by Rex Wockner - SGN Contributing Writer Argentina lifts military Gay ban
Argentina's military decriminalized homosexuality and lifted its Gay ban February 27.

Part of an overhaul of the military justice system, the change was approved by Parliament last year and took effect six months after passage.

U.S.-based Latino-issues blogger Andrés Duque called the move "one more LGBT rights development in a Latin American nation that leapfrogs over current U.S. policy."

Gays in the U.S. military are required to remain in the closet under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Prior to that time, Gays were not allowed in the U.S. military at all.

China also censored the Oscars
Following reports that Singapore's MediaCorp TV and the pan-Asian satellite network STAR censored Gay content from their broadcasts of the Academy Awards, the Huffington Post reported that China also deleted most of the show's Gay parts and deliberately mistranslated the rest.

China Central Television (CCTV) deleted the two Gay kisses that were part of the ceremony, removed Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech, and mistranslated Sean Penn.

Black, who won the original-screenplay Oscar for Milk, said, in part: "If Harvey [Milk] had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the Gay and Lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are 'less than' by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you, and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours."

Penn, who won the best-actor Oscar for his portrayal of Milk, said: "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns. ... For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against Gay marriage to sit and reflect, and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

CCTV translated "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns" as "You really are so generous," the Post said.

And the part about Gay marriage and shame was translated as "Everyone has equal rights."

In Singapore, MediaCorp truncated both Penn's and Milk's speeches. MediaCorp/Channel 5 censorship manager David Christie said the Media Development Authority Programme Code "explicitly disallows content that sympathizes with, promotes or normalizes such a lifestyle from being broadcast."

STAR, which reaches over 300 million people in more than 50 nations, muted the audio track each time the word "Gay" or "Lesbian" was uttered, reports said.

Drag royalty stripped of regalia by sergeant-at-arms
Mr. and Miss Gay Vancouver XXIX, along with the Emperor and Empress V of Surrey, were allowed to enter the Canadian province of British Columbia's Legislative Assembly only after removing their tiaras, crowns and sashes, The Vancouver Sun reported March 2.

"We had some trouble getting them into this house because of some, what I believe to be, antiquated rules here, but they are here, minus tiaras and sashes," New Democratic Party legislator Spencer Herbert said as he introduced the foursome to fellow legislators.

Legislative sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz explained that "protocol" prohibits headgear and certain other items inside the chamber, to maintain "dignity."

Gays file complaint against Canadian health-care system
Six Gay people from across Canada have filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission charging that government health agencies are ignoring GLBT health issues that have been highlighted in government-funded reports, Toronto's Xtra! reported.

"Over the past 10 years (Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada) have contracted with experts on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual health to produce studies on the many health issues that are endemic to our community and ask for recommendations how to address those issues," said Gens Hellquist, one of the complainants and executive director of the Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition. "To date none of those reports have been acted on and none of the numerous recommendations have been acted upon."

The reports have addressed Gay health issues such as lower life expectancy, suicide, substance abuse, depression, poor HIV care, and anal and breast cancer.

Serbia drops plan to protect GLBT people
A draft anti-discrimination law was withdrawn from active consideration in the Serbian Parliament on March 4 under pressure from the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Queeria web portal reported.

The church objected to two provisions in the legislation that need to be adopted if Serbians are to be allowed visa-free travel to the European Union.

One ensures the free expression and practice of religion or belief. The other bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and affirms the right to express one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill has been greenlighted by the government and various ministries, and the Ministry for Human Rights has said it will not allow any changes to the measure.

"The Serbian Orthodox Church is ... peeved off about those pesky homosexuals being treated like everybody else," said Queeria Editor in Chief Predrag M. Azdejkovic. "The church thinks that it is above everyone else and that it has the right to set the benchmark for so-called 'morality' [and] limit the rights of human beings who should be equal. What's even more worrying is that the Serbian Parliament bowed down to pressure and actually withdrew the law from procedure."

Cross-dressers arrested in Guyana
The South American nation of Guyana should halt arrests and police abuse of Transgender people and repeal a law that criminalizes dressing like the opposite sex, human rights organizations said March 5 in a letter to President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The letter was signed by the Caribbean Forum for Liberation of Genders and Sexualities, Global Rights, Guyana Rainbow Foundation, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination. They called on Guyanese authorities to drop the charges against seven people arrested under the law in February and investigate allegations of abuse by the police.

"Police are using archaic laws to violate basic freedoms," said Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch's LGBT Rights Program. "This is a campaign meant to drive people off the streets simply because they dress or act in ways that transgress gender norms."

Between February 6 and 10, police in the capital city, Georgetown, detained at least eight Transgender people, charging seven of them under a law that prohibits men and women from appearing in public in the clothes of the opposite sex for "any improper purpose."

Police kept five of the men in solitary confinement until the day of trial. All eight were fined $36 each, HRW said.

With assistance from Bill Kelley