EU Asylum for Gay Refugees-After the government of Cyprus rejected the application of a gay Iranian asylum-seeker, the European Commission has responded by saying persecution on grounds of sexual orientation is a legitimate justification for an asylum claim. A Cyprian government official told the county’s daily newspaper Politis, ‘We can not open a window to them and we can not accept gay asylum seekers to come to Cyprus’. A spokesperson for the European Commission issued a statement saying there is ‘an obligation on Member States to grant refugee status to persons who, following an individual examination of their application for asylum, are found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group, including a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation.’ The Iranian man in question has since been granted asylum in Cyprus.
Gay Discrimination a Myth-A Macedonian presidential candidate has caused a stir by claiming that discrimination against gay and lesbian people is a myth. Georgi Ivanov, a law professor and candidate for the conservative VMRO DPMNE party told a daily Macedonian newspaper, ‘Our system discriminates against no-one. Homosexuals stigmatise themselves and think they are in an underprivileged position.’ The former Yougoslav Republic of Macedonia is a candidate country for EU membership and will have to pass laws protecting sexual minorities from discrimination as part of the accession process. A September report by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights states that the atmosphere and attitude toward GLBTIQ persons in the former Yugoslav Republic has improved but certain persisting discriminatory attitudes exist at all levels and legal safeguards are insufficient.
Irishman On Top of the World-A 37 year old man from Dublin has been named Mr Gay World at a ceremony in Whistler, Canada. Max Krzyzanowski beat 19 other international competitors for the title, including Mr Gay Australia, Ben Edwards from Sydney. Mr Krzyzanowski accepted the award saying: ‘I am deeply honoured to win for Ireland and aware of the commitment and responsibilities that follow. My first message is to young people – it is time to stop being afraid. We are our own judges. If you fear the judgment of others you will never reach your true potential.’ Ben Edwards was named third runner up after Mr Gay Paraguay and Mr Gay Mexico, while representatives from Canada, Argentina, Austria, Colombia and South Africa rounded out the top 10.
GLBTI-free Academy Awards for Asia-Asian satellite television network, STAR is drawing widespread criticism for its censorship of last month’s 81st Academy Awards ceremony. STAR is one of the world’s largest broadcasters with more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries. While the live broadcast of the Academy Awards was uncensored, in later showings the sound was cut every time someone mentioned the words ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’. Spokesperson for STAR, Jannie Poon told the Associated Press that they did not mean to offend gay people but that the company has ‘a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.’
