World
Thousands attend HIV/AIDS conference in Mexico City
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and AIDS Institute Deputy Executive Director Carl Schmid in attendance
MEXICO CITY — Upwards of 6,000 people from around the world attended the International AIDS Society’s Conference on HIV Science that took place in Mexico City this week.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health is among those from the U.S. who participated in the conference.
A. Cornelius Baker is among the U.S.-based HIV/AIDS activists who also attended.
The conference showcased numerous HIV/AIDS studies from around the world that received support from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Agency for International Development. These include studies on how the use of crystal methamphetamine and group sex among men who have sex with men with HIV contributes to a Hepatitis C epidemic in Bangkok and the effectiveness of STI screenings among MSM in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
HIV/AIDS service providers from Mexico, Venezuela and more than 100 other countries took part in the conference, alongside AIDS Healthcare Foundations. Gilead and Roche are among the pharmaceutical companies that also participated.
The conference primarily focused on scientific advances and research designed to curb the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Other participants sought to highlight how the lack of access to PrEP and basic health care, discrimination and violence puts LGBTI people at increased risk for HIV.
Maria Amelia de Sousa Mascena Veras of the Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences on Monday noted during a panel on the prevention of HIV/AIDS among transgender people that Brazil is “one of the most unequal countries in the world in terms of income and economic opportunities,” even though universal health care is enshrined in the Brazilian constitution. Veras also pointed out Brazil has one of the highest rates of violence based on gender identity in the world.
“Stigma creates a complex environment in which the factors that could contribute to resilience, such as housing, education and social support, are also limited,” she said. “In Brazil, stigma towards transgender people is a barrier to not only access to PrEP but to health care in general.”
Erin Wilson of the San Francisco Department of Public Health noted her city provides access to sex-reassignment surgery and other health care treatments for trans women. Wilson nevertheless added a lack of access to housing and poverty are among the factors to contribute to high rates of HIV among this population.
“We see these huge structural barriers in a city with a lot of access to HIV services,” she said.
Reshmie Ramautarsing of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center noted a study found 15 percent of health care providers in Thailand thought a person with HIV should “be ashamed.” Ramautarsing also noted PEPFAR and USAID are among the funders of a trans-led health clinic in Bangkok.
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 offence.
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.
Israel
ILGA World suspends Israeli advocacy group after bid to host conference withdrawn
Decision has prompted praise, criticism
ILGA World has suspended an Israeli advocacy group after it withdrew its bid to host its conference in Tel Aviv.
The Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, had bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. The ILGA World board of directors was to have voted on the proposal at the 2024 ILGA World Conference 2024 that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from Nov. 11-15.
ILGA World on Tuesday announced “the bid to host our next World Conference in Tel Aviv will not go forward, and will not be put to a vote at the upcoming World Conference.” The announcement notes the ILGA World Board “held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from the Aguda from consideration, and it has also decided to suspend the organization from our membership.”
The announcement further says the Aguda’s bid “was found in violation of ILGA World’s aims and objectives set out in our constitution (3.1 and 3.2.)”
“The ILGA World board is also reviewing the Aguda’s compliance with our constitution and has decided to suspend the organization from our membership to allow for that to happen,” said ILGA World in its announcement.
The decision to suspend the Aguda comes against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas militants last Oct. 7 killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel. The Israeli government says the militants also kidnapped more than 200 people.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 41,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7.
A case that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice in the Hague late last year accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court, which is also in the Hague, in May announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel. (A suspected Israeli airstrike on July 31 killed Haniyah while he was in the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Israeli soldiers on Oct. 16 killed Sinwar in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt.)
“We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities,” said ILGA World in its statement. “Our apology goes to our members, to our host organizations, and our global communities — and especially to those in South Africa, who will soon host the global movement for our upcoming World Conference.”
“We recognize the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: Even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people,” it adds.
ILGA World also said it supports calls for “stronger governance practices in vetting the proposals we receive.”
“We heard our communities, and we must do better in the future: A situation like this must not repeat,” it said.
The Aguda in a statement said it is “deeply disappointment that ILGA has chosen to boycott those who work for LGBTQ+ rights and strive towards a more just society.”
“For 50 years, the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, has worked to support the LGBTQ+ community and uphold human rights for all, including supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in the Arab community, and Palestinian asylum seekers persecuted for their sexual and gender identities,” reads the statement. “The Israeli LGBTQ+ identity embraces both service and contribution to the state as citizens, while continuing to fight for the values of democracy and human rights in the society in which we live.”
The Aguda added Israel’s LGBTQ community “should not bear responsibility for government policy, and we expect the international community to support liberal voices rather than boycott them.”
“We are proud to be LGBTQ+ and Israeli, and we will continue to fight for a more equal and safer society,” said the Aguda.
ILGA World Executive Director Julia Ehrt on Wednesday told the Washington Blade in an emailed statement the organization “has communicated in writing with the Aguda.”
“So far, we have not heard from them other than on social media, but of course they have a right to defend their membership status according to our governance procedures,” said Ehrt.
Groups ‘complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled’
Charbel Maydaa, the founder and general director of MOSAIC, a Lebanon-based advocacy group that works throughout the Middle East and North Africa, is also the co-chair of ILGA Asia. He is among the activists who welcomed ILGA World’s decision to withdraw the Aguda’s bid.
A thread in response to a post on Maydaa’s LinkedIn page notes ILGA World in 1987 expelled the Gay Association of South Africa after it “refused to condemn apartheid” in the country “or to get involved in political struggles.”
“GASA’s stance led to its dissolution, and the formation of new and more progressive LGBT rights groups in South Africa,” said Gabriel Hoosain Khan, a London-based activist. “Organizations that are complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled.”
The International Planned Parenthood Federation also welcomed ILGA World’s decision. A Wider Bridge, a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism, and other forms of hatred,” described it as “outrageous and unacceptable.”
ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) supposedly stands for respect for human rights, equality and freedom regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics,” said A Wider Bridge in a statement. “But by singling out Israel and Israeli LGBTQ people for opprobrium, ILGA violates its fundamental principles.”
The 2022 ILGA World Conference took place in Long Beach, Calif.
“I am appalled and disgusted that ILGA World would ostracize and expel the leading organization in Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people there,” said California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, who is the former executive director of Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, on X. “This is appalling and blatant anti-Semitism and an abandonment of LGBTQ+ Israelis.”
Shame on @ILGAWORLD. As the former leader of @eqca, CA’s LGBTQ civil rights org, I am appalled and disgusted that @ilgaworld would ostracize and expel the leading org in #Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ ppl there. This is appalling and blatant antisemitism and… https://t.co/6zrU1WQQ7J
— Rick Chavez Zbur (@RickChavezZbur) October 30, 2024
Ehrt in her statement to the Blade acknowledged criticisms over ILGA World’s decision. She also dismissed suggestions that anti-Semitism prompted it.
“ILGA World has a long and proven record of fighting for equality for all,” said Ehrt. “We have repeatedly called for peace in the region, and continue to work every day to counter racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, and anti-Semitism — alongside LGBTI-phobia. Our daily work speaks much louder than the baseless accusations we are receiving.”
Chile
New face of Chilean politics includes LGBTQ rights agenda
Municipal and regional elections took place on Oct. 27
Chile’s municipal and regional elections that took place on Oct. 27 have brought with them a renewed focus on LGBTQ rights and diversity.
In a context where the center right has managed to stand out against the Republicans, political parties have incorporated into their platforms a commitment towards the inclusion of queer people. Some Chilean political scientists say the elections have shown a country inclined to vote for the opposition Chile Vamos coalition, even though the left governs Chile.
The ruling party, grouped in Contigo Chile Mejor, had a setback similar to what happened in the 2021 municipal and regional elections — it lost 39 communes that include Santiago, San Miguel, Ñuñoa, and Independencia.
Voters in Maipú, the country’s second most populous commune, re-elected Tomás Vodanovic from President Gabriel Boric’s Frente Amplio.
Frente Amplio also won in Viña del Mar, and other communes, and saw victory in others that include Valparaíso, where the Chilean Congress is located.
Openly LGBTQ candidates have emerged since 2012, and some of them have made history. These include Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, a Frente Amplio member who is transgender.
Several LGBTQ candidates have resonated with voters within the framework of these elections; not only highlighting their identity, but their commitment to the struggle for equal social rights.
Gloria Hutt, president of Evolución Política (Evópoli), a party that is part of the Chile Vamos coalition, stressed the importance of diversity in its agenda.
“Part of Evópoli’s agenda is inclusion and diversity, including the diversity of communities of different sexual identities. And in this election we had a dozen candidates who belong to sexual diversities, some of them won, others did not, but it is part of the agenda with which we are permanently working,” Hutt told the Washington Blade.
“We believe that it is also part of the freedom of people to deploy their life project without anything else interfering but their own identity and without prejudice preventing them from deploying that identity,” she added.
The reelection of figures, such as Viña del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti, and Vodanovic’s success in Maipú reflect significant support for the progressive agenda.
“First of all I would like to emphasize that we saw an impeccable process where citizens were able to express their preferences,” Frente Amplio Secretary-General Andrés Couble told the Blade. “We believe that the results allow us to look to the future with optimism.”
Couble highlighted the importance of LGBTQ candidacies in decision-making spaces.
“We think it is important to promote them and that they reach elected positions, because they allow us to bring the struggles for equal rights and respect and promotion of diversity to institutional spaces,” he said.
Couble at the same time highlighted the victory of Bladymir Muñoz, the Chilean councilman who received the most votes, as an example of the advance towards a more inclusive representation.
Muñoz is a Frente Amplio member. He received 41,669 votes in Maipú.
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