Kenyan Gay Men Being Trafficked Into Sex Trade, British Supermarket Giant Tesco Denies It Has Pulled Funding From Future London Pride Parades Following Pressure From Conservative Christian Groups, Openly Gay Second World War Codebreaker Will Be Celebrated On Commemorative Stamp, David Hockney Awarded Order Of Merit

Being gay in the Middle East is taboo. Crackdowns in Arab countries against homosexuals are common and swift, with many countries employing the death penalty against convicted homosexuals. Now, a new report published by Identity, a gay magazine in Kenya, reveals that gay Kenyan men are being trafficked into the Gulf as sex slaves for the wealthy. The report alleges that gay and bisexual men are lured from university campuses – particularly from Kenyatta University – with promises of high-paying jobs and then transported to labour as sex workers for men in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. According to the magazine, due to Kenya’s soaring unemployment rate, the men are easily tricked into this trap. The publication interviewed one Kenyan victim who was promised a job in Qatar but ended up suffering sexual abuse. Qatar specifically, has no laws against human trafficking, which has made cracking down on the practice nearly impossible. “Qatar is a transit and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution,” the U.S. State Department stated in a recent report. “Men and women from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Sudan, Thailand, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and China voluntarily travel to Qatar as labourers and domestic servants, but some subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. These conditions include threats of serious physical or financial harm; job switching; the withholding of pay; charging workers for benefits for which the employer is responsible; restrictions on freedom of movement, including the confiscation of passports and travel documents and the withholding of exit permits; arbitrary detention; threats of legal action and deportation; false charges; and physical, mental, and sexual abuse.” In the Emirates, while being openly gay is illegal, the community has blossomed in recent years. Mark, a gay Canadian man, told Bikyamasr.com that “the community has increased dramatically and people are more willing, and accepting, of the LGBT community here.” But he said the report that Kenyan men are being used as sex slaves is “not surprising,” adding that, “We have seen a lot of the elite and super wealthy want to be gay, but that would go against their traditions, so instead they often marry and then hire or do this kind of thing, to have their real desires met. It is a problem of society not opening up to the gay lifestyle and forcing it to the background.”

British supermarket giant Tesco has distanced itself from claims that it has withdrawn support for future London gay pride parades after pressure from conservative Christian groups. The Guardian reports that the retailer said it was "fully committed" to sponsoring this year's festival but added it would be considering alternative projects in future years. The Christian Institute organization, one of the groups that have been critical of Tesco's decision to sponsor a family area at this year's parade, said on its website that the retailer had been forced into a rethink after a "storm of complaints.” However, Tesco said the campaign by some conservative Christian organizations had had no impact, adding that, as with all its charitable giving, its preference was to "support projects with practical benefits rather than events. Tesco supports a wide range of good causes and charities and is committed to tolerance and diversity. We strongly support our colleagues in Out at Tesco and will go on doing so beyond Pride 2012." This year's pride event in London Pride is expected to be the biggest outdoor event in the UK, attracting more than 1 million people. One of the organizers, Sharan Chaggar, said they were grateful to the supermarket for its ongoing support. "We're excited to be offering the Tesco family area for the second time at World Pride 2012. We haven't yet begun to look at funding beyond 2012."

The mathematician and second world war codebreaker Alan Turing is to be celebrated on a special stamp as an online petition calls for a posthumous pardon to quash his conviction for gross indecency. The computer pioneer is one of 10 prominent people chosen for the Royal Mail's Britons of Distinction stamps, to be launched in February, which includes the allied war heroine Odette Hallowes of the Special Operations Executive, composer Frederick Delius and architect Sir Basil Spence, to mark the golden jubilee of Coventry Cathedral. Turing worked as part of the team that cracked the Enigma code at Bletchley Park, and went on to help create the world's first modern computer. This year marks the centenary of his birth. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952, when homosexual acts were illegal in the UK, and sentenced to chemical castration. He killed himself two years later by taking cyanide. The e-petition says his treatment and death "remains a shame on the UK government and UK history.” In 2009, the then prime minister Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology on behalf of the government to Turing, describing his treatment as "horrifying" and "utterly unfair.” Brown said the country owed him a huge debt.

British artist David Hockney has been appointed a member of the Order of Merit by the Queen - despite turning down a knighthood in 1990. The Order of Merit is presented to high achievers in the arts, learning, literature, science and other areas such as public service. Hockney, 74, has said he turned down the chance to become a sir because he "does not care for a fuss,” adding, "I don't value prizes of any sort. I value my friends." The order, created by King Edward VII in 1902, is restricted to 24 members and rare additional foreign recipients. The Order of Merit does not come with a title but members are given a red and blue enamel badge, which reads "For Merit.” When a member dies the badge is returned to the Queen, who receives the next-of-kin personally. In 2003, Hockney told Bradford's Telegraph & Argus paper that prizes "of any sort are a bit suspect.” He said had turned a knighthood down because, at the time, he had been living in the US and "did not think it was for me but I don't have strong feelings about the honours system.” He was speaking after information about people who had turned down honours was leaked to the Sunday Times. Back in September, he told BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme he had turned down a request to paint the Queen because he was "very busy.” He said she would have made "a terrific subject" but that he preferred to paint people he knew. A Bigger Picture, an exhibition of Hockney landscapes, opens at the Royal Academy this month. Hockney, one of the best-known figures from the 1960s British pop art movement, first attracted interest while studying at the Royal College of Art. His figurative drawings and paintings gave him a reputation as a figure that bridged high art and pop art while his blond, bespectacled, youthful appearance made him one of the faces of the decade. In recent years, Hockney has returned to his native Yorkshire after spending years in California, where he has been inspired by light and space with his paintings of swimming pools proving to be some of his most memorable works. His Beverly Hills Housewife - which shows Californian arts patron Betty Freeman in a pink dress standing on the patio of her home - sold in 2009 for an artist record $7.9m (£5.1m) at Christie's New York. His forthcoming landscapes exhibition in London, A Bigger Picture, will feature some of his more recent works embracing technology. The pro-smoking campaigner's exhibition, which opens on 21 January at the Royal Academy, is inspired by the East Yorkshire landscape of which he has said: "I'm aware I've got a very good subject, and with each season, I begin to see more." The exhibition will include a display of iPad drawings and a series of films produced using 18 cameras, displayed on multiple screens. In 2009, he said: "One morning recently, I made a drawing on my iPhone while I was still in bed, of flowers through the window, and the sunrise, which I could then [email] to 12 people, without it ever having been photographed or printed, and that's very new."