Argentine govt. agency rules against 'gay cure' event
The Argentine Justice Ministry's National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism ( INADI ) has ruled that a "gay cure" conference in C�"rdoba engaged in prohibited discrimination by implying that gays are sick.
Acting on a complaint filed by gay activist Víctor Bracuto against the Integra Group Foundation, INADI determined that "holding a conference on sexual health, which has among its objectives 'curing the homosexual,' is discriminatory in terms of article 1 of Law 23,592."
INADI interpreted that law's ban on discrimination based on sex as including sexual orientation and explained: "Homophobia is defined as intolerance or scorn toward gays and lesbians. That is to say, discrimination, hate, fear, prejudice or aversion against homosexual persons."
The law states in part, "Anyone who arbitrarily impedes, obstructs, restricts or otherwise impairs the full exercise on an equal basis of the fundamental rights and guarantees recognized in the National Constitution will be compelled, at the request of the victim, to nullify the discriminatory act or cease its execution and to repair the moral injury and material damage."
INADI's determination in the case is nonbinding and Bracuto said he plans no further legal moves.
The ruling by itself, he said, was "a historical development not only in Argentina but perhaps also in Latin America and the world."
New arrests for
same-sex relations in Senegal
There have been new arrests and convictions for same-sex relations in Senegal, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission reported Aug. 20.
Two men from the town of Darou Mousty were convicted in mid-August of illegal sexual acts "against nature" and jailed for two and five years respectively, IGLHRC said.
A third man, age 17, arrested at the same time faced trial Aug. 24. The situation of a fourth man arrested at the same time is unknown.
IGLHRC said "denunciations from neighbors were the only evidence against the men."
There has been a series of anti-gay arrests in Senegal since early 2008 for such "crimes" as "homosexuality," "incitement to debauchery," "corruption of good behavior," "acts against the order of nature," "indecent conduct" and "homosexual marriage," IGLHRC said.
The group also reported recent incidents of desecration of gay men's graves and exhumation of their bodies.
"In May 2009, the body of 30-year old Madièye Diallo was dug up from his grave in the town of Thiès," IGLHRC said. "After his family re-buried him, his body was exhumed again and dumped outside the family's home. Finally, family members buried the body in the grounds of their own house."
Prime Minister Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye said in May that "homosexuality ... is a sign of a crisis of values," ILGHRC said. Senegal's penal code punishes gay sex with up to five years in prison and a $3,000 fine.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
