Fridae

Chinese Vice Health Minister says government cannot neglect MSM in HIV fight
In its latest move to curb increasing HIV infection rates, China has announced that men who have sex with men are a major concern in the country's fight against the disease.

Chinese Vice Health Minister Wang Longde on Wednesday said that the Chinese government must admit that MSM exist and cannot neglect the population in its education and prevention efforts. He added that many MSM not only have sex with men, but also with women, who could already be infected with the HIV virus.

Wang made the comments at the Beijing Plus Ten meeting commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held from Aug 29 to Sept 1.

According to a survey conducted in 2004 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80 per cent of MSM in China are unaware of their risk of contracting HIV and believe they are not at risk of becoming HIV-positive.

The survey also found that 31.7 per cent of Chinese MSM have had one to 10 sex partners, 22.2 per cent have had more than 100 partners, 17.4 per cent have had female sex partners and 12.6 per cent are married.

According to the State-owned Xinhua news agency, government agencies published a report last November that put the number of gay men in China who are "of a sexually active age" at five to 10 million although scientists say this is the low end of the estimate. They figure that there are around 30 to 40 million homosexual men and women in total.

In 1997, China's Criminal Law decriminalised sodomy. In 2001, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders by health authorities.

Wang also said that China is analysing HIV/AIDS surveillance data for many regions of the country and plans to release "a much more accurate figure" of the country's number of HIV cases around World AIDS Day on Dec 1.

The Chinese government has estimated that there are 840,000 HIV-positive people in the country and that 80,000 of those people have AIDS. However, international experts and advocates say the actual number of HIV-positive people in China probably is between one million and 1.5 million.

UNAIDS has said that the number of HIV-positive people living in China could increase to 10 million by 2010 unless steps are taken to address the epidemic.

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California OKs gay marriage bill, Gov Schwarzenegger to decide
California has become the first legislature in the US to approve same-sex unions as the state Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act by a vote of 41 to 35 on Tuesday night.

The move, which redefines marriage as between "two persons" and not between a man and a woman, is now due to be considered by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who must decide whether to sign the bill. The Republican and former bodybuilding champion turned Hollywood star had previously expressed an acceptance of same-sex civil union but not marriages, and said that it's an issue that should be decided by voters or the courts.

The bill's supporters compared the legislation to earlier civil rights campaigns, including efforts to eradicate slavery and give women the right to vote.

"Do what we know is in our hearts," said the bill's sponsor, Mark Leno, an openly gay San Francisco Democrat. "Make sure all California families will have the same protection under the law."

California already gives same-sex couples many of the rights and duties of marriage if they register with the state as domestic partners.

Leno's bill had failed in the Assembly by four votes in June, but he was confident he could get it through on a second try after the Senate approved a same-sex marriage bill last week.

Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz called bans on gay marriage "the last frontier of bigotry and discrimination, and it's time we put an end to it."

Opponents however repeatedly cited the public's vote five years ago to approve Proposition 22, an initiative put on the ballot by gay marriage opponents to keep California from recognising same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.

Same-sex weddings have been a contentious political issue in the US since February 2004 when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed city officials to issue marriage licenses to hundreds of gay couples.

During last year's presidential campaign, President George W. Bush called for a Constitutional amendment banning gay weddings, and voters in 11 states passed similar measures in November.

Massachusetts' highest court ruled in November 2003 that the state constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry. The nation's first state-sanctioned, same-sex weddings began taking place in May 2004.

Vermont began offering civil unions in 2000, after a ruling by the state's Supreme Court. Earlier this year, Connecticut became the first state to approve civil unions without being forced by the courts.

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