Judge: Go straight or lose children

On July 24, Spain’s judicial committee announced it is investigating a judge who denied a lesbian custody of her two daughters.

Judge Fernando Ferrin Calamita recently ordered a lesbian to either enter a relationship with a man or turn her children over to her former husband, saying that having a lesbian mother “raised the risk” that the girls would also become gay.

“It is understood that a parent’s drug addiction, child abuse, prostitution, belonging to a satanic sect or heterosexual affair would negatively affect the children and serve as a reason for a change of custody. Well, it’s the same with homosexuality,” Calamita said.

The judge’s decision goes against laws passed by the Spanish government in 2005 that allow same-sex couples to marry and to adopt children.

When the unidentified woman came out, she left her husband and took their two daughters with her. Her former husband was fighting for custody and told the court she was a lesbian.

She is expected to appeal the ruling and has filed a formal complaint about the ruling with the Supreme Court judicial ethics branch.

On July 23, 15 women’s and gay groups filed a complaint before the General Council of the Judiciary, which oversees judicial conduct in Spain.

Records reveal Arafat died of AIDS

Recently uncovered medical reports have revealed that Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat died of AIDS.

Arafat died Nov. 11, 2004, at a military hospital in Paris. The newly released medical records end years of speculation that Arafat was assassinated.

The official cause of death was not released at the time because French law prohibits distribution of medical records to anyone other than immediate family. A copy of Arafat’s medical report was obtained in 2005 by the Palestinian Authority as part of an internal investigation into Arafat’s death.

During Arafat’s illness, there was some suspicion that he was gay and dying of AIDS. Islam forbids homosexuality.

Arafat’s wife, Suha, lived mostly abroad and rarely saw her husband.

James J. Welsh, the National Security Agency’s former chief analyst of Arafat’s communications, said the United States had specific information indicating that the Palestinian leader was involved with a number of teenage boys.

“Arafat always had several 13-15-year-old orphaned boys in his entourage,” Welsh said. “We figured out [in the 1970s, while Arafat was based in Tunis] that he would often recall several of these boys to Beirut just before he would leave for a trip outside Lebanon. It proved to be a good indicator of Arafat’s travel plans. While Arafat did have a regular security detail, many of those thought to be security personnel, the teenage boys, were actually there for other purposes.”

Asian/Arab Web site launches

Asian and Arab GLBT people have a new online meeting place.

MySalaam.com recently debuted, offering content for both men and women including features, articles, blogs, message boards, community news and listings.

“I chose the name ‘salaam’ because it is a word of greetings, peace and love that is shared by many peoples of Middle Eastern and Asian heritage,” said Simran, MySalaam.com’s founder and coordinator. “I wanted to bring together these different, inter-connected communities.”

Simran said the site is a place for Arab and Asian people seeking support and advice around their sexuality, health and social issues.

“MySalaam.com is the first fully interactive, non-religious-based U.K. Web site for Asian and Arab LGBTs,” he said. “We needed a space that isn’t just about dating and sex. I wanted to create an environment where we could share experiences and unite against the Islamophobia and racism that creeps its way into the LGBT community.”

S. Pacific Games nixes sex ban

Samoan officials recently retracted a warning for athletes that gay sex at the 13th Annual South Pacific Games would not be acceptable.

Every four years, 22 countries participate in the multi-sporting event, which starts Aug. 25 in the Samoan Capital of Apia.

Early in July, Team Samoa issued a memo to its athletes and officials banning them from engaging in gay or lesbian sex at the games.

“Do not embarrass yourself, your family and your country by trying this in the village,” the memo said in a section about gay relationships. “Best not to even think about this. It’s against the law of God!”

After the memo was publicized the Samoa National Olympic Committee president, Tapasu Leung Wai, ordered that the rule be changed, informing the press that the instructions were a simply a draft of the rules and had not been officially accepted by the committee.

“I regret that it appeared that gay people were being singled out in the draft instructions,” he said.

Homosexuality is illegal in Samoa and is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Reggae artist denies gay lyric agreement

Reggae performer Beenie Man recently denied the he signed an agreement to stop performing music with anti-gay lyrics.

Last month, Stop Murder Music, a group founded by Outrage, a GLBT-rights organization, announced that Man, along with two other reggae singers, had signed an agreement that they would no longer perform songs that promoted violence against gays.

In the agreement, called the Reggae Compassionate Act, the artists agreed to “respect and uphold the rights of all individuals to live without violence due to their religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or gender.”

But in a recent interview with a Jamaican newspaper, Man claimed he never signed the pledge. He did, for the first time, say that he did not approve of violence against gays, although he still opposes homosexuality.

“I’m not supporting a gay lifestyle because it’s not wholesome to me,” he said.

Man would not say if he would continue to sing his hit tune, “Bad Man Chi Chi Man,” which contains lyrics GLBT-rights groups say instructs listeners to kill gays.

Anti-gay lyrics by reggae artists have been linked to violence against gays in both the U.K. and Jamaica.

Trucker alleges discrimination

A transsexual woman is seeking thousands of dollars in compensation in a claim that she was forced out of her job as a trucker.

Vikki-Marie Gaynor, 37, has been a transport trailer driver since she was a teen, but when she began to transition she claims her shifts were cut and she was subjected to harassment leading her to quit.

Gaynor got the job with Exel Europe through the Blue Arrow recruitment agency and said at first she got along well with her bosses and other workers. But that all changed when she began to transition, she maintained.

“When I first started I was a respected driver, I turned up for work on time and did my job very professionally,” she said. “My bosses knew me as Mike and had no idea I was a transsexual. But almost as soon as I told them I was changing my name to Vikki-Marie and entering the transition stage of my gender reassignment, things changed. I started getting hurtful comments and my shifts started being cancelled without warning. In the end, I realized I could no longer go into work; it was too painful.”

If Gaynor is successful in her case, both Exel and Blue Arrow could be forced to pay nearly $1 million.