Fun Fast Facts:
- Male same-sex activity prohibited (3-14 years in prison).
- Dame Carol Kidu campaigning to decriminalise.
- Etoro and Sambia tribes practiced ritualised homosexual acts.
- Australian government implemented anti-homosexual colonial law in 1975.
W3JOY interviewed Topsy, former manager of HIV program:
Ten years ago, it was difficult for gay people to come out, but as the years went through, there has been some progress in certain portions of the populations accepting gay people.
One of the ways that has helped has been through the HIV project, because when it started in PNG, that’s when gay people were mobilised and that’s how they had a voice.
We had a very effective group called the Poro Sapot project that was funded by the Australian government, and they put in a lot of money into that project, which mobilised the gay community to come out and fight.
There are various contribution factors: social, economic, political…I wouldn’t say religion is a major barrier, because there are some that are very accepting.
One of the strategies we used was the ABC….the churches would emphasise the “A” abstinence from sex and “B” Be faithful to your partner, and the “C” part–using condoms–they were all the programs that we ran….if the churches weren’t promoting condoms, then our program did….you have to be really creative in the interventions, because you did not promote problems with different sectors, we wanted to work together.
People say the Papua New Guinea has a high prevalence of HIV, but if you see it on a positive note, that means people are coming out and getting tested.
W3JOY interviewed Clint, from PNG:
PNG is quite a strong Christian country and a lot of old thinkings are still prevalent. It’s quite challenging.
From the young people that I’ve spoken to, it’s definitely not a nice sort of environment….It’s a taboo topic to talk about in the family.
A lot of men having sex with men does go on…but it’s all hush-hush. If you’re out and proud, you could easily be a target for physical violence.
The whole concept of being gay isn’t really well known in Papua New Guinea, but there is a lot of stigma from the church about homosexuality.
Published on: February 4, 2013
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:43 — 8.4MB)