Global LGBT News Briefs: From Soccer to Sodomy
Merkel urged to boycott Euro 2012, Vietnam fines gays, and Dubai court forgoes murder for gay misdemeanor
AllOut.org Effort Targets Ukraine Anti-Gay Bill
The global LGBT-advocacy organization AllOut.org is turning its attention to Ukraine, where the Parliament is considering a bill, Law 8711, to essentially make public expression or support of homosexuality illegal.
With Euro 2012 soccer finals scheduled for Kiev, Ukraine, the group has also enlisted the support of Marcus Urban, a former professional German soccer player who came out as gay in the 1990s.
AllOut.org quotes an open letter from Urban to German Chancellor Angela Markel, which it says has been signed by 20,000 members of the organization: ”As Ukraine’s key trade partner, you should give [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych a ‘red card’ by refusing to attend this month’s Euro Cup and strongly urging him to denounce the laws in his Parliament that want to make saying ‘gay’ illegal.”
Thousands more have signed on to a more general AllOut.org campaign denouncing the proposed Ukrainian legislation, which echoes similar anti-gay pushes in neighboring Russia.
Vietnam Cracks Down on Gay Newlyweds
London-based Gay Star News is reporting that authorities in Vietnam have fined two men for holding a wedding without a registration, which also prompted the couple to flee their home locality, Kien Giang province.
GSN also reported that an organization listed only as ICS, ”the largest gay rights organization in Vietnam,” has come out in support of the couple.
”The right to seek happiness is the most fundamental right of everyone,” reads the ICS statement, according to GSN. ”ICS is glad because your love is supported by your families, who organized a wedding for you.”
A Web link in the online article to the ICS organization, ics.org.vn, leads to an account that has been suspended.
UAE Court Finds Belgian Guilty of Homosexuality
In a peculiar case in which a 25-year-old Filipino man fell to his death in Dubai, UAE, prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge a 24-year-old Belgian man with throwing him out the window, UAE’s The National reports.
According to The National, the man who fell did not die immediately, and told witnesses the Belgian was his partner and that he had thrown him from his fourth-floor apartment window.
While there were no criminal charges in the death – with the Belgian telling police that the two were in a relationship, but that the Filipino man threw himself out the window following an argument – prosecutors did move ahead with a misdemeanor charge of consensual homosexual sex, for which the Belgian has been found guilty.
According to the June 6 report, the Belgian will serve a year in jail and then be deported.
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