UN's Annan Ducked Gay Iranians Question; UK MPs Debated Issue

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, back in January, was asked about human rights practices in Iran at a press conference given by the UK's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, and Annan at the London Conference on Afghanistan. An excerpt from the transcript:

QUESTION (Voice of America Persian Service):

Last night the P5 spoke in unison against the nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran. At what point do you think, Mr Secretary General, that the United Nations will use its good offices to bring about one voice in support of the people of Iran, especially the bus drivers, over 110 of them were arrested last Saturday and their leader is still in prison, and for the homosexual rights in Iran, and for women’s rights in Iran?

MR ANNAN:

I think it is very clear that as the United Nations our policy has been to promote human rights and rights of individuals to live in dignity and to have freedom to go about their activities. I have had the opportunity myself to intervene in some of these cases, I intervened in the case of Ganji, and it is an issue that I often raise when I do have an opportunity. Obviously each society has to go through changes and the pace differs from country to country. We heard a lot about reform in Iran under the previous President, the pace maybe has not been as fast as you would like, by the implication in your question, which is also right, but we will continue to promote these rights which are universal and should not be alien to any country, any culture and any religion.

Well, Mr. Annan, could you be a little more vague about the human rights of gays in Iran, please? Seven months after Annan ducked answering the important question of when UN committees would address human rights abuses in Iran, the matter of Iranian gays still needs the UN's attention.

Two months ago, in a broader debate about human rights issues in Iran in the House of Commons, gay Iranian matters were on the agenda:

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Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab): I apologise for not having heard the whole debate, but I did watch the speech made by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman) on television.

So far, the one group that has not been mentioned is lesbians and gays. Many gay men have been executed in the past year. Indeed, execution comes not just through the courts but through officially or unofficially sanctioned death squads roaming villages, trying to find young gay men and executing them. That is outrageous and extraordinary. Has the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had an opportunity to raise that specific issue with Tehran?

Mr. Hoon: Certainly there is concern about the situation faced by homosexuals and we are monitoring the situation carefully. We are not aware of any individuals being executed in Iran over the past two years solely on the grounds of homosexuality, but clearly there are other ways in which homosexuals are seriously affected by how the law operates there.

Chris Bryant: I would be very worried if the FCO genuinely believed that no one had been executed solely because of their sexuality. Trumped-up charges are brought before courts regularly, and it is the work of many organisations in this country to reveal the true outrages going on in Iran. The FCO should look into the issue much more carefully.

Mr. Hoon: I chose my words carefully, and I do not see any need to resile from them. Charges are brought for other matters, but I accept the force of what my hon. Friend was suggesting and the issue is of concern to us.

Referring to the Iranian judicial system, we have concerns about court hearings not always being held in public and about the principle of due process not always being respected. Cruel punishments such as flogging, stoning and amputation remain on the statute book. In a prominent recent case, the Iranian authorities executed two youths—one aged 17 and the other 20—on 13 May this year. They were hanged in Lorestan province barely a month after their alleged crime. The case raises important questions. How could a fair trial be completed in such a short time? Were the two able to exhaust every avenue of appeal open to them? Why does Iran continue to execute under-18s, in violation of international law?

The UK Government and the European Union have, naturally, posed those questions to the Iranian Government, but the case highlights important inconsistencies between Iran’s stated policy of ending such executions and its actions. The international community clearly has a duty to respond to such developments, which undermine basic principles of human rights, and we are committed to addressing that issue.

Regardless of the sexual orientation of any person executed in Iran and by any method, I am gravely concerned with the news two youths were hanged in May this year. The bottom line issue for me is the death penalty, to whom and how it is applied in Iran, and elsewhere, including the USA, and the gay human rights advocates should be paying close attention to the issue, and loudly speaking out against executions.

Al Jazeera: Muslim Cleric, Burn or Throw Gays off High Places?

This interview failed to capture the attention of the American media and many in the gay community, so I'm sharing it here. The tape and transcript of the interview come from the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on June 5, 2006:

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Kerry, who ran against Bush, was supported by homosexuals and nudists. But it was Bush who won [the elections], because he is Christian, right-wing, tenacious, and unyielding. In other words, the religious overcame the perverted. So we cannot blame all Americans and Westerners.

But unfortunately, because the Westerners - Americans and others - want to flatter these people on account of the elections, a disaster occurs. In order to succeed and win the elections, he flatters these people, rather than saying to them: No, you are sinning against yourselves, against society, and against humanity. This is forbidden. Instead of leveling with them, people flatter them to win their votes. This is the disaster that has befallen humanity [...]

Interviewer: How should a homosexual or a lesbian be punished? We mentioned the story of the people of Sodom and how Allah punished them, but how should someone who commits this abomination be punished today?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: The same punishment as any sexual pervert - the same as the fornicator [...]

The schools of thought disagree about the punishment. Some say they should be punished like fornicators, and then we distinguish between married and unmarried men, and between married and unmarried women. Some say both should be punished the same way. Some say we should throw them from a high place, like God did with the people of Sodom. Some say we should burn them, and so on. There is disagreement [...]

The important thing is to treat this act as a crime.

Interviewer: There is an issue that some people may find strange. If homosexuals and lesbians belong to the same category - an inclination towards the same sex - why are there different punishments for men and women, for homosexuals and lesbians?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: A punishment for who?

Interviewer: For homosexuals and lesbians - the punishment for a woman who favors women, and for a man who favors men.

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Lesbianism is not as bad as homosexuality, in practical terms [...]

Interviewer: Should a man be punished for having homosexual tendencies?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Yes, he should.

Interviewer: Or maybe he should be punished only for committing this sin?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: He should be punished just like a fornicator. What is fornication? It is a sexual perversion. A perversion cannot possibly be innate [...]

Interviewer: Some Arab authors have begun to discuss this openly, in newspapers and in their books. Homosexual characters appear in some Arab films. In addition, homosexuals gather in public, and show up at parties in a loathsome manner.

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Not in all countries, only a few...

Interviewer: In many Arab countries.

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: Perhaps you in Morocco have that...

Interviewer: Not only in Morocco. Also in other countries, which I won't mention.

What is the position of Islamic law on this public display?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: This is the calamity of societies. When sin and abomination are concealed, they don't cause much harm [...]

But the calamity becomes widespread, when it stops being a secret and becomes public [...]

We are not hostile towards these people. On the contrary, we pity them. But we do not want to give them an opportunity, like the Westerners, who consider this a normal phenomenon, and it has become widespread, I'm sad to say.

Heck, if considering burning men or throwing them off cliffs as a legitimate punishment for the "crime" of being gay is not hostile, what is?

The gay community really could use our own international commission to monitor this act of religious intolerance, along with other examples of hateful antigay comments from leaders of all religions anywhere in the world. If ever such a commission is formed, I hope it also mobilizes people to stand against such intolerance.

SF Supes: State Dept Must Condemn Female Stoning Deaths in Iran

At the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' meeting today, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, an all-around good guy and veteran progressive advocate who just happens to be Iranian American, introduced this resolution for consideration by his colleagues.

The supervisors now have one week to weigh the merits of it, and the resolution will come up for debate and vote at the next full board meeting, August 15. If you live in San Francisco, contact your supervisor and ask him or her to vote for this crucial resolution.

For people who don't reside here, please ask your local city council or state and federal elected officials to pass similar resolutions, or lobby them to issue statements calling on the U.S. State Department to immediately deplore the potential female stonings and other pending executions in Iran.

I wish to call everyone's attention to the efforts of Lily Mazahery, an Iranian American lawyer advocating to save the lives of women in Iran facing death by stoning.

Mazahery has launched a web site about these women, and has also interviewed the lawyer for Ashraf Kolhari, and the transcript of their talk is posted here.

Please feel free, and I emphatically encourage you, to cut and paste the Supes' resolution, or the information from Mazahery's site, on your own blog or web site. Get the word out that now is the time to open our mouths and say, in loud and clear voices, "No stoning of women!"

Here is Mirkarimi's resolution:

Resolution urging the United States Department of State to condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran’s execution by stoning of Abbas Hajizadeh and Mahboubeh Mohammadi and the impending execution by stoning of Ashraf Kolhari and Malak Ghorbany.

WHEREAS, In May of 2006 it was reported that Abbas Hajizadeh and Mahboubeh Mohammadi were executed by stoning for committing adultery and that more than 100 members of the Revolutionary Guards and Bassij Forces participated in the stoning; and

WHEREAS, Ashraf Kolhari and Malak Ghorbany have been sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery; and

WHEREAS, Kolhari was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for participating in the murder of her husband, and she was sentenced to execution by stoning for adultery as a married woman; and

WHEREAS, Kolhari had an extra-marital affair after her divorce request was rejected by the court, reportedly on the basis that she has children; and

WHEREAS, Kolhari is a 37 year-old mother of four children, and Ghorbany is a 34 year-old mother of two young children; and

WHEREAS, Article 83 of the Iranian Penal Code states that the penance for adultery by a married woman with an adult man is execution by stoning; and

WHEREAS, Article 72 of the Iranian Penal Code and Article 4 of the Implementation of Execution Law state that if a person confesses to adultery and repents that the case must be referred to the Parole Commission and that the Judge can ask for pardon by the Supreme Leader; and

WHEREAS, Ashraf Kolhari has reportedly written to Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, asking for forgiveness, but there has been no report on Shahroudi considering the request for a pardon; and

WHEREAS, In December 2002 Ayatollah Shahroudi issued a ruling to judges ordering a moratorium on execution by stoning, yet the practice has continued despite the Islamic Republic of Iran’s promise to ban such violent and inhumane forms of punishment; and

WHEREAS, The United Nations Human rights Committee has made clear that treating adultery and fornication as criminal offences do not comply with international human rights standards; and

WHEREAS, Iran is a member of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which has officially called for the banning of stoning and other cruel and inhumane methods of execution; and

WHEREAS, The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco has expressed its opposition to the death penalty repeatedly, including endorsing a moratorium on executions in the United States in Resolution No. 632-00 and a moratorium on executions in California in Resolution No. 116-00; and

WHEREAS, On July 22, 2006, the Iranian Embassy in France announced that Malak Ghorbany’s case is being re-evaluated and her original sentence is expected to be revised; and

WHEREAS, That the Iranian government is reconsidering Ghorbany’s case because of international pressure has proven that symbolic statements such as this resolution can have a concrete impact; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco urges the U.S. State Department to issue a strong condemnation against the Islamic Republic of Iran for its practices of civil and human rights abuses, executions of minors, homosexuals and adulterers, and executions by the barbaric and violent means of public stoning; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors condemns the criminalization of private, adult consensual sexual relations.

A big thank you to Ross Mirkarimi, the other Supervisors, the many City Hall staffers and the Mayor, who have all expended political capital and energy on behalf of ending all executions in Iran and the USA. Let this resolution from San Francisco be the first of many across the land.

BBC: Germany Grants Asylum to Iranian Lesbian

Finally, some positive news to share about Iranian gays and lesbians. From a report on the BBC web site:

A court in Germany has accepted an Iranian woman's bid for asylum on the grounds that she is a lesbian.

The 27-year-old woman said she would face persecution and isolation if she was sent back to Iran.

The court decided she should stay in Germany and said its ruling set a binding precedent for similar cases [...]

The woman, whose name was not released, had travelled to Germany in September 2003 where she had applied for asylum.

She said she faced the death penalty if she returned to Iran, where homosexuality is against the law.

The Stuttgart court also heard that she faced punishment in Iran because she refused to wear a headscarf.

Let's see if any mainstream news media in America pick up on this story, which I am sure will hit the gay press.

UK TV Video: Iraqi Gays, Child Prostitutes Targeted for Death

The report from the UK's More4 News station about the often deadly problems faced by gays and children forced into prostitution for survival in Iraq, which was written up over the weekend in The Observer, has now been posted on the TV station's web site.

Exiled gay Iraqis living in London are interviewed, details about gays and minors executed by the militias, along with photos of the gays before they were murdered, are part of the TV report.

And More4 News' correspondent Jennifer Copestake also shows a frightening clip from earlier this year, broadcast on Al Jazeera TV, in which a leading Iraqi Muslim cleric endorsed killing and burning gays. I blogged about this back in May.

Click here for the video report, then scroll down for the link to the segment.

If I had my way, this important news account would air on American TV news channels, from local broadcasts to the networks and also all of the cable news channels.

(Photo credit: More4 News. Video image of an Iraqi homosexual being attacked.)

Iran Bans Nobel Peace Laurete Ebadi's Human Rights Group

More bad news on the human rights front from Iran:

Iran has banned a rights group led by the country's 2003 Nobel Peace laureate, Shirin Ebadi. The Interior Ministry said on August 2 that Ebadi's four-year-old Center of Human Rights Defenders failed to obtain a valid operating permit and warned that any related activities could be prosecuted. The center has been an ardent voice for human and minority rights in Iran since its inception. Ebadi, who has been among the Iranian leadership's fiercest critics [...]

Read the full story here.

A reminder is in order at this point. Mrs. Ebadi last year condemned Iran's hanging of two gay teens in Mashad, and she called for an end to the country's practice of executing minors:

Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Saturday condemned the hanging of two teenagers accused of raping younger boys in northeastern Iran, a punishment that also prompted protests by the international community and rights groups [...]

Click here to read the entire Associated Press wire story.

Caption for a photo that ran in the Washington Blade:

At least three men suspected of being gay were gunned down March 20 in the Iraqi city of Ramadi. U.S. forces say they are concerned about the rising number of anti-gay killings in Iraq. (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP)

UK Observer: Gays Flee Iraq's Death Squads

In a conversation the other day with Andy Humm, the subject of gays in Iraq being targeted by militias came up and we didn't know the status of any organized efforts by gays in the West to help their brothers and sisters in the war-torn country.

Lo, and behold, thanks to a link on the Blade's blog to a fantastically informative story in The Observer across the pond, we're all getting a status report on current conditions for gays and under-age male prostitutes in Iraq, and gays who've fled:

Hardline Islamic insurgent groups in Iraq are targeting a new type of victim with the full protection of Iraqi law, The Observer can reveal. The country is seeing a sudden escalation of brutal attacks on what are being called the 'immorals' - homosexual men and children as young as 11 who have been forced into same-sex prostitution.

There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country.

Ali Hili runs the Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group out of London. He used to have 40 volunteers in Iraq but says after recent raids by militia in Najaf, Karbala and Basra he has lost contact with half of them. They move to different safe houses to protect their identities, but their work is incredibly dangerous.

Eleven-year-old Ameer Hasoon al-Hasani was kidnapped by policemen from the front of his house last month. He was known in his district to have been forced into prostitution. His father Hassan told me he searched for his son for three days after his abduction, then found him, shot in the head. A copy of the death certificate confirms the cause of death.

Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an 'honour killing' to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment. Section 111 of Iraq's penal code lays out protections for murder when people are acting against Islam [...]

Graphic photos obtained from Baghdad sources too frightened to identify themselves as having known a gay man, and seen by the Observer, show other gay Iraqis who have been executed. One shows two men, suspected of having a relationship, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs - guns at the ready behind their heads - awaiting execution. Another picture captured on a mobile phone shows a gay man being beaten to death. Yet another shows a corpse being dragged through the streets after his execution.

One photograph is of the mutilated, burnt body of 38-year-old Karar Oda from Sadr City. He was kidnapped by the Badr Brigade in mid-June. They work with the Ministry of Interior and are the informal armed wing of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who make up the largest Shia bloc in the Iraq parliament. Oda's family were given an arrest warrant signed by the Ministry of Interior which said their son deserved to be arrested and killed for immorality as a homosexual. His body was found ten days later [...]

Ibaa Alawi has also fled Iraq. A former employee at the British embassy in Baghdad, Alawi met Tony Blair on one of his surprise visits to Iraq. He said Blair was concerned about the safety of the Iraqis working there and praised their bravery. 'Tony Blair said the British government was thankful for our efforts and knew we were putting our lives at risk working for the British embassy in Baghdad.'

Alawi is upset the same government is not willing to help him out. He believes the Home Office will refuse him asylum because it would have to face up to the level of chaos in Iraq, and how much influence is being waged by radical Islamists - and face the fact that, for some, there is still no freedom in Iraq.

· Jennifer Copestake's film on homosexual executions in Iraq will be shown on More4 News on August 7 at 8pm.

The site for More4 News is a treasure-trove of video reports from their very-far-flung reporters, but, so far, this UK news site hasn't yet posted the report on gays in Iraq. Once they do, I will link to it.

BAR: S.F. AIDS Inc Fears Stats Dropping Because of Funding Cuts?

Is the thinking within AIDS Inc so concerned more with executive salaries, jobs and consulting gigs than with drops in AIDS stats that the Bay Area Reporter, in an excellent editorial today, must ask these sort of questions?:

Yet it's been a challenge to get officials from AIDS service organizations and HIV prevention agencies to comment on these latest AIDS statistics. We certainly understand – and reported – that these new numbers DO NOT mean that AIDS is over, or that AIDS cases will dramatically decrease this year. You cannot simply double 205 to predict AIDS cases for the rest of the year, for example. And that is not what we're saying and it's not what the health department report is saying. What these quarterly reports represent, however, is a snapshot of the epidemic at certain periods throughout the year. We know that numbers will continue to come in that will be added to the 2006 figures, and even the 2005 figures because of the reporting delay.

But why the skittishness on the part of AIDS and HIV prevention agencies? Aren't they happy the numbers are down? Don't they want the epidemic to end? [...]

In year 25 of the AIDS epidemic, with both new HIV infections and diagnosed full-blown AIDS cases on the downward slope, such questions must be answered, and the best way to start the dialogue is by insisting that the S.F. health department and AIDS groups convene town hall meetings. But at this moment in time, no public community forums are planned.

The BAR not only published an editorial on this subject, but the paper also ran an extremely informative news story, written by editor Cynthia Laird, on the latest AIDS stats:

The latest numbers for diagnosed AIDS cases in San Francisco show a decline for the first half of 2006, though health department officials emphasized that reporting delays by hospitals, doctors, and clinics likely mean the figures will increase in future reports.

According to the Department of Public Health's Quarterly AIDS Surveillance Report, the number of reported AIDS cases for the first six months of the year stands at 205. Of those, only 43 AIDS cases were actually diagnosed this year, according to the report. There have been 93 deaths reported so far this year [...]

Kudos to Laird and the BAR for bring valuable attention to AIDS epidemiology from the department of health.

Reporters Without Borders: IGLHRC Says July 19 "Great Success"

Tala Dowlatshahi, an Iranian American writer with Reporters Without Borders, has written a fascinating article about gay and lesbian Iranians and the July 19 vigils and actions over the hanging last year of two gay teens in Mashad. When she contacted me, she made it clear one issue she wouldn't deal with in her article was the division between vigil organizers and leaders at Human Rights Watch and IGLHRC. I put her in touch with Doug Ireland and pointed her to his dozens of articles regarding Iran's gay community and the Islamic republic's repression against people with same-sex feelings and inclinations.

Dowlatshahi this morning sent me the link to her story, which I strongly urge you to read, if only to glean her unique perspective on the many conflicting and highly controversial aspects to gay Iranians.

The most surprising part of her reporting is the fact that the head of IGLHRC, who reluctantly agreed to hold a vigil at Iran's U.N. mission, only to back out days before it was to happen, and who certainly didn't expend time or her group's resources publicizing or engaging activists anywhere to organize vigils for July 19, is exclaiming now the events "were a great success." Not only that, but IGLHRC also says the actions last month illustrate how the global community is working on sexual liberation in Iran. Huh?

If this is how IGLHRC honestly feels about the July 19 vigils, why did the executive director exhibit much disrespect for the organizers, goals and demands of the vigils, and will IGLHRC do anything constructive for next year's third-annual international day of commemoration?

From Dowlatshahi's terrific article:

Earlier this month the international community came together to commemorate IDAAHOPI (International Day of Action Against Homophobic Persecution in Iran). Demonstrations took place from Brussels to Chicago, Tehran to Dublin, Moscow to New York, and Florida to the United Kingdom to condemn the 19 July 2005 executions of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni in the Iranian city of Mashhad. The two young men, both in their late teens, were hanged after the father of a thirteen year old boy who had sex with them charged the boys with rape by knifepoint [...]

Although recent events have placed Amhadinejad and Bush on opposite sides of the fence, the one sure thing they agree on is their campaign to clampdown on the gay and lesbian community. In January this year, Human Rights Watch issued a report condemning the United Nations ban initiated by the Iranian government and strongly supported by the U.S. to stop gay and lesbian groups from gaining consultative status at the United Nations [...]

Lavaat (sodomy) is considered a crime punishable by death as written in the Iranian penal cde. Lesbianism is punishable by 100 lashes. If the act of lesbianism is continued, the death penalty can apply on the fourth occasion under articles 127, 129 and 130. In some cases, women having relations with other women are forced into mental hospitals, beaten by family members or become victims of honor killings.

Under the auspice of Islamic jurisprudence, the Iranian Office of Promotion and Prohibition of Vice is saddled with the responsibility of repressing moral deviance within the Islamic Republic and has been the main persecutor in these sex crime allegations. The warden of good vs. evil, the Office was created as a draconian arm of the Islamic Republic to monitor the public and private activities of Iranians and to ensure moral respectability under Sharia law. The Office has responded swiftly and since 2003, toughened up its death penalty laws, increased public hangings this past year, and opted to uproot all gay underground activities with the intention to sexually sterilize Iranian society [...]

For lesbian women who face grave judgments by community members if they are unmarried and have no prospects for marriage, the Internet becomes a haven and escape for them to dialogue with other women who share similar sexual interests. But often these Internet sites are swiftly shut down or monitored. I tired logging on to the Khanaye Doost (House of Friends), a popular website dedicated to Iranian lesbian women. I only received the prompt: Sorry, Khanaye Doost no longer exists [...]
My friend Hashem, a fashion designer who lives in New York with an American boyfriend, often shares tales with me about his travels to Iran and daily Iranian gay life. He tells me of secret chai (tea) houses in Tehran that are known as hangouts for gay men.

"There's an underground that's really active. Men arrange dates online through secret coded language that the government won't be able to understand. We then meet up at chai houses at all hours of the day where only men are allowed. Sexual glances are often exchanged through teacups." [...]

Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in New York told me that the demonstrations commemorating the 19 July anniversary were a great success and showed how the international community is coming together to advocate for the right to sexual freedom in Iran [...]

Ms. Ettelbrick hopes future activities will focus on how to encourage dialogue about these issues within Iran and to promote better understandings of Iranians among the international community, gay or straight [...]

I agree here with Ettelbrick's call for more dialogue and suggest she start the process of more communication and engagement on these concerns, with members of the global gay community who coordinated the July 19 actions.

Castro's Niece is Pro-Gay; HRW Expands Gay Unit

The Castro family of Cuba just can't keep themselves out of the news these days, can they? While Fidel's grappled with failing health, the political ramifications of his medical problems, turning over power to his brother Raul, the dictator's niece Mariela was advocating for equal treatment and respect for gays in Cuba.

From the Montreal Gazette, published July 29:

Mariela Castro preaches revolution, though not the kind her uncle Fidel has ever embraced.

As the head of Cuba's National Centre for Sexual Education, Castro is a vocal supporter of rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered. That support brought her to Montreal yesterday, to speak at the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights, being held in conjunction with the First World Outgames.

Castro, 43, is the daughter of Raul Castro, Cuba's defence minister and the first in line to succeed 80-year-old dictator Fidel Castro, who has ruled the country for 50 years [...]

"When he wants to vilify an opponent, the first thing Fidel Castro will call him is a maricon (faggot)," said Toronto film editor Ricardo Acosta, a gay man who was expelled from Cuba in 1980 as part of a massive deportation that became known as the Mariel boatlift.

"Perhaps her intentions are good, but until people can express themselves freely in Cuba and have freedom to associate, I won't believe things have changed for gays and lesbians [...]"

"There is no official repression of lesbians and gays in Cuba," she said flatly through a translator. "What remains are social and cultural reactions that must be transformed, the same as in many other countries."

Gays, lesbians and transgendered people still face arrest, she conceded, but that reflects problems with bigoted police.

Cuba's constitution bars discrimination on the basis of sex, race or age, but does not specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual identity. Cuba decriminalized sodomy in 1979 [...]

Life for gay Cubans has certainly improved over the decades, with room for further protections. One thing I'd like to learn more about from Mariela Castro and the gay community in Cuba, relates to the current situation for our brothers and sisters, including those living with HIV or AIDS. I want to hear the voices and read the words of Cuban gays. We need more exchanges with gay advocates and our allies from beyond the USA's borders, especially activists in our hemisphere.

On the subject of respect for the human rights of Cuba's gay, here's what the State Department's 2005 international human rights survey had to say:

Societal discrimination against homosexuals persisted, as police occasionally conducted sweeps in areas where homosexuals congregated, particularly along sections of Havana's waterfront.

The government restricted persons found to be HIV-positive to sanatoriums for treatment and therapy before conditionally releasing them into the community. Even after their release, some persons with HIV/AIDS said the government monitored their movements with a de-facto chaperone to prevent the spread of the illness. HIV/AIDS sufferers also asserted that state medical professionals frequently failed to respect confidentiality, with the result that their condition was known widely throughout their neighborhoods. Some persons with HIV/AIDS said the government only offered them jobs incompatible with their medical condition.

Looking at the slightly larger picture of what Human Rights Watch is doing to expand it's work on behalf of gays worldwide, there's some good news from the head of HRW's gay unit, Scott Long. From Long's email:

Two quick notes. We have a new part-time associate shared between the LGBT Rights Program and the Europe-Central Asia Division, Iwona Zielinska, who begins tomorrow. I'll share her full contact details as well as schedule as soon as we've had the chance to work those out with her and let her settle in for a day or two, but we are obviously very grateful to have her with us.

Second, and very excitingly, after gifts from several dedicated funders, we've just received approval to hire another researcher in the LGBT Rights Program. We should be sending out a job announcement in the next week, and I hope you can help us circulate it to achieve a wide and diverse hiring pool as, after numerous recent successes, our important program continues to grow.

HRW's gay liaison, believe it or not, doesn't have a blog, even though he loves to write and authored a terrific blog for a week from Moscow in May, but not on HRW's site. I believe it would help global gay activism and engage more people if Long finally created a blog and routinely communicated with us, about things like their expanded programs and how folks can contact a government official to advocate on behalf of gay human rights. How about starting a blog, Scottie?