500,000 petition against Uganda's anti-gay HIV-hate law

posted: 09/03/2010

Half a million people signed a petition delivered to the Ugandan Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi on March 1 opposing the proposed law that would jail gays for life and punish men with HIV with the death penalty.
The petition came from HIV-positive Anglican priest, Canon Gideon Byamugisha, along with other religious leaders and HIV activists, including former Anglican Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo.

"In the interests of safer, healthier, more peaceful, and more prosperous lives for all Ugandans; we as Aids Service Providers, pastors and spiritual mentors of all Ugandans are calling for the withdrawal of this Bill from Parliament," the petition read in part. "We are united in opposing this Bill because if passed into law it threatens the health, peace and well being of Ugandan citizens and goes against the Ugandan Constitution."

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 would
• jail for life anyone convicted of the ‘offense’ of homosexuality,
• punish ‘aggravated homosexuality’ – which means anyone who is HIV-positive and has gay sex -- with the death penalty,
• forbid the ‘promotion of homosexuality,’
• lock up gay-rights campaigners, and
• jail people in positions of authority for up to three years for failing to report within 24 hours all LGBT people or sympathisers they know.

Source

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NF HIV Hate in Village

posted: 10/12/2009

Stickers have been popping up around Canal Street, the heart of Manchester’s gay village saying ‘'National Front. Homosexuality Equals AIDS. The Queer Plague.’

They have been defaced or torn down by locals whenever they are spotted and Greater Manchester Police were called in after several complaints on Monday December 7th.

Taking DIY Action

Josh says “As a positive gay man walking through our community on Canal Street last weekend, I was appalled to find a sticker placed there by the National Front attacking us as a community. The ignorance and prejudice held by the National Front is just shocking, if it wasn't so ludicrous. Looking at the sticker you can clearly see skulls in the red and one of the letters in a shape of a coffin. Why should I, let alone anyone else in our gay community, or even Manchester have to deal with such stigma, discrimination or hatred in 2009? This offensive and disturbing sticker was thankfully defaced by myself and my good friends.”

Kath Morgan, Awareness Raising and Events Coordinator at George House Trust commented
“This kind of ignorant and abusive attitude takes us back to the late 70’s and early 80’s when the gay community came together with other marginalised groups to fight the spectre of fascists trying to impose their evil views.
The gay community was not cowed then and HIV positive people will not be cowed or frightened now by this crass attempt to demonise HIV positive people.
We must be ever vigilant for those who would seek to malign and divide our community and we must also remember that HIV positive people are very much part of our diverse gay community and that we are stronger by far when we support each other and stick together in the face of such bigotry.”

Recruiting

The sticker gives a phone number. This simply takes you to an answer-phone message about NF membership.

The NF website says homosexual or lesbian relationships are not valid alternatives to heterosexual marriage. They would repeal laws ‘permitting homosexuality and its promotion’. The National Front says if elected it would make homosexuality once again illegal: “Gay bars will be closed, soaps will have their gay story lines removed and public displays of homosexuality, lesbianism and transgenderism will also be made illegal.”
 

Disability Hate Crime Conference

posted: 02/02/2009

Manchester is to have a Disability Hate Crime conference in March. Disability hate crimes are crimes where prejudice and discrimination were behind the main offence - so a physical attack with abuse about having HIV would be assault made worse because of the disability hate crime abuse.

The law automatically treats HIV as a disability so people living with HIV have this extra legal protection. The way the law works is if a person is found guilty of the main offence (such as assault), then the court should then consider whether there is also evidence of a hate crime. If there is evidence of a hate crime, the punishment should be increased.

The Manchester conference will look at how well the law is actually working. The problem is people rarely report any disability hate crimes, especially those involving stigmatised conditions like HIV. However there has been at least one HIV disability hate crime that did come to court in the NorthWest - a violent assault over HIV disclosure

The Crown Prosecution Service conference is a way to work with disabled people and local advocacy groups to identify what CPS Greater Manchester and other Manchester Criminal Justice Agencies can do to boost the confidence of people with HIV and other disabilities to report hate crime. It will also show how Criminal Justice Agencies are trying to support disabled people who have endured hate crimes.

On the conference agenda is the chance to

• talk about your needs and concerns

• talk about practical ways to boost confidence in reporting Disability Hate Crime.

Want to take part?

The conference is on Thursday 5 March (9:30 am – 4:00pm) at Manchester Town Hall.

To attend you need to book a place. Please complete both the booking and monitoring forms and return them to david.leighton@cps.gsi.gov.uk by Monday 16 February or call 0161 827 4715. The conference agenda is here.
 

Disability Hate Crime Report

posted: 16/12/2008

The Crown Prosecution Service has published its 2008 report into hate crime prosecutions. One section of the report deals with disability hate crimes.

2007-08 is the first year that they have collected figures on disability hate crime.
• In the year ending March 2008, 183 defendants were prosecuted for disability incidents.
• In 2007-08, 77% of cases resulted in a conviction.
• In 2007-08, the guilty plea rate was 72%.
• Offences against the person were the most common offences linked with disability hate crime. Burglary, theft and handling were also common.
• In 2007-08, 83% of those prosecuted were white British and 82% were men.

There are no figures published for prosecutions involving attacks on people living with HIV. There might have been some cases, but we have no information on any cases. We know it happens.

Hate Crime Report 2007-2008

Law Fails HIV Hate Crime

posted: 07/10/2008

Police and prosecutors are failing to tackle an epidemic of hate crime against disabled people, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales said last night.

The disability hate law automatically applies to everyone living with HIV.

Sir Ken Macdonald, the director of public prosecutions, said that too many people with disabilities live in fear because the criminal justice system is letting them down.

He told the Bar Council: "Disability hate crime is widespread. At the lower end of the scale there is a vast amount not being picked up. The more serious offences are not always being prosecuted as they should be."

Macdonald said examples of hate crimes included stones, yoghurt and bad eggs being thrown at the windows of disabled people. They were subjected to offensive remarks, including that they should have been "put down at birth".

There had also been serious assaults in which disabled people were "treated like animals [and] subjected to sustained, violent and viciously degrading treatment".

George House Trust reported a life sentence for a viscous HIV hate crime attack against a man from Manchester’s gay village in 2007.

Macdonald said that police and prosecutors must stop thinking of disabled people as inherently weak and easy targets. "This approach is wrong. It means that the opportunity to condemn the prejudice and hostility of the offender is missed."

He added: "Where there is evidence of hostility, police and prosecutors must ensure it is put before the court. It is our duty to give effect to the law which supports the struggle for disabled people to live as full and valued members of society. These offences represent a crude assault on their human rights."

The law was strengthened five years ago to make the courts regard hostility to disabled people as an aggravating factor in any crime, requiring stiffer penalties.

Macdonald said the police should look harder for evidence of prejudiced attitudes that could support a prosecution for disability hate crime.

Full text of his speech

Source