In a tragic moment for Steve Jobs, there is a bright spot: Tim Cook, who will succeed Jobs as Apple's CEO, is an incredibly thorough and detail oriented boss who has revolutionized the way computers are assembled and steadily held the confidence of Apple's employees and partners. He is also, as we reported in January, destined to become an icon for gay advancement.

After initially trying ‘quiet diplomacy’, Ghanaian LGBT have formed an alliance with civil society supporters to oppose an increasingly vociferous anti-gay campaign in that country.

International attention has focused on the call by the Chief Minister of the Western Region for the arrest of gays but Ghanaian media has been full of attacks against gays and calls for government action against them has included highly personal attacks on President John Atta Mills. One health NGO reports being asked by the Western Region government to provide names of MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) using its services.

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Political protests are always a little more fun when the protesters are a little more fabulous. With the legalization of gay marriage in New York, the writing appears to be on the wall for opponents of marriage equality. That's a little bittersweet, since the writing on these pro-gay marriage protest signs is entertaining enough that we're definitely going to miss them when the battle is finally over nationwide.

“Pride London will host World Pride next year, 2012. Tens of thousands of LGBT people, campaigners and media are expected to come to London for the World Pride events,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“A month before the Olympics, the eyes of the world will be on London. We must not miss this historic opportunity to profile the international struggle for LGBT freedom to a global audience of hundreds of millions of people.

"I think the Republican Party would be well advised to get the heck out of people's bedrooms and let these things get decided by states," Giuliani said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "We'd be a much more successful political party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots."

"

He was billed by one of the groups bringing him to the UK as the ‘The Gandhi of Palestine’. Arab MK Haneen Zoabi, who was granted an inevitable spot in yesterday’s Guardian cast him as a leader in ‘the struggle for equality’ and ‘the democratic Palestinian struggle against racism and discrimination in Israel’ who is being forced to ‘confront Zionist racism abroad’.

Poor Raed Salah. Why would anyone find him objectionable enough to ban him from the UK? The Guardian certainly would if the views he espoused came out of the mouth of, for example, a non-Muslim with no connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On homosexuality: ‘It is a crime. A great crime. Such phenomena signal the start of the collapse of every society.’

On abortion: ‘It is forbidden to have an abortion. That is like murdering a soul whose murder is forbidden by God.’

'Deported from Canada to Tunisia three years ago, Muslim cleric Said Jaziri was found hiding in the trunk of a BMW near the Mexican border.

The photograph is not easy to look at, and it's not clear at first glance if Millicent Gaika, the woman in the photo, is dead or alive. Huge purple bruises surround both of her swollen eyes, and her neck is crisscrossed by a number of open gashes and scars.

"a music video for lgbtq kids everywhere - now available on itunes"

'Along with some truly groundbreaking discoveries, scientists this year told us a few things we already kind of knew.

"Here are some of the ultimate "well, duh" findings of 2010:

Sam Harris is a well known "Atheist spokesman" and usually bashes religion in general. (Here's another seed with an excellent discussion about his views on Atheism vs faith: Atheist Sam Harris: Why We Should Ditch Religion).

But here he focuses specifically on Islam. Is he right-- or totally off base?

"She claims that she knew of the star's alleged intolerance far before anyone else.

"I remember, like, fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk," she recalls to the magazine. I was with my friend, who's gay. He made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers,' but I didn't get it.

The military should not begin preparing troops for a possible repeal of the ban on gay service until Congress takes action, despite worries the prohibition could be overturned by the courts, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

"As Congress prepares to hold a vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Liz Cheney — who had come out in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell earlier this year — reiterated the need to lift the ban during a speech sponsored by the National Center for Policy Analysis. An amendment to repeal the measure is part of the NDAA.

"An official with Kenya's largest gay rights organization says there is panic among its members following remarks made by Kenya's prime minister that homosexuals should be arrested.

"The BBC's Panorama programme has found evidence that Muslim schoolchildren in England are being taught anti-Semitic and homophobic material from a Saudi textbook.

"According to a CNN exit poll, more self-identified lesbians, gay men and bisexuals voted for Republicans in the midterm election than ever before.

"Israel, like the United States, is a largely secular society with deep religious roots. And Israel, like the United States, is home to vocal religious conservatives who frown on homosexuality.

But Israel, unlike the United States, has allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military for 17 years. In fact, they are required to."

Day of German Reunification and 'German' Thanksgiving were this time on Oct. 3rd, and additionally 'day of open house' at the Rostock local Muslim community center. Holger A.

"Although 68 House Democrats have petitioned the Obama administration to refrain from extending the court battle to sustain "don't ask, don't tell," the Justice Department has announced that it will challenge a federal judge's order to immediately end the military's ban on openly gay service.

"A landmark of sorts was achieved today as CNN just came out with a poll showing a 52 percent majority of Americans agreed with the statement that "gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid." Some 46 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement.

Warren's bizarre protest, in otherwise welcome statement criticizing Uganda's notorious "kill the gays" bill, raises further questions.

"A satirical view of Iran's nuclear ambitions, human rights record and attitudes to terrorism, from No Laughing Matter."

"Most people in the UK associate Islam with extremism and the repression of women, a survey has suggested.

"Gay Israelis have been serving openly in the military for 17 years, and their country is safer for it.

"Viewed from Israel, the continuing witch hunt against gays and lesbians in the U.S. military makes little sense.

" A concert by Elton John has tested the limits of Morocco's drive for modernity, probing this Muslim nation's complex and ambiguous attitudes toward homosexuality like rarely before.

Islamists in the North African kingdom were outraged by the gay pop star's visit, while the royal palace, government and his many fans backed his appearance Wednesday night.

Buchanan is a well known anti-Israel and anti-Semitic bigot:

"If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats. Is this the Democrats' idea of diversity?

"From her Princeton thesis on the sad demise of 20th-century socialism, to her tears at the defeat of the radical liberal Senate candidate Elizabeth Holtzman in 1980, to her hostility to the U.S. military on the Harvard campus while dean of the law school, Kagan has revealed herself to be one more Ivy League leftist anxious to use a lifetime seat on the court, winning the plaudits of her peers by imposing her ideology on a nation that has never voted for it.

"Morocco's main Islamist opposition party has called for gay singer Elton John to be banned from performing at a festival in Rabat later this month, a party leader said Friday.

"UIC student Jason Connell used the appearance of the hate group to raise money for queer rights groups such as Human Rights Campaign, International AIDS Foundation and Chicago based Jerusalem Open House.

Donations were named in honor of the Westboro Baptist Church and community thank you cards will be sent from the non-profits to WBC leader Fred Phelps. Connell called it a, "Lemons to Lemonade" situation.

Police in Malawi say they have arrested a man in what they describe as a sweep against homosexuals.

This was never an article I intended to write. The reason being that my thoughts were just as fractured as much of the population on the topic.

"Gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly in the military in most Western countries.

"One of the many data points analysts are looking at is the fact that Christmas-day bomb plotter Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is reportedly the fourth president of a London area Islamic student society to face trial on terrorism related charges in the last three years. Others with distinguished UK university links have been involved in some well publicized events and plots over the last decade. While London's bookstores, mosques and universities have been critical refuges where dissenting youthful perspectives can be examined, they have also been places where suicide bombings and violent conflicts with the West have been glorified, excused and celebrated.

UCL ("University College London") has been heavily criticised in the past for its relaxed attitude to radical preachers, and security agencies are investigating whether it was there that Detroit bomber Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda sympathisers.

"As recently as last month, Abu Usama, who teaches that homosexuals and apostates should be killed, was due to speak at UCL until the university finally bowed to pressure and cancelled the event, and last year, when Abdulmutallab was still a student at UCL, the Islamic Society held a five-day series of lectures and seminars about the War on Terror which have been criticised as anti-Western propaganda.

You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made, And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade, You've got to be carefully taught.

"Maine proponents of gay marriage rights woke to defeat today, which is a shame and another signal that the country is still bitterly divided on this issue. The New York Times reports:

"The Catholic Church was a leading supporter of the repeal campaign, even asking parishes to pass a second collection plate at Sunday mass to help the cause."

"Turkey has blocked two of its largest LGBT websites. Users of sites such as hadigayri.com and gabile.com are finding that instead of regular homepages, they are seeing messages stating that the site has been blocked by the Telecommunication Directorate.

The newly-created body is permitted to shut down websites without a court order if it believes they violate the law.

"A crowd of 500 demonstrators, including neo-Nazis and skinheads, rampaged in Budapest's Jewish district.

Hungarian riot police deployed tear gas and baton charges Saturday against the vociferously xenophobic crowd as it tried to disrupt Hungary's annual Gay Pride parade.

"Then in September of 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that "we don't have homosexuals, like in your country" while addressing Columbia University. His claim was not only ridiculous, it was also chilling. If the very existence of homosexuals in Iran is denied, how can they ever be afforded the rights of a human being?

" If Diane Silver's blog reflects the sentiments of gay and lesbian Americans in the heartland, President Barack Obama is fast losing a serious fan base.

The Topeka woman's postings throughout June, which is Gay Pride Month, have railed about what she calls Obama's "awful record … token action and empty words."

"A group of prominent gay opinion-shapers from around the world are to visit Israel to grapple with the country's sexuality issues on a five-day seminar centering around Tel Aviv's gay pride parade, scheduled for Friday.

""We know that gays around the world are liberal usually and they tend to identify with the Palestinians," explained Meir, "and we find it a bit ironic because you can't really be gay in the Palestinian territories."

"On Saturdays, the employees of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Community Center in Tel Aviv's Gan Meir put the basket of free condoms that normally sits near the entrance to the park out of sight. The six-color Gay Pride flag still flies over the building, but anyone sitting in a nearby cafe might think he'd stumbled upon the children's activity corner in the mall. Unlike similar sites in Berlin or Amsterdam, visitors here will not encounter mustachioed men in leather pants or chatty transgender women. Instead, they will see a lot of babies and little kids running around. The place's family feel is a manifestation of one of the unique characteristics of Israel's gay culture: the impressive insistence on fulfilling the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply."

"GAY rights activist Peter Tatchell was arrested by Russian riot police during a march in Moscow this morning, but has since been released.

Tatchell was among around 30 activists staging a demonstration ahead of tonight's Eurovision song contest final in the city.

The march had already been banned by city authorities, with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkhhov describing homosexuality as 'satanic'.

Uruguay has lifted a ban on homosexuals joining the armed forces.

-->LINK NO LONGER WORKING-- USE this one INSTEAD

Iraqi courts, at the behest of the Ministry of the Interior, have started sentencing homosexuals to death. So far, at least five men have been convicted of homosexuality and condemned to die.

"The shift has two principal, and related, causes. The more significant one is that over the last three decades, social-democratic Europe's political, cultural, academic, and media elites have presided over, and vigorously defended, a vast wave of immigration from the Muslim world—the largest such influx in human history.

"The other major reason for the turn against the Left is economic. Western Europeans have long paid sky-high taxes for a social safety net that seems increasingly not worth the price. These taxes have slowed economic growth. Timbro's Johnny Munkhammar noted in 2005 that Sweden, for instance, which in the first half of the twentieth century had the world's second-highest growth rate, had since fallen to number 14, owing to enormous tax hikes.

"The number of state-sanctioned executions almost doubled last year. A report by Amnesty International shows Iran, Saudi Arabia and China as being responsible for 90 per cent of all executions in 2008.

Now, Iran is proposing a new law that could see the death sentence imposed on internet bloggers who post offensive material on the web.
Al Jazeera's Nazanin Sadri reports.

"CHANNEL 4 has come under fire from Islamic leaders over a television documentary showing how gay and lesbian Muslims suffer under their laws.

Its director has already had death threats because homosexuality is strictly forbidden by The Koran.

Now station chiefs are bracing themselves for a backlash. Its digital channel More 4 will show A Jihad For Love tonight.

"Tel Aviv's Centennial celebrations which are kicking off this spring won't be ignoring the city's substantial gay community"

"Dr. Sa'd Al-'Inzi: When a person commits an abominable act, like homosexuality, for example, or lesbianism, in the case of women's parlors – this constitutes "spreading corruption in the land," and should be punished by death.
[...]
Moderator: Other than life imprisonment and the death sentence, what can be done?
Dr. Sa'd Al-'Inzi: According to Islamic law, a homosexual should be thrown from a tall building.
Moderator: What would you do with them?
Dr. Sa'd Al-'Inzi: To be honest, death is too good for them. They should be gathered in a public place, where they would be flogged and tortured, so the truth about these people is made clear and they serve as a lesson to others, because they are an epidemic plaguing society.

"The German newspaper Bild published never-before-seen architectural plans of the Auschwitz extermination camp on Saturday that reveal, in their unequivocally marked sections, that everyone involved in the operation of Auschwitz knew full well that it was intended for the systematic extermination of human beings, the paper said.

The floor plans, cross-sections and maps on yellowing paper, mostly on a scale of 1:100, were reportedly found during the evacuation of an abandoned Berlin apartment. They were drawn up between 1941 and 1943.

The 28 documents include detailed blueprints of prisoner barracks, gas chambers marked clearly Gaskammer (Gas chamber) in a gothic-inspired font and a cross-section of the gate into which the rails of trains entered carrying Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled persons and other people the National Socialists sent to die. "

" Brian Lindsey held up a sign billing Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, as a "prophet, polygamist, paedophile." Hundreds of others simply chanted: "Mormon scum."

More than 2,000 gay rights protesters marched on a Mormon temple in Los Angeles on Thursday, throwing the church and its followers on to the front line of the battle over California's decision to ban same-sex marriage.

Hear out this remarkable woman - a Canadian Iranian activitist, singer and former Miss World, speaking out against human rights violations in Iran, a country which executes children.

"A leading gay activist in Iraq has been assassinated. 27 year old Bashar was targeted by gunmen yesterday.

He was one of the organisers of safe houses for gay men in Baghdad and was co-ordinator of Iraqi LGBT in the city.

Peter Tatchell of LGBT human rights group OutRage! said:

"On 25th September, I received the sad news from Iraq that the coordinator of Iraqi LGBT in Baghdad, Bashar, aged 27, a university student, was assassinated in a barber shop.

"Two sensitive subjects have crashed into each other in Berlin, with a row over an article in a German Arabic language magazine warning readers that shaking the hands of gay men can transmit diseases.

"The article, in the free magazine al-Salam which is distributed to restaurants and cafes around the German capital, is couched in pseudo-scientific language, and accompanied with graphic photos of skin diseases.

Titled "A flesh-eating bacteria and sexual abnormality," the article claims that gay men are hit by deadly diseases and that Muslim "brothers" should not shake their hands as "one never knows what kind of bacteria and germs are found on them."

"In the latest in a series of legal attacks on LGBT organizations and publications in Turkey, on May 29 a court in Istanbul, the nation's largest city, ordered the dissolution of Lambda Istanbul. Founded in 1993, the group is Turkey's oldest LGBT organization, and has organized Gay Pride marches in that city every year since 2003.

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The organization has been under attack from Istanbul's governor, Muammer Güler, since 2007, when his office brought a legal action to close the organization, claiming that Lambda violates both the Penal Code, as an association in violation of "law and morals," and Article 41 of the Turkish Constitution, which is concerned with "the peace and welfare of the family."

"Two years after protracted American-Saudi negotiations persuaded the State Department that the Saudis would remove religious intolerance from their national textbooks, a new study finds the books still portray non-Sunni Muslims as the enemies of true believers.

The report from the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute finds that the Saudi textbooks are filled with the austere supremacism of the Wahhabi sect of Islam, despite promises from the Kingdom in 2006 to alter them. For example, a textbook for 10th graders on Islamic jurisprudence not only says it is permissible in Islam to murder a homosexual, but recommends the methods for doing so: burning alive, stoning, or throwing one off a high building.

"Religious police in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have detained more than 20 men after a raid on a property in the coastal town of Qatif.

"The state Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was acting on a tip off.

In Saudi Arabia, homosexuality is illegal under sharia, or Islamic Law.

The maximum sentence it carries is the death penalty and this is most commonly performed by public beheading.

"In 2007 Iran led the world in executing gays....

"Those who think that England is a politically correct tyranny where bigots face interrogation by the cops for daring to speak their minds should look at what happened to Channel 4 when it tried to expose the bigotries of well-funded, Saudi-backed clerics working in Britain.

"Its undercover journalists infiltrated radical mosques. They recorded assorted preachers calling for the subjugation of women, the murder of homosexuals and Jews, the replacement of the 'man-made' laws of a democracy with the religious edicts of a theocratic state and the eternal damnation of Muslims who did not follow Wahhabi doctrine and infidels who did not accept the true faith.

"When Tel Aviv city councilman Itai Pinkas was in Amsterdam last year, he stared for a long time at the monument honoring homosexuals killed in the Holocaust, sensing its impact was going to stay with him for a long time.

"Now, Pinkas and Huldai have revealed the outcome of the meeting: Tel Aviv is going to be home to the country's first memorial to gay victims of Nazi persecution. The public sculpture is slated to go up in the centrally located Gan Meir by midwinter.

After years of clamping down on gays, Bahraini officials believe they have found a sure-fire cure for the "dangerous" practice of homosexuality.

"There is a very interesting development taking place in the Netherlands.
Since 2000 and the huge spike in gay bashing, Dutch gays are flocking to the right-wing political parties:

"Last year during Gay Pride several gay people were attacked simultaneously in broad daylight in different parts of Amsterdam. Groups of Muslim juveniles now prey on gays, no matter where or at what time.

One isn't even safe in the gay red light district anymore. At the moment one doesn't have to carry a gun (yet), but would surely be helpful and far more effective than the protection offered by the police. Guns are very illegal in Holland, but I would recommend a sturdy cane or strong umbrella. That isn't (yet) illegal.

"While pornography can be dehumanising and exploitative, it can also be educative, liberating, empowering, fulfilling and immensely socially beneficial. It all depends on how it is made, who makes it, what it depicts and why it is being used.

"Documentary evidence of anti-gay victimisation by the Tehran regime

Here are links to articles by Doug Ireland, the US researcher and journalist, on Iran's homophobic victimisation. These articles have been published in Gay City News and The Advocate.

Many people seem to feel that ''all Muslims are terrorists''-- or at least that they support terrorism-- and refuse to speak out vs extremism. Of course this is not true.

An example of one progressive Muslim who does speak out is Irshad Manji. From a review of her book ''The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith'' --

''"I have to be honest with you. Islam is on very thin ice with me....Through our screaming self-pity and our conspicuous silences, we Muslims are conspiring against ourselves. We're in crisis and we're dragging the rest of the world with us. If ever there was a moment for an Islamic reformation, it's now.

''The socialist mayor was not confused or shocked, he actually thought is was OK if his government employees discriminated against woman by refusing to shake hands with them. He wants that people respect these Muslim employees who think that woman are impure and should not be given a hand.

''The mayor told this after questions, in the city council, of local Christian politician Maurice Limmen. In the ensuing debate he said it did not matter if government workers discriminated against woman or homosexuals. As long as they did their work, he did not see any problem.

A government decision Thursday to ban a Qatar-based Muslim cleric who supports suicide bombings in Israel from entering the UK has been criticized by Muslim groups

''Qaradawi has in the past visited the UK at the invitation of London Mayor Ken Livingstone, sparking protests from civil rights groups, the Jewish community and the gay and lesbian community.

''In 2004, Qaradawi defended suicide attacks against Israelis. "It's not suicide, it is martyrdom in the name of God," he told the BBC. He added that it did not matter if women and children were the victims of suicide attacks

''He has also called for the death penalty for homosexuality and has reportedly preached that husbands should beat "disobedient" wives. Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, condemned the ban and said Qaradawi was respected as a scholar throughout the Muslim world.

''

''Islamists to Dutch Artist Sooreh Hera, a Iranian exile, - After her photos of gay men with Mohammad masks were displayed at a Dutch art exhibit- '"We're going to burn you naked or put a bullet in your mouth."

She accused the director of the municipal museum in The Hague of cowardice for caving in to Muslim extremists.

''ran's supreme court has confirmed that two youths, found guilty of rape will receive 100 lashes each before being cast off a cliff - an ancient Islamic punishment - local media reported

''As recently as last week in Iranian Balochistan, five minority Sunnis had their hands and feet amputated, he noted.

All five Sunnis were found guilty of the crime of 'moharebeh' or enmity towards Allah. The highly vague definition of 'enemy of God' ranges from homosexuals and drug traffickers to supporters or members of armed groups opposed to the regime.

Extremist literature that encourages hatred of gays, Christians and Jews can be easily found at many of Britain's mosques, according to a new survey.

Many of the publications allegedly called on British Muslims to segregate themselves from non-Muslims and for unbelievers to be treated as second-class citizens wherever possible.

The literature also allegedly contained repeated calls for gays to be thrown from mountains and tall buildings and for women to be subjugated.

Many of the institutions were among the best funded and most active of Britain's 1,500 or so Islamic establishments. In several cases they had received official visits from politicians and even members of the royal family.

Related- ''Undercover Mosque'' - Video of what is actually being preached in many mosques in the UK - http://tinyurl.com/ywyzxs

The city museum of The Hague has decided not to include in an exhibition a work of art that may offend Muslims, it was reported on Monday.

The picture, made by Iranian artist Sooreh Hera, is entitled Adam and Ewald and shows two gay men wearing masks of the Muslim prophet Mohammed and his son-in-law Ali.

The Gemeentemuseum's director Wim van Krimpen told reporters the museum is interested in purchasing Hera's complete series, which he called "high quality works of art".

However, he added he will not exhibit Adam and Ewald in the next few years because "certain people in our society might perceive it as offensive".

Hera responded she was "disappointed" and added "apparently a Muslim minority decides what will be on display in the museum".

With the number of homophobic attacks rising in the Dutch metropolis, Amsterdam officials are commissioning a study to determine why Moroccan men are targeting the city's gays.

Opinion piece-- from an Egyptian blogger

Ayaan Hirsi Ali returned to the Netherlands, Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad reported on Monday…

The former legislator for the Liberal VVD party was allegedly forced to leave the US as American authorities had refused to finance the expenses of her personal security measures. (She has received numerous death threats for her strong stand against bigotry and intolerance).

* * * * *
If you are not familar with this courageous human-rights activist, check out this article about her (there's also a link to a short video of her in a panel discussion with Bill Maher & others-- she & Maher come off as intelligent and well-informed-- the others come off as fools): http://tinyurl.com/39pw5n

Be sure to click "cont'd" at the bottom of the first page. (There's also a link to her interview on Swedish TV- English with Swedish sub-titles)

* * * * *

An interesting opinion piece from Kenya-- a reminder to Americans that all cultures do not necessarily have the same values that we do:

" Opinion by Habel J. Nyamu. ... Recently, Nairobi experienced the presence of a world conference known as the World Social Forum. It was during this forum that some Kenyans learnt with horror that there were gay Kenyans and lesbians living and practising habits which amount to anomalies, defects, or other significant deviations from generally accepted population standards."

[...]

The writer would like to believe that these habits were generally not known, in traditional African societies until after independence when free interaction between the West and Africa became more intensive than it was before.

Gay life, lesbianism, bisexualism and trans-sexualism have been non-African since time immemorial.

What could have taken place among Kenyans to make them even listen to things which, only a few years ago would have led to such people being subjected to the healing powers of the witchdoctor, if not being forthrightly outlawed by their families for unorthodoxy?

FAITH groups yesterday condemned the homosexuals' move to demand for acceptance while the Government and the Police moved with caution. On Thursday, homosexuals had a press conference where they complained about discrimination.

Sheik Yahaya Lukwago, an executive member of the Uganda Muslims Supreme Council, accused the group of polluting the public.

"In the Sharia law, they deserve to be killed. Allah created us for reproduction. Prophet Mohammed wrote in the Quran that homosexuals should be killed," Lukwago said.

A senior Catholic cleric yesterday condemned homosexuality saying it "'goes against the grain of the scriptures.' "Procreation is the main purpose humanity was created. How would procreation take place if homosexuality is exalted," he asked.

The wife of kidnapped Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser confronted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations yesterday.

Karnit Goldwasser was surprised at the respect that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was recieveing from the media in New York.

Goldwasser said she was not afraid to present the president with her question, and asked him, "Hello, my name is Karnit, the wife of Ehud Goldwasser, the soldier who has been held captive for over a year. Since you are the man that is behind the kidnapping due to the aid you grant Hizbullah, why don't you allow the Red Cross to visit the two soldiers?" she asked.

The president ignored the question.

Excerpt:

"Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi is the English editor of Iran Press News and a lifelong Iranian democracy activist who, along with her family, has been battling the mullahs since they took power in 1979.

Like everyone else who isn't a student of Columbia University, she was locked out of yesterday's forum on the campus featuring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Had she been allowed to confront Ahmadinejad she might have been able to ask him what the regime has done with her father, who has been a political prisoner since 2001."

Peter Tatchell is a British human rights activist. I believe he is not well known in the US, but he is quite prominent in the UK.

While he is best known for his fight for the rights of gays, unlike so many other activists, he does not have a narrow focus on one issue, ignoring rights violations in other areas. Rather, he fights tyranny wherever it may occur.

Excerpt:

"The west is obsessed with Tehran's nuclear programme, but doesn't give a damn about human rights abuses.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed three more Arab political prisoners, just days after a visit from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour. In further defiance of the UN and international law, four more Arabs face imminent execution.

There have been no protests from Britain, the EU or the UN. The UN's silence comes on top of the truly appalling vote by UN Human Rights Council to abandon its monitoring of human rights abuses in Iran.

Producers of the new BravoTV series "Queer Eye for the Iranian Guy" said they're close to inking a deal with Islamic Republic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to appear in the season opener.

While it's a well-known fact that there are no homosexuals in Iran, the network plans to import them to Tehran from the United States in order to give Mr. Ahmadinejad "a radical, extremist makeover."

Undiplomatic exchange part of sparring over rights abuses since death of Zahra Kazemi

Excerpts:

"Canada and Iran sparred yesterday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, as Tehran slapped back Ottawa's accusations of boosted executions and ill treatment of women with its own allegations of rights violations.

Canada and Iran sparred yesterday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, as Tehran slapped back Ottawa's accusations of boosted executions and ill treatment of women with its own allegations of rights violations.

"Such comparisons are nonsensical," says Pat Maguire, Persian Gulf co-ordinator for Amnesty International in Canada. "The human rights conditions in Iran are appalling, and bear no resemblance to Canada's."

Amnesty has documented a rise in Iranian executions, totalling about 200 this year alone, Maguire said.

"That includes numbers of child offenders, and executions by stoning. Recently we've been following the disappearance of union leaders and journalists."

Ezat Mossallanejad, an Iranian-born policy analyst and researcher at the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, said that Iran "must undergo fundamental structural change" in its human rights practices.

"Canada is not blameless, and we have recorded cases of maltreatment," he said. "But the situations are not comparable..."

In Iran, he added, "we have records of children below the age of 12 being executed. There is maltreatment of children, rape of women and torture. Iran is ruled by a tyrannical government, and accountable to no one."

(A thank-you to Glinda for the link :-)

Amir is a 22-year-old gay Iranian who was arrested by Iran's morality police as part of a massive Internet entrapment campaign targeting gays. He was beaten and tortured while in custody, threatened with death, and lashed 100 times (see photos). He escaped from Iran in August, and is now in Turkey, where he awaits the granting of asylum by a gay-friendly country.

(A big thank-you to IndependentVoter for the link :-)

This is an opinion piece-- I don't necessarily agree with everything it says, but it does make some interesting points-- certainly "food for thought".

Excerpts:

"Human rights and democracy are under pressure. One threat comes from the Western world, in the form of lack of or dishonest thinking. There exists a peculiar Western "tolerance" which is so "tolerant" that it even tolerates totalitarian or anti-democratic ideologies. A tacit assumption underlying such an attitude is that all cultures, world views, and religions are really equally good.

Perhaps certain results can temporarily be achieved by tolerating such ideologies, but but in the long run we doubt that it is possible to change reality for the better through deceit.

Because of this HonestThinking.org is critically examining Islam.

In spite of all the positive human qualities of individual Muslims, and in spite of all the great cultural manifestations that have been produced by Muslim societies, it remains a fact that Islam, in its traditional form, represents a totalitarian political ideology that is hard or impossible to reconcile with democracy and human rights as commonly understood in the West.

excerpt:

Ehsan Jami knew he was making himself a target for radical Islamists when he decided to launch a Dutch organization for Muslims who renounce their religion.

Five months and three physical assaults later, his "Committee for Ex-Muslims" is being launched Tuesday, joining similar groups that have sprung up around Europe.

These groups hope to add a new voice to the debate about and within Europe's Muslim communities, presenting themselves as diametrically different to the disenchanted and sometimes violent youth who grab headlines, or to immigrants who live cloistered among their own.

Instead, they seek recognition from the Muslim mainstream for "freethinkers," empowered Muslim women, homosexuals and those who want to renounce their religion without fear.

Excerpt:

"Paul Goodman, the shadow community cohesion minister, has written to Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, saying the decision caused "widespread concern" and warned that it could encourage extremists.
Mr Goodman wrote: "This decision raises serious questions about media freedom in Britain, and about whether public authorities tasked with upholding the rule of law are now, as a matter of policy, giving special assistance to those who seek to undermine the rule of law, and the pluralist, liberal, democratic culture which both underpins it and guarantees community cohesion.

"As you know, the decision has caused widespread concern.

"It's hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a politically motivated referral, driven by the mistaken belief that the best means of dealing with separatist extremists is to appease them.

"If so, this referral is likely to encourage extremists, discourage moderates, damage public confidence in the CPS and West Midlands Police, compromise media freedom and undermine the Government's stated community cohesion policy."
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More information- previous article: http://tinyurl.com/ysrlva

video, pt 2, added to YouTube: August 08, 2007

"Police are reporting Channel 4 to the media reg... more info Police are reporting Channel 4 to the media regulator Ofcom over the way an undercover programme was edited.

But charges will not be brought against preachers featured in Dispatches, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism.

West Midlands Police carried out its own inquiry into three speakers in the Undercover Mosque broadcast, and then into the programme-makers themselves.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the show "completely distorted" what the trio said, a claim Channel 4 rejects.

The commissioning editor for Dispatches, said West Midlands police had produced no evidence to support their claims.

The progamme was broadcast January 15 2007.

The Police respond August 8 2007

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(more items related to this will be seeded to newsvine shortly)

"video added to YouTube: August 08, 2007

Police are reporting Channel 4 to the media reg... more info Police are reporting Channel 4 to the media regulator Ofcom over the way an undercover programme was edited.

But charges will not be brought against preachers featured in Dispatches, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism.

West Midlands Police carried out its own inquiry into three speakers in the Undercover Mosque broadcast, and then into the programme-makers themselves.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the show "completely distorted" what the trio said, a claim Channel 4 rejects.

The commissioning editor for Dispatches, said West Midlands police had produced no evidence to support their claims.

The progamme was broadcast January 15 2007.

The Police respond August 8 2007

_____________________________________________________

(more item- related to this will be seeded on Newsvine shortly)