Why the Pacific islands are no gay paradise - Monash Universy

Contents:

• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS FIJI
• GAY LIFE FIJI? - FIJI FOM
• GAY FRIENDLY FIJI - FIJI FOM
• TOP 5 GAY-FRIENDLY RORTS IN FIJI
• FIJI GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023
• GAY FIJI NEWS & REPORTS
• GETTG GAY FIJI
• WHY THE PACIFIC ISLANDS ARE NO GAY PARADISE
• GLOBALGAYZ: THE BOOK
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS FIJI

Although homosexualy is officially owned upon by lol laws and by some lol relig lears, an old Fiji ctom mak this a relatively iendly statn for gay men wh one proviso: Stay away om gay prostut. Some of them grow up to live a heterosexual existence; others choose a homosexual or bisexual liftyle and, often appearg publicly women's attire, actively seek the pany of tourists. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626; fax 954/776-3303;) is the tra associatn for the gay and lbian travel dtry, and offers an onle directory of gay- and lbian-iendly travel bs; go to their webse and click on "Members.

It provis regularly updated rmatn about gay-owned, gay-oriented, and gay-iendly lodgg, dg, sightseeg, nightlife, and shoppg tablishments every important statn worldwi. The followg travel guis are available at many bookstor, or you n orr them om any onle bookseller: Spartac Internatnal Gay Gui, 35th Edn (Bno Gmunr Verlag;) and Odysss: The Internatnal Gay Travel Planner, 17th Edn; and the Damron guis (), wh separate, annual books for gay men and lbians. I've spoken to many people and done a lot of rearch, and have been surprised to fd that generally, Fiji is not a very gay iendly untry.

Neher of is overtly 'gay', but we are also (strongly) not ashamed of who we are, of each other, or of our relatnship, however we will obvly rpect the culture of the untry we are . If you tend to go on a church/school/village vis, I would rm them that you are homosexual and ask if this will e issu, or simply go as "good iends". As an example, Yasawa Island Rort has several gay guys workg at the rort, and we had a lbian uple stayg there when we stayed.

GAY LIFE FIJI? - FIJI FOM

I have been livg Fiji for 15 months & to be hont I've never seen a gay or lbian display of affectn Suva, so maybe public displays of affectn are somethg that are not done the cy... There are a lot of lol "lady men" Fiji, so if beg gay/lbian was so unacceptable I n only assume the lol lady men wouldn't be so open & public about their looks/sexualy...

Livg here I would say that Fiji is gay iendly, however public displays of affectn are probably not acceptable for gay lols, however acceptable for gay tourists... Have to disagree wh Post # 1 re "the dilema of honeymooner's rort" -- on our stays at Likuliku, we've always had gay upl, along wh oldi, amongst the honeymooners and we were all very happy ^^. But if you ask me, as a lol id say that we dont really see people beg given a really hard time for who they are, pecially dont re if ur gay, we jt want u to e and enjoy the sun, sand and beach.

GAY FRIENDLY FIJI - FIJI FOM

There are rorts where gay upl are weled jt as much as a normal uple - Navutu Stars Rort, Nanuya Island Rort and Yasawa Island Rort up the Yasawa's wele gay upl and treat them jt as they would treat any mixed uple lookg for romance a seclud spot. On July 1, 2001 Fiji experienced the murr of two proment gay men: Red Cross Director, John Stt and his partner Gregory Scrivner.

TOP 5 GAY-FRIENDLY RORTS IN FIJI

Wellgton, NZ – Fiji’s Red Cross director and his male partner may have been murred at the weekend bee they were homosexuals, the sister of one of the victims told Rad New Zealand yterday. Janice Gil said there was extreme homophobia at high levels Fiji and John Stt, director of the lol Red Cross who figured promently when the prime mister and his ernment were held hostage by natnalist rebels parliament for 56 days last year, feared for his life and believed the police would not protect him. "John, among other members of the gay muny, put submissns wantg to keep the nstutn bee was the only thg that protected their civil rights as homosexuals, " she told Rad New Zealand.

FIJI GAY TRAVEL - LGBT RMATN JULY 2023

Acrdg to Swasti Chand, the ordator of Fiji’s pennt Media Watch anisatn, the media’s close relatnship wh thori has led to unfair and even homophobic sentiments exprsed by police beg reported, often word for word.

Three days after the disvery of the bodi, Police Commissner Mr Savua revealed that the men had been tortured and suggted the vlence was lked to the victims’ liftyle choic, sayg "you mt not fet that John Stt was a known homosexual. Members of Fiji’s homosexual muny hope to pete at this year’s Gay Gam Atralia but face a risg ti of ernment and church-led hostily at home. The event’s anisers have offered at least 30 Fijians scholarships to attend the gam as they strive to attract digeno gays and lbians and lift the participatn rate of women to 50 per cent.

"I particularly enurage digeno women around the world to participate the Gay Gam, to e and share our unique cultur and achieve their personal bt, " one of the event’s anisers says a promotnal pamphlet. But spe the scholarship packag offerg to pay for return air far, acmodatn and registratn fe, Fiji’s homosexuals hopg to attend the gam, many of whom are unemployed, are stgglg to raise funds to pay for visas and other sts. The fundamental barrier is that a majory of Fiji’s predomantly Christian populatn have never accepted gay and lbian relatnships, but a proposed new Fay Law Bill has sparked even more nservative attus.

GAY FIJI NEWS & REPORTS

" Ined for Sgh and other Pacific island lbians and gays workg to get to Atralia, their gold medal will be jt to live briefly a world where their liv are celebrated rather than spised. Six Marist Brothers’ High School prefects appeared the Suva Magistrat Court yterday charged wh assltg two gay stunts at the school. The charg follow a seri of alleged abe and asslt on the two gay stunts for allegedly havg sex wh stunts the school toilets.

The homosexuals and lbian muny is pleased church are now discsg issu of gay clergy, abortn, Human Immunoficiency Vis and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome all untri. Sipeli was reactg to a report prented by one of the participatg untri durg the Methodist Consultative Council the Pacific meetg about homosexuals and lbians beg looked at by church whether or not they uld be accepted ordaed mistri.

Acrdg to the Women’s Actn for Change sexual mori project 2002 survey law, tradn and relign play a signifint role the propagatn of homophobic attus Fiji. The survey go on to say that ially Fiji was one of only two untri the world to nstutnally protect the rights of gay, lbian, bi-sexual and trans-genr (GLBTs) cizens.

GETTG GAY FIJI

A pamphlet by the project highlighted that homophobia was the unreasonable fear and hatred of those who sexually sire those of the same sex, or those who are perceived to love and sire those of the same sex. "There is the se of homophobia, which ually has a vastatg effect on the liv of GLBTs who suffer discrimatn and abe their fai, at work or other social spher, " he said.

Fiji Prime Mister Laisenia Qarase has rejected ternatnal prsure to make gay sex legal the nservative Christian natn, sayg homosexualy is a s. They said the origal magistrate who sentenced them was prejudiced bee of homophobia; he had told the pair that their "crim" would "make any cent person vom.

WHY THE PACIFIC ISLANDS ARE NO GAY PARADISE

However, speakg yterday, the untry’s Director of Public Prosecutn led that the lg was rrect and that while nstutnal protectn was available to lbian and gay people, the pair may not be protected bee homosexualy is still nsired illegal. The terventn as civil rights groups and gay activists ntue to put prsure on the Fijian ernment to release Nadan and McCosker. In rponse to the se earlier this week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) updated s advice on Fiji, warng lbian and gay tourists of "plex" attus toward sexualy the untry.

Homosexual sexual activy is illegal the former Brish lony, a suatn fend by Prime Mister Laisenia Qarase on the basis of biblil teachg that sex between men is sful. " The ernment’s silence on this issue looks like a tac endorsement of the discrimatory homophobic views of the Fijian prime mister and the magistrate who jailed the men, " said Senator Kerry Nettle, a reprentative of the Green party. A further plitn is that whilst the 1997 Constutn provis for sexual eedom and equaly, primary legislatn still exists which prohibs homosexual acts, even private.

After the high-profile arrt and prosecutn of a gay tourist earlier this year, Fiji’s gay cizens have seen a rise attacks acrdg to reports om lol prsure groups. Gay men and sex workers on the holiday statn have apparently been at the bnt of a rise homophobia, which many mpaigners are lkg wh the arrts of Dhirendra Nadan and Thomas Maxwell McCoskar April.

GLOBALGAYZ: THE BOOK

Elsewhere, the Atralian ernment has formally protted the arrt of s cizen, while the Foreign Office has warned lbian and gay Brish tourists visg the island to take re.

Suva – An Atralian and a Fijian man won appeals on Friday agast their nvictns for homosexualy Fiji, wh the South Pacific island natn’s High Court lg homosexual acts private were legal unr the nstutn. Thomas McCosker, 55, and Dhirendra Nadan, 23, had been sentenced to two years’ jail after earlier beg found guilty of homosexualy a Fijian hotel room March and for creatg pornography by filmg the act. High Court Judge Gerald Wter said privacy provisns of the Fijian nstutn meant that homosexual acts between nsentg mal private were not illegal, but homosexual acts public or whout nsent were illegal, reported lol media.

’ The se sparked wispread bate about Fiji’s strict, but rarely enforced, homosexual laws, which rry a maximum 14-year jail term. Followg on om last week’s acqutal of a gay tourist who was ught havg sex on the island, relig groups Fiji are planng to prott agast homosexualy and what they see as a growg acceptance of sexual diversy.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Although homosexualy is illegal thanks to lonial-era legislatn, the pair were acquted last week thanks to recently troduced laws that protect lbian and gay people om discrimatn.

However, they may be facg an uphill stggle: a senr figure the untry’s ernment has been the first to slam the persecutn of lbian and gay people.