NEW YORK, January 18, 2012—Funding to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS consistently fails to reach programs designed to control the disease among gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), according to a new analysis released Wednesday by amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research and the Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR) at Johns Hopkins University. The report finds that resources dedicated to addressing the epidemic among MSM are grossly insufficient, and that funding intended for this population is often diverted away from MSM-related services.

Despite Obama Administration leadership in setting bold new targets to tackle global AIDS and highlight the human rights of MSM and other sexual minorities, U.S. government aid intended to prevent and treat HIV infection among MSM continues to encounter obstacles throughout the world.

The new report, “Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation for Gay Men and Other MSM,” provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of HIV-related funding and programming for this population. Focusing on eight countries, the report finds that national governments have failed to adequately tackle the epidemic among MSM. The findings are especially dire in countries that criminalize MSM. In those settings, governments spend fewer resources on HIV-related health services for MSM, do less to track and understand the epidemic, and are more likely to repurpose donor funds intended to fight the epidemic among MSM.

International efforts such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have made great strides against the global epidemic, including more recent efforts to reach MSM. Yet these and other donors typically fail to collect and analyze basic information about the epidemic among MSM. In settings where MSM are persecuted, this lack of data is often used to justify under-funding and marginalization.

“These data show an astonishing lack of support for MSM populations around the world, but most especially in countries where MSM are criminalized and persecuted,” said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. “Gay men and other MSM pioneered the global response to HIV in developed countries and have contributed significantly to the development of programs globally. However, they have been mostly excluded from these very services and programs in the developing world. This report lays out concrete steps that donors and national governments should take without delay to address the pandemic among MSM.”

The report examines the progress and shortcomings of PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and the UNGASS reporting system, managed by UNAIDS, and draws on data collected from on-the-ground researchers in eight countries: China, Ethiopia, Guyana, India, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Viet Nam. Using a standardized evaluation tool, civil society consultants studied the funding and implementation of MSM-related programming. Each consultant uncovered a range of issues related to funding allocations and service delivery, providing an in-depth view of the challenges facing MSM and their access to HIV treatment, care, and prevention services.

Among their findings:

• With few exceptions, MSM are deprioritized and marginalized by HIV programs regardless of epidemic type or disease burden. For example, this analysis found that in Guyana, funding for MSM programs dropped 96% between initial proposal and final budget.
• Epidemiological surveillance of MSM in many countries is woefully inadequate to determine the true burden of HIV among MSM. This makes it much more difficult for international monitors, including UNGASS, to assess the needs of MSM in each country, and further complicates allocation and monitoring by donors.
• In countries where homosexuality is criminalized, such as Nigeria and Ethiopia, many MSM forgo seeking medical care out of fear of government-sanctioned punishment. Despite billions of dollars in funding for HIV programs, both countries continue to make international headlines for persecution and violence against MSM.
• Efforts to streamline donor bureaucracy are being undertaken without consideration of their impact on vulnerable populations. Consolidated funding streams, broad health systems investments, and reduced reporting requirements may ultimately undercut efforts to direct money to more effective interventions.

In addition to the eight country reports, the overall report also includes recommendations for national governments, PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and UNGASS.

“For the first time, we have specific data to help us understand why MSM are omitted from national HIV/AIDS surveillance systems and are subsequently excluded from HIV/AIDS services in countries that rely on foreign assistance from international donors,” said Stefan Baral, associate director of the CPHHR at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “As an international community, we must take these data and work with donors and governments to better address the needs of gay men and other MSM throughout the world. We will never create an ‘AIDS-free generation’ if we don’t get the epidemic under control among MSM.”

SEE FUL REPORT AT  amfARsite
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $325 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

About the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins University -The Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins focuses on using the scientific tools of public health to address the health and rights of populations in need. The Center is active in Asia, Africa, and the Former Soviet Union and works with sexual minorities, people who use drugs, and refugees and displaced communities in conflict.

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
Tweets  – @melanienathan1

Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART. The American National Institutes of Health and other organizations recommend offering antiretroviral treatment to all patients with AIDS.  Because of the complexity of selecting and following a regimen, the severity of the side-effects and the importance of compliance to prevent viral resistance, such organizations emphasize the importance of involving patients in therapy choices, and recommend analyzing the risks and the potential benefits to patients with low viral loads. 

There are different classes of antiretroviral drugs that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.

The new research paper:-

Long-term exposure to combination antiretroviral therapy and risk of death from specific causes: no evidence for any previously unidentified increased risk due to antiretroviral therapy.

Kowalska JD, Reekie J, Mocroft A, Reiss P, Ledergerber B, Gatell J, d’Arminio Monforte A, Phillips A, Lundgren JD, Kirk O; for the EuroSIDA study group.

Abstract -

BACKGROUND:
Despite the known substantial benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), cumulative adverse effects could still limit the overall long-term treatment benefit. Therefore we investigated changes in the rate of death with increasing exposure to cART.

METHODS:
A total of 12 069 patients were followed from baseline, which was defined as the time of starting cART or enrolment into EuroSIDA whichever occurred later, until death or 6 months after last follow-up visit. Incidence rates of death were calculated per 1000 person-years of follow-up (PYFU) and stratified by time of exposure to cART (≥3 antiretrovirals): less than 2, 2-3.99, 4-5.99, 6-7.99 and more than 8 years. Duration of cART exposure was the cumulative time actually receiving cART. Poisson regression models were fitted for each cause of death separately.

RESULTS:
A total of 1297 patients died during 70 613 PYFU [incidence rate 18.3 per 1000 PYFU, 95% confidence interval (CI) 17.4-19.4], 413 due to AIDS (5.85, 95% CI 5.28-6.41) and 884 due to non-AIDS-related cause (12.5, 95% CI 11.7-13.3). After adjustment for confounding variables, including baseline CD4 cell count and HIV RNA, there was a significant decrease in the rate of all-cause and AIDS-related death between 2 and 3.99 years and longer exposure time. In the first 2 years on cART the risk of non-AIDS death was significantly lower, but no significant difference in the rate of non-AIDS-related deaths between 2 and 3.99 years and longer exposure to cART was observed.

CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, we found no evidence of an increased risk of both all-cause and non-AIDS-related deaths with long-term cumulative cART exposure.

PMID: 22112597

SOURCE- http://www.aidstruth.org/new-research/2012/new-research-finds-no-evidence-increased-risk-all-cause-and-non-aids-death-long

OBLOGDEE site informs, reports but does not endorse nor guarantees accuracy of  any research. We encourage readers to conduct their own background investigation of research providers.

NOTE JAN-26-12  Join amfAR, The IDSA Center for Global Health Policy, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for a briefing discussing combination prevention approaches.  It will take place on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 from 12-1 pm in the Kennedy Caucus Room (Senate Russel 325).  The entrance is at the corner of Deleware Ave. & Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002.  Lunch will be provided.  Please RSVP to rsvp.policyofficer@amfar.org.

ALSO SEE:

Huge March Timed for 2012 AIDS Conference in Washington D.C.

AIDS MARCH planned as precursor to AIDS Conference 2012.  By Melanie Nathan, Jan 01, 2012

In July 2012, more than 20,000 HIV advocates will come to Washington, D.C., for the International AIDS Conference. Before the opening ceremonies, AHF and over a thousand organizations from 78 countries are marching to remind governments around the world to keep the promise on AIDS.

The biennial International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the pandemic. It is a chance to assess where we are, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward.

Read more….

This Thursday Twitter announced  that the company will now start to censor tweets on a country-by-country basis, allowing the popular microblogging site to comply with local governments’ request to remove, block certain content or users.

Gay Middle East fears this will mean censorship of LGBT Tweets in the Middle East and North Africa. Previously, Twitter only blocked tweets and accounts globally.

GAY MIDDLE EAST and OBLOGDEEOBLOGDA will join the protest on the 28.1.12 and NOT TWEET for 24 hours. 

WE URGE YOU TO DO THE SAME.

“Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world,” Twitter wrote in a blog post . “We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.”

Once twitter starts to censor, it will alert its users  by replacing the text of the post with a grayed-out tweet treading , “This Tweet from @username has been withheld in: Country. Learn more.”

“We are very concerned about this new development,” said Dan Littauer, Executive Editor for Gay Middle East, “twitter has an enormous impact in spreading news and media, especially regarding Human Rights, including LGBT rights across the world and in particular the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).”

“Twitter has been essential, for example, in helping the Arab Spring protests and also spread of information regarding LGBT issues in MENA.  Users within the state where censorship is about to occur will not be able to co-ordinate protests or actions.”

“Furthermore,” reiterated Littauer, “many users in this region rely on tweets to inform them about already blocked sites, such as ours, for example in Saudi Arabia.  This allows the twitter users to use technology to bypass the censorship.  This means that if LGBT related tweets and users will be censored across some or all of the MENA countries it will make it so much harder to communicate and even know about censorship itself in that country.  This is a very dangerous precedent.”

Twitter did not explain clearly how this decision was arrived at and why, but members of Gay Middle East wonder if this is partly related to the SOPA and PIPA initiatives as well as the recent acquisition of a stake in Twitter’s company by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

Shamil, Gay Middle East Editor of Saudi Arabia and the UAE remarked “just like any purchase by a person of power within the Kingdom, investor pressure could be brought to bear on a myriad of issues at anytime, where restrictions could be made to apply in the Kingdom itself, which already has censorship. This could result in some influence on blocking Gay, lesbian, LGBT tweets, but only in the Kingdom itself. “  It remains to be seen if this will happen and in which countries across MENA.

Littauer notes blocking of the use of the word “gay”  and associated LGBT terms via BING – the Microsoft flagship search engine, a Company in which the Saudi family has an investment-  has been a practice by the Kingdom and other Arab countries. “There was a possibility that such restrictions could arise due to the increased presence of such a political figure, as it may have been the case with Microsoft,” speculated Littauer.

On the O-BLOG-DEE-O-BLOG-DA we speculated at the time of the interest purchase  by the Saudi Prince in Twitter  that it “Could Impact Gay Tweets within Kingdom,  December 19, 2011 Melanie Nathan  “Although Liberal in relation to other members of the Saudi Royal Family, what does Saudi prince Twitter Purchase mean for Gay World.”

“Tomorrow” (28.1.12) stated Littauer, “we will join the global protest and not tweet for a 24hours. ”  “We will announce this very soon using our twitter account by a tweet using the hashtags #j28 #TwitterBlackout.”

The Next Web  has written how to get around this new censorship.

Earlier Article http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-investment-in-twitter-could-impact-gay-tweets-within-kingdom/

UPDATED Cape Town, January 28, 2012:  The Flag Boys did it! The won best dressed couple – Imagine gay boys dressed in camp Zulu warrior garb, protesting Zulu King’s homophobic remarks, win best dressed couple at H&B Met Red Carpet event! Read our pre-event report ……

South African gay activists Flag Boys, Huge and Henry, are set to go Zulu gay.  The exhibitionist activists, designers and promoters of the South African Gay Flag are protesting the Zulu King for his anti-same-sex relationship remarks, by attending a prestigious South African horse racing event, dressed as camp Zulu Warriors.

The prestigious J&B Met, a televised premiere horse racing event, held at the Kennilworth Racecourse in Cape Town, draws fifty thousand fans to South Africa’s elite day of high fashion and glamor.  The GAY Flag Boys, who will strut the VIP red carpet dressed as GAY Zulu warriors, are set to top even the most risky of ‘fashionista,’ of the day.

This year’s theme, coincidentally, happens to be ‘Made Different,’ which calls on attendees to challenge the status quo and to break the rules of fashion; our Flag Boys are doing much more they are challenging the Zulu King and the remarks he made against the South African Constitution.

Gays and Lesbians in KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of South Africa are still angry at King Goodwill Zwelithini for his flagrant homophobic remarks, which recently created a local firestorm. The Cape Town based LGBTI community will not allow the matter to rest until the King apologizes and retracts his condemnation of same-sex relationships.

The Met is a gathering of the rich and famous, the “groovers and movers,” as the web promo notes; “the fashion junkies and the thousands who seek to enjoy the intensity of life. It’s the running of the 35th J&B Met on 28th January.”

“People are encouraged to go over the top: “make your outfit from something truly different, wear what traditionally should not be worn, but whatever you do, make sure you do it differently. The J&B Met 2011 was a year of massive outfits, oversized accessories and gigantic personalities,” notes the organizer’s webpage.

We have obtained advance photos of our protestors and judging by them they are bound to fit in – and let us hope be notice, given the nature of the day’s extremes.

The King or his representatives have yet to apologize for his reported slur against the South African and Zulu Gay community; instead the royal household spun the issue, blaming an inaccurate translation of the speech, which only exacerbated the anger, causing the broader South African LGBTI community to view it as a cowardly attempt at denial.

Working in the framework of a united South Africa, the King owes an apology to his Zulu LGBTI community as well as all South Africans.

The King made his comments during a speech commemorating the Battle of Isandlwana near Dundee in the presence of South African President Jacob Zuma, who has taken an oath to uphold the South African Constitution, one which recognizes full equality under the law for same-sex relationships. The President stood silent after the remarks and did issue a timid statement thereafter, which was barely a reprimand.

His comments were widely understood by those present to mean that the monarch believed that homosexuality was not part of Zulu culture and that it was “rotten”.

A recorded extract of the speech includes the audience laughing, as the monarch talks about people being banished in the olden days from society.

“If you are one of the people I am talking about, people who have sex with people of their own sex, a man who sexually harasses another man, a woman who sexually harasses another woman, you are rotten,” he was reported as saying.

In a joint statement, Zulu royal family spokesperson Prince Mbonisi Zulu and Premier Zweli Mkhize’s spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya, denied that the monarch had condemned same-sex relationships in his speech, blaming the translation.  However, after an extract was played to several Zulu linguists the consensus was that the King was indeed condemning same-sex relationships.

Nonhlanhla Mkhize of the KZN Gay Centre said the organization was “disturbed and hurt” by the king’s comments, but preferred to engage the Royal family on the matter, rather than take it to the Equality Court or to the SA Human Rights Commission.

The monarch’s comments could be dangerous to gays and lesbians “because of the stature of the king as a leader and father, ” said Mkhize.

The SA Human Rights Commission, which monitors and indicts against Hate Speech, which is illegal in South Africa, said it would be writing to the King to establish whether he had in fact made such statements and if he had to immediately retract them:-

“In the context of the growing levels of hate crimes against people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed (LGBTI), the commission finds such utterances to be inflammatory. If it is indeed accurate that His Majesty, the Zulu king, made the utterances as reported, they constitute hate speech, are dehumanizing and are a violation of the constitutional right of LGBTI people to equality and freedom.”

“The king should use his powerful position not to dehumanize and discriminate certain people on the basis of their sexual orientation but to uphold the Constitution and promote tolerance and diversity,” the commission said.

In Just a few hours The Flag Boys will be on that RED VIP Carpet and on the cat walk at the J&B Met and we have a taste of the dress-up pictures to show in advance of the event.  If you are in SA this ought to be quite a statement at a place where spectacle is the order of the day! Please watch this on television tonight and show your support for a retraction and apology by the Zulu King!

UPDATED:  The SA FLAG BOYS were a big hit at the H&B Met, Kennilworth Cape Town, nominated for best dressed couple, while protesting homophobic remarks of Zulu King Goodwill! The TV coverage ensured their message spread beyond the 50,000 attendees and into the homes of South Africans and the world as they watched the premier horse racing event’s coverage of a day of fashion and glamor.

Never before had the sound of ‘Edge of Glory’ been so inconceivable; EricJames Borges chose Lady Gaga, and not only for the echo that would pave his heavenly journey but as a benefactor, leaving the last of his life’s dealings to his icon. Five hundred dollars would go to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, $500 to the Trevor Project, $521.56  to the Human Rights Campaign and almost $2,500 to his rescuer, Jennifer McGuire for her upcoming same-sex wedding.  “I want it to go where it deserves; to life, love and equality.”

His parents tortured him by not protecting him from the extensive bullying.  His parents tortured him through their relentless, extremist religious teachings.  His parents tortured him with shame and intolerance and emotional and physical abuse that most of us can’t even begin to imagine.  And yes, I blame them, and not just a little, but for a majority percentage… His parents killed him.”

All the love and support in the world would not be enough to save EricJames from the gushing wound of his childhood and the piercing gashes of his preceding teen years.

Read the full Articles by Clicking on the Screen shots on the left.

Suicide Prevention and Resources can be found at end of SDGLN Article.

http://www.sdgln.com/news/2012/01/26/bullied-gay-teen-suicide-note-insight-ericjames-borges-death-19

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com
@melanienathan1
All Rights Reserved© 2012

Kato known to be  the most vocal gay rights advocate in Uganda, a country where homophobia is so severe that Parliament is considering a bill to execute gay people.  Mr. Kato had received a stream of death threats, his friends said last year.

In 2010, Rolling Stone Tabloid,  a Ugandan newspaper ran an antigay diatribe with Mr. Kato’s picture on the front page under a banner urging, “Hang Them.”  Kato took the tabloid to court and won his case , with the court ordering an injunction and fines against Rolling Stone publication.

Months later, Mr. Kato was beaten to death with a hammer and the perpetrator has been convicted.  Although the confessed murderer has been sentenced, many speculate that Kato was set up by authorities. Police officials were quick to chalk up the motive to robbery, but members of the small and increasingly besieged gay community in Uganda suspect otherwise.

“David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S. evangelicals in 2009,” Val Kalende, the chairwoman of one of Uganda’s gay rights groups, said in a statement at the time. “The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S. evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood.”

Today, January 26  Mleuben Maccarthy from the newly established St. Paul’s Voice Center in Uganda who is attending today’s event told me, “we cant wait for our rights which KATO was fighting for.”

Today’s memorial is open and will be held at Emerald Hotel Bomb road – Kampala Uganda.  Thursday 26. 01.2012 from 0900 AM.

Comrade David Kato R.I.P.

See Video of memorial held in Castro one year ago featuring Melanie Nathan and Michael Petrelis

Interweave and GLBT Historical Society is bringing this important event to Oakland and judging by the program and participants it promises to be excellent.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the “New Negro Movement”, named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.

One such performer, Gladys Bentley (August 12, 1907 – January 18, 1960) was an American blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance.

Bentley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of American George L. Bentley and his wife, a Trinidadian, Mary Mote. She appeared at Harry Hansberry’s “Clam House” on 133rd Street, one of New York City‘s most notorious gay speakeasies,^[1] in the 1920s, and headlined in the early thirties at Harlem’s Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men’s clothes (including a signature tuxedo and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting outrageously with women in the audience.

On the decline of the Harlem speakeasies with the repeal of Prohibition, she relocated to southern California, where she was billed as “America’s Greatest Sepia Piano Player”, and the “Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs”. She was frequently harassed for wearing men’s clothing. She claimed that she had married a white woman in Atlantic City.

Bentley was openly lesbian during her early career, but during the McCarthy Era, she started wearing dresses, married a man (who later denied that they ever married), and studied to be a minister, claiming to have been “cured” by taking female hormones.  She died, aged 52, from pneumonia in 1960.

Fictional characters based on Bentley appeared in Carl Van Vechten‘s Parties, Clement Woods’s Deep River, and Blair Niles’s Strange Brother. She recorded for the OKeh, Victor, Excelsior, and Flame labels.

PROGRAM:

A Love Supreme

Performers include:

Potluck                    Gather for food and community

Four Directions       Zemaya

Poetry                      Talibah Barker

Poetry                      Marvin K. White

Song                         Zach Hodges

Poetry                      Ron Weissberg

Song                         Linda Hodges

Poetry                      Sauda Burch

Poetry                      Randall Wright

Poetry                      Jezebel Deliah X

Music                       Regina Wells

Poetry                      Bushmama

Poetry                      Rasheedah Sabeen Shakir

Drum/Poetry           Jaynie Lara

 MC: Jaki Lee

ALSO on the program:

Tiye Yayu Square-Levias, Ava Square-Levias, Bushmama, Griot Noir, Deborah Marks,  Taku Ronsman, Stephanie Thames, Rasheedah Sabeen,  Shakir

 The program begins with a potluck at 6pm. Please email randallwright90@gmail.com or jakilee63@yahoo.com for further information.

The Poster Ad campaign sensation would revert to one of high tolerance indeed; with one generation believing it is just another poster and the older generation’s collective heads doing a 360 degree swirl. The key to comments abounding social media would still be what is the issue; the nudity, the interracial or the same-sex component?  My sense is the South Africans may well still be hang up on the nudity first! Or am I dreaming?

The campaign by the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) features a topless white man and black woman embracing.  The poster, which is an advert of the organization’s 2012 membership campaign, also comes with the tagline:

“In OUR future, you wouldn’t look twice”.

And back a mere decade ago the visual of black and white in sexual nuance would have sent hats flying as if in a 100 mile per hour hurricane and look at the hallabaloo on social media and you wills see that it still does!

Now the double-take could feasibly at the sight of not the interracial, but the two young men and their pose for the future of South Africa. Is that wishful thinking?

This could be the future of Africa and perhaps an opposition party whose youth shows it will indeed embrace the intent of its post-apartheid nickname, ‘The Rainbow Nation.’

This could be a form of educational conditioning and why the heck not – after all it is real and it is true! Some of us happen to prefer same-sex relationships.

And while it may seem repugnant to some in the region, what it could serve to do is make the sight of two men and interracial as not such a big deal after a while.

We call that conditioning! And that is precisely what Africa needs.  The more one looks, the more one sees, and the more okay it shall be!

With increasing dissatisfaction toward the party of Madibe, President Nelson Mandela, the ANC’s current failed leadership in the form of Jacob Zuma, which has been disastrous on almost every level – in the delivery of basic services to all South Africans (water, electricity, housing, food), the fight against rampant crime, and in the need to protect LGBTI people against hateful sexuality violence, This DASO campaign might be just what the doctor ordered or it could send the opposition party running for cover!

The conditioning that the poster affords South Africa is the start of what should be, an embracing of a Constitution that is all inclusive, unique in the World; it specifically includes sexual orientation and gender identity. At least there is one party willing to abide! And bravely so, especially given the underbelly of the argument which always seem to go back to so called cultural tradition.

So here is to the new world order – the youth and just maybe South Africans will take the lead on a continent that is in dire need of the basic human right, to decriminalize a sexual orientation that is indeed a natural order, scientifically proven, just another spectrum!

District Court Rules that “Arriving Aliens” May Not Be Subjected to Prolonged Detention Without a Hearing To Determine Whether Detention Is Justified

SAN DIEGO — A district court today ruled that the Department of Homeland Security may not detain an immigrant for a prolonged period without proving that detention is justified in an individualized hearing. It is the first ruling to find that immigrants classified as “arriving aliens” – a large group encompassing all individuals stopped at the border, including asylum seekers – are entitled to fair hearing protections against arbitrary detention. DHS had argued that it has sole discretion to decide whether to detain or release an “arriving alien” and that the law does not require detention hearings.

The San Diego ACLU brought a habeas petition on behalf of Glorismel Centeno Ortiz in August 2011 after he had languished in immigration detention for three years. The government had held Centeno without a hearing to determine whether his detention was justified by classifying him as an “arriving alien,” a category that can apply even to individuals who have lived in the United States for decades with legal status. The government relies on Cold War-era rulings to justify its position that “arriving aliens” like Mr. Centeno have no due process rights to physical liberty.

Mr. Centeno, an asylum seeker who has lived in the United States since he was 11 years old was released from custody shortly after the ACLU filed the habeas petition. The government then argued that the habeas petition was moot.

Today’s ruling by Chief Judge Irma Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California rejected both the government’s mootness argument and its position that arriving aliens could be detained without so much as an individualized hearing to determine whether their detention is justified.

“Under the court’s ruling, asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution and torture in their home lands should finally receive a fair hearing to determine whether their detention serves any purpose,” said Sean Riordan, staff attorney of the San Diego ACLU. “For too long the government has withheld this kind of minimal due process protection to those who need it most.”

Centeno was brought to Los Angeles by his mother, who was fleeing the violence of the Salvadoran civil war, in which her brother was killed by guerillas. As a teenager, Centeno became entangled with gangs and was convicted of armed robbery and deported to El Salvador, even though his petition for asylum was still pending. Fearing for his life Centeno returned to Los Angeles and obtained counseling from Homies Unidos, an organization that helps young people leave gangs.

Since his return to the United Sates, Centeno has dedicated his life to helping other young men leave the life of gangs. He has lead camping trips and given talks at schools, all the while working as a dishwasher, car mechanic, air conditioning repairman and raising his son. According to a senior staff member at Homies Unidos, Centeno is “one of our most reliable and committed volunteers.”

In 2007, Centeno went to Tijuana to enjoy a night out with friends. When he returned to the border, he was immediately arrested and charged with criminal illegal reentry after deportation. In July 2008, a judge dismissed criminal charges against Centeno, but he remained in detention several more years, until his release in September.

Johannesburg – Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini has criticized people who engage in same sex relationships, labelling them as “rotten”, according to a newspaper report on Monday; and did it in the face of the South african President, Jacob Zuma who stood by and said nothing!

He went on to ignorantly claim that “Traditionally, there were no people who engaged in same sex relationships.” Now is he talking about the act of homosexuality or conducting of a relationship; my sense is he does not known the difference…  read on..

“There was nothing like that and if you do it, you must know that you are rotten,” The Times quoted him as saying.

“I don’t care how you feel about it. If you do it, you must know that it is wrong and you are rotten. Same sex is not acceptable.” said the Monarch,  speaking at Nquthu, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, during the 133rd commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana, which the Zulu regiments won.

However it may come as surprise but what our dear King does not realize and maybe ought to review is his long dead notorious relative Shaka Zulu, the greatest warrior of all time was more than likely gay than Elton or Martina; and he lived some centuries ago, way in the traditional day – of which King  Jolly Good speaks.

Apparently there is indeed some evidence that Shaka Zulu was gay and that he used to “use”  his soldiers for his pleasure.

What the King also does not realize is that homosexuality is proven scientifically to be a natural born orientation and the genes implicated have probably been around since way before Australopithecus.

On Sunday, Zwelithini shared the stage with President Jacob Zuma; Zuma should publicly denounce the remarks and a failure to do so is ahem should we say a little bit unconstitutional!

After I wrote this story above yesterday, a Press release from Lance Weyer, Mr. Gay South Africa was submitted:

This week Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini stated that “Traditionally, there were no people who engaged in same sex-relationships” He must have missed the history books where many historical experts believe that Shaka Zulu is to have encouraged intercrural intercourse among his troops to “create intimacy and loyalty”. (Bring on the Zulu hate mail…)

He went on to say that “there was nothing like that and if you do it, you must know that you are rotten. I don’t care how you feel about it. If you do it, you must know that it is wrong and you are rotten. Same sex is not acceptable.”

Whether Shaka was gay or not is quite irrelevant. What is actually important here is that what the King said is in clear conflict with our Bill of Rights and Section 9 of the Constitution specifically, regardless of his interpretation of history.

We have to note the devastating effect deeply rooted homophobia by leaders is having on communities. How can someone who is being paid a salary by the South African government (i.e. taxpayers) have such a blatantly unconstitutional view? Violent homophobia is real, and as much as I respect your right to practice and live your Zulu culture, I think it’s about time that we started being as passionate about the dignity and well being of ALL our citizens and refugees seeking shelter.

In a further slap in the face to the constitution, President Jacob Zuma, who shared the stage with Zwelithini, did not directly respond to the king’s remarks. Instead, he said: “Today, we are faced with different challenges – challenges of reconciliation and of building a nation that does not discriminate against other people because of their colour or sexual orientation.” Many will remember that in 2006 Zuma himself came under fierce criticism for the homophobic statements he made at Heritage Day celebrations

The  ANC friendly South African Press is now reporting with the following under the  (in my opinion exaggerated) headline :  “Zuma rebukes king over gay remark”  -  and I hardly call this statement a rebuke: ” According to The Times President Jacob Zuma, who shared the stage with Zwelithini, did not directly respond to the king’s remarks. Instead, he said: “Today, we are faced with different challenges . challenges of reconciliation and of building a nation that does not discriminate against other people because of their colour or sexual orientation.”

Unlike Weyer I believe the heritage and denial of King Shaka’s sexuality is an imperative component, not to slander Zulu people, but to note that tradition and cultural pretense cannot escape the facts and reality of scientific data.  That said I agree an imperative point is the fact that the Zulu King has in fact spat on the constitution in his flagrant disregard for its content and the well being of young LGBTI and all South Africans.

I am calling on President Jacob Zuma to condemn homophobic remarks on Center stage in harsher terms; his feeble attempt at reprimand does not make leadership grade!

UPDATE:

Zulu Royal Family blames comments on reckless translation? Please … give me a break the insult only endures from this submitted explanation….

Durban – The Zulu royal household has criticised what it called a “reckless translation” of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s speech on Sunday.  “At no stage did his majesty condemn gay relations or same sex relations,” Prince Mbonisi Zulu said.

Zulu said the newspaper translated the Zulu monarch’s speech incorrectly. “The main focus of his speech was on the creation of a compassionate society with men protecting the vulnerable members of society, especially the elderly, women, and children.”  Zulu said the king had said that in the past men would go for months in battles to fight the enemy without their wives, and that they did not harass each other sexually. “He said nowadays you even have men who rape other men. The king said this was a clear sign of moral decay and he said he condemned those involved, no matter who they were.”

Melanie Nathan: “So can someone from the Zulu  Royal family kindly provide an English transcript of the actual speech? What a feeble worm around and besides, the comments are still flagrant insult to SA LGBT and the Constitution.“

Note the words harass! Moral decay! Need we say more…

By Melanie Nathan : nathan@privatecourts.com

Picture: Photo Ndumie Funda and Melanie Nathan with Gay Flag at Smuts Monument, 3/2011© all rights reserved