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Gays Attacked at Palestine Gay Rights Protest. Attempt to Silence Debate on Murder of Gays Trafalgar Square - London – UK – 15 May 2004 Queer rights activist Peter Tatchell led a group comprised of activists from Outrage and Queer Youth Alliance, a GayEgypt.com editor and others to Trafalgar Square in London to protest against the murder and torture of gay men in Palestine. Their target was a Palestine Solidarity Rally and in order to make their position clear they carried placards declaring ""Israel: stop persecuting Palestine! Palestine: stop persecuting queers!" But this did not prevent an acrimonious dispute erupting within minutes of arrival with angry members of the rally accusing the gay activists of highlighting "secondary issues." One Palestinian yelled abuse to which one of the activists retorted "That is exactly the sort of prejudice we are here to fight against !" Below is the circular released from U.K. queer rights group Outrage today. Lesbians and gay men from OutRage! and the Queer Youth Alliance joined today’s demonstration in London to support the human rights of the people of Palestine. But they also urged the Palestinian Authority to halt the arrest, torture and murder of homosexuals. They marched with placards reading: "Israel: stop persecuting Palestine! Palestine: stop persecuting queers!" As soon as they arrived in Trafalgar Square to join the demonstration, the gay protesters were surrounded by an angry, screaming mob of Islamic fundamentalists, Anglican clergymen, members of the Socialist Workers Party, the Stop the War Coalition, and officials from the protest organisers, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). They variously attacked the gay activists as “racists”, “Zionists”, “CIA and MI5 agents”, “supporters of the Sharon government” and “dividing the Free Palestine movement”. PSC organisers asked the gay activists to “stand at the back of the demonstration”, and when they refused blocked their placards with their own banners and shouted down the gay campaigners as they tried to speak to journalists and other protesters. Most people at the Palestine protest expressed no hostility towards OutRage! and the Queer Youth Alliance. Some expressed positive support. ”We call on the PLO and Palestinian Authority to condemn homophobia, uphold queer human rights, and to order an immediate end to the abuse of lesbian and gay Palestinians", said OutRage! protester, Brett Lock. "Having experienced the pain of homophobia, we deplore the suffering inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli government”. "Both Islamophobia and homophobia are intolerable. Upholding the principle of universal human rights, we support the human rights of the people of Palestine. We call on the Palestinians to recognise the human rights of gay Palestinians". Another protester, Peter Tatchell, said: "Gay Palestinians live in fear of arrest, detention without trial, torture and execution at the hands of Palestinian police and security services. They also risk abduction and so-called honour killing by vengeful family members and vigilante mobs, as well as punishment beatings and murder by Palestinian political groups such as Hamas and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement". "These revelations come from the independent human rights watchdog, B’Tselem, and from the Israeli gay rights groups Aguda and Open House, which help gay Palestinian refugees". The abuse of Palestinian gays has been confirmed by two senior Palestine Liberation Organisation officials in conversations with queer rights activist, Peter Tatchell. "Both officials expressed personal regret concerning these abuses but said their liberal views were not shared by the majority of PLO officials and supporters", said Mr Tatchell. "For over 30 years I have supported the Palestinian struggle for national liberation, but it would be wrong to remain silent while the PLO, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are abducting, brutalising and murdering lesbian and gay Palestinians. Freedom for Palestine must be freedom for all Palestinians - straight and gay. “Unless we challenge the abuse of queer human rights now, this violent homophobia will become entrenched in a new Palestinian state and Palestinian leaders will be emboldened to abuse the rights of other Palestinian citizens", said Tatchell. US politicians decry Egypt's anti-gay abuses Christopher Curtis, Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network Friday 7 May, 2004 11:35 To get today's headlines from Gay.com please click here. The ongoing protests over Egypt's abuse of gay men has reached the USA, where leading politicians have spoken out against the country's human rights record against the gay community and those they perceive to be gay. On Thursday US Rep. Steve Rothman, D-NJ, sent a letter urging Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to eliminate all abuses against gay men. Rothman co-authored the letter with Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and 41 other members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats signed it. "We regard the repression, entrapment and torture of individuals based on their real or perceived sexual orientation to be clear human rights violations," Rothman and his colleagues wrote. The lawmakers cited a 144-page Human Rights Watch report released on March 1, 2004, which detailed testimonies of men accused of being homosexuals. The men in the report claimed they were bound, suspended in painful positions, burned with cigarettes, submerged in ice-cold water and subjected to electrical shocks on their limbs and genitals. Addressing President Mubarak, the letter continued: "We sincerely hope Egypt will abide by the requirements of the treaties signed and laws in place, and that you personally will speak out against and work to prevent any future incidents of torture, including the torture of homosexual men." Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other organisations have been documenting torture in Egypt for more than a decade. One of the most infamous abuses against suspected gay men occurred in May 2001, when Egyptian police arrested more than 50 men on the Queen Boat, a floating nightclub in the Nile. Egypt sentenced 23 men to prison terms because they were found guilty of practicing "sexual immorality," a euphemism for homosexuality. A total of 52 men were on trial and detained for several months; 29 were acquitted. Rep. Rothman hopes the letter will convince the Egyptian government to change. He is one of five Democrats on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, which awards foreign aid. "Having representatives of the US government send this kind of letter has to have some pull," explained Rothman's press secretary, Jeff Lieberson. "Whether the Egyptian government is going to do anything is a possibility," Lieberson added. New film shows plight of gays in Egypt. Posted 7 May 2004 A new film to be shown at the "Flaming Film Festival" in the United States next week will host a premier of John Scagliotti's film "Dangerous Living" which looks at gay communities in the developing world and in particular at the harsh reality of the gay experience in Egypt. The festival is to take place in Mineappolis, starting next Wednesday. The film "Dangerous Living" will be screened on Thursday, after which there will be a panel discussion in which people ( and presumably also members of the audience ) will be able to make comments on the film. John Scagliotti previously directed two well known documenatries on gay and lesbian life in the United States including "Stonewall 25: Voices of Pride & Protest" (1994) and "After Stonewall" (1999). |
