Major Moscow gay club shut down
Moscow's oldest gay dance club has been indirectly shut down by the city, GayRussia.ru reported Dec. 31.
Club Body & Soul had been targeted by Moscow Northern District Prefect Oleg Mitvol, who claimed it brought drug trafficking, prostitution, public sex and moral degradation to the neighborhood.
The club's lease was canceled by its landlord, the Society of Blind People, which said it acted after being threatened with a loss of city subsidies if it didn't evict the club.
The society's vice president, State Duma Deputy Oleg Smolin, is a political rival of Mitvol.
Club management has filed suit over the eviction and vowed to pursue the case as far as the European Court of Human Rights.
Leading gay activist Nikolai Alekseev alleged that the shutdown was another example of government corruption that he said has burdened nongovernmental organizations and gay businesses.
Body & Soul had been in operation since 2003 and attracted around 2,000 patrons on weekend nights. Its closure leaves Moscow, which has 10.5 million residents, with one large gay dance bar.
HRW: Release Malawi lovers
Malawi's government should drop all charges against a gay couple who are facing up to 14 years in prison, Human Rights Watch said Jan. 12 in a letter to justice and home affairs officials.
On Dec. 26, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, held a traditional engagement ceremony in the city of Blantyre. After newspapers reported on the event, police arrested the couple at their home Dec. 28, charging them with "unnatural offenses" and "indecent practices between males" under sections 153 and 156 of Malawi's criminal code. A judge denied the couple bail, and on Jan. 6 they were taken to Queen
Elizabeth Central Hospital, where Chimbalanga was examined for "evidence" he has had gay sex. The following day, both men were subjected to psychiatric testing, also without their consent.
"Prosecuting two adults just because they affirm their love is a terrible injustice," said Dipika Nath of HRW's LGBT rights program. "To subject individuals to spurious medical examinations against their will shows grave disregard for their fundamental human rights as well as for the public welfare."
The couple headed to trial on Jan. 15 but the proceedings were immediately adjourned after Chimbalanga vomited and collapsed in court. His lawyers said he is suffering from severe malaria. London's Times said that no one came to Chimbalanga's aid. He eventually managed to get back up on his own, after which he was made to get a mop and bucket and clean up his vomit, the Times said.
Monjeza and Chimbalanga remain jailed in Chichiri Prison in Blantyre. Their lawyers told HRW the couple are being verbally abused and possibly beaten, and that they are not receiving adequate food and other necessities.
If found guilty of all charges, the men face up to 14 years in prison with hard labor.
"These arrests create a climate of fear in Malawi and intimidate human rights advocates, negating the progress made in the National AIDS Strategy to stem the spread of HIV and AIDS ( via ) outreach efforts ( aimed ) at men who have sex with men," the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said Jan. 12.
Report criticizes PEPFAR program
The Council for Global Equality and the Center for American Progress issued a report Jan. 13 criticizing numerous practices of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ( PEPFAR ) , a U.S. government program that operates in Botswana, Cambodia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The report, "How Ideology Trumped Science: Why PEPFAR Has Failed to Meet Its Potential," outlines multiple ways in which conservative ideology allegedly has distorted PEPFAR's reach and impact.
"These include inadequate attention to the needs of men who have sex with men, failure to address laws that have impeded outreach to underserved LGBT communities, exclusion of programs targeting commercial sex workers and injecting drug users, and inadequate attention to sex education, particularly the correct usage of condoms," the organizations said.
"These and other shortfalls detailed in the report have undermined the science-based approach needed to win the fight against HIV and AIDS," they said.
The report, available at globalequality.org, was authored by Scott Evertz, who was director of the Office of National AIDS Policy during U.S. President George W. Bush's first term.
"Mr. Evertz' observations of what went wrong with PEPFAR are firsthand," said CGE senior advisor Michael Guest, the openly gay former U.S. ambassador to Romania. "His specific recommendations to improve the program reflect both an expert's knowledge of HIV/AIDS problems facing LGBT communities abroad as well as the political shoals on which a
science-based approach to HIV/AIDS prevention has foundered."
The Council for Global Equality is an alliance of 18 prominent U.S. LGBT and human rights organizations working to increase U.S. government efforts to secure fair treatment and equal rights for LGBT people at home and abroad.
Gay couple 'marries' in China
State media reported Jan. 13 that a gay couple got "married" in a gay bar in Chengdu, China.
Zeng Anquan, 45, and Pan Wenjie, 27, tied the knot before 200 gay friends. "We are no longer hiding anymore," Zeng told China Daily. "The wedding is our happiest and most precious moment. We don't care how others consider us, as long as we are together. ( W ) e are deeply in love and will never desert each other."
Zeng's brother responded to the wedding by freezing Zeng's capital in the company the two own, he said, and Zeng's sister told him she won't acknowledge him as her brother again until he breaks up with Pan.
Trans prison to open in Italy
About 30 inmates will be moved to a prison near Florence, Italy, that will house only transgender prisoners, local media reported Jan. 12. The facility in the town of Pozzale is nearly vacant at present, holding two female inmates.
Assistance: Bill Kelley
