World In Brief

Britain To Cut Aid To Anti-Gay Nations

Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell 

LONDON, UK -- The Tory led government announced that it will reduce financial aid to nations that persecute their LGBTQ citizens. A spokesperson for Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said:

“The government is committed to combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in all circumstances, in this country and abroad. We take action where we have concerns.

We now allocate funds every three months, rather than every year, so that we can review a country’s performance, for example on human rights, and take swift action when governments fall short. We only provide aid directly to governments when we are satisfied that they share our commitments to reduce poverty and respect human rights.”

The Secretary already cut aid to the African nation of Malawi by £19 million after two gay men there were sentenced to 14 years hard labour. Mitchell also warned Malawi leaders not to introduce plans imposing draconian new anti-lesbian laws.

Mitchell is also threatening to impose further aid sanctions against Uganda and Ghana for those nation's hard-line anti-gay measures. This policy was disclosed after Prime Minister David Cameron defended his decision to legalise gay weddings when he addressed last week's Conservative Party conference in Manchester.

Uganda, which expects to receive £70 million this year from Britain, has been considering legislation to strengthen current laws against gay people.

The harshest provisions call for the death penalty in “aggravated” cases of homosexuality, although parliament appears to have shelved the bill.

In Ghana, a government minister recently called for the arrest of all gay people in the country’s western region. This followed president John Evans Atta Mills’ pledge to curb the “menace” of homosexuality.

Mitchell’s deputy Stephen O’Brien told the president earlier this year that Ghana would lose its £36 million a year from Britain unless he stops persecuting gay people.   ~ Reporting from The Daily Mail

First Transgender Person May Serve In Poland's Parliament

Anna Grodzka

KRAKOW, POLAND -- Fifty seven year old Anna Grodzka is looking at the possibility of being the first transgender person to win a seat in the Polish Sejm (Parliament), after a new anti-clerical party stormed the national parliamentary elections winning an unprecedented third place finish. Ms. Grodzka finished her gender reassignment surgeries last year with the help of the Trans-Fuzja organisation focused on gender change.

The Telegraph, (London, UK) reports:

Topping the Palikot Movement party list in the devoutly Catholic southern city of Krakow - once home to the late Polish-born pope John Paul II - Ms Grodzka was thrilled by Sunday's strong showing at the polls.

"I'm not yet sure if I've been elected, but I'm very happy with the result scored by the Palikot movement," she said at a jubilant election night celebration at Palikot Movement headquarters in Warsaw.

"If I'll be elected in Krakow, I'll be Poland's first transgender woman, and the only transgender MP not only in Poland, but the entire world," she said. "In New Zealand, there was Georgina Beyer, but she is no longer an MP since 2007," Ms Grodzka added.

"Today, Poland is changing. I am the proof along with Robert Biedron, a homosexual and the head of an anti-homophobia campaign who ran for office in Gdynia," a city on Poland's Baltic coast.Dressed in a white shirt, a black skirt and ballerina flats, Ms Grodzka was overcome with emotion.

"I'm a leftist. For years I voted for the SLD (social democrats) until they corresponded to my ideals. But they failed in the area of moral values," she said.

Challenging Poland's powerful Roman Catholic Church and led by tycoon-provocateur Janusz Palikot, the Palikot Movement made a surprise breakthrough in its electoral debut Sunday - soaring to a third spot finish.