Mike Tidmus

Jim Burroway, of Box Turtle Bulletin, has passed along an alert and request from The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission asking anyone concerned with GLBT and human rights to contact the Ugandan authorities and express their concern that the country is poised to criminalize homosexuality and institute the death penalty under certain circumstances [...]

Take up the IDAHO Challenge (video: gays.com at YouTube) Queers United points to this great opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender filmmakers to take up the IDAHO — International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia — Challenge. Here’s the statement from Gays.com: The IDAHO Challenge is a community project by Gays.com to produce a user-generated [...]

Great news for free speech enthusiasts around the planet from the group American Atheists: Resolutions that would have banned “defamation of religion” were rejected by international bodies this week, prompting an Atheist group to all off plans to demonstrate at the United Nations building. The so-called “blasphemy” resolution introduced by Pakistan and supported by some [...]

Freedom Under Fire: U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Resolution – With Christopher Hitchens (Video: AtheistMediaBlog) Via RichardDawkins.net, we learn that the right to criticize and mock religion is under threat of being outlawed at the United Nations, in this case by a coalition of Islamic states. This is the same coalition that opposed the declaration presented to the [...]

Last December, French activist Louis-Georges Tin, with the enthusiastic support of France and the Netherlands, presented a document at the United Nations that called for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. The statement received the unqualified endorsement of every country in the European Union, Canada and Mexico, and many other countries around the world — 66 [...]

One week ago, the United State’s ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said, “Sixty years ago today, the United Nations General Assembly took the extraordinary step of adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was an historic day for all people and all nations — recognizing and enshrining the principle that ‘all human [...]

From the live UN webcast, Louis-Georges Tin addresses the United Nations (Photo: UK Gay News) Hero: In the screen capture above, queer activist Louis-Georges Tin addresses the United Nations on the historic occasion of the presentation to the United Nations of a statement on the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. The woman in the background is [...]

Here, via Andy at UK Gay News, is the press release from Louis-Georges Tin of IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) on the historic occasion of the presentation of a statement to the United Nations in support of the global decriminalization of homosexuality. If you watched the United Nations Webcast, you saw Louis-Georges Tin sing, unaccompanied, “We Shall Overcome” [...]

UK Gay News is reporting that Great Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary David Miliband has pledged to continue the fight toward ending global discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Speaking before the presentation of the statement calling for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality to the General Assembly of the United Nations, Miliband said: [...]

Via Therion, we learn that Peter Tatchell has the latest on the United Nations “declaration,” now to be called a “statement,” on the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. Tatchell reminds us, ”The U.S. government is one of the only western democratic nations that has declined to support a United Nations declaration calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality.” [...]

Paula L Ettelbrick, Executive Director of International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has issued an Action Alert in regard to the presentation to the United Nations this week of a declaration on the international decriminalization of homosexuality. Ms Ettelbrick provides contact information, some of which was previously posted here, and a sample letter [...]

In an editorial for Gay City News, writer/activist and Contributing Editor Doug Ireland has called for President-elect Obama and Secretary of State to be Hillary Clinton to lend their voices in support of the declaration for the global decriminalization of homosexuality set to be presented to the United Nations General Assembly between 15 and 20 [...]

Pressure the United States of America to sign the petition The execution of gay teen-agers, Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari, in Iran (Graphic: Mike Tidmus) In an article in the Christian Science Monitor the silence of the United States on the petition for the decriminalization of homosexuality to be delivered to the United Nations in the [...]

QUESTION: What do David Bowie, Cornel West, Salman Rushdie, Desmond Tutu, Edward Albee, Noam Chomsky, Meryl Streep, Lilly Tomlin, Pierre et Gilles, Tom Stoppard and Bernardo Bertolucci have in common? ANSWER: They all support the worldwide call for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality, which, in the form of a declaration/petition, is to be presented to the United Nations [...]

If you’ve be following along, you’re aware the Vatican is steadfastly opposing a declaration for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality that is to be presented to the United Nations. According to British activist Peter Tatchell, the document was to have been presented to the UN today, 10 December. However, the date for the presentation will [...]