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Hong Kong Police raid gay party
Hong Kong's Police Tactical Unit (PTU) raided a party organised by a local gay magazine featuring a fashion show last Saturday. Ten members of the unit stormed the venue, a bar in the King's Hotel in the Wan Chai district, shortly after midnight and began searching members of the audience. More than 300 patrons - mostly gay men - were lined up and searched.

One of the organisers told the Hong Kong Standard, "The music suddenly stopped and the PTU Unit men and women, as well as three to four men in civilian clothes, came in and selectively searched guests and checked their ID cards.''

"I cannot understand it. We've hired professional choreographers and models for the show and there was no sexually explicit action or scene in it," the man said. The show was to have featured menswear, swim and underwear.

According to the report, the Police denied they were targeting the event because it was gay, but they will not reveal why they raided the show or what they were looking for. A 35-year-old man, who was arrested for drug possession, was detained by the Police.

One guest, though, said that police are taking an increasingly aggressive stance against Hong Kong's gay community, adding that several weeks ago he was stopped and searched at a gay rave, also in Wan Chai.

The Hong Kong government is currently considering legislation to grant equal rights to gays and lesbians although a recent poll revealed that 60 percent of respondents said there was no need for such legislation and nearly 70 percent said they were unaware of sexual discrimination.

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Beijing gears up for second gay and lesbian film festival, April 22 to 24

Some 10,000 people are expected to participate in Beijing's second gay and lesbian film festival this weekend.

Organised by the Film Association of Beijing University, 14 films are expected to be screened from April 22 to 24 at the university. Of the 14, seven are fictions produced by directors from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, while five are local documentaries. Two French films, Jeanne et le Garcon Formidable and The Dream Life of Angels are scheduled to be screened at the Beijing French Cultural Center.

The first Beijing Gay and Lesbian Film Festival opened four years ago at Beijing University on Dec 14, 2001 attracting some 3,000 people. During the event, all the Chinese mainland movies related to homosexual topics were presented, including the first Chinese homosexual movie West Palace, East Palace (1996) and the first lesbian movie Fish and Elephant (2000).

Discussions will be held about sex, sexual orientation and sexual health to coincide with the upcoming festival's "sexual health" theme.

Many of the films will have English subtitles and the ticket price for each film is 10 yuan (US$1.20). More schedule information is available at http://bglff.byhoo.com.cn.

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Gay groups disappointed with cardinals' choice for pope, seeing Ratzinger as church's most outspoken foe of equal rights

Gay groups and Catholics in the US have expressed disappointment with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope on Tuesday, saying the conservative theologian was almost certain to mean their continued estrangement from the mainstream church.

The German-born 78-year-old, who was elected just 27 hours after the conclave of cardinal-electors got under way, has been a flash point for controversy between liberal and conservative Catholics. As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was not only John Paul's theological watchdog for 20 years but also his closest aide and the principal ghostwriter of many of John Paul's social statements that were coldly received by many Catholics.

In 1986, Ratzinger issued a Vatican denunciation of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. He said, "Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil."

He is also outspoken in his opposition to contraception, an expanded role for women in the church and openness to other religious traditions such as Buddhism as part of God's plan for humanity. His authorship of the Vatican statement Dominus Iesus in 2000 labeled other Christian faiths as defective.

The newly elected Pope will be known as Pope Benedict XVI.

The leadership of DignityUSA, the organisation for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Catholics reacted with dismay to the election of Ratzinger.

DignityUSA President Sam Sinnett said, "The new Pope is seen as the principal author of the most virulently anti-gay, anti-GLBT rhetoric in the last papacy. The elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger is being seen by many GLBT Catholics as a profound betrayal by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and betrayal of one of the most fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ as the loving Good Shepherd who reached out to the ones separated from the flock. We believe the 21st century Roman Catholic hierarchical shepherds are themselves lost and it is up to the flock to call them back."

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, issued a statement on April 19:

"Today, the princes of the Roman Catholic Church elected as Pope a man whose record has been one of unrelenting, venomous hatred for gay people, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

"In fact, during the reign of John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger was the driving force behind a long string of pronouncements using the term 'evil' to describe gay people, homosexuality, and marriage equality. As a long-time Catholic from a staunchly Catholic family, I know that the history of the church is full of shameful, centuries-long chapters involving vilification, persecution, and violence against others. Someday, the church will apologise to gay people as it has to others it has oppressed in the past. I very much doubt that this day will come during this Pope's reign. In fact, it seems inevitable that this Pope will cause even more pain and give his successors even more for which to seek atonement."

The Human Rights Campaign pointed to years of statements by Cardinal Ratzinger, in expressing concern about the Catholic Church's future treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

"We hope that Pope Benedict XVI will follow the biblical tradition of expressing love and compassion for all," said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

"In the past, he has made deeply disturbing comments regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people so his selection as the 265th pope is distressing. It's imperative that there be a positive conversation with the Catholic Church about GLBT people of faith and we welcome that discourse."

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