moving ahead]. We are registered with the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport. Now we are starting the work, we are doing some personal work,` he said. According to Korey the Ministry of Health has been greatly involving the youth group in its programmes and initiatives in terms of HIV and AIDS in Guyana. Director of the National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS), Dr. Shanti Singh, said that the agency works with groups like Korey`s, providing funding for advocacy and training. There is also a coordinating committee at the national level that brings together all the NGOs that work with commercial sex workers and with men who have sex with men – once every quarter – to discuss with them whether things are going well. `Groups that have a focus on the LGBT community have been able to benefit from funding under the project to be able to do work among their members,` she said, noting that this is done through an arrangement similar to the groups that work with the female commercial sex workers. Dr. Singh said that from a health sector perspective it is very difficult for NAPS to infiltrate those communities and hence the use of the NGOs whose members may have the trust of the community that they are working with. Korey is trying to make a difference through his group`s advocacy work because of his experiences and those of people he knows in his community. `We want to work in the schools and homes because we have young men who have been placed out of their homes because of their status…people don`t want to come out because they are afraid of the stigma,` he said. - By Elan Era John, Panos Global AIDS Programme

The Honolulu Pride Festival Foundation is starting to kick off this years 2011 Hawaii State Pride Fest hosted in beautiful Honolulu Hawaii September 15 - 17, 2011 and encourage all to come and participate as this year we strive to bring PRIDE AROUND THE WORLD!

As Hawaii and the rest of the United States takes pro-active choices in sharing in the equality and justice for all with long roads ahead the little steps we take will lead to bigger victories for all of our LGBT brothers and sister who do not have the same freedoms we do in America. Help our politicians to understand that PRIDE is one way of showing that we are equal and we do not have to fear the hate and discrimination from the world around us which view us as a minority community who is filled with so called "Sinners". Take a stand and support all of your PRIDE organization around the world as we work hand in hand to creating peace, equality and justice for all!

Germany still treats same-sex partnerships and heterosexual marriages differently, but the EU's top court says married couples or those in registered partnerships must get the same pension benefits. see: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15066843,00.html