San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, August 29,
Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer

Organizers of the Global Gay Summit said many would-be delegates were denied clearance from their embassies, either because they aren't married, don't have family in the United States or wanted to attend a conference for gays.

It was the first time many members of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which works to improve gay rights around the globe, could meet face to face -- because of travel restrictions or financial constraints -- rather than just through e-mail.

"For a lot of these people, this conference is their only means of doing advocacy," said Cynthia Rothschild, a board member of Amnesty International, who was leading two workshops at yesterday's conference. "In their homelands, they can't have these kinds of conversations. In that way, it's life-saving.

Molina joined about 75 other activists yesterday for the first day of the 21st International Lesbian and Gay Association world conference, sponsored by East Bay Pride, Oakland's annual gay pride celebration.

Fresh on the minds of many participants was ILGA's exclusion from the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, which begins Friday in Durban, South Africa. ILGA was rejected from taking part because several delegates find homosexuality objectionable.

Participants hope to gain the skills and strategies to achieve equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in every part of the world by 2015.

The summit's co-secretary-general, Phumi Mtetwa, 28, of South Africa, was scheduled to leave Oakland last night for a demonstration at the Durban gathering.

"One of the most important points of this conference is to train leaders to go back to their countries to do the work," Mtetwa said. "One of our biggest challenges is international visibility, learning how we can articulate why we should be equal citizens with the same rights and respect (as heterosexuals)."

Molina, the psychologist from Honduras, said she hoped to gain information from the ILGA conference to combat aggression against transgender men and women in her homeland.

"The police don't have any respect for our human rights," Molina said.

"Transgender men and women are killed, constantly beaten, or sent to jail simply for their sexual orientation."

Participants traded a variety of experiences, from South Africa's inclusion of gays and lesbians in that country's constitutional protections to those of a woman from Zimbabwe whose lesbian friends have to stay in the closet out of fear of having their children taken away.

India delegate Ashok Row Kavi, who is so outspoken in his country that he has been dubbed "the Indian Larry Kramer" -- after the renowned New York AIDS activist and author -- said HIV and AIDS are running rampant, with little attention from the government.

"No matter how much I shout and scream on TV, I get $5,000 to serve an estimated population of 300,000 gay men in Bombay City, with an infection rate of 60 to 70 percent," Kavi, 50, said. "People in the United States talk about gay identity and pride. What we're facing in India is the potential decimation of gay people."

The conference continues today at 9 a.m. at the Ron Dellums Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay St. It concludes Saturday with a street fair sponsored by East Bay Pride, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza (Oakland City Hall), at the corner of 14th Street and Broadway. E-mail Christopher Heredia at cheredia@sfchronicle.com.
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