Iceland's PM marks gay milestone By Vanessa Buschschluter BBC News

Sunday, 1 February 2009

Johanna Sigurdardottir, named as Iceland's prime minister on Sunday, is the first openly lesbian head of government in Europe, if not the world - at least in modern times.

The 66-year-old's appointment as an interim leader, until elections in May, is seen by many as a milestone for the gay and lesbian movement.

Up until now, if a gay man or woman has been prime minister, they have done their best to conceal the fact.

In Iceland itself, however, the new prime minister's sexual orientation appears to be causing less excitement than it is abroad.

What is really historic about this new cabinet, says Skuli Helgeson, the general secretary of Ms Sigurardottir's Social Democratic Alliance, is not the fact that its leader is a lesbian, but that for the first time in Icelandic history it boasts an equal number of men and women.

"I don't think her sexual orientation matters. Our voters are pretty liberal, they don't care about any of that," he told BBC News. Read more BBC News

Día del Orgullo Gay de Madrid 2009: Artículo de Fernando Grande-Marlaska en 'El Mundo'

EL JUEZ DE LA AUDIENCIA NACIONAL AFIRMA QUE HAY QUE LUCHAR POR SEGUIR NORMALIZANDO LA HOMOSEXUALIDAD

LVL lunes, 29 de junio de 2009, 14:43

Madrid.- Coincidiendo con las celebraciones del Día del Orgullo Gay 2009 en Madrid, el juez instructor de la Audiencia Nacional, Fernando Grande-Marlaska publicó en el diario 'El Mundo' un artículo el pasado sábado 27 de junio.

Bajo el título 'Hay mucho camino por recorrer', Grande- Marlaska, que ha reconocido su homosexualidad, hace una importante defensa de la lucha por los derechos y la normalización de los gays. Foto (He acknowledged his homosexuality Fernando Grande-Marlaska, judge of the Audiencia Nacional.)

HAY MUCHO CAMINO POR RECORRER

Esta semana se celebra el Orgullo Gay. En España, en estos últimos tiempos, se vienen escuchando voces que hacen, dado que contamos con una legislación que nos otorga todos los derechos, por razonar sobre su necesidad. Podemos contraer matrimonio, podemos adoptar hijos, etc. Incluso, de forma vamos a decir irónica, vienen a decir que ya es hora de celebrar el día del orgullo heterosexual. Esas voces desconocen cuál es la razón de esta celebración. Más aún, y eso es peor, parecen desconocer la razón de su actualidad.

Como en todas las celebraciones, siempre hay una fecha que sirve de referencia, y en el Orgullo Gay, es el 28 de junio, recordando como ese día de hace cuarenta años, la policía neoyorquina, con toda la inquina posible entró y detuvo a un grupo de homosexuales que se encontraban en un bar de ambiente (Stonewall). A partir de ese momento, el colectivo homosexual decidió de forma activa reclamar sus derechos, manifestarse, y fijar el 28 de junio como el de celebración. Sí, celebración de cómo ya no se iba a permanecer en el ya archiconocido armario. Como uno se aceptaba y estaba orgulloso de ser como era. Se celebraba y se celebra como ya no íbamos a dejar que nos tuvieran en una especie de apartheid. «Si el eco de sus voces se debilita, pereceremos». Paul Eluard. Read more

Read more translation English

lavozlibre.com

Cientos de miles de personas colapsan Madrid en favor de una 'Escuela sin armarios' Read more Spanish

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Hundreds of thousands of people clogged Madrid for a 'school without lockers'

Photo: The president of the Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FLGTB), Antonio Poveda (i), together with the Minister of Equality, Bibiana Aidoo. / Efe

Hundreds of thousands have collapsed the center of Madrid after singing and dancing multicolored floats and banners for the "emotional-sexual diversity" in education as part of the Gay Pride march. From the Puerta de Alcalá to Plaza of Spain through the Gran Via, have passed clusters of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals who came from across Spain to participate in a ride that organizers say is a "political tool" to normalize homosexuality in school. In fact, several of the groups that participated did so by singing to the rhythm of "no parades, we are."

The march opened at 1800 hours Minister of Equality, Bibiana Aidoo, representatives of the PSOE, IU and UpyD, union leaders and major youth organizations, carrying a banner with "A school without lockers. In remarks before taking part in the ride, Aidoo said that "we have every reason to be proud, we are an open country that has made a clear bet for expanding rights," and said that all gays lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexual "have at their side to the government."

The minister regretted that 50% of gay adolescents suffer violence at school and in schools and has assured that "we all have to help make school a safe space for diversity, because what is learned in small remains forever. " After the banners, dozens of gay groups Seville, Barcelona, Gandía, Logrono, Asturias marched chanting and shouting left photograph for the thousands who crowded as a solid mass on both sides of the march prepared to chant any slogan. Read more

Fotos & Qué.es & eldiariomontanes.es video

The Pride of Antwerp - Advocate.com hits the gay-friendly streets of Antwerp with openly gay police commissioner Serge Muyters

By LoAnn Halden

An Advocate.com exclusive posted July 1, 2009

Even in a country as progressive as Belgium, where same-sex marriage and adoption by gays have been on the books since 2003 and 2006 respectively, Serge Muyters snagged headlines when he came out six years ago. It's not every day that a high-ranking police commissioner discusses his sexual orientation on the record and then proceeds to marry his partner -- a fellow member of the Antwerp Police Department.

Although Muyters decided to step out of the media spotlight five years ago, he agreed to make a rare interview exception for Advocate.com. As the summer travel season heats up, the first deputy chief commissioner spoke about being out on the job and the city he calls home.

Advocate.com: Belgium has some of the most progressive laws for LGBT people in Europe. Are there any areas that still need work? 
Serge Muyters: Antwerp is very open-minded to all visitors and inhabitants, and the city council supports many diversity programs. In 2013, Antwerp will organize the World Outgames. The only thing that concerns me is that recent research found that one out of 20 gay men is HIV-positive and that young people have a lot of unsafe sex. Due to successful treatment with antiretrovirals, people don't talk anymore about HIV and AIDS. I think it is necessary that Belgium put HIV and AIDS back on the agenda and convince people to practice safe sex. Read more Advocate.com

First Lady Michelle Obama Marks John Berry's Start At OPM

Stonewall Democrats, National Voice of LGBT Democrats

NEWS ARTICLE - APRIL 24TH, 2009

First Lady Michelle Obama was on hand for an event recognizing John Berry as the new Director of the Office of Personnel Management. Berry, the highest-ranking openly gay member of the Administration, took his oath of office before a crowd of 300 people this week.

In his remarks, Berry acknowledged Dr. Frank Kameny, who was in the audience. Kameny was dismissed from the federal civil service in 1957 solely based on his sexual orientation. With his dismissal, Kameny became an early organizer in the pro-equality movement. His actions ultimately led to the overturning of the federal civil service ban on gay employees. Read more REUTERS PICTURES U.S. first lady Michelle Obama applauds after John Berry (R) was sworn-in as the next director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during her visit to the OPM in Washington April 23, 2009. daylife

ADVOCATE.COM

Taking Back the Workplace

In the 1950s, Frank Kameny was fired from his job in the Army Map Service for “sexual perversion.” Now he's watching an openly gay man run the very office once responsible for scrubbing gays from the government.

By Kerry Eleveld

The arc of history bent toward justice Friday when the Senate voted unanimously to confirm John Berry, an openly gay man, as director of the Office of Personnel Management.

OPM, formerly known as the U.S. Civil Service Commission, is the human resources department for 1.9 million federal employees, and was once responsible for scrubbing gays from the government -- a policy formalized in 1953 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450, making “sexual perversion” cause for termination. Advocate.com Read more

Seattle Gay News

Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, APA to honor Gay advocates Barbara Gittings and Frank Kameny

Dr. Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings are lifelong activists and founding members of the modern Gay rights movement. Both were instrumental in raising issues which eventually led APA to remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from the DSM-II in 1973. Seattle Gay News Read more

Box Turtle Bulletin

Gay Is Good: Frank Kameny’s Memorabilia At The Smithsonian

The Smithsonian’s Museum of American History is closed and undergoing renovations, but that’s not stopping them from putting on ambitious and expansive shows at other venues. One such exhibit is the “Treasures of American History” at the National Air and Space Museum.

And one part of this exhibit is titled “Gay is Good” and features several items from Frank Kameny’srecently donated archives and memorabilia, includes picket signs from 1965 and “Gay is Good” buttons from around 1968. These items join Thomas Jefferson’s small, portable, folding desk upon which he wrote the Declaration and the inkwells Abraham Lincoln used to write the Emancipation Proclamation — all of which played key roles in the formation of our national values of freedom and equality for everyone. Box Turtle Bulletin Read more