Malaysian deputy PM released from prison
Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, jailed for nine years in 2000 for engaging in same-sex sodomy, was released from prison Sept. 2 after the Federal Court ruled the evidence against him had been unreliable.
Anwar has maintained the charges were bogus and that he was framed because then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad feared Anwar was scheming to replace him.
The maximum punishment for having gay sex in Malaysia is 20 years in jail and a flogging.
Gay N.Z. MP targeted by Christians
The first candidate fielded by New Zealand's new fundamentalist Christian Destiny Party will attempt to unseat openly gay Member of Parliament Tim Barnett.
Bone Marrow Transplant Trust CEO Allison Nicol will challenge Barnett in the liberal Christchurch Central electorate.
Barnett says he's not going to lose any sleep over the effort.
Pope blasts
same-sex marriage
Pope John Paul II lashed out at same-sex unions again on Sept. 4.
Speaking to Canada's new ambassador to the Holy See, the pope said: 'The institution of marriage necessarily entails the complementarity of husbands and wives who participate in God's creative activity through the raising of children. Spouses thereby ensure the survival of society and culture, and rightly deserve specific and categorical legal recognition by the state. Any attempts to change the meaning of the word 'spouse' contradict right reason: legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, cannot be applied to unions between persons of the same sex without creating a false understanding of the nature of marriage.'
Courts have legalized full same-sex marriage in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec and in the Yukon Territory. The federal government is working on changing federal law to cover the rest of the nation.
Indian gays to appeal sodomy ruling
The Indian gay and AIDS group Naz Foundation plans to appeal a Sept. 2 ruling by the Delhi High Court that upheld the nation's ban on gay sex.
The court ruled that the law criminalizing homosexuality can be challenged only by people who have been 'affected by it,' not by organizations.
Government lawyers argued against legalization of gay sex on the grounds that society disapproves of it. They also said, 'While the right to respect for private and family life is undisputed, interference by public authority in the interest of public safety and protection of health and morals is equally permissible.'
Naz's Shaleen Rakesh told the Agence France-Presse news wire service: 'We are not prepared to sit back and accept what the court is throwing at us. We ... will file a review petition in the High Court or take the matter to the Supreme Court.'
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code states, 'Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment ... for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.'
Gay American jailed
in Afghanistan
An American working for Afghanistan's Finance Ministry in Kabul has been arrested for engaging in gay sex, the Pak Tribune reported Sept. 1.
An 18-year-old Afghan man, whom the unnamed American allegedly was paying for sex, gave the American's name to police after they questioned the Afghan's comings and goings from the American's upscale hotel.
'Islam doesn't allow homosexuality,' said Abdul Halim Samadi, a prosecutor handling the case.
He said the American could be jailed for 15 years. Charges also may be filed against the Afghan, pending the results of medical tests, police said.
Nigerian transgender arrested
A man in Kano, Nigeria, will face trial for dressing and living as a woman, the BBC reported Sept. 1.
As Abubakar Hamza awaits his Sept. 16 court date, however, he has become a celebrity in the city, with posters of him selling briskly among male admirers, the network said.
If found guilty under Section 9 of the Prostitution and Immoral Acts Law, Hamza, 19, could be sentenced to one year in prison or fined about $80.
He is being kept in jail until the trial.
