Colombia Grants Gay Couples Equal Rights

Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that gay couples must be granted the same civil, political, social, and economic rights as their straight counterparts in common-law marriages. This includes claiming pensions from the military in the case of death of a partner, the right to refuse to testify against a partner in a criminal investigation, and the ability to claim alimony payments in the event of separation.

This is one big step forward in equality for the nation of approximately 45 million people. Uruguay is the only other South American country to recognize same-sex civil unions.

Read more.

GLAAD Media Reference Guide, 7th Edition

Have you ever wondered what the most appropriate umbrella term is to use for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth? Or maybe you are confused by the fact that some people use the term "gay" to describe themselves, while others choose "queer"? Well, answers to these questions and more can be found in the GLAAD Media Reference Guide, 7th Edition.

The Guide is a great resource divided into several sections, including Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Glossary of Terms, Transgender Glossary of Terms, and Offensive Terminology to Avoid, for journalists, writers, and anyone else who wants to know how to respect and further understand the diversity of LGBT people.

Learn more.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's First Female Prime Minister and the World's First Openly Gay Leader

Johanna Sigurdardottir is expected to be sworn in this week as Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the first openly gay leader in the world.

Ms. Sigurdardottir entered politics via the labour movement and was first elected to parliament in 1978. She was given her first ministerial office in 1987. Her appointment as Prime Minister comes as her party, the Social Democrat Alliance, was asked by Iceland's head of state, President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, to form a new governing coalition. As Prime Minister, Ms. Sigurdardottir will be head of government until the island nation's next elections are held in May 2009.

Ms. Sigurdardottir lives with her spouse in civil partnership, Jonina Leosdottir, a journalist and playwright, and was reported as being Iceland's most popular politician in November 2008.

Hurrah for another outstanding social leap forward in the world!

Read more.

Be an Activist, Make a Difference - Edit Wikipedia

There are all kinds of ways to be an activist out there for those of you who feel like you want to make a difference, and one of the easiest is to correct the mistakes that are found on Wikipedia. As my fellow blogger over at Restructure! writes, "Editing Wikipedia is easier than sending a letter to an editor, showing up to a rally, and marching against a cause. If there is something wrong on Wikipedia, fix it directly, and fix it yourself. Real, practical effects are better than self-congratulatory symbolism."

Restructure! very astutely reminds us of the need to question everything we read, even in texts that are among the most commonly used reference sources. And, aside from the factual errors we may find, beneath every structured sentence, there exists frequently another layer of meaning, i.e. a bias, that contributes to the overall understanding of a given subject matter.

Another excerpt:

"Anyone can edit Wikipedia, which gives the impression that the content on Wikipedia is a cumulation of public knowledge, but the content of Wikipedia is actually a reflection of a particular demographic that skews white, American, and male."

Check the facts and footnotes, and read more.

Gaza, Israel, Homosexuality, and Complexity and Contradictions on the Left

So, I'm on the listserv for Queer McGill, which is meant to be an open forum for dialogue both within and outside the McGill University community. Usually I get emails about queer discussion groups, special events, and other LGBT related news and information. Recently, two call outs, organized as a Pink Block, were made for a protest to denounce what was called the "Israeli apartheid" in Gaza. I declined both invitations feeling like I couldn't participate in a movement that vilified the only country in the middle east in which gay people have legal rights. As I discussed in another post, gay Palestinians have a difficult time living in Gaza or the West Bank and are in a position to either be quiet about who they love or risk homophobic violence from an Islamic government that would rather see them put away or dead.

Now, I understand the position of many leftists, from centre to far, and the ideals of protecting people from suffering, but it's becoming more difficult for me to be sympathetic to demonstrations that divide through vilification rather than unite for peace. In his recent criticism of the European left, Irish scholar Denis MacEoin writes:

"In a bizarre reversal of all their commitment to human rights and the struggle of men and women for independence and self-determination, the European Left has chosen again and again to side with the bullies [Hamas] and to condemn a small nation [Israel] struggling to survive in a hostile neighborhood. It is all self-contradictory: The Left supports gay rights, yet attacks the only country in the Middle East where gay rights are enshrined in law. Hamas makes death the punishment for being gay, but 'we are all Hamas now.' Iran hangs gays, but it is praised as an agent of anti-imperialism, and allowed to get on with its job of stoning women and executing dissidents and members of religious minorities. If UK Premier Gordon Brown swore to wipe France from the face of the earth, he would become a pariah among nations. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens to do that to Israel and is invited to speak to the UN General Assembly."

With the above in mind, I'm not sure what motivates a Pink Block in the Queer McGill community to partake in a protest that takes as it's enemy a nation that protects not only gay Israelis, but also gay Palestinians in Israel. That said, I hope that the presence of a Pink Block at an anti-Israel demonstration might open the minds of the people in the Pink Block itself, as well as those of the other attendees, to understanding the value of uniting for peace, no matter who you are.

Read more.

Petition to Protest Radio Canada's Airing of Racist Bye Bye Show

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here is a clip with English subtitles of some of the ugliness of Radio Canada's Bye Bye, the French language television special that aired on 31 December 2008, from producers Véronique Cloutier and Louis Morissette, which featured among other distasteful skits flagrant displays of racism using the name, photo, and character of Barack Obama.



Unbelievable.

The program was seen by four million television and Internet viewers on the publicly funded Radio Canada network.

Signing the petition here will send a strong statement that this should never, ever happen again.

Bahrain blocks access to gay social networking sites

The security of gay Bahrainis has been put at risk by a government decision to block access to a number of websites, including www.gaydar.com.

Since homosexuality is illegal in Bahrain, social networking sites have allowed for a certain degree of security for gay people. Online, they can get to know each other and share private stories. Unfortunately with the new ban, gay Bahrainis may have to expose themselves to the dangers of trying to meet in public with the threat of homophobic violence from family and society, not to mention the perils of contacting complete strangers.

Read more.

Roger Karoutchi, France's Secretary of State for Parliamentary Relations, publicly announces that he is gay

Roger Karoutchi, the 57-year-old French Secretary of State for Parliamentary Relations and close friend and political ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy, became France's first serving government minister to openly acknowledge his homosexuality.

Karoutchi made the announcement during an interview ahead of the publication of his autobiography, which tells the story of Karoutchi's Sephardic Jewish family leaving Casablanca when he was five years old and moving to France where he became a history teacher before entering politics.

Karoutchi thus becomes another potential role model in the world of politics, where publicly out gay people are still few and far between.

Read more.

Sweden expected to legalize gay marriage in May 2009

Three of the four parties in Sweden's Alliance government have tabled a motion that is expected to pave the way for gay marriages to be performed in Sweden beginning 1 May 2009. This would make Sweden the seventh country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, and Norway.

While current Swedish law allows gay couples to enter into civil unions, the main distinction between registered partnership and marriage is that they are covered by separate laws, and that same-sex partnerships are a civil matter and cannot be conducted through church authorities. Same-sex marriages are currently not recogized in Sweden due to a 1987 law that defines marriage between one man and one woman. The proposed legislation would establish a new, gender-neutral definition of marriage and allow Swedish gay people to register their partnerships in either a civil or church ceremony (although pastors who do not wish to perform a gay wedding ceremony may have the right to refuse).

More hope!

Read more.

Gay marriage in Hawaii would stimulate economy

I've said this before and I'll say it again - Hawaii is a fantastic place and one of my favorites in the world for its cosmopolitanism, stunning nature, great weather, and a friendly, relaxed, and peaceful atmosphere. But, it could be a lot more fantastic if gay marriage were legal in the state, which currently only offers unions for same-sex couples that provide a subset of the rights and responsibilities of marriage. As Ramon Johnson notes, "Advancing equal LGBT rights can be a win-win for Hawaiian legislators looking to add a boost to a sagging economy and lawmakers seeking to do the right thing."

True indeed. The issue will be discussed by state lawmakers when they reconvene for the new legislative year. Read more.

Incidentally, Ramon Johnson was recently voted GayAgenda.com's GLBT Person of the Year. Hurrah! Congratulations, my friend!

Openly Gay MP from Nepal Sunil Pant to receive Monette-Horwitz Trust Award

Pinknews is reporting that openly gay Nepalese Member of Parliament Sunil Pant will receive a Monette-Horwitz Trust Award, a prize given to people or organizations that combat homophobia. The MP activist is one of five members from the CNPM in Nepal's constituent assembly, and is also the head of the Blue Diamond Society, the only gay rights group in Nepal.

Also receiving a Monette-Horwitz Trust Award are Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco, and Anastassios Aliferis, the mayor of the Greek Island of Tilos who performed the first same-sex marriages in Greece, thus defying claims of illegality by a Greek prosecutor.

Congratulations and thank you to all awardees for standing up and making a difference!

Read more.

Wave to President Barack Obama, JointheWave.com

People from around the world are being invited to take part in a global wave to Barack Obama to welcome him as the incoming President of the United States.

Launched by Pixman Nomadic Media, a company based in Montreal (my hometown) and associated with Daniel Langlois, Jointhewave.com is a website that asks people to raise their arms and make a human wave by sending videos, songs, and artwork to this collective online project. The best videos will be featured in a compilation the company wants to present to the President when he visits Canada shortly after he takes office.

Hope is back!

Read more and check out JointheWave.com to participate and to see the hundreds of videos thus far contributed to this fantastic global collaboration.

Gene Robinson, Inauguration Prayer for the USA and Barack Obama

For those of you who missed it, here is the text of the Inauguration Prayer delivered at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Sunday 18 January 2009, by New Hampshire Episcopalian openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson.

A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be "fixed" anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

Gays Murdered in Yemen

A militant Islamic group in Yemen has reportedly killed three gay men, and as Jane Novak at Armies of Liberation points out, the murders are part of a growing social cleansing trend in which the middle eastern country is becoming increasingly radicalized.

She writes:

These militants appointed themselves judge, jury and executioner. The murder of gays is the same as the murder of the Jewish rabbi last month. In both instances, the militants justify their murder of minorities as a public service.

I wonder what they feel when they serve the public by killing minorities. Does it really make them happy? How long do the celebrations last before they move on to the next victim, who just might be someone they really know, like a family member who is gay?

Read more.

Barack Obama, Inauguration, Banding Together

Exciting things are happening south of border as Americans prepare for what is shaping up to be the most inclusive Presidential Inauguration ever.

Not only will the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, an openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church, deliver an invocation at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday 18 January, but his prayer will be followed by a concert that includes a performance by the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington.

Hip!

And if that weren’t enough to make you feel proud, the Lesbian and Gay Band Association will be the first LGBT organization to ever march in an Inaugural Parade on Tuesday 20 January.

Hip!

And, because participants are responsible for paying for their own lodging, transportation, and other expenses, you can be a part of history by sending a few much needed dollars to the on-line campaign, BANDING TOGETHER, a collective blogosphere effort to support the Lesbian and Gay Band Association's trip.

Hooray!

Controversy notwithstanding, this Presidential Inauguration is the most validating ever for the LGBT community, not only in America, but across the globe.

Participate here.

Gay Crown Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil on BBC reality series to find love

Openly gay Crown Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, of Rajpipla, India, is seeking true love through his role in a BBC series.

In The Undercover Princes, Gohil is among three princes who have been living under assumed names with the sole objective of finding true love. Gohil took the name Mani and worked in small jobs in the seaside town of Brighton for the series.

The two other princes in the series are Prince Remigius of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and Prince Africa Zulu, from Zululand, South Africa. Both are straight. Initially, Gohil's gay status apparently did not go down well with the African prince. According to Gohil, "He took out the Bible and read it to me, that it is a sin to be gay. There were issues, but we sorted it out through conversations."

Nothing like a good princely heart to heart to make peace.

The show premieres on BBC Three today, Thursday 15 January.

Learn more.

Noah and Luke Make Love, As The World Turns

Well, in an historic episode of the American daytime television soap opera As The World Turns, Noah (Jake Silbermann) and Luke (Van Hansis) this week finally made love to each other.

Check out the clip.



Yes!

The couple's first televised kiss aired on another landmark episode in April 2008.

As The World Turns is set in Illinois, a state in which gay marriage is currently illegal, but I hope that one day soon the producers of the show will take it to another level and perhaps introduce the prospect of matrimony for the two young men. It would be great to see Noah and Luke continue to experience some of the same challenges facing all kinds of couples around the world. The "you're just too scared to let anyone get close to you" line, for example, addresses one of those nasty little conditions - fear - that countless people, gay and straight, have had to confront on their way to peaceful and loving relationships.

Slava Mogutin, Artist, Writer

Slava Mogutin is one of my favorite gay creative contemporaries. A New York-based Russian artist and writer, Mogutin was granted political asylum in the US with the support of Amnesty International and PEN American Center.

I think his photographic works are exceptional social commentaries that are simultaneously realistic, sad, sweet, sexy, slightly perverse, and beautiful, to say the least.

Click here to learn more about him and his works.

Barack Obama, Gene Robinson, Inauguration Prayer

Barack Obama has asked New Hampshire Episcopalian openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to deliver the prayer at the opening of the first inaugural ceremony that the President-elect will attend, Sunday 18 January 2009, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Quoted in PageOneQ, the Right Reverend Robinson said to the Concord Monitor:

"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way. Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

Indeed, it does matter.

Read more.

Sophie in ’t Veld, Pope Benedict XVI, Secularism, Homophobia, European Union

Sophie in ’t Veld, a Dutch MEP who is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society (UK), has called on the President of the European Commission to condemn remarks made by the Pope late last year, which characterized gay and transgendered people as a threat to humankind.

Quoted on the National Secular Society website, Ms. in ’t Veld stated:

"Millions of LGBT people in Europe still suffer discrimination, hatred and violence. Millions of EU citizens live in fear or in the shadows. Some have to fear for their lives in a 21st century witch hunt… I expect the European Commission to actively contribute to a climate of tolerance in which all EU citizens can live free of fear and discrimination."

Thank you Ms. in ’t Veld for advocating the separation of church from state and for viewing all human beings as individuals who need not be represented by powerful hate- and fear-mongering faith leaders.

Read more.

Transgender Muslims in Indonesia find a place to pray

A special Islamic prayer school has been set up in the Javanese Indonesian city of Yogyakarta for the country's transgender Muslims, known as Waria, a word derived from the Indonesian wanita (woman) and pria (man).

From one Waria interviewed by the BBC's Lucy Williamson:

"People can say whatever they want. They can say we're sinners. They can say our prayers are not accepted by God. But it's none of their business. It's between us and God."

Read and listen to the full BBC report.

Update - Barack Obama, Gregory Charles, Bye Bye, Racism in Quebec, Radio Canada

The producers of Bye Bye, Véronique Cloutier and Louis Morissette, apologized Friday to Quebecers who were offended by the latest edition.

From the CBC: "Right now, the accusations of racism, it's a bit shocking. Me [Louis Morissette], I'm shocked by that. We are not racist, at all, at all. On the contrary."

Hmmm.

Check out part of the press conference.



Read more.

Proposition 8 Voting Myths Debunked

The American National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute has released a new study, by Patrick J. Egan, Ph.D., assistant professor of politics and public policy at New York University, and Kenneth Sherrill, Ph.D., professor of political science at Hunter College, CUNY, that confirms that political views, religiosity, and age drove the Yes vote on Proposition 8, thereby debunking myths about African-American voting on marriage equality in California.

Egan and Sherrill reviewed pre- and post-election polls, and precinct-level voting data from five California counties with the highest number of African-American voters, and they found that support for Proposition 8 among African-Americans was not significantly different than other groups and nowhere close to the 70 percent that had been reported by the National Election Pool (NEP) the night of the 4 November 2008 election.

Conservative political ideology, Republican party affiliation, attending weekly religious services, and being over the age of 65, according to the study, were the significant voter characteristics that drove Proposition 8 to pass.

Check out the full report here.

Senegal gay men jailed for eight years

Last December 2008, police in the predominantly Muslim nation of Senegal raided a private home, where a dinner party was being held, and arrested nine gay men, all under 30 years old, for sodomy.

While the prosecutor in the case had asked for the maximum sentence for such a crime in Senegal of five years, the judge this week added three years to the sentence, saying the men were also members of a criminal group.

Most of the convicted worked for AIDES Senegal, an organisation providing HIV prevention services to men who have sex with men.

Pinknews reports that Muslim organisations in the African country had "warned against 'enemies of the faith and of morality.'"

Well, what to say. Yet another religious endorsement of homophobia. I'm glad in Canada we have the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, promoted by then Minister of Justice and future Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who once told reporters that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation...what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code."

For the gay Senegalese unfortunately, the eyes of Islam are all over the place, and if they can't get into your bedroom, they'll spot you at a dinner party.

Read more.

Barack Obama, Gregory Charles, Bye Bye, Racism in Quebec, Radio Canada

Bye Bye is a long running annual comedy program, from the French language Radio Canada network, that has run for over thirty years (from 1968 to 1998, and since 2007). The show, one of the most watched programs of the year in Quebec, begins at 11 PM on New Year's Eve and parodies news events of the past year.

One skit from this New Year’s Eve episode involved a fake interview between US President-elect Barack Obama and a news anchor, who mistakes him for the popular black Quebec entertainer Gregory Charles. When corrected, the anchor tells viewers that all black people look alike. And if that weren't bad enough, the anchor goes on to say that viewers at home shouldn't worry about Obama stealing their purses, although he might steal their television sets.

Can you say - offensive?

Dan Phillip, of the Black Coalition, among others, called the skit racist.

Astonishingly, however, the white Québécois producers and hosts of the show, Véronique Cloutier and Louis Morissette, issued a statement claiming that the skit contained no racist elements. From the CBC:

"It is dishonest to claim that we showed racism…We reject this allegation with vigour. Each racial allusion in the skit served to highlight the ineptitude of the characters in the skit."

Ineptitude? Yes, of the characters, the skit, and the producers and hosts. To maintain that no racism came from the skit is to demonstrate a lack of understanding of what racism is and how it affects society at large. The producers and hosts need to ask themselves why people are offended by the skit before they swiftly issue a dismissive statement asserting that it is "dishonest" to claim that they "showed racism."

Dishonest? Please.

I hate it when people from disenfranchised minorities, like the white Québécois in Canada for example, objectify and disenfranchise other minorities in similar ways that they themselves have been objectified and disenfranchised by a larger majority. Do I need to even begin listing white Québécois stereotypes created by English speaking Canadians?

Don't worry. I won't.

Update 11 January 2009 here.

IN THE LIFE - Ties That Bind

IN THE LIFE continues to be a valuable resource for further understanding the complexities of our lives as gay men and women.

January 2009's episode explores religious devotion and discord in the American LGBT community. In the wake of the controversial passage of Proposition 8 in California and similar amendments in other states, America has been witness to the political and divisive potential of religion. Ties That Bind examines how some in the LGBT community somehow manage to reconcile faith and sexuality. The 26-minute episode also provides numerous discussion prompts and is suitable for screenings, panel discussions, or as a means for opening discussion with others.

Check it out here.

Sam Sparro Nominated for Grammy Award

Openly gay Australian singer, songwriter, and producer Sam Sparro received his first Grammy nomination in December 2008 in the category of Best Dance Recording for the song "Black and Gold."

2008 was a good year for Sam as he was also included in the list of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians, published by the Australian gay and lesbian lifestyle website Same Same.

Congratulations Sam!

The 51st Grammy Awards will be held on 8 February 2009 in Los Angeles.

Suddenly, Last Winter - Improvvisamente l'inverno scorso

Suddenly, Last Winter is a feature documentary by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, two gay men in Italy, whose lives changed when the Italian government in 2007 presented a draft law, DICO (an acronym for Diritti e doveri delle persone stabilmente conviventi), that would give rights to unmarried and gay couples. As the Vatican and conservatives fought against the proposed legislation, Gustav and Luca discovered an Italy they had never known before.

Check out the trailer.



DICO legislation ultimately failed after members of the Italian governing coalition threatened division in opposition to the proposals.

Lots of work to do around the world.

Read more.

Gay Palestinians, Gaza, Israel

Can you imagine if heterosexuality were outlawed and that our parents would have to hide us, their children, because we were evidence of their crime? For gay Palestinians, much of their lives are spent deciding when, where, how, and if they should hide. They are caught somewhere in between choosing to be quiet about who they love, undergoing harsh maltreatment at home, which includes physical abuse, death, disowning, or imprisonment, or deciding to escape to Israel, where gay Israelis live a much freer life, but where Palestinians are seen as security threats and therefore must live in hiding to avoid being detained or deported. In other words, if gay Palestinians choose to remain in Gaza or the West Bank, they must hide their sexual identity, but if they escape to Israel they must themselves hide. Sexual identity and Palestinian identity intersect at a difficult place, a no man's land for gay Palestinians.

For those who do move to Israel, however, projects are beginning to be established to protect and promote the rights of gay Palestinians who have fled Gaza, the West Bank, and Arab villages in the country. Hopefully, the kind of hiding into which gay Palestinians are forced, will soon cease to be a lifestyle that for many of us seems unimaginable.

But for now, as Israel continues its military campaign against Hamas into the Gaza strip, I can't help but think that gay people may be dying unnecessarily, or are alone, without the freedom to be with whom they want to be during what is possibly the most terrifying time of their lives.

Edwin Cameron, First Openly Gay Person Appointed to South Africa's Constitutional Court

Hat tip to Nancy Polikoff at The Bilerico Project!

Justice Edwin Cameron this week became the first openly gay person ever appointed as a judge of South Africa's Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country.

Author of several publications, including the book Witness to Aids, which contains a scathing critique of former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s AIDS denialist policies, Justice Cameron lives openly with HIV/AIDS and has been described by Nelson Mandela as "one of South Africa's new heroes."

Working in South African politics, being gay, and living with HIV/AIDS, Justice Cameron said last month while addressing the criticism levelled against him, "I've got broad shoulders... I've been attacked before."

As tough as nails.

Gay Art History - The Androphile Project

The Androphile Project is an educational gay website that combines collections of global works from ancient art and mythology with contemporary historical findings and analysis. It is a great resource that offers starting points for understanding how men who love men have been around for a long, long time.

The site even offers three guided tours that are well-organized suggested paths highlighting selected topics: 1) Heroic Homosexuality: Male love in the time of the Greeks; 2) Gay follies in the land of Allah: The irrepressible homosexuality of Islamic art and literature; and 3) Love in the presence: The many constructs of the Ménage à Trois.


From the main page:

"The documents gathered here are the footprints of the Gay Muse, who has inspired men and women on every continent since the dawn of time. They bear witness to the fact that male love is irrepressible. Where forbidden, it has prevailed over stonings, burnings, lobotomies, schoolyard homophobia, the gallows and the gaol. Where welcomed, it has openly blossomed into the highest achievements of the human mind."

Learn more.

Sam Adams, Portland, Oregon's New Openly Gay Mayor

Portland, Oregon, became the largest city in the United States with an openly gay mayor as Sam Adams, 45, was sworn into office at 12:01 a.m. 1 January 2009 at Portland City Hall.

From OregonLive.com:

Portland's new mayor

David Cicilline, mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin, Germany, and Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris, France, are also openly gay.