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US Army paratroopers charged with having sex on gay porn site
Seven paratroopers from the U.S. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division have been charged with "knowingly engaging in sex for money on a public Web site," the Army said in a statement last Friday.

The Army said three of the Fort Bragg, North Carolina soldiers face courts-martial on charges of pandering, sodomy and "wrongfully engaging in sexual acts with another person while being filmed with the intent of broadcasting the images over the Internet for money" and one of them for adultery. Four other soldiers received what the military calls non-judicial punishments. The Army has recommended that all be discharged.

Non-judicial punishments include reduction to the rank of private, 45 days of restriction to the unit area, 45 days of extra duty and forfeiture of a month's pay.

The 15,000 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne are among the Army's most elite soldiers, all having volunteered to serve in a unit that trains to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

Having sex while being taped is illegal under the U.S. Military Code of Justice although there are no direct references to the 82nd Airborne or Fort Bragg on the Web site. Its domain name however lists an address in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which neighbors Fort Bragg, where the 82nd is based.

"It seems to me their conduct is a much more serious matter than just their sexual orientation," said Steve Ralls, a spokesman for the Washington-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group that provides legal assistance to gay and lesbian members of the miltary and wants the Pentagon to repeal its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"I'm not going to make excuses for service members who are taking part in sexual conduct for money," said Ralls, who said the charges appeared to be appropriate. "It would be absolutely criminal regardless of whether they were heterosexual or gay."

The US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality states that "homosexual orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service."

Soldiers who violate the policy are discharged from the service.

Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd said 387 soldiers were removed in fiscal year 2005 and 325 in 2004.

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Gays in Hanoi get official association
Gay men and lesbians in the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam can now turn to the Hai Dang (Light House) club for social and support needs.

Initiated by the Hanoi-based center for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention and funded by Family Health International, the recently set up club aims to support gays in dealing with difficulty and targets to raise the awareness of the community on homosexuality. The club will organise events where members can meet and exchange information on health, society, culture and sports; and attend outdoor activities.

According to the Thanh Nien Daily, center director Pham Thi Nga said that club members are also active volunteers for HIV/AIDS and STD prevention projects. And while the club was initially set up for gay men, lesbians are also welcome to receive assistance through consulting services on HIV/AIDS and STDs.

While it took some time to get the nod to set up the club, Nga revealed that the the most difficult thing was a negative response from the gay community itself.

Many had refused to join the group saying that they were not out to their families and relatives.

Nha hopes to set up a similar group in Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The group is also planning to set up a web site; in the mean time, the club can be contacted by calling (+84) 47366653.

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Taipei gay rights activists to launch campaign to protest "obscenity" laws
Taipei gay rights activists on Monday called for the abolition of Article 235 of the Criminal Law which bans the sale or distribution of "indecent" materials, as the article was in violation of their sexual rights.

The move comes after the conviction of gay bookstore owner, J.J. Lai, nearly three years ago for selling gay magazines and "offending public morality." Lai had recently paid a fine of NT$45,000 (US$1,406) to the court after two failed appeals on the constitutionality of Article 235.

He called for the terms "indecent" and "obscene" to be clearly defined as judges were allowed too much discretion to decide what constitutes obscenity.

Wang Ping, director-general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan, was quoted as saying in the Taipei Times that the gathering at 228 Peace Park was a symbol of the lifting of martial law in the country, but that "martial law" on gay and sexual rights had not been abolished.

Academics in the alliance of gay and gender rights groups been formed to challenge the article discovered that the laws date back to 1922.

"Sexual rights should not be under the control of the government. They cannot regulate what you can or cannot read, or whether what you read is `obscene' or not," Lai said.

The alliance plans to launch an "Abolish Article 235" movement on June 27 to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York. The riots were a series of violent conflicts between gays and police officers and is regarded a turning point for the modern gay rights movement worldwide.

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Gay national service scheme for Israeli teens
Teenage conscripts in Israel can now choose to volunteer for a gay group instead of mandatory military service as of this week.

According to the news web site Ynet, the initiative will be available to anyone granted exemption from the Israeli Defense Forces. They will be able to complete their service through the Association of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexuals and Transgenders in Israel (Aguda).

Swapping the compulsory military service for national service is popular among females in the religious sector who opt to serve Israeli society outside the military.

The special scheme was made possible through an agreement signed between Aguda representatives and the Shlomit Association. The agreement was signed after years of attempts by the Aguda to receive official recognition that would allow it to recruit volunteers.

The head of Go Gay, an Israeli organisation for gay youth, Yaniv Weisman, welcomed the new agreement. "The youth organisation welcomes every initiative that benefits the community and will continue to work for the gay youth community using the help of professionals who volunteered in 30 groups across Israel."

More info on Aguda here: aguda-ta.org.il.