News
Gay Vatican suicide now documentary film
American filmmaker wants story of Italian writer’s death to be message for new Pope
Gay activists in Italy say Italian gay writer Alfredo Ormando is credited with triggering Italy’s version of the Stonewall rebellion in 1998 when he took his own life by setting himself on fire in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican to protest the Catholic Church’s condemnation of homosexuality.
A documentary film called Alfredo’s Fire, which tells the story of Ormando’s struggle to cope with anti-gay bias and religious intolerance, and the subsequent gay Vatican suicide, is intended to send a message to the Vatican and the new Pope, according Andy Abrahams Wilson, the gay American filmmaker who is nearing completion of the documentary.
“In Alfredo’s name and in the names of countless other LGBT people – from those burnt at the stake in the Middle Ages, to Alfredo’s fire, to the lives and spirits that are routinely extinguished because of the Catholic Church’s anti-gay teachings – may Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication signal new light and hope for all of us,” Wilson said in a statement.
He told the Blade he’s been working on the film for fifteen years, while working on other projects, and considers it a labor of love. Among other things, he hopes the 40-minute documentary will enable the tragedy of Alfredo Ormando’s death to shed light on how religious teachings can result in dire consequences for LGBT people.
The film is expected to be released in late spring or early summer, Wilson said. He plans to submit it to various international film festivals and will enter it as a potential nominee for a short film-documentary for an Academy Award.
As a conclave of cardinals from throughout the world gathers at the Vatican to select Benedict XVI’s successor, Abrahams Wilson and his non-profit film company, Open Eye Pictures of Sausalito, Calif., are making an appeal for contributions to help cover post-production costs for the film.
He said the film will be made available to faith-based organizations and LGBT groups for viewing as an educational tool to address anti-LGBT prejudice and discrimination.
“On January 13, 1998 Alfredo Ormando, a 39-year-old Italian writer, arrived in Rome just as the sun was rising,” a promotional write-up released by Open Eye Pictures says. “After a long journey from his native Sicily, he found his way to the empty plaza of St. Peter’s Square and, facing the entrance to the Basilica, knelt down as if to pray,” the write up says.
“He made a rapid hand gesture and suddenly was engulfed in flames. Before the Church and God, Alfredo Ormando had lit himself on fire,” the write-up says.
In letter he sent to a friend about a month before his death, Ormando said, “I hope they’ll understand the message I want to leave: it is a form of protest against the Church that demonizes homosexuality, and at the same time all of nature, because homosexuality is her offspring.”
Wilson said he began filming the documentary in 1998 shortly after Ormando’s death. He said he returned to Italy in 2000 to continue his work on the project during a week when Italian and European LGBT activists held an international LGBT Pride festival and parade in Rome. The LGBT events took place during the Catholic Church’s Year of the Jubilee in Rome celebrating 2000 years of Christianity, which attracted thousands of Catholics throughout the world.
In a protest at the Vatican at that time, Wilson and several American gay activists, including Rev. Mel White of the U.S. group Soul Force and members of the U.S. gay Catholic group Dignity, joined Italian gay activists in demanding that the Catholic Church modify its stance on LGBT people.
While carrying poster size photos of Ormando, the protesters planned to deliver a letter to then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, according to Wilson. At the time, Ratzinger was in charge of the Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which several years earlier issued a statement written by Ratzinger calling gay people “intrinsically disordered.”
Although the protesters were unable to deliver the letter to Ratzinger, Wilson said the gathering inspired him to examine the life of Alfredo Ormando through interviews with those who knew him and through his numerous writings.
Wilson said he hopes to premiere the film in Palermo, Sicily, in June, in the Italian region where Ormando was born and raised, during Italy’s 2013 National LGBT Pride celebration, which takes place in that city.
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Asia, Canada, and Europe
Tokyo High Court Japan’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional
JAPAN
The Tokyo High Court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, upholding a lower court ruling. This is the second High Court ruling favoring same-sex marriage after the Sapporo High Court came to a similar conclusion earlier this year, and more High Court rulings are expected over the next few months.
The court found that laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples “are not based on reasonable grounds” and lead to “discriminatory treatment (of people) based on their sexual orientation,” according to the ruling.
The rulings don’t immediately create a right to same-sex marriage in Japan, but they add pressure on the government to address the unconstitutionality. These cases will likely find their way to the Supreme Court next year.
Same-sex marriage is not currently legal anywhere in Japan, and the government has long asserted that Section 24 of the post-war constitution rules out same-sex marriage. Section 24 states “marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.”
However, equal marriage supporters point out that Section 24 was not intended to deal with same-sex marriage, but rather to assert the right of individuals to marry the person of their choice, rather than traditional arranged marriages.
A series of recent court victories have gradually opened up recognition of equal rights for same-sex couples in Japan. Five lower courts have found that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitution, while only one lower court has upheld the ban as constitutional.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court found that same-sex couples are entitled to survivors’ benefits for victims of crime.
Additionally, 450 municipalities and 30 of Japan’s 47 prefectures have instituted partnership registries for same-sex couples. Although these registries have little legal force, they have helped couples access local services and demonstrate growing recognition of same-sex couples’ rights.
This week’s High Court ruling comes at a time of flux in Japanese politics. During last week’s parliamentary election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its governing majority, while the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, which supports same-sex marriage, made huge gains.
Anglo Nippon Politics reports that a very narrow majority of newly elected legislators have expressed support for same-sex marriage, but that the dynamics of the new parliament may make it difficult for the LDP, which hopes to hold onto power with support for smaller conservative parties, to advance controversial issues.
CANADA
The Alberta government under United Conservative Party Premier Danielle Smith introduced four pieces of anti-LGBTQ and anti-transgender legislation last week, prompting protests in the capital Edmonton and in the province’s largest city Calgary.
Smith had initially announced the legislation in February, amid a general hysteria about transgender youth and school inclusion policies that had swept through conservative parties across Canada.
The four bills ban gender care for trans youth, require parental notification and consent if a trans student wishes to use a different name or pronoun in school, bars trans women from competing in sports in schools and colleges, and requires parental notification and “opt-in” if sexual orientation, gender identity, or human sexuality will be discussed in classrooms.
Opponents criticized Smith for the legislation, which critics said was timed to help Smith in a leadership review held this weekend. Smith’s leadership was upheld with more than 91 percent of the vote at the UCP convention in Red Deer on Saturday.
More than 1,000 people showed up at Calgary City Hall to demonstrate against the bills on Saturday, as well as against the UCP’s priorities for Alberta, while hundreds more turned up in front of the provincial legislature in Edmonton.
Rowan Morris, an organizer with Trans Rights YEG, told the Edmonton Journal that the bills had galvanized opposition from across the political spectrum, recalling a conversion he had with a conservative supporter.
“[She said], ‘My whole family is here, we’re all conservatives, we will all be conservatives for the rest of our lives, but we recognize that bodily autonomy is a freedom we need to uphold for all Albertans. Whether we agree on how you live your life or not, the government does not have a place in your private medical decisions with your doctor,’” Morris said.
Because of the UCP’s majority in the provincial legislature, there is little chance the bills won’t pass. Voters next go to the polls in Alberta in October 2027.
Voters in Canada have had a chance to weigh in on anti-trans policies this year, and the results have been mixed. In Manitoba and New Brunswick, voters turfed conservative parties from government after they introduced or announced anti-trans policies, while in British Columbia, voters kept the governing New Democrats in office after the opposition Conservatives had announced several similar anti-trans policies.
Last month, voters in Saskatchewan returned its conservative government to power after it introduced a parental notification and consent policy in violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and pledged to introduce a ban on trans students accessing change rooms and bathrooms in schools if reelected.
GERMANY
The Gender Self-Determination Act came into force on Friday, marking a historic advancement for trans rights in Germany.
Under the new law, anyone will be able to change their legal name and gender by making a simple application at their local registry office.
The new law replaces the Transsexuals Act, which dates from the early 1980s, and required anyone wishing to change their legal gender to get permission from a judge after submitting two psychological assessments.
The law allows name and gender changes for minors. Children under 14 can have the process done by their parents, while those over 14 can do so with parental permission. Youth will also have to submit a declaration that they have sought advice from a psychologist or from a youth welfare specialist.
Also included in the law is a new protection that makes it a criminal offense to out a trans person without their consent.
Gender self-determination is increasingly the norm in Western European countries. Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark have all introduced similar legislation in recent years. Additionally, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, India, Pakistan, as well as several provinces and states of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico allow gender self-determination.
SWITZERLAND
The Swiss canton of Vaud became the latest place in Europe to ban so-called conversion therapy, as legislation to ban the discredited practice of attempting to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity nationwide has stalled in the federal parliament.
Vaud is the third of Switzerland’s 26 cantons to ban conversion therapy, following Neuchatel last December and Valais earlier this year. Vaud is Switzerland’s third-largest canton, home to more than 800,000 people.
In 2022, the lower house of the Swiss parliament passed a motion calling on the government to introduce a conversion therapy ban, but the motion was rejected by the upper house earlier this year. Legislators at the time said they wanted to wait for more information from the Federal Council, which was due to report on conversion therapy over the summer.
In the meantime, several other Swiss cantons have begun debating local bans on conversion therapy, including Geneva, Bern, and Zurich.
Doctors and therapists are already prohibited from practicing conversion therapy in Switzerland by their professional associations, but much conversion therapy is carried out by unlicensed individuals.
Conversion therapy has already been banned across much of Western Europe, including France, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, and Iceland. It has also been banned in Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, and in many U.S. and Australian states.
Kenya
Kenyan court awards two gay men $31K
Couple subjected to genital examination, given HIV tests after ‘unnatural sex’ arrest
A Kenyan court has awarded two gay men charged with “unnatural sex” for engaging in consensual sexual relations a total of Sh4 million ($31,000) in compensation.
This is after the Magistrates Court in the coastal city of Mombasa ruled the authorities violated the men’s rights in obtaining evidence.
During the arrest, the two men were forcefully subjected to genital examination and HIV tests against their constitutional rights to privacy and the rights of an arrested person, including being allowed to speak with a lawyer.
Section 162 of Kenya’s penal code criminalizes consensual same-sex relations with a 14-year jail term. Prosecutors wanted the court to find the two gay men, who were arrested in 2021, guilty of the offense.
In a ruling issued on Oct. 24, the court, while awarding each of the men Sh2 million ($15,600) in compensation, faulted prosecutors’ unlawful extraction of evidence.
The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, a local LGBTQ rights organization, last year petitioned the court not to admit the evidence for having been obtained unlawfully, to stop the hearing, and for the accused to be compensated.
In the petition, CMRSL cited infringement on the gay men’s right to human dignity: A ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, the rights to privacy and a fair trial, rights of an arrested person, and violation of their freedom and security as the constitution and international law mandates.
“This provision (Section 162 of the penal code) has historically been used by the State to target and harass LGBTQ+ persons based on their gender identity and sexual orientation,” CMRSL Legal Manager Michael Kioko told the Washington Blade.
The High Court in 2019 declined to decriminalize sections of the penal code that ban homosexuality in response to queer rights organizations’ petition that argued the State cannot criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults. The constitutionality of laws that criminalize homosexuality is still contested in the appeals court, based on the argument they infringe on the rights to privacy and human dignity.
CMRSL termed the latest ruling “a crucial step toward dignity and human rights for all” while noting that the case was critical in its legal representation efforts to protect the fundamental rights of queer people in Kenya.
The Oct. 24 decision affirms the Mombasa appeals court’s 2018 ruling that struck down the use of forced anal testing in homosexuality cases by terming it as unlawful. Kenya’s National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission brought the case.
The appeals court verdict stemmed from a 2015 case where police in Mombasa obtained a court order to force two gay men to undergo anal examinations and HIV testing at a local clinic after authorities arrested them and charged them with unnatural sex.
NGLHRC, in challenging the court order, argued forced anal examinations are cruel, inhuman, degrading, and breached local and international medical ethics and human rights.
The latest ruling exonerating the two gay men from prosecution is among numerous cases in which CMRSL has represented queer people in court to defend and protect LGBTQ rights in the country.
The case against a gay man in Mombasa charged with an unnatural act (a same-sex affair) and represented by CMRSL in court saw the matter dropped last September. The court last June acquitted transgender women in Lamu charged with committing gross indecent acts between males against provisions of the penal code.
CMRSL represented the trans women.
The group has deployed community paralegals and field monitors to monitor, document, and report queer rights violations.
“They (field monitors) work closely with LGBTQ+ community paralegals to link survivors to justice by providing legal support and connecting those to pro bono lawyers and legal aid services,” Kioko said. “On average, our monitors handle around 10 cases each month, ensuring that violations are addressed and survivors receive the necessary legal pathways to seek justice.”
CMRSL in partnership with several queer lobby groups, is also challenging the Kenya Films Classification Board in court for banning a movie titled “I Am Samuel” on the pretext it contained gay scenes that violate Kenyan law.
The Kenya Films Classification Board in 2018 also banned the “Rafiki” because it contains lesbian-specific content. Petitioners who challenged the ban in court argue the decision violates freedom of expression and other constitutional provisions.
Politics
Gay members of Congress challenge Vance over the ‘normal gay guy vote’
GOP vice presidential nominee spoke to Joe Rogan on Thursday
In comments to the Washington Blade on Friday, two gay members of Congress rebuffed claims by the Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, that he and former President Donald Trump have “the normal gay guy vote.”
A poll of LGBTQ voters in August by the Human Rights Campaign showed the community overwhelmingly supports the Democratic ticket, led by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by a margin of 74-7.5 percent.
Nevertheless, Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan during an interview on Thursday that, “I wouldn’t be surprised if me and Trump won, just, the normal gay guy vote, because, they just wanted to be left the hell alone.”
The senator continued, “Now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it that they’re like, ‘No, no, we didn’t want to give pharmaceutical products to 9-year-olds who are transitioning their genders.’”
GayU.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, told the Blade “I don’t trust JD Vance on a lot of things, and I sure as hell don’t trust him to know what’s ‘normal.'”
“JD has spent his time as both a candidate and Senator attacking the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, and he has no idea what “normal gays” go through because of bullies like him and Trump,” Pocan said.
He added, “‘Normal’ gays are like ‘normal’ non-gays — we care about our families and we care about our country. My guess is the vast majority are voting for Kamala Harris because they know what’s at stake for our community and our country.”
Over the phone, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), a gay co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said the suggestion that “gay people are gonna somehow, en masse, start voting for Donald Trump and JD Vance, who are completely anti-gay, anti-LGBTQ and [have been] saying horrible things about the community” is “so stupid” and “ridiculous.”
“There might be, like, a handful of these MAGA Log Cabin folks that, quite frankly, are few and far between” the congressman said, referring to the LGBT conservative group Log Cabin Republicans, “but the support that Kamala Harris has in the gay community is is huge” and these voters are going to turn up on election day.
“And then, of course, this idea that [Vance is] somehow separating out ‘normal,’ regular gay guys,” Garcia said, “shows their complete lack of awareness about our community, what motivates us,” and “the solidarity we have together — we’re a close community; we support each other.”
“Trying to separate us is not going to work in these last few days, it’s completely desperate and just completely out of touch,” he said.
Asked whether he believes the message might appeal to some gay men, or lesbian or bisexual folks for that matter, at a time when trans rights have become a salient political issue, Garcia emphasized that by and large, “Because of our own identity and struggles, we support our members of the trans community and trans families and we understand how difficult that is for folks.”
“Most of us in the community know people that are trans, have trans friends, have marched for rights with them, have been to fundraisers, raising money for causes, for the community with them,” the congressman said. “So they’re part of of our community.”
“We’re not going to allow Donald Trump and JD Vance try to separate them out,” he said. “I think that is something that conservatives try to do is to somehow say that they’re okay with, you know, the LGB, but not with trans people, and that’s unacceptable to us.”
Garcia added, “It should be unacceptable to all members of our community. We should never allow them to separate us and to damage the solidarity that we have with people that are our friends and that are being attacked every day.”
Asked about the Trump campaign’s last-ditch outreach to gay conservatives, Garcia said the “Log Cabin types should look in the mirror and ask themselves what the fuck they’re doing and what the fuck they’re thinking because this is absolutely destructive to anyone that they care about.”
He continued, “this idea that they can still blindly support Donald Trump who wants to overthrow our government, move us backwards, attack our community, install a Supreme Court that will take away our rights — it’s insane, total insanity.”
“That’s why overwhelmingly our community supports Kamala Harris,” Garcia said. “We’ve done a lot of events with the Out for Harris team and get out the vote efforts, and the energy is there, people are excited, gay people are turning out and showing up, and we’re not going to be separated out by weirdos like JD Vance.”
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