Ballarat Joins The NYA
Press release on behalf of Koby Drake 1st Feb 2010
For Immediate Release
‘Gay Love’ Comes to Ballarat!
Well it was already here, but now the GLBT community in Ballarat and surrounding towns are using their voice to fight for their right to equality! There is as much gay love in Rural Australia as there is in the big cities. Now we will stand up and tell our Federal Government that we will not stand for their discrimination in our home towns, by inviting all people who support Same-sex marriages to attend a protest rally in Ballarat.
The desired outcome of the rally is that every person will have the same rights as the next, no better or no worse. When getting married there should be no need to ask for a person’s sex, love is genderless. Some say marriage is a religious ceremony. If this is so, why are people who don’t practise any religion permitted to marry? This is a case of discrimination, which we will not stand for.
‘No more Forbidden Love...' Valentines Day Action - February 14
On February 14, Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) will hold an event at Taylor square to celebrate Valentines Day and show that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) love should not be second class.
Valentines Day is a symbol of loving couples, loving relationships and dedicated partners, yet the day sidelines queer couples, especially so when Australia is the only country in the Western world to have banned same-sex marriage, and continues to deny the community equal marriage rights.
CAAH believe Equal Marriage Rights is a basic Human Right that should be available to all couples of all sexes and sexual orientation... and so, CAAH will be asking LGBTI couples to show us there should be
"No More Forbidden Love on Valentines Day"
Equal Marriage Rights Rally - March 20 - 1pm at Town Hall
Sydney - get ready to make some noise!
Rally 20th March 2010 1pm Town Hall
Get Involved:
e-mail caahsydney@gmail.com
“After decades of campaigning to get rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and sex and gender diverse people, it is both sad and appalling that as we approach 2010, we are still denied the right to marry and to have our relationships formally recognised. We are thrilled to support CAAH’s year-long campaign to secure marriage rights for all... All Australians are entitled to equality before the law regardless of their sex, gender or sexuality, including the right to marry who they wish”
- Tracie O’Keefe, spokesperson for Sex and Gender Education (SAGE), and
Who are we?
Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) organises a grass-roots movement to fight homophobia, transphobia gender oppression and other human rights abuses. CAAH helps change society for the better through organising rallies, petitions, stalls and other collective activity.
We need you to get involved! This society is homophobic and transphobic, and this makes things unpleasant for everyone. Youth suicides, work place discrimination, suffering hate-crimes on the streets, being relegated second-class citizens through homophobic laws, are reasons why people get involved with CAAH.
Join CAAH at Mardi Gras 2010 !
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/06/2010 - 05:43
Malawi: End Arrests and Discrimination Against LGBT People
Join The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in calling upon the Malawi government to release Steven Monjeza (age 26) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (age 20) from detention and end discrimination against LGBT and HIV/AIDS activists. After their traditional engagement on December 27, 2009, the two were arrested on December 28, 2009 and charged with "unnatural offenses" and "indecent practices between males" (Sections 153 and 156 of the Malawi Penal Code) with a potential sentence of up to 14 and 5 years in prison, respectively. The two were then denied bail, and prosecutors subjected them to internal medical examinations without their consent.
Send a letter to Malawian officials »
Background
After their traditional engagement on December 27, 2009, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested on December 28, 2009 and charged with "unnatural offenses" and "indecent practices between males" (Sections 153 and 156 of the Malawi Penal Code) with a potential sentence of up to 14 and 5 years in prison, respectively.
IGLHRC and Lambda Legal Consulting with Nepali Government on LGBTI Rights Protections
For Immediate Release:
Monday, December 21, 2009
Contacts:
Jason Pérez Howe
Senior Public Information Officer
Lambda Legal
213.382-7600 x247
Mobile: 415.595.9245
jhowe@lambdalegal.org
Hossein Alizadeh
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
212-430-6016
halizadeh@iglhrc.org
(Los Angeles, December 21, 2009) The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Lambda Legal are working with Nepali government leaders as they explore how to include protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the country's laws. Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel and National Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal, returned this week from two weeks in Kathmandu at the invitation of Nepali lawmakers to advise the government's eight-member study and drafting committee. The committee will present its recommendations to the Nepali Parliament in 2010. Pizer's trip was organized and sponsored by IGLHRC, and continues that organization's technical support of LGBTI advocates in the Himalayan nation and across Asia.
Rally for Marriage Equality 20th March 2010
Sydney Get Ready to make some noise!
1pm Sydney Town Hall, 20th March 2010
CAAH's NYA Press Releases
30th Nov 2009
NYA launch a big success!
The launch of the National Year of Action for Marriage Equality was a big success nationwide.
Up to 1,500 people attended the Rally in Sydney, 2,500 in Melbourne, 200 braved the rain in Adelaide, 200 in Canberra, 100 in Lismore, 150 in Perth and 500 in Brisbane.
Sydney was privileged to hear from many high profile speakers including Senator Sarah-Hanson Young who received roaring applause from the audience as she announced in front of the crowds; “Get over it Rudd!”
Community Action Against Homophobia is looking forward to building a strong campaign for Marriage Equality during the National Year of Action.
Gay Bangladeshi's Seek Asylum
Gay Bangledeshi couple denied asylum
Rachel Evans and norrie mAy-welby, Sydney
Green Left Weekly - 4 November, 2009
A gay Bangladeshi couple have been battling to gain citizenship in Australia for 10 years. The Refugee Review Tribunal knocked back their claims three times, and three times a higher court has overturned the rulings.
The two men fled to Australia in 1999 after they were beaten, dragged out of their shared home, held up against a wall and pelted with stones. They escaped by crawling through a sewer. This incident was the most serious of the many assaults the lovers received.
Bangladesh has penalties for gay sexual acts. Section 377 of the Bangladesh penal code, inherited from British rule, makes “intercourse against the order of nature” a crime.
Escaping persecution, on their flight to Australia the couple ticked “married” on their visa papers. They had fallen in love four years before, moved in together, and faced attacks from homophobic community members. They ticked “married” because they considered themselves married to each other.
Call for Artists
