Fridae

The following is a statement from the ILGA-Asia Board on the cancellation of 4th ILGA-Asia Conference in Surabaya last month after dozens of protesters from hardline Islamic groups staked out the hotel and conference venue on what was to be the first day of the conference.

The Hong Kong censors last month demanded five cuts to a male rape scene in Hong Kong director Scud's new film Amphetamine if to be shown at cinemas after its Asian premiere at the HKIFF. Fridae.com's HK correspondent, Nigel Collett reviews the Festival's four gay films and has more about what the censors object to. (You'll be surprised.)

Held Mar 24, the A Single Man fundraising gala raised S$10,000 (US$7,100) for the Fridae Community Development Fund.

As homosexual clergy get blamed for the decades-long sex abuse crisis facing the Catholic Church (not unlike gay men being frequently accused of child molestation), gay and Catholic political commentator Andrew Sullivan explains why the blame is thoroughly misplaced.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday revoked the decision of the Aligarh Muslim University to suspend a gay professor who was filmed having sex with a man in his official residence on the campus.

The recent cancellation of a planned Asian-wide conference of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in Surabaya reveals how far our society is from respecting human rights — and how close it is to slipping into religious fascism, writes Bramantyo Prijosusilo.

Fridae's Hong Kong correspondent Nigel Collett visits Hong Kong’s inter-denominational Christian community, the Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship which has, for nearly twenty years now, ministered to the LGBT community.

The Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women & Transgender Community (APIQWTC) will honour filmmaker, community activist, and educator Madeleine Lim with the 2010 Phoenix Award in recognition of her outstanding commitment serving the Asian Pacific Islander Community on Saturday, April 3.

While local conference organisers may face criminal charges, human rights advocates in Indonesia are simultaneously urging the police to arrest members of several Islamic groups who raided the hotel where participants were staying.

Pop singer and father to twin sons Ricky Martin declared publicly on his blog this week what he refused to discuss but was widely speculated for years: He is gay.