Fridae

Not mentally ill but still unfit to serve: Thai military
The Thai military said last week it will no longer define gays, transvestites and transsexuals as mentally ill - but still insists they are unfit to be soldiers. The new policy will list them as suffering from sexual identity problems.

The change comes after a transsexual, Samart Meecharoen, filed a complaint Wednesday with the Central Administration Court, challenging the military's policy as discriminatory. The university student said the term "permanently ill mentally" in his Army conscription record had prevented him from making any business deals or applying for any jobs, because he was regarded as legally incapable, reported The Nation newspaper.

"The military does not mean to discriminate against these people or violate their human rights but we are trying to find the word to show that they are not fit to serve in the military," said Maj. Gen. Phichai Pinsaikhaew, deputy chief of the military reserve command.

"To avoid the possible violation of human rights and discrimination, the military will change the term of wording in conscription from being mentally ill to suffering sexual identity problems."

According to media reports, men who dress as women or have undergone surgical procedures will receive certificates of exemption that are stamped "due to mental disorder."

Officials quoted say that between one to five percent of the people who show up for registration are gay transvestite or transsexual.

Although Thailand is considered to be quite tolerant of homosexuality and transsexuality, Thai laws do not recognise the reassigned gender of transsexuals in legal and travel documents nor for the purpose of marriage.

Former Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) champion Parinya Charoenphol (or Nong Toom as she is commonly known) has criticised the military's policy in a television interview after she herself was being exempted from the military. The 25-year-old, who had recently made a comeback in the kickboxing ring, had undergone sex change surgery in 1999 after announcing her retirement from kickboxing after a career.

"The words 'mental disorder' marked on the certificate seriously affects our lives," said Parinya who is probably the best-known male-to-female transgendered person in Thailand. People with mental disorders are also unable to make certain legal agreements and have difficulty seeking employment.

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Turkish gay magazine owner face prison
The chief editor/owner of Turkey's only LGBT magazine has been being accused of publishing pornographic material under the Turkish Penal Code.

If convicted, Umut Guner, who is the owner of the magazine and vice president of Kaos GL Association, may face up to three years of jail sentence. It comes after the July issue of the magazine was confiscated by Turkish authorities. The magazine is a quarterly journal of the association which has been a legally registered non-government organisation (NGO) since October 2005.

On July 24, 2006, issue 28 of Kaos GL magazine was confiscated on the same day it was printed by the Twelfth Ankara Justice Court - even before it was distributed to bookstores - because the court deemed its content to be 'pornographic'.

The issue contained a feature titled "Visuality of Sexuality, Sexuality of Visuality: Pornography," in which the relation of pornography to homosexuality is discussed by prominent Turkish writers, artists, academics, feminists and gay-lesbian individuals has been banned.

According to a statement regarding the ban, the group said: "From the beginning, we have developed arguments and given a struggle against putting homosexuality the same category with sexuality and putting sexuality with the same category with pornography."

"Not pornpography but criticising and questioning pornography is banned!"

Turkish Penal Code, Article 226, Part 2 states: "A person who broadcasts or publishes obscene images, printed or audio material or who acts as an intermediary for this purpose shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of six months to three years."

According to the magazine's web site, Kaos GL requested during the Penal Code review in 2005 that the "obscenity" article in the Turkish Penal Code be amended by clearly defining what constitutes obscenity."

Kaos GL appealed the decision to the Supreme Court; however he Supreme Court approved the lower court's decision. The court rejected the appeal to release the publication and declared that the decision is lawful and complies with the procedural proceedings. Ankara First Instance Criminal Court held with the decision to ban the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Studies and Solidarity Foundation's publication Kaos GL issue 28.

As further domestic appeals are not available, Kaos GL is planning to have the case heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). As part of its application for membership of the European Union, Turkey is expected to allow greater rights including freedom of speech and press and greater rights for the gay community.

Currently Umut Guner, owner of the magazine and vice president of Kaos GL Association, is facing up to three years of jail sentence.

Related site:
Kaosgl.com

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English official convicted for making gay remark
A Brighton and Hove councillor who made a remark that "equated gay people with paedophiles" was ordered to pay �250 (US$490) costs and received a conditional discharge after he has been found guilty of a public order offence.

The Brighton Magistrates' Court heard that at a mayor-making reception on 18 May, Peter Willows, 75, from Hove, East Sussex, was asked by James Ledward, the editor of gay magazine Gscene, if he thought another gay man standing with them, Councillor Paul Elgood, was a paedophile.

"Willows replied to that with, 'I know you are not Paul, it's the other gays,'" said Prosecutor David Packer.

Willows told the court that he had "lots of colleagues who are gay" and he "treat(s) them as normal, as they would wish to be treated." He denied a charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress.

Chairwoman of the bench Pauline Quinton found him guilty saying: "Because you knew that both men were gay... your remarks would inevitably be insulting."

Willows' barrister, Irena Ray-Crosby, said her client had made a "stupid mistake which he bitterly regrets."

Willows had been suspended from serving on Brighton and Hove City Council until the end of the trial.