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LGBTQ victory over Caribbean anti-sodomy law

| Jun 12, 2023, 01:47:22 PM | AP
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Orden David, a counselor and tester for Antigua's AIDS Secretariat within the health ministry, took his island nation's government to court to end his country’s anti-sodomy law. Last year, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional. LGBTQ-rights activists say it has set a precedent followed by other island nations."What pushed me to go forward with this litigation case to challenge the government is that experience that I've gone through in life."David was bullied and ridiculed as a young man just for being gay. He most recently he was physically attacked on the job by somebody he didn't even see."The person hit me against the face and I blacked out for a minute," ... "The doctor was telling me that he figure because I'm a homosexual why he, he attacked me."After the incident, David decided to become the face of this cause, backed by colleagues at the non-profits, Women Against Rape and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality."The specific clause is known as the buggary clause," said Alexandrina Wong, director of Women Against Rape.Wong said that the law was used to hound, blame and chastise the LGBTQ community primarily.On the day of the Supreme Court's decision David waited patiently in a private and secluded location. "I was just waiting patiently under the, the ruling to come out. And when it do came out, you know, I was smiling from ear to ear," ... "Just waiting to hear if there's going to be any backlash."However, some religious leaders were not pleased with the outcome. Including Bishop Charlesworth Browne, president of the Antigua and Barbuda council of church leaders."You're talking about something that is deviant. That's how we see it. It is deviant. It is disruptive. It is against the will of God," said Browne in a recent AP interview.The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who is a Christian himself, felt the change did not impede on anyone's religious liberties. "We also respect those religious principles," he said. "But there has to be a space for everybody. And as a government, we just cannot discriminate."David, who on recent Friday night could be found voluntarily handing out condoms to sex workers as a part of his work with a local NGO, hopes that other caribbean countries follow in the footsteps of Antigua and Barbuda."We're all humans. And at the end of the day, we deserve the same treatment, the same respect, and just try to live together as one so that we can make the world a better place," said David.Consensual same-sex intimacy is still criminalized in the island nations of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica.

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Indian Air Force Begins Process To Replace 20-Year-Old VIP Jets Used By Ministers And Military Chiefs

The Indian Air Force has formally initiated the procurement process for a new fleet of long-range business jets to replace its ageing VIP transport aircraft, issuing a Request for Information for four to six new jets under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 with a 30-percent offset clause. The move aims to modernise the Pegasus Squadron, the Air Headquarters Communication Squadron at Palam Air Base in New Delhi. The current fleet of four Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft, inducted on September 21, 2005 and named Meghdoot, Vayudoot, Nabhdoot and Gagandoot, have been in service for over two decades and are now due for phased replacement. Vendor responses are due by April 15, 2026, with a formal Request for Proposal expected by mid-2027 and delivery timelines projected between 2029 and 2031. The long-range business jets are distinct from Air India One, the specially modified Boeing 777 jets reserved exclusively for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister. The new fleet will instead serve senior cabinet ministers including Defence, Finance, Home and External Affairs, as well as the chiefs of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The procurement comes amid renewed focus on executive aviation safety following the January 28 crash of a privately operated Learjet 45XR in Baramati that killed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others, an accident that has lent fresh urgency to the IAF's long-planned modernisation effort.

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