Beijing – Local authorities in southwestern Yunnan Province are to convert a bar into a ‘common room for partner education’ for the gay community, as part of the official initiative to break social stigma against gay men, days after the health minister warned that homosexual sex has become a main factor in the spread of AIDS in the nation.

The bar for gays will open on 1 December,, World AIDS Day, financed by public funds to the tune of 120,000 yuan ($17, 576), the Beijing News said, offered by Dali Prefecture government, and is to be run by The Good Friend Center, a non-governmental organization for gay men.

Yunnan has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country, official data indicates.

Zhang Jianbo, the bar’s manager, said that the bar will not be operated for merely commercial purposes but rather serve as a platform to raise awareness of its gay clients about safe sex practice among them.

“We might not even sell beverages in the bar. We will turn the bar into a tribune to offer lectures and training to gay people in order to reduce AIDS infections among them,” he said.

Health Minister Chen Zhu said days ago that homosexual sex among gay and bisexual men accounted for 32 percent of the total HIV/AIDS transmission in China, where sexual transmission was the main cause of the great majority of new HIV/AIDS cases last year.

Generally, lesbians are much more loyal to their partners, and their relationship is more stable than that of gay couples of the opposite sex, Zhang said.

“As long as the government succeeds in preventing gay men from becoming the source of HIV/AIDS transmission, we could effectively rein in the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS,” Jiang Anmin, vice director of the Dali Health Bureau, said. Jiang put the number of gay men in Dali at between 1,500 and 2,000.

Jiang seemed to downplay the launch of the bar, saying the local government would rather remain low-key, and its interior decoration will be as the same as other bars. A group of gay volunteers will be employed by the bar to attract customers, Jiang said.

“The gay bar at least provides a private place for gay people to communicate and it caters to their needs. It’ll help contain sexually transmitted diseases,” Duan Honggang, a Dali resident said.

A-Qiang, a gay man in Guangzhou, said, “That’s a positive move by the government in its efforts to focus on the group.”

Doubts, however, were also notable regarding the intentions of officials in their decision to open such a bar.

Lu Jun, director of the Beijing-based Yirenping Center, an NGO dedicated to promoting public health equality, said, “I doubt how the government can protect the privacy of homosexuals who frequent the bar if it receives much publicity.”

However, Wan Yanhai, director of the Love, Knowledge and Action Organization, an NGO dedicated to protecting the rights of people with AIDS and public awareness of AIDS prevention, said there is a possibility that officials just want to collect money under the excuse of cooperating with NGOs to fight against AIDS.

“Some local governments’ work is only done symbolically,” A-Qiang said. “Gay people are more likely to hide themselves in the dark.”

Bars for homosexuals were first seen in China 15 years ago, experts on the theme say, but the social stigma against gay sex appears to still be common, and gays are often likened to socially unacceptable activities such as prostitution or drug use.

“Aside from deep-rooted discrimination, the biggest frustration right now is that I cannot get married to my lover, and obtain legal marriage status,” Xiao Dong, a gay man in Beijing, said.

“Room for us to live respectably in this society is still too narrow,” he said.

Zhang Beichuan, a professor at the Qingdao University specializing in sexual health, said among Chinese homosexuals, 60 percent feel extremely distressed, between 30 and 40 percent show strong inclination to committing suicide, and between 3 and 13 percent have attempted suicide.

Gay men were regarded as a group of people suffering from mental derangement until 2001 in China, but since then homosexuality is no longer considered a mental disorder.

While there are no official figures on the number of homosexuals in China, Hong Kong-based magazine Phoenix Weekly estimated that there were around 40 million homosexuals in a story published last year.

The Ministry of Health estimated that 740,000 people were living with HIV in China at the end of 2009.

Statistics showed that 48,000 people had been infected in 2009 and more than 70 percent of new infections are through sexual transmission.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Manila – A gay rights political party banned from participating in next year’s Philippine elections on so-called moral grounds blasted the decision Friday as discriminatory and vowed to take legal action. Ang Ladlad chairman Danton Remoto said the party was preparing to file a court motion challenging the Commission on Election’s ruling.

“This is a sloppy and biased decision because he is a Eucharistic minister,” Remoto told AFP, referring to election commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, who ruled against Ang Ladlad last week. “The problem of Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer is he is focused on the religious and moral aspect, which is really difficult to prove in a court of law.”

Justifying his decision, Ferrer cited verses from the Christian Bible and Islam’s holy book, the Koran, as proof that homosexuality was immoral.

“We use the Bible and Koran to guide us in what is morally right and wrong. Maybe they are using another guideline,” said Ferrer, who is a lay minister in the church.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Phuket – The man suspected of the cold-blooded shooting of a ladyboy in Phuket is in police custody.

Phichai Lakkr, 22, was detained by police early on Wednesday morning at a short-time hotel near Saphan Hin, in Phuket,  for illegal possession of a firearm.

Subsequent investigation linked the gun to the the killing of 35-year-old ladyboy Wanchai Tongwijit on Saturday, who was was found dead in a doorway with a single bullet wound to the head.

A key lead in the investigation came from staff at a cell phone shop who identified Phichai as the man who had brought in the deceased’s mobile phone for repairs.

On the day of the murder Wanchai asked Phichai for sexual services, police said, but rather than satisfy his client’s desires, Mr Phichai used the opportunity to rob Wanchai of his possessions and shoot him though the skull with a .38 caliber pistol.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Pattaya – Kenji Onishi from Japan won the 5th annual Miss International Queen contest on Saturday night at the Tiffiny transvestite theater.

The show, televised live every year, brings ladyboy contestants from around the world to compete for a cash first prize of US$10,000 (Bt335,000) among many other gifts.

The first runnerup took home US$2,000, or about Bt70,000, while the second runnerup received $1,500 (Bt50,000).  Both were showered with gifts from sponsors too.

Miss Congeniality from the pageant received $300 (Bt10,000) plus gifts, as did Miss Photogenic.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Taipei – Thousands of gay rights supporters marched through Taiwan’s capital on Saturday, calling for increased tolerance and the enactment of anti-discrimination legislation.

The seventh annual Taiwan Gay Parade in Taipei featured marchers decked out in costumes ranging from prom queens to sumo wrestlers, loud pulsating music, and bright orange and yellow banners.

Taiwan is considered to have one of Asia’s most vibrant gay communities, and its gay rights parade is the largest in the Chinese-speaking world.

Organizer Tung Chu-chu said this year’s theme was “Love Out Loud,” reflecting the participants’ hopes that “through love, we can eliminate discrimination.”

“We love the people around us, but sometimes the society and the government don’t love us, or even see us,” she said.

She chided the government of President Ma Ying-jeou for not passing anti-discrimination legislation.

“The government made us lots of empty promises, but so far they haven’t come through,” she said.

Hsu Yu-lu, a 24-year-old accountant from the central city of Taichung, said the atmosphere for homosexuals in Taiwan had improved considerably in recent years.

“People are much more tolerant of gays,” she said. “The situation is getting better from day to day.”

Ricky Lin, 30, who works at the Gstar gay bar in Taipei, agreed, but said there was still room for improvement.

“Things are not completely open,” he said.

Presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said that Ma had supported gay rights when he was mayor of Taipei, and that “he continues with that support.” Ma was mayor from 1998 to 2006.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Taipei -Following in the wake of an anti-gay march organized by religious groups last week, this year’s Taiwan LGBT Pride 2009 takes to the streets tomorrow to celebrate the diversity of human sexuality and raise awareness on a raft of LGBT issues that activists say are being ignored by politicians.

Now in its seventh year, the Taiwan LGBT Pride has grown from a humble gathering of 500 participants in 2003 to become the largest annual LGBT parade in the Chinese-speaking world. Organizers expect more than 20,000 people to attend this year’s edition joined by representatives of more than 60 groups including the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association Bi the Way, the country’s first bisexual group, and GBooks, a gay publishing house.

One aim of this year’s event is to voice frustration and disappointment with the country’s two major political parties for ignoring gay rights.

“Politicians from pan-blue and pan-green camps always say they support the gay rights movement when elections approach, but never put their promises into action when they take office,” said J.J. Lai, who helped organize the parade and is the owner of Gin Gin’s Bookstore, the country’s first bookstore specializing in books, music and DVDs related to homosexual topics.

The broken promises include implementation of a basic human rights law that recognizes same-sex marriage, which was drafted during Chen Shui-bian’s administration but never passed, and President Ma Ying-jeou’s pledge, made while he was Taipei City mayor, to legalize gay marriage in the capital once the central government allowed it. As president, Ma has not done anything to improve gay rights, said Lai.

Under the slogan “Love Out Loud”, parade organizers hope to encourage members of the public to love, not discriminate against, lesbian, gay, transgender, transsexual or transvestite relatives, colleagues and neighbors.

Not everyone feels that affection, though. An anti-gay march was held on Saturday of last week by members from several Christian groups including the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, May God’s Grace Be With You, the Baptist Church and Methodist Church.

Led by two former Presbyterian Church pastors, Chen Yu-chuan and Chen Fu-chu, the march followed a route similar to that of tomorrow’s LGBT parade, starting from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and passing the 228 Memorial Park  Participants held banners aloft that read, “gay parades cause calamities”, “God blesses heterosexual marriage” , and “refuse wrong love and cleanse Taiwan”.

Some participants got up on the soapbox and said that though the Christian church is not against homosexuals, they should cease their “sinful” sexual behavior or else Taiwan would turn into a modern Sodom and Gomorrah.

Taiwan LGBT Pride organizers such as Lai criticized the protesters’ bigoted views on homosexuality. Gay rights activist Li Ming-chao said the march demonstrated how Christianity persecutes those who don’t conform to its multifarious ideas, and all in the name of God’s love.

“I don’t believe in [the Christian] god, so why should I repent? My Matzu loves me very much,” Li said.

Elias Tseng, a former pastor of the Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church, expressed concern that Saturday’s march marked the beginning of an organized religious anti-gay movement.

“Churches such as the Bread of Life Christian Church and Evangelical Covenant Church were suspiciously missing from the frontline of the march, which was led by members of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan,” said Tseng, who was ordained as the first openly gay pastor in Taiwan in 2004. The Presbyterian Church, which holds relatively liberal views on homosexual issues, was not officially represented at the event.

“The way the protest was setup suggests that its organizers want to generate an image that more and more churches have joined the anti-gay movement,” said Tseng. “As far as I know, those anti-gay groups have already established contact with similar groups in Hong Kong, which may lead to more anti-gay activities in the future.”

Such gay-bashing language and hateful sentiment would be discouraged if the government passed anti-discrimination legislation, Li said.

This year’s pride parade finishes on Ketagalan Boulevard near the Presidential Office, where participants will voice political demands.

“The parade had for years taken place in the East District, which gave the event a carnival, big-party feel. But we wanted to move the route to remind people of why we started the parade in the first place,” said Ann Tung, convener-in-chief of this year’s LGBT parade.

This year’s route not only passes by various government organizations but takes in many sites that are closely linked to LGBT communities, past and present, including the 228 Memorial Park, a well-known meeting place for gay men.

Lesser known is nearby Changte Street. In July 1997, police cracked down on gay men who showed up in the area, arresting 40. The occasion has become known colloquially as the “Changte Street Incident”.

The parade will also reach Ximending, an area that has traditionally been seen as homosexual-friendly and currently has around five saunas for gay men and a few tea houses that lesbians frequent, said Lai.

Red House Theater is now filled with cafe bars and shops that cater to homosexual communities. Nicknamed “Little Bear Village”, the area is popular among gays and lesbians as well as straight shoppers, said Tung.

The procession sets off from the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, proceeds along Gongyuan Road, Zhonghua Road, Zhongxiao West Road to Zhongshan South Road and finishes in front of the Presidential Office.

Organizers encourage participants to meet in front of the Presidential Office at 1pm. The procession starts at 2pm and ends around 4:30pm.

For more information and a route map, visit www.twpride.info.

For those interested in sports, this weekend Taipei hosts the eighth edition of The Straits Games, an annual event initiated by the Leadership Program for Gays in Malaysia and Singapore’s Men After Work to foster exchanges and promote healthy lifestyles in the LGBT communities.

Previously held in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket, Thailand, this year’s games attracted more than 300 registered participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, who will compete in volleyball, badminton, tennis, bowling and table tennis at various locations in Taipei tomorrow and Sunday.

Spectator tickets for the volleyball and badminton competitions, which will be held at the National Taiwan University Sports Center  today from 9am until the evening. Check tickets.books.com.tw for special offers that include tickets to the games, admission to screenings of Chef’s Special as well as free drinks at gay bars. For more information visit tsg2009.pixnet.net/blog.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Bangkok – The Ministry of Culture has prevented a controversial film which discusses the notorious “Tak Bai Incident” from being shown at this year’s World Film Festival,  scheduled for November 6-15 at Bangkok’s Siam Paragon.

“This Area Under Quarantine” is a strange mix of soft core gay porn and political message, in which two gays, one Buddhist and one Muslim, engage in sex and discuss the suffocation of 85 men in the back of army trucks in 2004, during a military crackdown on southern insurgents in the southern border province of Naratiwas, while underground video is shown of the harsh treatment of the detainees.

It has been suggested that the sexual content of the film gave the authorities the chance to suppress a film which made them feel uncomfortable about a very controversial event.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Bangkok – New rules governing sex change operations come into place on Sunday, 1 November, forcing a long wait for those looking for the big cut.

Thailand’s Medical Council introduced stiffer rules following a number of controversies over the last couple of years. Prior to these new rules, getting a sex change operation was relatively easy, with few checks to ensure that young males were psycologically ready to deal with the challenges of life after the operation.

The Medical Council now require that transgendered people first consult a psychiatrist to assess their mental state before they are allowed to get hormone therapy from endocrinologists, then live as a woman for a year, and receive hormone therapy before an operation is allowed.

Medical Council spokesperson Dr Somsak Lolekha said: “The council want to make sure that they really want to be a woman and spend the rest of their lives as a woman, forever, not for a second. Sex reassignment surgery would affect the physical body, as well as people’s mental health and society around them.”

Dr Somsak said that at least two psychiatrists must give guarantees for those who want to undergo a sex change.

Dr Paiboon Jittrapai, of Thailand’s Royal College of Surgeons, said the new rules would lift standards for sex change operations. They would also help screen transgender people who really need sex change surgery.

He said some patients had committed suicide after a sex change operation as they had later regretted undertaking the operation.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Taipei – Religious conservatives in Taipei City yesterday beat gay activists to the punch, leading an anti-gay march ahead of next week’s scheduled gay pride parade, local media reported.

In a city renown for its tolerance and support of gay rights,  the march saw  2,000 members of various homophobic Christian denominations including Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist groups taking part, said a report by the Central News Agency (CNA).

Gay rights supporters did not shy away from a counter-protest, with many of them carrying crosses, a symbol of burden, on their backs, said the report.

The group congregated in front of the Office of the President yesterday afternoon before traveling to Liberty Square, where a mass prayer meeting was held to propagate the message of “purifying the skies of Taiwan.”

Presbyterian pastor Chen Yu-chuan was cited as sayng that pro-gay groups have been throwing similar events since 2005 under partial funding from the Department of Civil Affairs under the Taipei City Government.

The scheduled gay parade on October 31 expects a turnout of 20,000, said Chen, before adding in total ignorance that he doubted that the gay population of Taiwan is that large.

He said the march led by Christian followers is to assist people in walking out of homosexuality as well as to provide counseling.

The growing gay demographic has caused young adults to now carry skewed perspectives towards gender and marriage, breaking hearts of many concerned parents along the way, Chen added.

Guo Sheng-jie, a member of the team organizing next week’s “All My Gay” parade, pointed out that the religious march equates to crucifying homosexuals.

To ensure that the other side of the debate is also heard, a clergyman was enlisted alongside picketers to preach to conservatives to embrace all of God’s children including the gay community, said the CNA. Pro-gay groups will issue a formal response addressing the march later today, Guo said.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →

Manila – A furious row has erupted in the Philippines over alleged gay sex amongst monks in a Christian monastary.

A defrocked monk, Venancio Cabillon, who is gay, exposed the unusual activities by the Marian Monks of the Eucharistic Adoration monastery in Upper Lindogon, Sibonga, which included a gay beauty pagent and fraud.

Cabillon alleged that the monks in Simala, Sibonga are “living in a world of lies and deceptions like creating seeming miracles on Mama Mary shedding tears of blood, crying and other shenanigans.”

The former monk is also now sueing the head of the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines, Cardinal Vidal, for publishing a statement claiming that Cabillon ” “commits grave faults against the religious vows of the order, as a trafficker of our own members of religious formation, and also violates the vows of chastity and obedience.”

The cardinal’s statement is widely seen as both a bid to gag Cabillion, and as revenge for exposing the scandal the to public.

Filed under: Gay News | Add Comment →