Here you can hear people speaking proudly of themselves as being Kurdish, of their identity, culture and language. It is both ancient and modern, an oriental city enclosed by magnificent Roman walls and beyond the new Ofis district city beaming with social and cultural life. The Turkish military is always omnipresent, and mentioning Diyarbakir to most Turks in Istanbul will raise a few eyebrows and strike up negative images of street clashes, the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party which has been in an armed struggle with the Turkish state since 1984) and protests.

The LGBT community in Diyarbakir struggles for space and recognition and the local organisation, Hebûn does its best to help. There are no bars or cafes that are specifically aimed at gay or trans people. Instead the organisation formed small social groups to meet at members’ homes. This is done to avoid the frequent discrimination and harassment in the mixed venues. Hebûn aptly means ‘to reappear, to come back into existence and life’ in Kurdish, and this group indeed plays a vital function here.

Hebûn is trying to find an office space and desperately seeking funding from various NGOs and LGBT organisations in the west of Turkey. So far they have had no success. Privately funding an office space is problematic because most openly gay, bi and trans people are forced into limited employment options such as sex work, although some have managed to run their own small businesses.

We attended a screening of the much-celebrated Zenne Dancer. The film tells the (real) story of Ahmet Yildiz, a young Kurdish gay man who left Diyarbakir to Istanbul to live his life honestly and openly only to be murdered by his father for ‘shaming’ the family. The cinema was packed full with people standing on the aisles for lack of space. The film touched the audience in Diyarbakir deeply.

We interviewed Arif, one of the founders of Hebûn who did not wish to give his second name, and started by talking about the film.

‘There was a piece of us in each of the characters,’ he said. ‘I am in the same situation as Ahmet Yildiz: If I was honest, I would be killed by my family.’

When did the Hebûn group come into being?

Hebûn LGBT was founded in March 2010, when the previous group in the area, Hevijn disbanded. Hebûn is different from Hevijn because we are more proactive in our political activism. We currently have around 30 active members, and we are looking to raise the awareness, both locally and nationally of LGBT. We had some media coverage about our work and have taken part in the Istanbul Pride march last summer.

What are main issues that you think are affecting the lives of LGBT Kurds?

When Turkish LGBT have one problem, Kurdish LGBT will automatically have two. Your identity is rejected twice, and you have to fight for both your ethnic and sexual identity. We must gain acceptance from the LGBT community for being Kurdish, and from the Kurdish movement for being LGBT. Neither want to fully support us, although we support both ourselves.

How is Hebûn LGBT funded?

We are funded by our transgender members’ work in the sex industry and from our personal funds. Although we have applied for various funding grants from Istanbul and Ankara, nobody has accepted our application and we haven’t heard anything from anyone.

Is there any risk to you personally, being one of the founders of Hebûn?

Yes, most of us have homes raided by police, thinking we are sex workers. The police are often abusive to us and we have no legal support from any organisation.

There is also the risk that our families will find out about us and our work. None of us are ‘out’ to family members, and we are constantly trying to hide our real selves from them. The younger members sometimes have to stay with friends as to escape from their families. My father would kill me if he found out that I’m gay, he’s a very religious man who has lived in Saudi Arabia for many years.

Does Hebûn LGBT have a Kurdish nationalist agenda also?

No, we are not a nationalist organisation, although sometimes their (Kurdish political parties) objectives run alongside those of our own, against the Turkish authorities. There is little awareness of LGBT rights within the Kurdish nationalist movement. We are also connected with several Iraqi Kurdish LGBT activists and organisations, and we help them in contacting groups throughout Turkey, as they do with us in Baghdad and Iraq.

Are you aligned with any other local groups, such as women’s rights groups or children’s associations?

Yes, and we have found this to be very positive. Some of our members work with local and national women’s rights groups, and sexual health advocacy organisations. We have found that there’s a lot of support, and more acceptance from within the women’s rights groups.

Would you consider making a publication in Kurdish, detailing your work, and local/national LGBT news, such as Hevijn did in the past?

We are looking to do this, although it’s very difficult to find the funding. Our first priority is to find an office space from which to base ourselves, and have a free STI center within this. We hope this will become a reality soon.

Do you think that the majority of LGBT Kurds from the south-east migrate to bigger cities in the west of Turkey?

I’d say that around 90% leave Diyarbakir and other Kurdish areas to live more openly life in Istanbul, Izmir or Ankara. But we won’t go, we want to live in our city and have a free life, so we will stay and fight for it.

There isn’t anywhere to openly socialise in Diyarbakir, and the authorities are always putting pressure on sex workers and effeminate people in the city. The biggest problem is that trans people are very limited in their work options, especially in such a conservative environment.

Watch the trailer for Zenne Dancer below:

Professor Zhang Bei-chuan of Qingdao University says the huge number of women – equivalent to the population of the Netherlands – who have tied the knot with gay men are struggling to cope.

Speaking to state-run China Daily, the academic said as many as 90% of gay Chinese men marry to conform with social norms.

As of 2010, China had a population of more than 1.3 billion.

According to Professor Zhang Bei-chuan’s estimate, roughly 3% of the country’s adult population is in a gay-straight marriage.

The potentially damaging effect of such marriages was highlighted by 29-year-old Xiao Yao, who was married to a gay man and now runs a support website for wives in similar situations.

She said: “Most gay men’s wives I’ve known are silently suffering at the hands of husbands who could never love them, and like me, some even got abused by husbands who were also under great pressure.

“The website makes them feel they’re not alone and empowers them to make the right choices.”

The number was queried by one of the gay men questioned by the paper, but others said they would consider marrying a woman.

Wang, 27, told the publication he would consider marrying a lesbian if he were forced to wed a woman.

Xiao Dong, a gay man involved in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, said it was an “unsubstantiated” and “pointless” investigation.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in the People’s Republic in 1997 and its status as a mental disorder revoked in 2001, but legal protection for gays is minimal with no non-discrimination or equal marriage rights and strong censorship rules.

“Babu, shon, toke amar kichu bolar ache… Listen, I want to tell you something…”

“What is it, dosto?”

“I haven’t been fully honest with you… Remember when I told you that I really like that girl? That wasn’t quite true. It’s actually her brother I like. I am gay.”

Babu, shocked at the unexpected confession and not quite sure how to respond, got up and walked away. No matter how often Arif tried to call Babu in the following days, there was no response. Six months went by until Arif finally got a call back from Babu. Today, after many evenings of long talks, they are best friends again. Babu realized that Arif being gay does not take away anything from the childhood memories they share and the good times they experienced together. Babu learned to accept Arif for who he is – his closest friend… who happens to be gay.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are our brothers and sisters, our friends, our neighbors, our teachers and our colleagues. Homosexuality and bisexuality have been part of every society and every culture, at every point in human history, and have also been found in a wide range of non-human animal species. Different surveys around the world have found that between one and ten out of one hundred people are sexually or romantically attracted to members of the same sex.

Using the lower end of this range, we find that a minimum of 15 lakh (1.5m) people in Bangladesh are homosexual or bisexual. Despite this large number – which is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Qatar and could actually be up to ten times as high – LGB people are an invisible minority. Many face discrimination at school, university and their workplace, are denied access to health care and justice and, being torn between fear, confusion and guilt, find little support from family members and friends.

Section 377 of the Bangladesh Penal Code makes same-sex intercourse a crime punishable by imprisonment for life. Consequently, only few are open about their sexual orientation, while most are forced to live a life of secrecy and lies, conformed to bigotry, misguided notions of honor and caricatures of justice and morality. With heterosexual marriage still being considered a woman’s nirvana, the level of tolerance for lesbian women is particularly low – they are doubly marginalized.

In 2002, the Bandhu Social Welfare Society (BSWS), the largest association working with men who have sex with men (MSM) in Bangladesh, surveyed 124 self-identified kothis, feminine homosexual or bisexual men and arguably the most visual part of the local LGB community. One in two respondents stated that he had been the victim of harassment at school or college. Three in four respondents who told their relatives about their sexual orientation stated that “their family had reacted negatively with beatings, forced marriage, disinheritance, throwing [them] […] out of the house, [or] taking them to doctors for curing them of homosexuality […].”

Many had been sexually abused, raped or harassed by law enforcement agents, mastaans (local thugs), friends or family. Twenty-nine of the 80 respondents who reported harassment by law enforcement agents told BSWS that police officers had sexually assaulted or raped them. The others talked about beatings, extortion of money, obstruction of movement, threats and blackmail. Men in “Mymensingh, Dhaka, and Sylhet reported […] [that they had been] rounded up, […] taken either to police barracks or the police post and raped by groups of policemen. Such forced sex was always reported as being unsafe […] and often results in serious physical injury like a ruptured rectum, internal hemorrhage, etc.” A 2003 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report shows that these incidences are not unusual but follow a pattern of violence against LGB people in Bangladesh.

The endemic homophobia in Bangladesh also has a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of LGB people. A recent study of 102 homosexual men conducted by University of Dhaka professor Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mozumder et al. found that 32% of these men had a history of suicide attempt, while 47% reported that they had considered committing suicide at least once.

During a visit to Dhaka in December 2011, I met up with Mamun (not his real name) and Shakhawat. Mamun is a 23-year old student, Shakhawat a 26-year old journalist. Both identify themselves as gay men.

Mamun describes accepting that he is gay as “the hardest thing [he] ever did.” When he first felt physically attracted to other boys at the age of 13, he thought there was something wrong with him and hoped it would change. When it did not change, he thought he would just marry and hide his sexual orientation for the rest of his life. Then he started doing research on homosexuality on the internet and found that it is accepted and considered normal in other parts of the world. It took him another six years to fully accept that he is gay.

Today, he thinks daily about leaving Bangladesh, pessimistic that attitudes towards LGB people will change within his lifetime.

“I love my country and my family but I want to live a normal and free life. I don’t want to live a life full of lies. I will never live a straight life. I would rather stay single for the rest of my life – I do not want to destroy the life of a girl.”

And even though he considers his parents to be relatively liberal, he is afraid that the day might come when he has to choose between them and living an authentic and dignified life.

Shakhawat felt romantically attracted towards men for as long as he can remember. Living apart from his family from an early age, he found support in Dhaka’s gay scene. He became a member of Boys of Bangladesh (BoB), a platform for gay men, and learned a great deal about the psychology and politics of sexual orientation. Shakhawat has been in a steady and committed relationship with another man for four years. He wants to stay in Bangladesh to raise awareness for LGB issues.

After returning to the United States, I got in touch with 23-year old BBA student Farheena (not her real name) through a Bangladeshi online forum. She has known that she likes girls from early childhood and identifies herself as a lesbian woman. Fearing that her parents might disown her, she has not come out to them yet and keeps her current relationship with another woman a secret. Unlike Shakhawat, she has not been able to find a platform for people who share her sexual orientation that she could turn to for support. Farheena told me that there is more pressure to get married early on women than there is on men. “If I do get pressurized into marrying a guy, I may just commit suicide. I would rather be dead than being someone I am not.” She thinks about moving out of the country after she graduates, hoping to be able to be who she is elsewhere.

For all of them, the internet has been an invaluable source of support and advice, and played a significant role in their acceptance of who they are. Their advice, in particular to LGB youth, is to use the internet to get as much quality information as possible – great starting points are itgetsbetter.org, tiny.cc/lgb-bd and Wikipedia –, and to connect with other LGB people. Unfortunately, access to the internet is still a class-privilege in Bangladesh and, hence, only available to some.

Sexual orientation is neither, as sometimes mistakenly assumed, “a choice” nor “a disease”, but a normal aspect of human sexuality. Homosexual relationships, just like relationships between men and women, are natural and healthy forms of human bonding. A person’s sexual orientation is part of who that person is, and everybody deserves to be respected for who they are. LGB people, hence, do not demand special rights but the recognition of their human rights. Cultural or religious norms that disfavor homosexuality no more justify discrimination against LGB people than norms of this kind can justify racism or sexism. Bullying and harassment, denying LGB people equal opportunities and respect, or prosecuting citizens for who they are is neither pious nor cultured but immoral.

Sex between consenting adults is an inherently private matter and should not be regulated by the government of a society that values tolerance and respect, yet Section 377 does exactly that. Section 377 contradicts the fundamental principles of dignity and equality, and violates international human rights law. It reinforces social stigma, encourages wrongful discrimination, undermines public health efforts and is based on nothing more than prejudice. A report published by the Bangladesh Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs states that Section 377 “violates [the] constitutionally protected right to privacy under the expanded definition of right to life and personal liberty […].” Supreme Court Advocate Sara Hossain further sees Section 377 in conflict with the anti-discrimination clause and the right to equality before the law guaranteed by the Constitution of Bangladesh.

Even though Section 377 has rarely been used, it is for the LGB community what the sword was for Damocles and we should not wait until the bigoted and the intolerant discover it as a tool of repression against an unpopular minority.

Repealing Section 377 is an integral step in the development of Bangladesh as a free and democratic nation. A repeal would make it possible for LGB people who are victims of rape to make a complaint without putting themselves at risk of prosecution, and seize a weapon from police that is systematically used to harass, abuse and blackmail sexual minorities. Even though Shakhawat is not afraid of being prosecuted, he is still a criminal in the eyes of the state – “and it doesn’t feel nice.”

As an LGB rights advocate, he believes that a repeal of Section 377 “would give the LGBT community better visibility by making it easier for people to come out.”

Farheena, Mamun, Shakhawat and other LGB people deserve our attention and support. While the LGB community must form part of the leadership in the struggle against bigotry and injustice, it is the moral responsibility of all of us to add our voices and embrace tolerance and respect for the equal worth of all people.

Rainer Ebert is a philosophy student at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He can be reached at www.rainerebert.com. A version of this article first appeared on bdnews24.com. 

Reports suggest that the attack on gay artist Balbir Krishan, which took place at state-run gallery Lalit Kala Akademi, was motivated by homophobia, although the attacker has not been identified.

Telhelka TV uploaded a video of the incident, which shows a masked attacker calmly approach the artist as he talks about his work, smashing a painting and then hitting Krishan on the head with a blunt object.

This incident has been linked to Hindu fundamentalist groups, as Krishan said the attacked shouted: “We taught a good lesson to [artist] M.F. Husain too. If you don’t stop, you’ll get the same dose.”

The artist, M.F. Husain was widely celebrated, but left India in 2006 amidst court cases and controversy surrounding his work which depicted Hindu deities as nudes. He lived in London in self-exile, until his death last year.

Despite the suggestion of the involvement of Hindu fundamentalist groups, none have come forward to claim responsibility for the attack.

Krishan, whose works have been deemed controversial due to their homoerotic nature, also said that he received anonymous telephone calls, and that one caller said: “You are determined to ruin Hinduism.”

Former chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, Ashok Vajpeyi, told The Sunday Guardian, New Delhi,: “This is a violation of an artist’s freedom of expression. Every person, including the attacker, is entitled to their own opinion. But to physically harm [someone] to [get them to] accept your point of view is downright wrong.”

The artist, who lost both of his legs in a train accident fifteen years ago, had dedicated the show to Bhupen Khakhar, one of India’s best known gay artists.

Similarly, Khakhar explored sexuality in a way which referenced Hindu scriptures.

This attack mirrors that of Susan Burns, 53, of Virginia, who, in 2011, attacked a Paul Gauguin painting in Washington DC’s National Gallery claiming she did it because it is “very homosexual”. She pounded the painting titled Two Tahitian Women and tried to pull it from the gallery wall, court records say.

Krishan’s exhibition transferred to a private gallery after the attack, and the show closed without disruption.

A report has been filed with the police, but the attacker still has not been identified. 

Anwar, 64, the current leader of the political opposition said he was a “little surprised” by the judge’s decision.

He had been arrested in 2008, shortly after his return to politics following a corruption charge, when an aide accused him of a sexual assault.

Anwar, who is married with six children, was arrested and charged under consensual sodomy laws, which have their origins in British colonial legislation.

But DNA belonging to Anwar which the prosecution allege was found on and in Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s body was deemed inadmissible by the trial judge.

Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah said: “The court at this stage could not with 100% certainty exclude the possibility that the [DNA] sample is not compromised. Therefore it is not safe to rely on the sample.”

Anwar said: “Thank God justice has prevailed. I have been vindicated. To be honest I am a little surprised.”

Last week, Anwar had described the laws as “archaic” and “unjust”.

In December, Human Rights Watch called for the law to be repealed, claiming the state was trying to “slander” Anwar with the anti-gay laws.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Malaysian government uses its outdated sodomy law to slander political opponents and critics.

“Whether or not Anwar Ibrahim engaged in consensual ‘sodomy’ is irrelevant. It’s time to reject this law and end the farcical political theater that promotes discrimination based on sexual orientation and destroys people’s lives.”

In response to the decision today, the government said: “Malaysia has an independent judiciary and this verdict proves that the government does not hold sway over judges’ decisions. The current wave of bold democratic reforms introduced by [Prime Minister Najib Razak] will help extend this transparency to all areas of Malaysian life.”

The ProGay Philippines group said it was a “legal victory”, and a positive step for LGBT rights in Malaysia, renewing calls for the scrapping of the British sodomy law in all Southeast Asian countries.

Oscar Atadero, the group’s human rights officer, said: “We join the democratic people’s movements in celebrating Anwar’s triumph over the frameup.”

An appeal may yet be lodged by the prosecution. Anwar’s accuser wrote on his blog today that he “respected the decision”, but hoped such an appeal will be pursued. 

Anwar Ibrahim, who is married with six children, is accused of engaging in sodomy with an aide in 2008. As a verdict nears, he insists the act never took place, and says the law could be “abused to show violent discrimination or intolerance”.

In an interview with AP, he said: “Our present laws are deemed to be rather archaic. The whole idea (should be) to encourage people to understand, not to be seen to be so punitive. In this case it’s worse; you can go and probe and peep into people’s bedrooms just to try to smear them.”

Anwar faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if convicted. Corporal punishment by whipping is reported to have been ruled out on account of his age.

The politician was first imprisoned for corruption and sodomy charges in 1999.

Though the sodomy charge was later overturned and he was freed in 2004 after completing the corruption sentence, but under Malaysian law was unable to engage in national politics again until 14 April 2008.

He was then arrested in the summer of 2008 after Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old aide, claimed he had been sexually assaulted.

The former Deputy Prime Minister was charged under the country’s consensual sodomy laws as officials believed he could not have physically forced the alleged victim into such an act. The aide was not charged as he had made the report and the trial began in February 2010.

Last month, Human Rights Watch called for the law to be repealed, claiming the state was trying to “slander” Anwar with the anti-gay laws.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Malaysian government uses its outdated sodomy law to slander political opponents and critics.

“Whether or not Anwar Ibrahim engaged in consensual ‘sodomy’ is irrelevant. It’s time to reject this law and end the farcical political theater that promotes discrimination based on sexual orientation and destroys people’s lives.”

The recent report by the UN high commissioner for human rights, to be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2012, recommends that all member states “repeal laws used to criminalize individuals on grounds of homosexuality for engaging in consensual same-sex sexual conduct”.

In 2010, 50 Australian lawmakers reportedly signed a letter to the Malaysian government calling on it to drop the charges against Anwar.

At that time, the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, said Wisma Putra, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would be “handling” an explanation of the realities of the situation to the Australians.

The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch said today that 19-year-old Edmund Padilla was left with burns and blisters after his father, Erano, attacked him with boiling water.

Erano Padilla reportedly told police he attacked his son as a result of pent-up feelings experienced when he found out three of his children were gay. He has been charged and detained.

The PLHCW is calling for justice for Edmund Padilla and for tougher national action by the government.

Reighben Labilles, a spokesperson for the PLHCW, said: “We plead to the government to initiate pro-active programs that provides parents and LGBT children the opportunities to promote freedom of expression of sexuality and gender.

“In a free society, the parents should respect the rights of their LGBT children and stop altogether corporal punishment. We are born this way and you cannot punish us to change our sexuality.”

Labilles added: “Since Edmund Padilla is already 19 years old, he may no longer be covered by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and our national child protection laws, yet we fear that so many violent acts perpetrated by parents and legal guardians against their LGBT children go unreported.

“It is so urgent for Congress to find ways to protect sons and daughters of whatever age from family-based violence and the Convention is a good place to start.”

Last week, the PLHCW called on President Benigno Aquino III to address the violation of LGBT Filipinos’ rights following the landmark Geneva speech by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for renewed efforts to protect gays’ human rights.

Marlon Lacsamana, the group’s founder, said: “LGBTs in the Philippines are still on the receiving end of stigma, hatred, violence, exclusion, homophobia, transphobia and discrimination. The statement from Secretary Clinton hits close to home as she was speaking of conditions present in our country.

“We hope this will be considered by President Aquino’s administration to encourage the full implementation of human rights protections of LGBTs in law, policies and programmes.”

The PLHCW says 147 LGBT people have been murdered since 1996, with an estimated 37 murders recorded in 2011 alone.

The new airline took on four transgender crew last year when hiring thirty in-flight staff.

PC Air boss Peter Chan told the Daily Telegraph last year: “I think these people can have many careers – not just in the entertainment business – and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess.

“I just made their dream come true. Our society has changed. It’s evolution. I’m a pioneer and I’m sure there will be other organisations following my idea.”

Thailand is considered one of the more tolerant countries towards the wide spectrum of transgenderism.

Transgender women are often referred to as “the third sex”, or as “katoeys”, which is sometimes seen as a pejorative term.

A number of celebrities are transgender, while some schools have installed special “third sex” bathrooms after finding that a large proportion of students want them.

The Telegraph reports that despite differently-coloured name tags, few passengers could tell the transgender stewardesses apart from the other female crew.

Passenger Anut Pruksuwat said: “I still don’t know who is a ‘ladyboy’. I think they’re all very friendly. They provide great service to the passengers.”

The Human Rights Watch group made the call during the trial of Anwar Ibrahim, who it claims the state is trying to “slander” with the anti-gay laws.

Anwar was first imprisoned for corruption and sodomy charges in 1999.

Though the second charge was later overturned and he was freed in 2004, Anwar was arrested for a second time in 2008 after Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old aide, claimed he had been sexually assaulted by the politician.

Anwar was charged under the country’s consensual sodomy laws as officials believed he could not have physically forced Azlan into the alleged act. Azlan was not charged as it was he who had made the report.

The trial began in February 2010.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The Malaysian government uses its outdated sodomy law to slander political opponents and critics.

“Whether or not Anwar Ibrahim engaged in consensual ‘sodomy’ is irrelevant. It’s time to reject this law and end the farcical political theater that promotes discrimination based on sexual orientation and destroys people’s lives.”

Section 377 of the Malaysian penal code prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.”

The recent report by the UN high commissioner for human rights, to be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2012, recommended that UN member states “repeal laws used to criminalize individuals on grounds of homosexuality for engaging in consensual same-sex sexual conduct.”

Robertson added: “Laws punishing consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex are an unjustifiable invasion of the rights to privacy and personal security.

“They foster a climate in which discrimination and abuse takes place. These rights cannot be willed away by selective appeals to cultural tradition and religious belief.”

Earlier this week, a religious group in the broadly Islamic country called on their police to intervene in the case of medical student Ariff Alfian Rosli.

Ariff had been on a scholarship programme in Ireland when his family lost contact with him three years ago.

He was recently located after photographs of his civil partnership ceremony with an Irishman surfaced online.

Norizan Ali, chairman of the Kepong Islamic Youth Organisation said: “We are making the police report in the name of the Malays against a Malay youth who disgraced the name of our country, religion and race.”

He added: “Malaysian Muslims must adhere to the Islamic laws and our country’s laws even when they are abroad.”

In November, it was reported that two Malaysian states were considering a change in their Islamic laws to make it more likely that Muslims would suffer under both federal and regional anti-gay legislation. 

The Kepong Islamic Youth Organisation (PBIK) said Ariff Alfian Rosli, who had been studying in Dublin when he broke off contact with his family, should be subject to the Islamic country’s laws criminalising homosexuality, Free Malaysia Today reports.

The group’s Chairman Norizan Ali said: “We are making the police report in the name of the Malays against a Malay youth who disgraced the name of our country, religion and race.

“We want to pressure the Higher Education Ministry and government-linked companies which sponsors students for education abroad to ensure that the students’ Malayness and Islamic identity are strong.”

He concluded: “Malaysian Muslims must adhere to the Islamic laws and our country’s laws even when they are abroad.”

With funding from the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, Ariff had been a medical student at University College Dublin.

When he broke contact with them, his parents filed missing person reports in their home country and in Ireland, travelling across the world eight times to try to find him, but it was not until pictures of his civil partnership ceremony surfaced that he was located.

The Malaysian ambassador in Ireland Ramli Naam said that Ariff had been found, but he could not reveal his whereabouts due to the country’s Data Protection Act.

Earlier this year, the Malaysian government drew condemnation after admitting it had sent 66 boys to a ‘gay cure’ camp, designed to promote “masculine behaviour”.

In November, it was reported that two of Malaysia’s thirteen states were considering heightening the penalties for homosexuality.

Mohd Ali Rustam, chief minister of the state of Malacca, said at the time: “So many people like to promote human rights, even up to the point they want to allow lesbian activities and homosexuality.

“In Islam, we cannot do all this. It is against Islamic law.”

Ariff Alfian Rosli went to Ireland to study medicine in 2003, but his family say he stopped responding to their attempts to contact him in 2008, Asia One reports.

With funding from the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, Ariff had been a student at University College Dublin.

When he broke contact with them, his parents filed missing person reports in their home country and in Ireland, travelling across the world eight times to try to find him.

But it was not until the official photographs of Ariff’s union with another man were posted online that his parents found out where he was. They have since written calling on Ariff to return to Malaysia.

Ireland passed civil partnership legislation for the first time last year.

The first civil partnerships took place in January of this year, more than a month earlier than the planned introduction of the ceremonies.

Normal time frames were waived in that case due to the ill health of one of the parties.

Decked in reds and greens and carrying stockings, the carollers sang outside the meeting of religious officials this morning to petition them to stop opposing the part of a bill which would protect gays from discrimination in schools, workplaces and other social spaces.

Bemz Benedito, Chairwoman of Ladlad, the Philippine’s gay political party, said: “We sing our carols not only for bishops and senators, but also we want the Filipino people to fill our socks and our hearts with blessings of equality by approving the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, in the Senate Bill (SB) 2814 or the Anti-Ethnic, Racial or Religious Discrimination and Profiling Act of 2011.”

Medleys of traditional Filipino and English tunes were sung, with their lyrics rewritten to sound out the group’s demands.

Jingle Bells was reworked:

We want you to know, that lesbians and gays/
Transgenders and bi’s, have equal human rights/
Don’t discriminate, we need more love, not hate/
All we want for Christmas is our equal human rights!

(Chorus)
Human rights, human rights, we want human rights!/
Lesbian, gay, transgender, bi have equal human rights!

A statement by the organisers said: “All we want for Christmas is our human rights.

“We come together in this gesture of Christmas caroling to sing our appeal at the gates of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in hopes that we can reach to the very hearts of our esteemed pastors of the social reform leader Jesus Christ, who preached love, acceptance, and salvation to whosoever believe in his message of liberation.”

They added that they were “gravely concerned about CBCP’s demands to remove sexual orientation and gender identity from the list of punishable forms of discrimination stated in the bill”.

“We are outraged by CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong’s insistence that we should not be protected from discrimination in a similar manner as the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor. We take exception to Imbong’s mistaken belief claims that we disadvantaged our own choice and do not deserve protection.”

The rally was organised by Samapathik, a local men’s sexual health organisation.

“We had organized this rally to mark the 10 years of our fight for the rights of homosexuals,” said Bindumadhav Khire, president of Samapathik told The Times of India.

“People laugh at us. Many do not understand our sentiments. This leads to frustration among the people who support homosexuality,” Mr Khire added.
Mr Khire told the newspaper that the lack of rights in society has led many to indulge in risky sexual behaviour and an increase in HIV.
“The picture can change if the society gives attention to their issues. That’s why we had organized this parade. It was the first of its kind parade in Pune. We have decided to hold it every year,” he said.
In July, India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, caused uproar by referring to homosexuality as an unnatural “disease” from the west.

Also this summer, a lesbian couple were granted 24-hour police protection after family members allegedly threatened to kill them.

The women, named as Savita, 25, and Veena, 20, from Manesar, near New Delhi, married and went to a court to ask for protection. They were reportedly granted a safe house and full-time police protection.

Homosexuality was decriminalised by the Delhi High Court in July 2009, when it was ruled to have been in violation of the constitution.

Section 377 was enacted in 1860 under the British Raj, in line with the anti-sodomy laws in England at the time.

The infant penguin is one of twins born to parents in the Harbin Polar Land aquarium in China.

The Metro reports that the gay penguins are often caught stealing others’ eggs during mating season, and the museum staff are confident they can raise a chick between them.

The twins were reportedly separated in order to give both the best chance of survival.

The Chinese penguins’ story echoes that of Roy and Silo, penguins at New York’s Central Park Zoo, who were given a rejected egg by keepers after they continually attempted to hatch a rock.

Earlier this year, the book And Tango Makes Three, which is based on Roy and Silo’s story, returned to its place at the top of the American Library Association’s most complained-about books list.

A male penguin couple at Toronto Zoo drew international interest this autumn when it was announced they would have to be split up to mate with females.

Buddy and Pedro are part of the endangered African penguin species. The zoo confirmed they would be reunited in the spring. 

Enrique Ona said parents “should rein in their homosexual children and get them tested”.

He made the remark during a speech on voluntary testing for high risk demographics.

Marlon Lacsamana, the founder of the Philippines LGBT Hate Crime Watch told Samar News: “Bigots do not deserve high government posts, and more so he should not serve as a chair of the Philippine National AIDS Council if we do not want his unscientific biases to taint the good work of our unsung AIDS preventions heroes nationwide.”

Oscar Atadero, human rights officer of the Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (ProGay) objected to Ona’s comments following World AIDS Day last week, with its theme of “Getting to Zero”.

He said: “Instead of achieving zero deaths, suggesting that gays, bisexuals and transgenders get tested en masse will achieve zero access, zero treatment and zero saved lives.

“It feels like gays, bisexuals and transgender being given a marching order to file into gas ovens in Europe during the time of Hitler”.

Last year, a gay political party was allowed to form in the Philippines for the first time.

A court said: “We hold that moral disapproval, without more, is not a sufficient governmental interest to justify exclusion of homosexuals from participation in the party-list system.

“The denial of Ang Ladlad’s registration on purely moral grounds amounts more to a statement of dislike and disapproval of homosexuals, rather than a tool to further any substantial public interest.”

While being gay is not criminalised in Philippines, sexual conduct or affection that occurs in public may be subject to the country’s “grave scandal” laws.

The organisers of Bangalore Pride also said they hoped the country’s Supreme Court would uphold the 2009 ruling which determined that laws against homosexuality violated the constitution.

In a statement, they called for the state to provide public services to the LGBT community without discrimination, especially to the transgender community with regard to voter IDs, driving licenses, pensions and old-age homes.

One man who attended the New Delhi event was accompanied by his family.

His grandmother told Asian Age: “I am 67 years old and I have come down specially to support this cause. I don’t understand why our society is still so rigid and prejudiced against queers.

“If a person wants to be queer, that’s his or her right and they deserve equal treatment just like any of us.”

2000 people attended the event in New Delhi last year.

In July, India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, caused uproar by referring to homosexuality as an unnatural “disease” from the west.

Also this summer, a lesbian couple were granted 24-hour police protection after family members allegedly threatened to kill them.

The women, named as Savita, 25, and Veena, 20, from Manesar, near New Delhi, married and went to a court to ask for protection. They were reportedly granted a safe house and full-time police protection.

Section 377 was enacted in 1860 under the British Raj, in line with the anti-sodomy laws in England at the time.

Mohnish Malhotra of ‘Queer Delhi’, one of the organisers, told IANS: “We don’t take any sponsorships and like every year, money has been raised through a fundraising party that was held earlier this month.”

“‘We will distribute masks, rainbow coloured scarves, whistles, candies, amongst other things.”

2000 people attended the event last year.

In July, India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, caused uproar by referring to homosexuality as an unnatural “disease” from the west.

Also this summer, a lesbian couple were granted 24-hour police protection after family members allegedly threatened to kill them.

The women, named as Savita, 25, and Veena, 20, from Manesar, near New Delhi, married and went to a court to ask for protection. They were reportedly granted a safe house and full-time police protection.

Homosexuality was decriminalised by the Delhi High Court in July 2009, when it was ruled to have been in violation of the constitution.

Section 377 was enacted in 1860 under the British Raj, in line with the anti-sodomy laws in England at the time.

In Bangalore, the Pride march this weekend is paired with a public photography competition, with the theme “In Public”.

Following widespread offence and confusion caused by a leaked list of 1600 words the Authority wanted blocked, a spokesman told AFP that it would be carrying out more consultations with various groups.

They hope to produce a trimmed-down list of words to block.

Words on the list included “gay,” “lesbian,” “homosexual,” “fairy”, “condom” and “back door”.

Many common swearwords were included, but other less obviously offensive phrases included “Jesus Christ”, “Athlete’s foot” and “flatulence”.

The PTA had reportedly ordered mobile phone service providers to start blocking out the offensive words by Monday 21 November.

Younis told the Guardian last week: “Nobody would like this happening to their young boy or girl”.

He gave no time frame today for when a ban may be enforced.

Younis told AFP: “At the moment we are not blocking or filtering any word. No final decision has been taken in this regard.”

Only occasionally will we struggle to translate from her native French, but it is important for Nkom that everything is understood: “My heart has so many things to say”.

Nkom is in London attending the launch of the Human Dignity Trust, a UK-based organisation which will equip lawyers globally trying to strike down criminalisation laws that are incompatible with human rights treaties and their domestic constitutions.

Nkom herself is a compelling example of the realities of criminalisation in one of these countries, and deals with its consequences “on a daily basis”.

A lawyer for 42 years in Cameroon, she started ADEFHO in 2003 after warning a Cameroonian gay couple who had been living in France to hide their sexuality when they came home.

“I felt very guilty. I said, ‘OK, maybe it’s good for you to tell them that they should be careful’, but that doesn’t mean anything, they must live as they are.”

Cameroon is one of the 83 jurisdictions globally which criminalise homosexual acts.

Nkom’s mission has seen her be threatened with arrest for receiving an EU grant, detained without charge by police while visiting clients, and recommended for dismissal by the Minister of Justice.

Problems for ADEFHO have always been present, and began with its name.

She tried to register with the necessary official, le préfet. “He called me and said ‘This is impossible, I cannot register an NGO with this name. You know this is immoral, you know this is against our religion. I’ll risk my place.’”

Nkom continues calmly: “I said, ‘This is the not the way I saw it. I read the constitution.’”

Cameroon’s constitution begins with the text from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

At length the official capitulated, but, she says, new rules were then introduced which mean NGOs can no longer be formed with aims like ADEFHO’s.

Jonathan Cooper questions why the rate of prosecutions against gays has increased, and cites the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill which is “simmering away” at the country’s Parliament.

“It’s appaling what happens to people, in the 21st century, who are engaging in consensual sexual conduct. The texting case is so ridiculous.”

One of Nkom’s clients, Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, had sent a text message to an acquaintance explaining that he had begun to have feelings for him and wanted to discuss what was going on. He arranged to visit his friend’s house.

The police were waiting for him when he arrived.

“It’s being encouraged from the top-down”, Cooper says. He references the Ugandan bill which would require teachers and other professionals to report gays to the authorities, and Nkom talks about a homily given by Cameroon’s archbishop which led to newspapers naming 50 supposedly gay officials.

Nkom is trying to get a case to the Supreme Court, who have the authority to strike an unconstitutional law down, but she says, in her efficient style of English, it is necessary to “motivate” the court clerks.

And a case in the Supreme Court can only happen after an appeal, which follows the original trial.

In Cameroon, Cooper says, even getting a person charged with homosexual offences to that first stage is a challenge.

He refers to another of Nkom’s cases; two men arrested after being seen wearing makeup.

“They haven’t been convicted of anything and they’ve been in prison since July.” The case is on its third judge.

“Horrible conditions,” Nkom adds.

The prison service does not give detainees food, it must be bought. Cooper says: “The only support you get is the support you can bring. If you’re rejected by your family because you’re gay, you won’t get anything.”

I ask how many cases ADEFHO is involved in. Alice has completed 50 trials, and negotiated 50 people out of custody before trial.

10 trials ended in acquittal, and many more with the defendant being released immediately, having already served the equivalent of the sentence in police custody.

Mbede, who was arrested after sending a text message, was sentenced in April. His appeal will take place next year.

While Nkom fights primarily to defend people against these laws, the Human Dignity Trust will equip local lawyers who want to challenge their validity.

“The background to the Trust was the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill,” Cooper says. “Tim [Otty QC, Chair of the Trusts's Board] was asked to advise the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.

“Very simple, straightforward piece of advice, really, in relation to Uganda’s international human rights treaty obligations. They’ve ratified all UN human rights treaties. Uganda has its own constitution which protects human rights in a similar way, and therefore it was clearly in breach of Uganda’s own domestic law and its treaty obligations.”

“I’m very, very familiar with the way the law in which the law fails to protect vulnerable people who are vulnerable on the basis of the sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“Tim was appalled.”

From that advice, Otty went on to engage jurists around the Commonwealth, and the list of names who endorse the Trust is impressive.

Patrons include former Chief Justices of South Africa and Barbados, a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC, former Attorney Generals of Guyana and India, a former Secretary General of the Commonwealth and the Rt Hon the Lord Woolf, the first Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

“International human rights law is so clear on the issue,” Cooper says when we discuss the patrons.

“These are not your regular gay activists, or activists at all.”

Their involvement, Cooper says, “shows the clarity of it as a human rights issue”.

Between them, law firms will donate £2 million of pro bono support every three years. “We don’t see why local lawyers should have to bear the burden of this financially, so we will fund this litigation.

The first cases will be in those places where they have a more “benign” approach. The first case is in Belize on 5 December and Jamaica will be next.

In Belize “they haven’t used the law in years. The constitution is very favourable to these issues. You get a fair trial in Belize, the judges are independent.”

Cooper believes that the Pacific countries will be most amenable to change. After them, the countries which border South Africa, which has legal provisions for gay marriage, tend to be more liberal. West Africa, he believes, will be hardest.

But he is quick to clarify how the Human Dignity Trust will approach the task.

“We will offer our support and our services, but if people don’t want us, we won’t go.” Turning up uninvited “wouldn’t work”.

There is a clearly defined area of expertise, legal support, and a clearly defined goal, decriminalisation. The Trust has no views beyond the inconsistency of criminalising homosexuality and maintaining human rights obligations.

“We do not stray beyond criminalisation. There is no consensus in international human rights law beyond criminalisation.”

How far away global decriminalisation is remains to be seen. But Nkom, now 66, is a striking example of what these laws and attitudes mean for gay people today.

Last month, the UK government confirmed plans to reduce direct aid to the governments of Commonwealth countries who do not recognise gay rights. Some commentators suggested gay communities might be blamed for the reduction in a government’s direct budgetary aid, suffering more persecution as a result.

Standing up to leave, I ask Nkom if she fears such a backlash for gay people. As she fixes me with a steady, kind look and shakes her head unequivocally, I realise that, speaking to Alice Nkom, fear may have been the wrong word to use.

Nisha Adhikari, who plays one of the film’s two central lesbian characters, said: “It’s two individuals falling in love and facing all the controversy and restrictions, and mental, emotional and physical traumas of being a lesbian in Nepal.

“It’s a simple love story with a lot of complications”.

She continued: “The entire movie is based on the trauma — what it is like not being able to come out and live your life because there are so many restrictions.

“There is no liberty in not living your life the way you want, irrespective of who you are attracted to sexually. This movie will be an eye-opener for a lot of people who have just viewed these issues very superficially.”

Sunil Pant, the only openly gay MP in Nepal, said: “Nepal has always been tolerant and we are now really ready to treat each other equally.

“It’s also about freedom of expression and our right to be able to watch films about our lives and issues. I am excited and can’t wait to see the film released in Nepal.”

Mr Pant was instrumental in helping to organise two high-profile gay wedding ceremonies in Nepal involving couples from the UK and the US, though same-sex marriage is not yet enshrined in law.

Following the end of monarchical rule in 2007, many LGBT rights were enshrined, and a new constitution is expected to make provisions for gay marriages. Religious gay ceremonies are reported to be widely accepted in Nepalese society.

Last year, Nepal’s census included a ‘third gender’ for the first time.

Snow Flowers, which was filmed in Kathmandu and Pokhara City and dubbed “Brokeback Everest” in a nod to Ang Lee’s film Brokeback Mountain, will be released in the spring.