Loading ...Author » Lyndon Barnett
Parading ourselves with pride
As the largest demonstration of gay pride in the Asia Pacific region, Sydney’s Mardi Gras Parade generally attracts 300,000 onlookers with 10,000 participants marching down Oxford St. So where does our ... Read more
Tue March 2nd, 2010 - No Comments
Liechtenstein moves towards acceptance
In October 2007, the Landtag, Liechtenstein’s parliament, voted to support same-sex registered partnerships, with 19 votes in favour and six against. Vaduz-raised Mark, 27, said that same-sex partner recognition should be ... Read more
Tue November 10th, 2009 - 1 Comment
Fijians fighting for equal rights
In April 2005, Australian Thomas McCosker and Fijian Dhirendra Nadan were sentenced to two years jail under Fiji’s sodomy legislation. At the trial, magistrate Syed Muhktar Shah said their behaviour ... Read more
Tue November 3rd, 2009 - 5 Comments
Discussion stifled in Lithuania
In July, the Lithuanian parliament, or Seimas, passed legislation prohibiting the distribution of information regarding sexual orientation through channels available to children. Vytautas Valentinavicius, 29, is the head of the Tolerant ... Read more
Tue October 27th, 2009 - No Comments
-
Anti-gay stigma in Trinidad and Tobago
In 2007 Elton John was booked to perform at a jazz festival on the island of Tobago. As a performer, John tours frequently around the globe. What made this particular ... Read more
Tue October 20th, 2009 - No Comments
daunting tasks in Kenya
Kenya’s founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, famously declared in the 1960s that there was no African word for homosexuality and the practice was un-African. In 1999, the country’s second president, Daniel Arap ... Read more
Tue October 13th, 2009 - No Comments
Scotland the braver
Twelve years after its enactment, Scotland became the first region in the United Kingdom to repeal the ban on the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, including teaching in schools. ... Read more
Tue October 6th, 2009 - No Comments
GLBT life in Mexican border towns
While Mexican border towns are dynamic and cross-cultural, they are also often the scene of violence against marginalised communities. Dr Vek Lewis, lecturer in Latin American Studies at Sydney University, returns to ... Read more
Tue September 29th, 2009 - 2 Comments
Gradual change in Ecuador
Ecuador’s current president, the left-leaning Rafael Correa, has been relatively outspoken in support of gay rights. When an Ecuador national was killed in New York in 2008, Correa said, “We will ... Read more
Tue September 22nd, 2009 - No Comments
Belgrade prepared for Pride
The first and last time gay activists staged a Pride parade in Belgrade, skinheads and Serbian nationalists attacked the demonstrators. The thugs shouted, “We do not want gays in Serbia,” ... Read more
Tue September 15th, 2009 - 4 Comments
Lebanese activists in unique situation
In February this year 50 Lebanese activists, some carrying rainbow flags, protested against the beating of two gay men by police in a central square in Beirut. What made this ... Read more
Tue September 8th, 2009 - 3 Comments
Advocating change in Botswana
Francistown-raised Caine, 27, joined Botswana’s leading activist group, Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana or LeGaBiBo, in 2005 as a voice for those powerless to speak for themselves. “I want to ... Read more
Tue September 1st, 2009 - No Comments
Providing support for the Maldives
From his new home in New Zealand, Male-born Grant (name substituted) and his boyfriend recently formed the Maldives' first gay rights lobby and support group. We decided to found Rainbow Maldives ... Read more
Tue August 25th, 2009 - 19 Comments
Being gay is a state of limbo
In 2002 the Indonesian Government granted legal autonomy to Aceh, allowing the province to institute Islamic Sharia law, a framework that explicitly punishes homosexual acts. It was subsequently reported that 52 ... Read more
Tue August 18th, 2009 - 4 Comments
Tel Aviv shooting shocks Israel
An estimated 20,000 Israelis filled Rabin Square in central Tel Aviv last Saturday night in remembrance of those shot the week prior in the gay youth centre. An array of ... Read more
Tue August 11th, 2009 - 1 Comment
Acceptance with a friendly smile
When 300 gay tourists travelling on the American luxury cruiser Paul Gauguin stopped in Tahiti in April, an entrepreneurial local organised a gay night in the discotheque, Be Angel, to ... Read more
Tue August 4th, 2009 - No Comments
Denmark – the global leader
Although still a teenager discovering his own sexuality, Copenhagen-educated Jesper, 37 remembers clearly the moment when the first same-sex couple were officially recognised. I remember the images of the wedding. ... Read more
Tue July 28th, 2009 - 2 Comments
Somali gays supporting each other
Five Somali friends currently living in London recognised a need for a support network for other gay and lesbian Somalis in the United Kingdom. We noticed that a lot of Somali ... Read more
Tue July 21st, 2009 - No Comments
Integration in Switzerland
In 2004 the Swiss Parliament voted in favour of registered partnerships, creating equality nationwide in the areas of health insurance, pensions and taxes, but stopped short of adoption. At the time ... Read more
Tue July 14th, 2009 - No Comments
A new day in Delhi
The Delhi High Court Decision has given Sydney's ex-pat Indian gay and lesbian community cause for celebration. I had tears and goose bumps when I heard the news. For many of ... Read more
Tue July 7th, 2009 - 1 Comment
Living in hiding in Iran
In September 2007 Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech at New York's Columbia University. Following the address a student asked him about the situation for gay people in Iran. In ... Read more
Tue June 30th, 2009 - No Comments
Making gay life in Iceland richer
In January this year the president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar GrÃmsson, asked the Social Democrat Alliance to form Government with the Left-Green Movement, thereby ending 18 years of dominance by ... Read more
Tue June 23rd, 2009 - 1 Comment
Progress in new republic of Nepal
Nepal's first openly gay MP, Sunil Pant has been credited as one of the driving forces behind his country's recent path towards equality. Pant is now a decorated humanitarian. He's ... Read more
Tue June 16th, 2009 - 3 Comments
New Caledonia catches up to France
Ten years after France approved regis-tered partnerships the French territory of New Caledonia has finally legislated in line with the French initiative. Noumea-raised Julien (name substituted), 22, explains the situation. In New ... Read more
Tue June 9th, 2009 - 2 Comments
Push for civil unions in Greece
In June 2008 Tasos Aliferis, mayor of the island of Tilos, officiated over Greece's first same-sex civil ceremonies, uniting one male and one female couple. Aliferis cited a loophole in ... Read more
Tue June 2nd, 2009 - 2 Comments
Current Issue
Tony, please think before speaking
You have to feel sorry for Tony Abbott. He has been criticised for speaking without thinking, in his comments on women’s virginity, and on homosexuality “challenging orthodox notions of the right order of things”. The ... Read more
Talk to us, Tony
Manly Liberal MP Mike Baird has “strongly recommended” Opposition leader Tony Abbott break his ... Read more
Talk to us, Tony
Manly Liberal MP Mike Baird has “strongly recommended” Opposition leader Tony Abbott break his ... Read more
Gabbing with Glambert
Appropriately for someone whose goth-glam appearance is the subject of much tabloid fodder, out-and-proud ... Read more
Court rules in favour of trans teen
Transgender rights advocates have welcomed a Family Court decision to allow a trans teenager ... Read more
Police apologise to Blacktown victims
Police will do by better by gay and lesbian victims of crime, NSW’s top ... Read more