Kilifi district, media hysteria and outrage by clerics over a non-existent gay wedding whipped up mob violence that began on February 12, unleash-

ing a house-to-house witch hunt by anti-gay vigilantes, street attacks targeting gay men, the sacking of an AIDS-fight- ing medical center, and a widening wave of ultra- homophobic national media coverage.

From Nairobi, the nation’s capital, Denis Nzioka, a prominent 24-year-old gay activist, told Gay City News, “Ever since the outburst of vio-

Asylum Rules
Changes May
Not Help Gays

rewrite its asylum regulations that govern “membership in a particular social group” deemed at risk for persecu- tion in a foreign country, a category that some gay, lesbian, and transgendered asylum seekers claim, the federal agen- cy’s clarification of those regulations may not aid queer immigrants looking for refuge.

In December, DHS placed a notice in the Federal Register, where proposed and final US government rules are pub- lished, saying it would amend the regs to state that “gender can be a basis for membership in a particular social group”

the Great’s
Shocking
Demise

on February 11 of the suicide of designer Alexander McQueen, who’d apparently hung himself in his Mayfair apartment in London. A New York show of his line, “McQ,” scheduled on that day was cancelled, and his website was liter- ally blacked out, save for this announce- ment:

“On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage, it is inappro- priate to comment on this tragic news

chained them- selves together and attempted a blockade of Manhattan’s marriage bureau on the morn- ing of February 12 after several same-sex couples entered the bureau and were denied marriage licenses.

“The system is broken,” said Alan L. Bounville as he stood at the entrance of the bureau chained to three other men. “We the people have the power to fix the system.”

Arrested with Boun- ville were Jake Goodman, Gabriel Yuri Bollag, and Justin Elzie. The four were arraigned late in the day on February 12, and each was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, a violation, and one count of obstruction of governmental adminis- tration, a misdemeanor.

Police handled the pro- test politely, giving the four an opportunity to leave before they were arrested. It took a police emergency services unit roughly 30 minutes to arrive on the scene with bolt-cutters. People con- tinued to enter and exit the building during that time. The group chanted and Bounville gave a brief speech while chained to the steps. A Bloomberg administration spokes- man, Jason Post, was on site during the action and

Earlier, roughly a half- dozen same-sex couples went into the marriage bureau on Worth Street in Lower Manhattan and asked for marriage licens- es. They were refused the licenses.

Joining those couples were friends Natasha Dil- lon, a lesbian, and Sergio Llanos, a gay man. They sought and received a marriage license despite

having no intention of get- ting married, illustrating the injustice of New York’s refusal to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed,

“We are allowed to get married even though we don’t love each other,” Dil- lon said before going into

Roughly two dozen people participated in the morning protest by enter- ing the bureau or join- ing a picket outside.

The marriage bureau action by Queer Rising, a newly created activist group, is the fourth since it formed immediately after the New York State Senate’s December 2 vote rejecting gay marriage.

Later that month, members of Queer Ris- ing crashed a Christmas party held by State Sena- tor Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who was expelled from that body on February 9 in the wake of his conviction for an assault against his girlfriend. Monserrate, who had long said he sup- ported marriage equal- ity, was one of eight Sen- ate Democrats who voted against gay marriage in that 38-24 loss.

Ugandan Mission to the United Nations over pro- posed legislation in that country that would pun- ish homosexuality with harsh prison sentences, including the death pen- alty in some cases. The group also conducted a series of actions in Man- hattan on January 18, the

national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader.

Bounville was among roughly 50 gay activists from across the nation who gathered in Tennes- see in January to strat- egize on how to advance the interests of the queer community.

q Wa ll s
q C eilings
qDoors
q Tr im

I’m very reasonable
& I work hard to
earn your business!

The marriage bureau action
by Queer Rising, a newly
created activist group, is the
fourth since it formed.

Lesbian Natasha Dillon and Sergio Llanos, a gay man, who obtained a marriage license to highlight the injustice of New York law that prevents them from doing the same with the person they love.

Side Democratic Con- gresswoman Carolyn Maloney led a group of LGBT, human rights, and religious leaders outside Uganda House, that nation’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in demand- ing that its parliament aban- don efforts to enact a draconian anti-gay law that would impose requirements on citizens to report homosexuals to the gov- ernment and could result in the death penalty in some cases.

Following a press conference where she was joined by cler- gy, including the Reverend Dr. Eugene Callender, retired pastor of Manhattan’s St. James Pres- byterian Church, and represen- tatives from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Immi-

gration Equality, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights First, Maloney hand-delivered a letter addressed to Uganda’s perma-

nent representative to the UN, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, that described the proposed legisla- tion as “an affront to the univer-

Saying she feared the law would incite violence against LGBT Ugandans, the congress- woman wrote, “It is hate in its rawest form.”

Callender, a longtime African- American religious leader in New York, four days earlier had attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, where President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clin- ton both condemned the legisla- tion.

“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscio- nable to target gays and lesbi- ans for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recent- ly in Uganda,” the president told those assembled at the Hilton

Washington Hotel on February 4, according to a transcript pro- vided by the White House.

Moments earlier, Clinton told the Washington audience, “Every time I travel, I raise the plight of girls and women, and make it clear that we expect to see changes. And I recent- ly called President [Yoweri] Museveni, whom I have known through the Prayer Breakfast, and expressed the strongest concerns about a law being considered in the parliament of Uganda. We are committed, not only to reaching out and speak- ing up about the perversion of religion, and in particular the use of it to promote and justify terrorism, but also seeking to find common ground.”

The statements followed sev- eral issued by the US govern- ment in recent months voic-

 KIT CHENS
 BAT HRO O M S
FLOORS
PAINTING
etc…

The protest and press conference outside Uganda House on East 45th Street included (l. to r.) Scott Long of Human Rights Watch, the Reverend Dr. Eugene Callender, Paul LeGendre of Human Rights First, and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.