France: gay rights pioneer

Paraguay: una pareja de lesbianas se besan frente al edificio del Congreso en Asunción durante el día dedicado a los derechos de gays y lesbianas. (Besatón, mayo 2010)

Reuters

By RFI

The French ministers of foreign affairs and health wrote on Monday to the World Health Organisation to ask them to take transsexuality off its official list of mental illnesses. France has also teamed up with the Netherlands and Norway to free up funds to finance a campaign to prevent homosexuality being punishable by law.

Bernard Kouchner and Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin wrote that "France remains steadfast in its battle against stigmatisation and human rights violations. Many victims of these all around the world are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender."

Last year, France became the first country to remove transsexuality from its list of mental illnesses, under a bill introduced by Bachelot-Narquin in February

Monday is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (Idaho). French intellectual Louis-Georges Tin launched Idaho in 2004, choosing 17 May as it is anniversary of the day in 1993 when the WHO removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

The French ambassador for human rights François Zimaray said the fund for preventing the prosecution of gay people worldwide was about 200,000 euros.

Gay rights organisations say nearly 80 countries punish homosexuality, some with the death penalty.

In Paris on Monday, leaders of several religions attended a conference organised by Idaho on the subject of Religions, Homophobia and Transphobia.