BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – Gay activists in Cuba locked lips in Havana in a demonstration that called on the government for respect and further recognition of their civil rights, ahead of the Caribbean island's Pride march this weekend, the Miami Herald reports.

The report says 50 people signed a petition listing a series of demands, which they delivered to the National Assembly of People's Power, following the Kiss-In for Diversity and Equality demonstration. The group, Project Rainbow, organized the event held at the Rámon Fonst sports arena.

In the petition, activists called on the government to "fully comply with international agreements it has signed on human rights, especially those that apply to LGBT rights," the Herald quotes gay rights activist Ignacio Estrada as saying. The document also calls on lawmakers to investigate hard-labour camps, where gays and political dissidents were held during the 1960s and to look into workplace discrimination claims.

In a statement published on Gay Star News, Project Rainbow organizers invited the government to "make the LGBT community in Cuba visible," adding, "We are part of the nation." 

The island's second annual Pride march, organized by the Cuban League Against AIDS, the Open Door Foundation and LGBT Observatory, is scheduled to take place on July 1. The groups are independent of Cuba's National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), whose director is Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban president Raúl Castro.

Police arrested a number of gay activists in an attempt to thwart last year's Pride march, but about 20 still managed to participate, the Herald reports.

Mariela Castro successfully lobbied the government to cover sex reassigmnent surgery under the national health plan and has also spoken out in favour of same-sex marriage.

An Associated Press (AP) report carried in The Advocate notes that she addressed a group of medical professionals and transgender advocates in San Francisco last month, where she said, "If we don't change our patriarchal and homophobic culture . . . we cannot advance as a new society, and that's what we want, the power of advancement through socialism. We will establish relationships on the basis of social justice and social equality . . . it seems like Utopia, but we can change it."

A number of Cuban-Americans criticized the US government for allowing Castro entry into the US, pointing to the island's record of repressing human rights — including queer rights — more generally.  

 

Landing image source: towleroad.com

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – In the US, North Carolina pastor Charles Worley called for queers to be penned in electrified fences to hasten their elimination.

His comrades-in-pastorhood have variously called for parents to punch their male children and crack their wrists if they are not masculine enough, invoked a return of the good old days when queers were prosecuted, and conjured up the now more than yawn-inducing stereotype  about "redefinitions" of marriage that include human and beast unions.

But whoever is behind one Italian Facebook page decided to go for broke: they called for the abortion of fetuses suspected of having gay genes.

News site Worldcrunch notes that Italian daily La Repubblica reported that the anti-gay Facebook page was set up June 19, with the following claim: "Thanks to the miracle of science, we are able to impede [homosexuality] . . . Yes, I know that it is terrible to abort the poor babies affected by the gene of sodomy. But it is the lesser evil."

So far, there is no indication who is behind the page, but it garnered more than 2,000 comments — mostly, but not all, negative — before it was pulled after several civil rights groups and politicians objected.

Gay Star News quotes a spokesperson for the Gay Center in Italy as saying, "This is the last proof that we need a law against homophobia as soon as possible."

Landing image source: gaystarnews.com

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – Whether they secure the city's permission or not, activists say they are determined that a Pride march will go ahead as planned in St Petersburg, Russia, on July 7.

Gay Star News reports that queer rights group Ravnopravie has applied to the city for permission to stage St Petersburg's third Pride parade, which organizers are saying could draw about 1,000 participants.

City authorities have rejected previous applications to hold such an event, but organizers say they will ignore authorities' attempts to ban the parade. Earlier this month, gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev was quoted in the Kyiv Post as saying that activists would take to St Petersburg's streets, even if they were not allowed to hold a parade.

Ravnopronie's head, Yury Gavrikov, told Gay Star News, "The authorities are afraid of our visibility in society and it has resulted in the adoption of regional laws banning so-called homosexuality propaganda."

St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, is among an increasing number of that country's cities passing "gay propaganda" laws meant to gag so-called promotion of homosexuality among minors, and could be used to shut down events like Pride parades and queer rights protests.

However, in May, a St Petersburg court ruled that the city's use of its gay propaganda law to ban queer activists from staging rallies for the March 7 Day of Silence and the May 17 International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia was unlawful. While the judge found there was no authority to deny a public rally under federal law, the ruling does not mean future rallies will be approved by city authorities.

 

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BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – Friends and family of two teenaged lesbians who were shot in Portland, Texas, over the weekend have organized a candlelight vigil and walk in the park where the young women were found lying in knee-high grass.

Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene in Violet Andrews Park. Mary Christine Chapa, 18, underwent surgery and is in serious but stable condition. Friends say the two women had been dating for five months.

The vigil and walk are scheduled for Friday, June 29 at 6pm. 

Two more vigils — one also on June 29 in Washington, DC's Dupont Circle area, and the other to be held Wednesday, June 27 at San Francisco's Harvey Milk Plaza — have been organized.

Long-time gay rights activist Cleve Jones has called for nationwide vigils in the wake of the tragedy. 

In a Facebook posting, Jones says, "Last Friday, as millions of LGBT people and their allies were celebrating Pride, something awful happened in Portland, Texas. We need to respond publicly to this tragedy. Whoever shot  Mary Christine Chapa and Mollie Judith Olgin, whatever the motive, regardless of where it happened, two beautiful girls were shot and one was killed. We need to honour the memory of Mollie and pray for the recovery of Mary.

"Please, take some time to organize public vigils for Mollie and Mary in your communities this week." 

Jones says he'll post the places and times of any vigils on a Facebook site.

Already, some people have responded to Jones's call, saying they are in the midst of organizing vigils in Washington State and in Toronto.

As of this posting, police are still looking for suspects and a motive in the shootings.  

 

Landing image source: usnews.msnbc.msn.com

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – A double shooting in a Portland, Texas, park has taken the life of Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and leaves Mary Christine Chapa, 18, in serious condition, the Huffington Post reports.

Olgin was pronounced dead at Violet Andrews Park. Chapa underwent emergency surgery and is listed in stable condition, according to the Corpus Christi Caller, which originally reported on the shootings.

Friends of the two women say they had been dating for five months. Portland police chief Randy Wright reportedly told MSNBC that it has yet to be determined if the women's sexuality was a motive for the shootings, adding that "that's always something we're looking for." Various news media are reporting that investigators believe the two women walked down a trail into knee-deep grass and were then shot with a large-calibre handgun. Police have yet to identify any suspects.

A report on the shootings is at kris-tv.com.

 Landing image source: kris-tv.com