Petition to Stop Deporting Gays & Lesbians

Recent cases highlight the extreme danger lesbians and gays face because of their sexuality if deported to a number of countries. Sending people back to their possible death is totally unacceptable.

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop deporting gays and lesbians to countries where they may be imprisoned, tortured or executed because of their sexuality."

U.K. Residents Click Here to Sign Petition!

U.K. Petition to NHS & Prime Minister "Stop Gay Blood Ban"

"The UK is currently dangerously low in it's stocks of blood.Therefore the NHS spends lots of taxpayers money on advertising and marketing costs in order to increase donor levels.

However, if the NHS changed one simple rule, they could potentially have several million extra donors eligible to give blood - instantly and without any marketing costs.

How? Allow gay people to give blood.

The UK law is outdated, stereotypical and discriminatory towards gay men.
More than that, it is risking lives - the UK urgently needs more blood.

A straight man who has sex with a different girl every weekend can give blood TODAY.
Intravenous Drug users can give blood after 1 year.
Prostitute users can give blood after 1 year.
Those who have had sex abroad in a high risk HIV country can give blood after 18 months.

Gay men are banned FOR LIFE, even if they've only ever had sex with one partner and they used protection."

SIGN THE PETITION that will be sent to the NHS blood donor Chief Executive and the Prime Minister later in 2008.

U.K. Demonstration Against Kenneth Zucker

Demonstration against Ken Zucker (the man who proposes reparative therapy for gender variant kids)

October 1st, 8.30am, The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE

The demo is organized in cooperation with the Police and will take place outside the Royal Society of Medicine.

(Just behind Debenhams/House of Fraser, Nearest tubes are Bond Street and Oxford Circus)

Gay Artist in U.K. Faces Deportation - Action Needed!

UPDATE: Originally scheduled to be deported on Azerbaiajan Airlines, we asked activists to email and call the company not to deport him, they caved in and Azerbaijan Airlines will not be deporting Babi.

He will now be deported from Heathrow Airport at 15:15 today on flight BD929 British Midlands Airways (BMI) to Baku.

Please contact BMI and let them know in no uncertain terms of the huge level of damage this deportation will do to their company.
Telephone: 0870 6070 555 or 08712240224 or +44 (0)1332 64 8181 (callers outside UK)
Also you can call the BMI switchboard (ask for a senior manager): 01332854000
Fax: 01709 314993

It appears the most effective number to call is 01332854687 extension 2 and speak to press officer Rob Coveney.

Customer Relations: 01332854321 extension 2

E-Contact Form for BMI

Please say:
- Babi is medically unfit to travel, and is under threat in Azerbaijan.
- That Azerbaijan Airlines were orginally meant to deport later on today, but they refused for ethical reasons.
- Threaten a boycott of the company and serious finacial consquences that that will cause.
- Highlight the damage it will cause the BMI brand from the large amount of press coverage this will get (point out that there has been a large amount of press coverage of Babi’s case alredy)

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Online Petition: Click Here

Write to the home office and refer to ref. number: B1234623

Send to: Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department,
Mail: 3rd Floor Peel Buildings, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF
Fax: 020 8760 3132 (00 44 20 8760 3132 if you are faxing from outside UK)

E-mail: jacqui.smith@homeoffice.gov.uk

H/T to Unzipped: Gay Armenia for the story.

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"Babakhan Badalov (Babi) is an openly gay, internationally renowned radical artist and poet from Azerbaijan. His art and poetry have been explicitly critical of the government and present/past presidents. These factors have led Babi to become a target of repression and persecution over many years. He has recently been described by the government and prominent public figures as being a traitor to Azerbaijan.

Because of his sexuality and the radical nature of his creative activities, he has endured government-led suppression from the Ministry of National Security (MNS – Azerbaijan’s modern-day version of the KGB), together with physical and mental abuse from other sectors of society. All this has taken place in a Muslim country, where homosexuality remains an extremely taboo subject. This led one of Babi’s brothers to threaten to kill him because of the shame which he has brought on the family.

As a result of beatings and bullying over the years Babi has only eight teeth remaining and suffers from a number of mental health problems – such as anxiety and panic-attacks, suicidal tendencies, together with insomnia and a general feeling of depression."

Help Ugandan Gay Man Gain Asylum

UPDATE: Mr. Nyombi was scheduled for deportation this past Sunday and refused to board a plane to Uganda. Officials allowed him to refuse boarding the plane. Currently he is being held in the airport, which gives us activists and legal groups more time to demand justice for him. Please continue to urge for his asylum to be granted.

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We have two asylum granting cases in the U.K. dealing with a gay man (John Bosco) and a lesbian (Prossy Kakooza) who face a return to Uganda where they will likely be killed due to their sexual orientation. The U.K. has decided not to grant asylum to these two individuals, posing a serious threat to their security. Please ensure their asylum in the U.K. Please immediately contact the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration within the Home Office about granting asylum to both John Bosco Nyombi and to Prossy Kakooza.

Write to Liam Byrne, the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration within the Home Office Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk (Please ensure you put FAO Liam Byrne, Minister in the subject line)

Petition to stop deportation:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/john-bosco-nyombi

Help Ugandan Lesbian Gain Asylum

"Prossy Kakooza is a 26-year-old woman seeking asylum in the UK. She fled Uganda after suffering vicious sexual, physical and verbal attacks due to her sexual orientation.

Prossy had been forced into an engagement when her family discovered her relationship with the girlfriend she met at university. Both women were marched two miles naked to the police station, where they were locked up.

Prossy’s inmates subjected her to gross acts of humiliation. She was violently raped by police officers who taunted her with derogatory comments like ‘’we’ll show you what you’re missing’’ and ‘’you’re only this way because you haven’t met a real man’’. She was also scalded on her thighs with hot meat skewers.

Prossy was eventually taken out of prison after her father bribed the guards. Her family had decided they would sacrifice her instead, believing this would ‘’take the curse away from the family’’.

Whilst her family were making arrangements to slaughter her, Prossy managed to flee to the United Kingdom to seek asylum.

When Prossy went for treatment to her local GP’s surgery in the UK they were so shocked by the extent of her injuries they called the police.

She was taken to the St. Mary’s Centre in Manchester, and she is still receiving counselling there for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Prossy’s asylum application has been refused by the Home Office, who acknowledge she was brutally raped and burnt because of the medical evidence, but have dismissed these appalling attacks as ‘’the random actions of individuals’’, and state she can be returned to a different town in Uganda.

This judgement ignores the clear danger to gay people throughout the country where the penalty for homosexuality is life imprisonment.

Also, in Uganda, you cannot settle in a new town without a reference from your previous village, and on the basis she is a lesbian, Prossy would be subjected to similar persecution wherever she went.

We consider that if Prossy is sent back, she faces the continuing threat of incarceration, and further sickening attacks - which next time may be fatal.

Prossy is a highly educated woman who can be a productive member of society.

She has a right to be free with her sexuality, which is causing no harm to anyone, and she has a right not to be raped, attacked, or murdered.

Please see below to discover how you can help Prossy to live a valued and productive life in safety and security." (MCC Manchester)

Prossy's Video Story:


How you can help

1. Download the petition, print it off, get it signed by yourself, your family, friends, work colleagues, drinking buddies and anyone else you know! Please return the petition to us so we can send it off to the Home Office - our address is at the bottom of the petition.

2. Sign the online petition and promote this to your friends and contacts via your emails, blog or personal website.

3. Write to Liam Byrne, the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration within the Home Office Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk (Please ensure you put FAO Liam Byrne, Minister in the subject line)

Or fax your letter to him on 0870 336 9034,

or write to him at:

Mr Liam Byrne MP
Minister of State for Borders and Immigration
Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF

Word of the Gay: "Buggery"

"Buggery" is an English term that is close to the definition of sodomy. "Bugger" and "buggery" are used as profanities and are also synonymous with anal sex.

Tell U.K. Prime Minister to Ban Queerphobic Music & Artists!

"Many artists from certain music genres seem to promote a hatred of homosexual and transsexuals in their lyrics. Urge the government to ban the sale of such material, and also ban the said artists from performing in the UK. The music is poisoning youth attitudes to LGBT people, BAN IT NOW!"

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to To ban any music or artists from performing in the UK whose lyrics promote homophobia and transphobia"

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/phobiamusic/

U.K. Campaign Against Homophobic Bullying

The Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign to end homophobic bullying in schools across the U.K.

The call is for the following to support and protect the victims of homophobic bullying:

1. Homophobic taunts and name calling in schools should be challenged immediately by staff.

2. All schools' anti-bullying policies should be required to include measures specifically to deal with homophobic bullying.

3. At least one teacher in every school should undergo training which includes how to tackle homophobic bullying.

Please sign the petition which will be sent to the House of Commons and Lords as part on ongoing work to amend the current Education and Inspections Bill to tackle this problem

http://www.libdems.org.uk/campaigns/stop-homophobic-bullying.html