Mr Gay World to Ai | AP News

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — After Mr. Gay Ethpia entered the Mr. Gay World ntt, his father cut off all munitns. Mr. Gay Zimbabwe whdrew, fearg the publicy was makg life difficult for his mother. But Mr. Gay Namibia's fay acpanied him to the airport for a warm send-off when he left for the petn, which culmated for him and 21 other men late Sunday the fals at a Johannburg so. "Brg the trophy home," Namibia's Wenl Hamutenya said his mother told him. In the end, New Zealand's Andreas Derleth, a 32-year-old manager for a cha of statnery stor, was named Mr. Gay World. A disappoted Hamutenya said he would nohels return to Namibia to fight "for gay rights and human rights." Hamutenya said his experience shows that Ains and Ai n change. On the ntent, gay rights activists have been vilified, threatened and killed. Laws dozens of Ain untri ban homosexual acts. Proment Ain policians ridicule gays and mor policians grab headl by proposg even tougher anti-gay laws. "I hope and I believe that Namibia will be the send untry Ai to regnize the rights" of gays, Hamutenya said an terview. The first untry is South Ai, also the first Ain untry to host Mr. Gay World, which buted 2009 Canada. The bill of rights adopted after apartheid end South Ai 1994 explicly bans discrimatn on grounds of sexual orientatn. Same-sex upl n marry and adopt children South Ai. Teboha Mase, actg chairman of South Ai's Commissn for Genr Equaly, said she fought whe racist le alongsi openly gay ras, and that experience ma her and others aware of the need to enact legal protectns for gays. But she said when she travels farther north, "people say, 'You South Ains, you don't behave like Ains.'" Mase, whose ernment-appoted missn regularly speaks out support of gay and lbian rights, acknowledged an terview that even South Ai gays, lbians and others who don't f a tradnal fn of the sexual norm do face discrimatn and worse. Of particular ncern recent years have been attacks on lbians sometim lled "rrective rap." Mase said gay men often suffer silence, sometim mtg suici to pe tnts. She said poor, black gays and lbians are particularly vulnerable bee the muni which they live are nservative. South Ai's Mr. Gay World nttant, Lance Weyer, is whe. Weyer, a psychologist who recently won office on a cy uncil southeastern South Ai, said gays like him have the tn and money to fight back when their rights are vlated. That mak all the more important, he said, for succsful gays and lbians to speak out, both to be role mols for others and to shake up nservative attus. Weyer was named first nner up Sunday. Neher of the black Ain nttants ma to the fal 10. "We look for the bt man, whether he's whe or black or any other lor," said Tore Aasheim, one of the Mr. Gay World anizers, addg he hoped more nttants om Ai would participate future ntts. It isn't jt Ain gays who face difficulti. The Che nttant was unable to e to Johannburg bee of anti-gay prsure there, anizers said. Reprentatn was th om Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East — all regns where gay rights are unr threat. In the Uned Stat, projects like It Gets Better reach out to young homosexual to help them pe wh harassment, a remr that even the Wt, gays are vulnerable. The Amerin Mr. Gay World nttant, Kev Stt Power, is an elementary school teacher who said even young children experience anti-gay bullyg. Power, who fished fourth on Sunday, said he was not nervo at g to Ai, spe s homophobic reputatn. "We're all reprentg the people that don't have the power to stand up," Power told reporters Johannburg. Coenie Kk, Ai's director for Mr. Gay World, said the ntt produc a spokman and role mol for gays, particularly Ai. Prev wners of the ntt have gone to schools and universi to speak out about human rights. Priz clu $25,000 travel vouchers to enable the wner to spread his msage around the world. Kk said he has stggled to get more black South Ain and other Ain nttants. Mr. Namibia's story helps illtrate why that has been difficult, but also giv reason for hope. Hamutenya, who herd ws as a young boy remote northern Namibian, realized when he was his teens that he was attracted to men. He nfid to his father when he was 16. His father lled the police and had them take his son to a mental hospal. Hamutenya ped om the stutn and lived wh iends. Eventually, he and his father renciled. Hamutenya went on to study nursg South Ai, and returned to work as a midwife his home regn. Hamutenya said villagers rpect him bee of his work, and bee his fay is proment and known for s piety. Hamutenya himself once nsired beg a prit. Sce beg Mr. Gay Namibia, Hamutenya has lobbied for a repeal of his untry's anti-sodomy law. And he says policians have been receptive to his arguments. Hamutenya was badly beaten Wdhoek, Namibia's pal, after wng the Mr. Gay Namibia ntt last year. He believ the attack was a muggg, not a hate crime. Organizer Kk sisted that Mr. Gay World is not a bety pageant. Mr. Gay World clus an say tt on the history of the gay rights movement. But the swim su petn unts for more, acrdg to the judg' handbook. The seven judg are om around the world and clu journalists and an actor. Cary Alan Johnson, executive director of the New York-based Internatnal Gay & Lbian Human Rights Commissn, worri such glzy ntts feed stereotyp that uld cement the view, often heard Ai, that homosexualy is un-Ain. "Most of are of lor, poor, don't look like we go to the gym regularly," Johnson said a telephone terview. "Class do matter. It is poor men who experience the most opprsn." He gave Mr. Gay World cred for drawg attentn to discrimatn agast gays, particularly Ai. But Johnson said that durg a recent vis to Johannburg, he was dismayed to fd the advertisg featured two whe men — the South Ains who won Mr. Gay World 2011 and 2010. "The one thg they ought to do is change that poster," Johnson said. "Have one black guy up there wh no shirt on. Cater to a diverse dience."