Wednesday, 13 July 2016

Guardian: UN pledges to end Aids epidemic but plan barely mentions those most at risk

Activists walked out in protest after the resolution was adopted

Summit criticized for excluding gay and transgender organizations
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jun/08/un-hiv-aids-summit-gay-transgender-groups-excluded

Amanda Holpuch in New YorkWednesday 8 June 2016 23.07 BST

UN member states have pledged to end the Aids epidemic by 2030, but campaigners say the strategy adopted by the 193-nation general assembly on Wednesday barely mentions those most at risk of contracting HIV/Aids: men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and intravenous drug users.

Activists walked out in protest after the resolution was adopted on the first day of the three-day summit, which had already been the subject of intense criticism for excluding gay and transgender organizations. More than 50 countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, blocked 22 groups from attending the conference.

Independent UK: Three things you think you know about gay men and HIV

Critics of PrEP, the daily pill that stops people getting HIV, say that gay men just need to change their behaviour, not take a preventative medicine. Here is why that alone is not the answer

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/three-things-you-think-you-know-about-gay-men-and-hiv-a7039091.html
Suzi Price; Friday 20 May 2016

When the Pill was introduced, there was an immediate backlash, as people felt it would encourage promiscuity. We managed to overcome that stigma, and over 50 years later we are on the cusp of something similarly revolutionary in regards to HIV.

YouTube: Wasted Blood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmj19e9xZRo

In Brazil, it's illegal for men who have had sex with other men to donate blood. That means thousands of liters of blood being thrown out instead of saving lives.

http://www.wastedblood.com/

My mother was in the hospital, and I wanted to donate blood. I had been in a monogamous relationship for almost ten years. Yet, when the social worker found out my partner was a man, my blood was turned down. Just because I'm gay."

Stories like that happen every day in Brazil.

Malta Today: [WATCH] 'Walk towards Love' a reminder of the battle against intolerance, prejudice

Drachma leads candle-lit vigil to honour the 49 victims killed at the Pulse club in Orlando

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/66618/maltese_community_holds_candlelit_vigil_for_victims_of_orlando_shooting#.V2ZYR9SF5he

Miriam Dalli
17 June 2016, 7:53pm, Last updated on 17 June 2016, 9:17pm

Photography: Chris Mangion

Walk towards Love: Malta honours Orlando shooting victims • Video by Chris Mangion [Click on the hyperlink above to watch the video].

It was a unanimous call for more tolerance and a commitment to continue fighting against discrimination and prejudice that echoed through the message of those present for the candle-lit vigil led by Drachma.

Drachma brought together people from different walks of life to honour the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting. Candles, rainbow-coloured flags and messages of love marked the ‘walk towards Love’ from Balluta Bay to the Love monument at Spinola Bay.

Times: Candle-lit vigil to honour lives of Orlando club victims

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160615/local/candle-lit-vigil-to-honour-lives-of-orlando-club-victims.615555
Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 17:44

A candle-lit vigil to honour the lives of those brutally killed the gay club Pulse in Orlando last weekend is being held by Drachma on Friday "as a show of strength and love".

"We will stand united #MaltaforOrlando."

The vigil will start from near the Balluta parish church at 7.30pm and with candles in hand, symbolically "walk towards Love". The solidarity walk which will come to a close at the Love monument in St Julians. US ambassador G. Kathleen Hill will be attending.

[Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/983322121786534/]

Independent: Malta Gay Pride Week 2016 hits Valletta; Prime Minister and Opposition Leader comment

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-06-11/local-news/Malta-Gay-Pride-Week-2016-hits-Velletta-Prime-Minister-and-Opposition-Leader-comment-6736159221

Mathias Mallia, Saturday, 11 June 2016, 16:39

Malta's Pride March on the penultimate day of Malta Gay Pride Week 2016 is well underway with the march being the first in a list of three activities today.

Valletta's Republic Street is currently home to colourful banners, costumes and party floats being led by two men driving big loud motorbikes brandishing the iconic rainbow flag, and a turnout of up to 1,000 people.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as well as Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil were in attendance at the very beginning of the parade, as well as PN MP Claudette Buttigieg and Civil Liberties Minister, Helena Dalli.

Meanwhile, independent MP, Marlene Farrugia posted the event banner on social media earlier this week saying that the new Democratic Party fully supports the event. Movement Graffiti also said in a statement earlier today that they will be attending and fully supporting the cause.

This Year's theme is "full equality" celebrating the rights obtained by the LGBTIQ community so far and calling on Maltese Society to further its positive position towards LGBTIQ rights. This year's celebration was entirely organized by NGOs

Malta was pushed to the forefront of LGBTIQ rights in the EU with the Civil Unions Bill which was established 16 April 2014.

New York Times: The Muslim Silence on Gay Rights

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/opinion/the-muslim-silence-on-gay-rights.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2&referer=http:/m.facebook.com

By BILAL QURESHI, JUNE 13, 2016

An Afghan-American Muslim walks into a gay club in Florida on Latin night during Pride Month. In my dreams, that is the beginning of another great story of remix, tolerance and coexistence that is possible only in America. In reality, it’s the start of a nightmare massacre fueled by hatred and perpetrated by a man from a group already scarred by a generation of suspicion and surveillance.

Whether Omar Mateen was a militant fighter financed by the Islamic State, a self-radicalized extremist or a lone wolf psychopath with a gun license, the distinction for committing the worst mass shooting in our history now belongs to an American Muslim.

Times: Progressive Malta, or a marriage of convenience?

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160530/local/progressive-malta-or-a-marriage-of-convenience.613579

Monday, May 30, 2016, 21:15 by

Philip Leone-Ganado

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola last week described the Prime Minister’s recent gay marriage proposal as a diversionary tactic. Philip Leone-Ganado takes a look at the issue

In the heated political climate surrounding the ongoing Panama Papers scandal, the issue of gay marriage, unrelated as it is, has increasingly been politicised and caught up in the fray.

Times: Transgender girl, 8, tells her story, urges others to be brave

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160602/local/transgender-girl-8-tells-her-story.614088

Thursday, June 2, 2016, 11:41 by Philip Leone Ganado
Updated June 3 with Children's Commissioner statement

[Click on the hyperlink above to watch the Video: Mark Zammit Cordina]

A new book by eight-year old transgender girl Willa Naylor, about her own experience transitioning and living with her true gender identity, was presented to ministers Helena Dalli and Evarist Bartolo this morning.

Monday, 13 June 2016

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36492127

Orlando shooting: Latest attack on LGBT community

By Jessica LussenhopBBC News

Mourners at a vigil in Florida for the victims of the Orlando mass shooting

The worst mass shooting in modern American history was also a hate crime against the gay community. It's not the first time LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people have been the targets of violence.

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